THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with ARETHA FRANKLIN, Live in Stockholm, 1968! The "Lady Soul" concert was broadcast on Swedish TV, including: "There's No Business Like Show Business," "Come Back To Me," "Satisfaction," "Don't Let Me Lose This Dream," "Soul Serenade," "Night Life," "Baby I Love You," "Groovin,'" "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," "Come Back Baby," "Dr Feelgood (Love Is A Serious Business)," "Since You've Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby)" "I  Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)," "Chain Of Fools," and "Respect."

ST PAUL & THE BROKEN BONES play World Cafe.

LUNA plays KEXP.

THE NATIONAL shares its "New Order T-Shirt," both in song and merch.

WEDNESDAY shares "Bath County."

DAVID BOWIE's massive archive has been acquired by London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.

WET LEG, profiled at The New Yorker.

HARVEY WEINSTEIN has been sentenced to a further 16 years in prison for a rape conviction in Los Angeles.

R KELLY has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for child sex crimes, with 19 to be served simultaneously with a previous 30-year term.

CHARLES BARKLEY is considering a CNN show with Gayle King.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON could return for its second season in Summer 2024.

LORD OF THE RINGS is getting a reboot?

WAYNE'S WORLD could be a trilogy?

HOGWARTS LEGACY has grossed more than twice as much in two weeks as the last "Fantastic Beasts" movie did in its entire run.

JEAN SMART is recovering from a heart procedure.

SUCCESSION: The End Is Near.

THE PROSPECT PARK GATOR had swallowed a four-inch-wide bathtub stopper and is not strong enough for it to be removed right now, the Bronx Zoo said.

AN EXTINCT PREDATORY FISH was the size of five Corgis.

DOGGOS may soon be oppressed in Florida.

DEAN & BRITTA: Today just seemed good for "Words You Used to Say."

NIKKI LANE plays The Current.

THE BACKSEAT LOVERS visit World Cafe.

EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL throws "Caution to the Wind."

DEATH VALLEY GIRLS share "Islands In The Sky."

KELLY CLARKSON covers Mazzy Star's "Fade Into You."

THE TOP 10 FLAMING LIPS OBSCURITIES, according to Stereogum.

DE LA SOUL's Maseo and Posdnuous eulogize Trugoy The Dove.

DOLLY COLLINS: A secular mass by the sister of Shirley Collins is getting a premiere.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Akon and Snoop Dogg's sleekly melancholy strip-club song "I Wanna Love You."

THE OSCARS now has a crisis managment team.

WILL SMITH ponders the Oscars on TikTok.

STEVEN SPIELBERG says he is “mounting a big production” for HBO based on Stanley Kubrick’s original script Napoloeon.

MEGXIT: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have dismissed reports they are suing the creators of South Park over a recent episode that took aim at the royal couple.

ERNIE HUDSON, on being the unpromoted Ghostbuster.

SHELLEY DUVALL on why she left Hollywood and is coming back after 22 years.

JOHN CLEESE released an “apology” statement after announcing his reboot of Fawlty Towers.

RUSSELL CROWE is The Pope's Excorcist.

HOW THE ANKLER took on Hollywood.

KICKED IN THE HEAD by a Moose while walking her dog.

FISH RAINED FROM THE SKY, fortunately no Sharknado.

NAKED MOLE RATS never stop having babies.

THE FOUR TOPS: Levi Stubbs works up a sweat on live French TV, belting out a supercharged "I'll Be There."

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED features Lana Del Rey, Caroline Rose, Sidney Gish, and more.

FLUXBLOG's playlist of 21st century Shoegaze.

JASON ISBELL shares his "Death Wish."

ROSIE THOMAS covers The Bangles' "Eternal Flame."

UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA shares "Nadja."

GRAHAM NASH returns with "Right Now."

TINY RUINS shares "Dorothy Bay."

US GIRLS goes disco on "Tux (Your Body Fills Me, Boo)."

MICK & KEITH & Paul & Ringo?

MORRISSEY has appealed for labels or "private investors" to release his new album.

CHUCK JACKSON, an R&B singer who took “Any Day Now” to the Top 25 in 1962 and had some two dozen singles hit the Hot 100 during the decade, has died. He was 85.

KEVIN COSTNER's attorney is firing back at anonymous complaints about his work ethic on “Yellowstone.”

LIAM NEESON has some regrets, like going on "The View."

JUDI DENCH revealed that she struggles to read scripts due her worsening eye condition.

AVRIL LAVIGNE & MOD SUN have called off their engagement.

ALDEN EHRENREICH, on "Cocaine Bear," the future of "Solo," and very little on "Ironheart."

BOSTON STRANGLER, ft. Kiera Knightley, has a trailer online.

STEVEN SPIELBERG is happy he turned down Harry Potter.

GETTING INTO THE CAR, Almost.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT leaves thousands without power in Ohio.

A GATOR, found in a Brooklyn lake.

THE WALKER BROTHERS play "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)" and "Make It Easy On Yourself" for Twofer Tuesday.

BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD, Live at Bush Hall, featuring new material.

CULTURE CORNER: R & B music in the '80s.

BECK, "Thinking About You" on Fallon.

SON LUX: How they scored Everything Everywhere All At Once.

MOGWAI & THE DELGADOS in conversation.

GOTH IS UNDEAD: The dark return of Britain's spookiest subculture.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Justin Timberlake and T.I.'s cascading pop opus "My Love."

ALEC BALDWIN wins a legal battle, as the D.A. drops a key charge that could keep him out of prison.

THE ROYALS: Meghan is reportedly upset by her depiction on "South Park." She and Harry are in a predicament over attending the King's coronation.

AVATAR 2 sinks Titanic.

HOW ANT-MAN 3 sets the table for Phase 5 of the MCU.

AGATHA CHRISTIE's Everlasting Appeal.

THE HORROR BOOM may become a Horror Glut.

BARBARA BOSSON, who received Emmy nominations in five consecutive years for her turn as the divorcee Fay Furillo on the acclaimed NBC drama Hill Street Blues, co-created by her then-husband Steven Bochco, has died. She was 83.

ONE DOGGO, Two Treatos.

ONE DOGGO, Four Hours of Work.

SQUIRREL! Squirrel!

THE KNACK: "Frustrated."

NEW RELEASES: Paste will point you to Caroline Polachek, Free Range, Girl Scout, and more.

BILL'S INDIIE BASEMENT has Orbital, Cheater Slicks, and more.

MOLINA, TALBOT, LOFGREN & YOUNG: Neil and members of Crazy Horse, reconfigured with “You Will Never Know.”

OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN duets with DOLLY PARTON on "Jolene."

THURSTON MORRE shares a "Hypnogram."

ELVIS COSTELLO on Burt Bacharach.

THE KINKS: Dave Davies asks Elon Musk to stop flagging band-related tweets.

THE RAINCOATS' Gina Burch: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Ludacris and Pharrell's late-capitalist strip-club romp "Money Maker."

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Ant-Man 3 dominates the chart with an estimated 118MM 4-day haul, though the B CinemaScore has to be a concern going forward.  Avatar 2 places with 7.5MM.  Puss in Boots 2 shows with 7MM, and this has done well by any measure, while raising the question of why there have been so few family films in theaters since the holidays.

RICHARD BELZER, the comedian and actor best known for playing the acerbic Detective John Munch across a number of NBC crime dramas, including “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” over more than two decades, has died, according to his longtime manager. He was 78. 

TOM SIZEMORE  is in critical condition after suffering a brain aneurysm.

RICHARD GERE was hospitalized overnight with pneumonia while vacationing with his family near Nuevo Vallarta in Mexico.

R KELLY's motion for a new trial was denied.

JUDD APATOW skewers TOM CRUISE while emceeing the Directors Guild of America Awards.

HELLBOY is getting another reboot.

PINEWOOD STUDIOS, the location where iconic movies from James Bond to Star Wars have been filmed, has been given permission for an £ 800 million expansion.

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY is observed today. Here's an inaccurate and profane tribute to the first US President.

CATS & DOGS, living together...

GOATS, eating tomatoes.

SLEEPY DOG: We've all been there.

FLACO: The Central Park Zoo has stopped active efforts to re-capture him.