Even though MTV was popular back in the 80s I don't think it held either Plant or Page back from making the music they truly wanted to make.

Horrible Bosses was way more funnier than I was expecting, especially given the dark tone. Bad Teacher? Not so much.

There's a couple of Yardbird's 7" singles that are due for release on the Black Friday edition of Record Store Day on 11.25.11., "Ten Little Indians" and "Ha Ha Said the Clown".

From one of two new records Tim Easton has released this year:

I'm still a fan. I just don't care a whole lot for the band that continues to call themselves "Lynyrd Skynyrd".

34 Years Ago Today

Terry Anderson and the Olympic Ass Kickin' Team with Erica Blinn as part of the Ass Kickin' Team's residency every Wednesday this month at Deep South in Raleigh. Just so happens the OAK Team and Erica both have new albums out so last night was the CD release party for them.

Spin magazine has posted a video of R.E.M. and Neil Young performing "Country Feedback" during the Bridge School Benefit in 1998. You can watch it here. The Bridge School Benefit 25th Anniversary collection (3 DVDs/2 CDs) is due for release on October 24th.

In light of recent events, R.E.M. have released a new video for "Welcome To the Occupation" that includes lyrics. The music is taken from Live From the Olympia.

Vanessa Hay of Pylon backed by the Dead Milkmen at PopFest in Athens, GA this past weekend doing Pylon's "Crazy". R.E.M. also covered it as a b-side which later appeared on Dead Letter Office, a collection of odds n' ends that came out in 1987. R.E.M. covering "Crazy" for the first time in years while on tour for In Time in 2003.

To watch Wilco on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert, click here.

Over the weekend someone uploaded these previously unseen photos of R.E.M. opening for the Brains at Memorial Hall on the campus of the University of Georgia in Athens from May 16th, 1980 to the Getty Images website.

North Mississippi All-Stars with the Alabama Shakes at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh last night. I've been hearing a lot about the Alabama Shakes since this past summer when they opened a few shows for the Drive-By Truckers. When I saw that they were on this bill it definitely registered on my radar. I was kind of on the fence about going because there's been so many good concerts coming through as of late but once the time came, I couldn't resist. They were well worth it and a very fitting opener for the North Mississippi All-Stars. Their brand of R & B, Soul and Rock n' Roll rattled the rafters. Mixed in with that were some R & B ballads ready made for slow dancing. Even though I picked up their debut, Shake Hands With Shorty back when it first came out, his was only my second time seeing the North Mississippi All-Stars. The first time was during the second Austin City Limits Music Festival in 2003. Last year I saw Luther Dickinson playing lead guitar with the Black Crowes and in early 2011 I saw Luther and Cody open for the Band of Joy in a scaled down (by one) version of the North Mississippi All-Stars. Last night's show was a full throttle blues extravaganza with some very inspired side turns into chicken pickin' guitar, gospel and folk with Luther switching out a variety of string instruments and Cody playing guitar and electric washboard in addition to his drum duties. Meanwhile Chris Chew held it all down bass with occasional turns on lead vocals, most notably "I'd Love To Be A Hippie".

Though I've heard of 7 Walkers, I haven't actually heard their music yet. In regards to Robert Hunter, he's also contributed songs to Furthur and to Jim Lauderdale.

Listen to a stream of the new R.E.M. song by clicking on the image below.

I enjoyed this but had no idea it was actually two feature length movies on one DVD. Apparently, it originally aired on AMC as part of their original programming.

I don't always get a chance to tune in but that is one of my favorite programs. If I miss it on XM's XMPR channel I still have the option of listening to the archived segments online.

I've never heard that Stipe wasn't a fan of "Superman". As for the other part of your question, this comes from the R.E.M. FAQ page:

Never before seen footage of R.E.M. opening for the English Beat in Daytona Beach, FL:

If I'm not mistaken, it came from an interview Peter Buck did that's on the In View DVD compilation. Too bad they never got use Love and Squalor for an album title. Maybe they can work into the box set somehow.

Just another evening at the Van Halen household.