...so this excellent piece on DAVID BOWIE (the second written by Jeffrey Blehar this week) is what I have on offer today. I should be back tomorrow with the usual stuff, unless I win the Powerball.

EL VY joined Colbert's house band and a string section on David Bowie's "Let's Dance."

DAVID BOWIE: The Guardian collects five of his best North American concerts. World Cafe has mini-sets from 2002 and 2003.

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT, Live at Coventry.

ONEIDA is streaming their Positions EP.

SHEARWATER drops "Only Child" ahead of Jet Plane and Oxbow.

YUCK drops "Hearts In Motion" ahead of Stranger Things.

BRITT DANIEL (Spoon) covers David Bowie's  "Never Let Me Down."

DAVID BOWIE, remembered by guitarist Adrian Belew, guitarist/producer (and cancer survivor) Nile Rodgers, journalist/filmmaker Cameron Crowe, and many more, including the front pages.

SLEATER-KINNEY: Corin Tucker talked to Pitchfork about growing up in the Olympia punk scene, skipping prom to see Fugazi, loving (and then collaborating with) R.E.M., being inspired by Beyoncé, and more.

TORTOISE talks to Stereogum about the upcoming LP The Catastrophist, David Essex, and much more.

DAUGHTER, Interviewed by Ilana Kaplan.

SEAN PENN turned the Beverly Hills Hotel's famed Polo Lounge into a “war room” for strategizing how to handle his El Chapo controversy over Golden Globes weekend.

CHARLIE SHEEN is back on his HIV medications after seeking out alternative treatment in Mexico.

GEORGE MILLER is done with the Mad Max franchise.

ONE DAY AT A TIME is headed to Netflix with a Latino cast.

DAVID MARGUILES, a veteran stage and screen actor who memorably played the Mayor of New York in the Ghostbusters movies, has died. He was 78. It's a disaster of Biblical proportions.

THE UNITED NATIONS: Investigators discovered this month that at least four U.N. peacekeepers in the Central African Republic allegedly paid young girls as little as 50 cents in exchange for sex.

GERMANY will make it easier to deport criminal foreigners following public outrage over the New Year's Eve assaults in Cologne, officials said Tuesday. Authorities say 561 criminal complaints have been filed in connection with the assaults, with about 45 percent involving allegations of sexual offenses, and most of the suspects identified so far are foreign nationals.

THE ISLAMIC STATE: A trio of former Obama administration officials painted a grim picture of the fight against the Islamic State group.

TURKEY: A suicide bomber who killed at least 10 foreigners Tuesday in a popular central Istanbul tourist area belonged to ISIS, officials said -- an attack that shows the group's nerve, reach and capacity for terror.

IRAN: Two United States Navy patrol boats and their crews were seized by the Iranian authorities in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday during what a Tehran news agency alleged was “snooping.”

OLD GREYHOUNDS take the elevator.

A TURKEY flies...as an emotional support animal.

THIS PREHISTORIC CROCODILE was the size of a bus.

SPARKY THE BISON survived a lightning strike.

SAVAGES dropped a video for "Adore."

THE FLAMIN' GROOVIES stopped by World Cafe for a mini-set of their jangly garage classics.

BEACH SLANG performed on WNYC's Soundcheck.

KATIE ELLEN: Anika Pyle (Chumped) is streaming a few wild <3 demos.

COURTNEY BARNETT drops “Three Packs A Day.”

THE POOCHES drop the title track from their Heart Attack EP.

DAVID BOWIE: "Young Americans" bookends a goofy medley of 1975 hits with Cher; throw in "Five Years" from the Old Grey Whistle Test circa 1972 for Twofer Tuesday. The Cracked Actor documentary (covering the 1974 Philly Dogs/Soul tour) is online; The Record also documented Bowie '74. Stereogum essays Bowie and Mortality, while Jeffrey Blehar, The Guardian and Rolling Stone do in-depth artistic bios. Sonny Bunch surveys Bowie's film career. And here's his hilarious cameo from Extras. The Morning News published a unique Best of 2015 that charts Bowie's continuing influence on modern music. 

MORE BOWIE: How visionary was Bowie? He had the internet nailed in 1999, and the internet's effect on the music biz in 2002, which may explain his innovative Bowie Bonds. He was the first major-label artist to sell a complete album online in download form. He confronted MTV in 1983 about the paucity of videos by black artists. Bowie's 80s period is surveyed in an interview with the L.A. Times. The German Foreign Office posthumously thanked Bowie for helping bring down the Berlin Wall. In 2002, Bowie talked to Fresh Air about the Ziggy Stardust era.  60 Minutes published previously unseen interview footage from 2003. In March 2004, Bowie wrote Esquire abut "What I've Learned."  Longtime collaborator Brian Eno revealed Bowie's final words to him. And here's the last photo of Bowie taken by his wife Iman on January 8th.

BOB MOULD announces a new album and throws cold water on a Hüsker Dü reunion.

ST LUCIA: At SPIN, frontman Jean-Philip Grobler details the making of Matter, the fast-approaching follow-up to 2013's When the Night.

LEONARDO DiCAPRIO was totally not laughing when Lady Gaga won a Golden Globe, serious you guys.

KATY PERRY & ORLANDO BLOOM were flirting up a storm after the Golden Globes.

QUENTIN TARANTINO took flak online for using the word "ghetto" while accepting a Globe for composer Ennio Morricone.

LINDSAY LOHAN spat racist comments at a Manhattan bartender — then literally spat in the face of a customer who tried to intervene in the dispute, the worker said Sunday.

RUPERT MURDOCH & JERRY HALL are engaged.

BLACK PANTHER's standalone Marvel flick will be directed by Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Creed).

STAR WARS: Sources tell Variety that after seeing thousands of actors, execs have cut the list to play a young Han Solo down to about a dozen actors.

SWEDEN: In the wake of the German New Year’s Eve sexual-assault scandal, Swedish law enforcement authorities are looking into claims that a gang of mostly Afghan men harassed girls at a 2014 music festival — an incident that initially went unreported by police.

NORTH KOREA detained a U.S. citizen on suspicion of spying.

THE ISLAMIC STATE: In an extremely unusual airstrike, the U.S. dropped bombs Sunday in central Mosul, Iraq, destroying a building containing huge amounts of cash ISIS was using to pay its troops and for ongoing operations.

A NEWBORN OTTER sleeps on its mother.

SCIENTISTS are breeding 2ft monster stick insects.

THE RINGLING BROS AND BARNUM & BAILEY CIRCUS is ending its elephant acts a year and a half early, and will retire all of its touring elephants in May.

A CATFISH was surgically removed from a Brazillian woman's stomach.

DAVID BOWIE, the legendary singer-songwriter and producer who dabbled in glam rock, art rock, soul, hard rock, dance pop, punk and electronica during his eclectic 40-plus-year career, has died after a battle with cancer, his rep confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 69. Here's an addittional career overview from the L.A. Times and Rolling Stone, with the promise of more to come. In the meantime, you can get started with the BBC's "David Bowie and the story of Ziggy Stardust," covering the creation of the fiirst of Bowie's many musical personas, and The 1980 Floor Show, which was really recorded live at the Marquee, circa October 1973.  "Life on Mars?" and "Queen B^tch" are also from his glam period.  "Young Americans" was the signature tune from his soulful period as the Thin White Duke (though "Fame" is a close second). His 1978 gig at the Beat Club includes  "Sense Of Doubt," "Beauty And The Beast," "Heroes," "Stay," "The Jean Genie," "TVC 15," "Alabama Song," and "Rebel Rebel," which Pate used to cover from time to time.  A cleaned-up Bowie became even bigger in the 80s with "Let's Dance" -- the LP of the same name also hit big with "China Girl" and "Modern Love."  He was not as active in the 90s, though I still love his duet on  "Waterloo Sunset," with the Kinks' Ray Davies in 2003.  Here's longtime collaborator Tony Visconi talking to the L.A. Times about the making of Bowie's Blackstar. The lyrics of that LP will gain new meaning knowing what we know now. And the stars look very different today.

SONNY KNIGHT & THE LAKERS are joined by John "Jabo" Starks and Fred Wesley, two James brown vets, for some of the legend's tunes on The Current.

LEGGY streams their Dang EP.

CAYETANA is streaming a two-song 7" called Tired Eyes, which includes a cover of New Order's "Age of Consent."

THE DANDY WARHOLS return with "You Are Killing Me."

BLOOD ORANGE and NELLY FURTADO collaborate on "Hadron Collider" and "Say It Right."

THE BONGOS: "Numbers With Wings" was nominated for Best Direction at the first MTV Video Awards.

JEFF LYNNE talks ELO, George Harrison, the Traveling Wilburys and more on World Cafe.

BONES & GROOVES: How Western music was smuggled into the USSR on X-Rays.

OTIS CLAY, soul singer and Blues Hall of Fame inductee, passed away Friday in Chicago following a heart attack. Clay was 73.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Star Wars: The Force Awakens fourpeats with 41.6MM; at this rate it seems likely to fall short of Avatar as alltime worldwide champ, but still has a shot to beat Titanic to take the alltime second slot. The Revenant placed with 38MM, well ahead of projections of 20MM (and even beat the Jedi on Friday). Even so, it likely needs about 400MM to break even worldwide. Daddy's Home shows with 15MM on a 49 percent drop that's a little steep for a comedy; even so, It's likely already in profit.  The Forest debuted at No. 4 with 13MM which is at least more than its 10MM production budget. Sisters rounds out the Top Five with 7.1MM and is also likely profitable.  Below the fold, Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight plummets 60 percent to 6.4MM, but has come close tor ecouping its production budget.despite adding 464 screens

THE GOLDEN GLOBES were awarded to these folks, including...Lady Gaga.

SEAN PENN interviewed Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzman for Rolling Stone, which gave the Mexican drug lord editorial approval. Several news outlets reported that Penn is now under investigation for the interview, according to a Mexican official.  OTOH, a Mexican law enforcement official said Saturday that the interview in the remote community of Tamazula in the northern state of Durango helped authorities track El Chapo's whereabouts prior to his recent capture.

SHERILYN FENN is returning and LAURA DERN is joining the Twin Peaks revival.

ROSIE O' DONNELL is already annoying her new neighbors. Shocka.

ROBERT BALSER, one of the animators behind The Beatles animated movie Yellow Submarine, has died. The animation director, who also worked on the Saturday morning Jackson 5 cartoons in the early 1970s, was 88.

GERMAN Minister of Justice Heiko Maas has said he believes the sexual assaults in Cologne were 'coordinated and prepared' ahead of time. He also accused xenophobic groups of using the crimes to stir up hatred. Angela Merkel for the first time signalled a change in her "open-door" refugee policy on Saturday, as police admitted that a "majority" of those suspected of sex attacks in Cologne were asylum-seekers or illegal immigrants.

FINNISH reported Thursday an unusually high level of sexual harassment in Helsinki on New Year's Eve and said they had been tipped off about plans by groups of asylum seekers to sexually harass women.

A EUROPEAN 9/11? November's attacks in Paris, in which 130 people were killed by Islamic State group jihadists, showed the trauma that could be caused by a group of men with Kalashnikov rifles, but experts fear it could be just the start.

THE ISLAMIC STATE Cannot Be Negotiated With.

IRAN's nuclear deal may have empowered its hard-liners. Shocka.

HOLY COW! A rare birth of quadruplet calves.

SELFIE RAT was a hoax? Nooo!

A SNAKE got stuck frozen on a reporter's car window.

IS THAT A DUCK in that ultrasound?

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with R.E.M.!  Live in Germany circa 1985, more complete than what has previously turned up on the Tube. Songs include "Feeling Gravity's Pull," "Harbourcoat," "Sitting Still," "Maps & Legends," "Fall On Me," "Green Grow The Rushes," "Driver 8," "Hyena," "So. Central Rain," CCR's "Have You Ever Seen The Rain," "Can't Get There From Here," Roger Miller's "King Of The Road," "Seven Chinese Bros.," "Auctioneer," "Old Man Kinsey," "Little America," "Pretty Persuasion, " "Theme From Two Steps Onward," Aerosmith's "Toys In The Attic," and Television's "See No Evil." Plus, previously unlinked here: "Second Guessing," "Ghost Riders In The Sky," "(Don't Go Back to) Rockville," "We Walk/ Behind Closed Doors" and "Paint It Black."

DYLAN LeBLANC advance streams Cautionary Tale.

BAABA MAAL advance streams The Traveller.

RYLEY WALKER plays a Lagniappe Session.

MAVIS STAPLES drops "High Note" ahead of the cameo-laden Livin' on a High Note.

WHITE DENIM drops “Holda You (I’m Psycho)” ahead of Stiff...and it reminds me of prime Meat Puppets.

YEASAYER drops "I Am Chemistry," their first track in years.

ART BRUT get you off to a "Good Weekend."

DAVID BOWIE: Theories of Evolution. (Thx, Frank Yang.) ALSO: The full video for "Lazarus."

VINYL SALES continued their upward march, in a nearly 30 percent increase over 2014.

THE TOP 10 ELO SONGS, as ranked by Stereogum.

THE DECEMBERISTS' Colin Meloy Started an Erotic Oregon Militia Fanfiction Craze.

NICOLAS CALDWELL, a founding member of The Whispers whose hits included "Rock Steady" has died ... he was 71 years old.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases are the expansion of The Revenant, which is currently scoring 81 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; and The Forest, which is scoring 22 percent.

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS overtook Avatar Wednesday as the top grossing film in North America.

BEYONCE will join Coldplay at the Superbowl.

BILL COSBY will not face criminal charges in 2 alleged sexual assault cases ... one from 2008 at the Playboy Mansion, and the other against a then 17-year-old in 1965.

KERI RUSSELL & MATTHEW RHYS (The Americans) are expecting a baby.

KATE HUDSON & NICK JONAS were caught canoodling in a California ski town.

JILL WHELAN, who hit it big played Capt. Stubing's daughter on “Love Boat,” has fallen on hard times ... she's getting divorced and has no source of income to support herself.

PAT HARRINGTON, the popular comedian and voice-over talent who made a lasting impact as superintendent Dwayne Schneider on the hit sitcom One Day at a Time, has died, according to his agent. Harrington was 86.

GERMANY: Some of the 100 women caught in dozens of sexual assaults and robberies on NYE have begun speaking of their ordeal.

A SNOWY OWL, captured on a traffic cam.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: A militant rodent cut power to thousands in Milwaukee's southwest suburbs.

A RARE SNAKE was used as a weapon in ancient Sicily.

HUNTSMAN-KILLING SPIDER WASPS have been observed beginning their gruesome reproduction cycle in Adelaide.