THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with POWER POP (REDUX)! For whatever reason, I have considered Summer the ideal season for gems like Badfinger's "No Matter What" (which Pate covered on occasion) and "Baby Blue", and even Todd Rundgren's "I Saw the Light" and Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me."  Ditto for more obscure tracks like The Rubinoos "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" (see also their vintage cover of "Please Please Me"), Off Broadway's "Stay In Time" and "Full Moon Turn My Head Around," and Pezband's "Baby It's Cold Outside" and "Close Your Eyes."

SQUEEZE gets three hours of discussion and analysis on Political Beats.

JUNETEENTH: NPR has a playlist.

VASHTI BUNYAN: Ten Great Covers.

ANDREW BIRD covers Iron & Wine and Talking Heads for a Lagniappe Session.

FATHER JOHN MISTY shares "Buddy's Rendezvous," as well as Lana Del Rey's version of the song.

WHITNEY shares "Real Love."

THE REPLACEMENTS' 50 BEST SONGS, according to Steven Hyden.

JEFF TWEEDY talks Cruel Country.

LEE RANALDO: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview.

BLONDE: The NC-17 Marilyn Monroe biopic has a teaser trailer online.

WESTWORLD: Season 4 has a trailer online.

TOP GUN: MAVERICK - Tom Cruise had a Tom Cruise response when Mies Teller got sick on set.

VENOM: Looks like Tom Hardy has worked up a threequel.

TOM HANKS was seeing red when his wife Rita Wilson was almost knocked to the ground by a pack of his fans.

KEVIN SPACEY has been given unconditional bail after appearing in a London court on four charges of sexually assaulting three men.

SYDNEY SWEENEY & CHRISTINA RICCI on playing crazy people and reclaiming sex scenes.

GAME OF THRONES: Jon Snow Sequel Series in Development at HBO.

PIXAR's Bittersweet Symphony.

HOW TO Win an Argument.

A ROOSTER greets the day with gusto. Wait for it.

AN AGGRESSIVE WILD TURKEY vanishes after months of attacks on D.C. trail.