THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with SHINDIG! This special, featuring groovy gals, is Tubed in three parts. Part 1 includes the Shangri-Las - "Give Him A Great Big Kiss"; Aretha Franklin - "Shoop Shoop Song"; Leslie Gore - "Judy's Turn To Cry"; and Ketty Lester - "Love Letters." Part 2 includes -- The Toys - "Lover's Concerto"; Jackie DeShannon - "What The World Needs Now"; The Supremes - "Baby Love" and Fontella Bass - "Rescue Me." Part 3 includes The Blossoms - "I Like It Like That"; Petula Clark - "Downtown"; and Tina Turner - "Ooh-Poo-Pah-Doo."

JIMMY CLIFF stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

RHETT MILLER & THE SERIAL LADY KILLERS play a set of tunes from his newest solo album, The Dreamer, at KEXP.

DIAMOND RUGS, ft members of Deer Tick, Black Lips, and Los Lobos, played live from NYC on KEXP.

U2, Live in Dublin, Aug. 28, 1993.

JONATHAN RICHMAN gives a rare interview to SF Weekly about the internet, air conditioning, and being a Godfather of Punk. So why not a live take on "Roadrunner" at Joey Ramone's birthday party? (Thx, LHB.)

JOE PERNICE talks to the Calgary Herald about forthcoming albums from the Scud Mountain Boys and the Pernice Bros.(Thx, Chromewaves.)

THE KINKS are dropping sets of BBC archives.

THE BEST ALBUMS of 2012 (So Far), according to Paste, with embedded previews via Rdio. More from Uncut.

22 MUSIC LEGENDS, from Steve Albini to Brian Wilson, give advice to aspiring musicians via Blurt: Part 1 and Part 2.

CUTOUT BIN: From First Class to Supergrass, from the Zombies to the Jesus & Mary Chain, from Bruce Springsteen to Terry Jacks, plus CCR, Grant Hart, the Beach Boys, Jane's Addiction, The Yarbirds and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases include: Ted, currently scoring xx percent on the ol' Tomatometer; Magic Mike, which is currently scoring xx percent; People Like Us, scoring xx percent; and Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection, which predictably was not screened for critics.

ANN CURRY left Today yesterday.

ALEC BALDWIN and his bride-to-be have so little faith that their A-list guests and closest relatives won't blab about their wedding-reception plans that the details will be sent by text message on the day of their nuptials. Leakers will be punched out by the groom.

GEORGE CLOONEY & JENNIFER ANISTON board a private jet together; paparazzi spontaneously combust.

JOHNNY DEPP & AMBER HEARD are "100 percent dating."

ASHTON KUTCHER & MILA KUNIS: Not exclusive.

EVA LONGORIA & EDUARDO CRUZ: Dunzo.

COMMUNITY: The entire cast - including Chevy Chase - will return, in the wake of the firing of show creator Dan Harmon.

TOTAL RECALL: The reboot has a new trailer online.

IRAN's hardline government has hailed the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Mursi's victory in Egypt's first democratic presidential polls as "an Islamic awakening" in the region.

EGYPT's religious affairs ministry has sent a letter to all the country' imams ordering them not to accept invitations from Tehran to visit Iran or face "serious" punishment. Egypt's presidency planned to reveal how Islamist President-elect Mohamed Mursi would be sworn in at the weekend in a ceremony whose symbolism the Muslim Brotherhood and interim military rulers have both struggled to shape.

PIGLET vs CAT, Round 1.

2000 MICE were stolen by heroin addicts, but rescued by police.

PET HOARDING: A judge has ruled that a Florida man cannot care for nearly 700 cats removed from his cat sanctuary while he faces multiple animal cruelty charges.

ESCAPED ANIMALS = Ratings Gold, Jerry.

DOLPHIN & SEAL, inseparable pals... Mass hysteria!