BOWIE at 60: London's Observer looks forward to David Bowie's birthday next Monday with an essay and quotes from famous fans like Scarlett Johansson, Clive Owen, Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos, and more. I considered rolling out the standard video links -- "Ziggy Stardust," early Pate staple "Rebel Rebel" and so o­n. But there are more interesting and obscure Bowie clips o­n the Tube, like these pre-"Space Oddity" psych-pop clips for "When I'm Five" and "Let Me Sleep Beside You." Or this o­ne-camera video of "Suffragette City" from a gig at a French college in 1972. There is the spectacle of the Thin White Duke showing all the symptoms of his Dukedom in a 1974 interview with Dick Cavett. Bowie worked the R &B and funk during this period, as he does o­n this clip for "Stay" from The Dinah Shore Show circa 1975. He seemed wacked in that interview also, but Dinah liked him enough to have him back to play "Funtime" with Iggy Pop in '76. Someone named Gary White has posted rehearsal footage from Bowie's '76 tour, so you can watch him sing scat during "Changes."

From his "Berlin period," there is Bowie performing a short take of "Heroes" o­n that infamous Bing Crosby Christmas Special. And given his kinship with Lou Reed (who had his own Berlin period), it's a good spot to add the Velvet Underground-inspired "Queen B*tch" and "Waiting For The Man" with Lou Reed at Bowie's 50th Birthday Concert. I should also include 1979's "Ashes to Ashes," as it's mentioned in the Observer essay. That same year, Bowie reached into the back catalog to play "The Man Who Sold the World" o­n a nameless late-night comedy show, backed in part by a then-unknown Klaus Nomi. And while there's plenty of clips from his resurgence to super-stardom in the 80s, there is also his camp cover of "Dancing In The Street" with Mick Jagger from Live Aid, which was issued as a single and made a pile for charity (they were backed by Paul McCartney live). I think I'll skip right over the whole Tin Machine period and go right to Bowie touting new bands, including playing "Five Years" with the Arcade Fire while he was still recovering from his heart attack. Fortunately, he looks much better joining David Gilmour and Richard Wright for "Arnold Layne" in tribute to the late Syd Barrett. So, early Happy Birthday, Dave.

NEW RELEASES: There is nothing worth streaming from AOL again this week. Things start looking up next Tuesday, however.

THE YEAR AHEAD: Indeed, Stereogum already has a list of notable upcoming releases.

THE YEAR BEHIND: The BBC, to its credit, looks back at its critics' poll of picks to click for '06 to see how they did.

THE SLIP: These Berklee-trained, reformed hippies were about to give up when they were discovered by My Morning Jacket's Jim James, who raved about them to both The New York Times and Rolling Stone, as well as putting them o­n the MMJ tour. You can stream or download a mini-set for the Interface, as well as wqatch an interview o­n the DL, both via AOL.

JIMI HENDRIX congratulates the USC Trojans for "beating the h*ll out of Michigan before launching into "Power of Soul." Ripped from today's headlines!

THE LINE BETWEEN CREATIVITY and INSANITY: Chuck Klosterman compares the cases of Syd Barrett and Brian Wilson, though I think it slightly unfair that he ended his Wilson hunk with the Dr. Landy period.

RBALLY is still going strong, posting classic sets from the Jesus & Mary Chain o­n French radio (jukebox) and Social Distortion at First Avenue (jukebox).

DUELLING CRITICS' POLLS: The L.A. Times looks at the new rivalry between the Village Voice Pazz & Jop Poll and the Idolator blog poll due Friday, following the VV firing founder Robert Christgau, who will nevertheless vote in both polls: "I'm flattered that people care. I'm flattered that it matters to people so much. I've been mildly surprised about how big a deal it seems to be to a lot of people."

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The troubled singer flouted court-ordered travel restrictions in order to to see in the New Year with the supposedly sober supermodel o­n the appropriately-named island of Phuket, Thailand. And the Daily Mail is reporting the pair "married" there, though it's unclear whether it was a legal ceremony that would give Doherty the right to half the estimated