THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with CHEAP TRICK! Live in Providence, 1980. That playlist was served up by the band on its YouTube channel, which the band has been stocking over the past couple of weeks.  Selections include "Hello There/Clock Strikes Ten," "I'll Be With You Tonight," "Southern Girls," "California Man," "Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace," "He's a Wh re," "Oh Candy," "Top of the World," "Can't Hold On," "Downed" and "Auf Wiedersehen." Are you ready to rock?

M WARD talks to Blurt about his favorite music and his new album... but it's not easy.

THE LITTLE ONES do the four free songs thing for Daytrotter, all selections from the Morning Tide album.

LED ZEPPELIN: Live in Long Beach, CA on March 11, 1975.

THE BIRD & THE BEE talk to the Santa Barbara Independent about touring, recording, collaborating, spouses, etc.

THE CRAMPS frontman Lux Interior died Feb. 4 from a preexisting heart condition at 62. We remember him with "Bikini Girls with Machine Guns."

THE FLAMING LIPS: Wayne Coyne popped in to Xfm for an exclusive documentary about the band. (Thx, Chromewaves.)

BISHOP ALLEN are finally "breaking" at Rolling Stone. Video at the link.

TAPES 'N TAPES frontman Josh Grier talks to Mpls City Pages about touring -- and using Facebook to get restaurant recommendations.

CUTOUT BIN: M Ward covering Buddy Holly, Al Green covering The Temptations, The Byrds covering the Louvin Bros, The Hold Steady covering Dylan, Evan Dando covering ABBA and Ray Davies covering himself, plus the Rplacements, Fountains of Wayne, Fontella Bass, Booket T. with Jolie Holland and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases inlcude He's just Not That Into You, which is currently scoring 38 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; The Pink Panther 2, currently scoring 05 percent, sci-fi thriller Push, scoring 25 percent, and Henry Selick's animated adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, scoring 88 percent.

ETTA JAMES threatened to beat the crap out of Beyonce Knowles.  Audio at the link.

JESSICA ALBA reveals that the secret to her post-baby body was a girdle.

MADONNA: Jealous of her daughter? Or just trying tto keep her a kid for a while longer?

MILEY CYRUS apologized for a somewhat controversial picture in which she appears to be mocking members of the Asian community.

HAYDEN PANTTIERRE & JESSE McCARTNEY were... wait for it... caught canoodling at Crown Bar. 

WATCHMEN: The latest viral video is a 1997 PSA about "The Keene Act and You."

JEAN RENO picks five favorite films for Rotten Tomatoes.

THOR: Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada and the primary architect of the publisher's universe, Brian Michael Bendis had a Twitter chat revealing, among other things, that Kenneth Branagh "gets it!'"

MOVIE MARKETING: The New Yorker goes inside the playbook with Tim Palen: "I'm a fourteen-year-old girl. But having a girl's viewing habits... actually comes in very handy."

PAKISTAN: Swat Valley police are giving up in face of Taliban attacks.

IRAQ boosted security in Anbar province on Thursday after allegations of vote fraud raised fears of violence ahead of the release of election results.  Meanwhile, a senior member of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia has been killed in a shootout, police said on Thursday.

A PUPPY found frozen to the ground is being nursed back to health. Awww...

BILBO the LIFEGUARD DOG is starring in a video appeal to British PM Gordon Brown to get his job back. Clip at the link.

BILL GATES unleashed mosquitoes on an audience to promote Malaria awareness.

HOG FARMERS are a greater threat to the US and democracy than Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network, says Robert F. Kennedy Jr.