Link-O-Rama …

What’s Bow Wow been up to? Convincing people their vote counts, that’s what’s up with the rapper – Orangeburg Times Democrat

The Christian music industry and the economy – tough times, indeed – Beliefnet

25 years after the movie, Kenny Loggins still loves “Footloose” – Macomb Daily

Composer who penned Uganda’s national anthem wants his royalties – The Guardian U.K.

Travis frontman Fran Healy cops to illegally downloading music, but says he buys the CD if he likes what he hears – The Sun U.K.

Catching up with Lady GaGa – The Age (Australia

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

It turns out Australia’s Big Day Out festival won’t be the only reason for Neil Young booking a flight to the land Down Under. In addition to the big music festival, Mr. Young has also added a few dates of his own. Appearing with My Morning Jacket, the new dates are January 21 in Boondall at Brisbane Entertainment Centre, January 24 in Haymarket at Sydney Entertainment Centre and January 28 in Melbourne at Sidney Myer Music Bowl.

Beck adds Japan to his 2009 plans. Dates include March 18 in Sendai at Zepp Sendai, March 19 in Nagoya at Zepp Nagoya, March 22 in Osaka at Zepp Osaka and March 24 – 25 in Tokyo at Bay NK Hall.

We posted a slew of dates for The Damned this morning, including stops in the U.S. as well as Ireland and the United Kingdom. U.S. shows include West Hollywood at the House Of Blues on Halloween, December 30 and New Year’s Eve in NYC at Blender Theatre At Gramercy and Boston on January 4 at Paradise Rock Club. Dates across the pond include London on November 18 at Carling Academy Islington, Dublin on November 28 at Button Factory, Belfast on November 29 at The Belfast Empire Music Hall, Norwich on December 11 at Waterfront and back to London on December 13 for a gig at The Forum.

And it’s U.S. and Canada in December for The Black Dahlia Murder with dates including the 1st in Iowa City at The Picador, the 3rd in Colorado Springs at Black Sheep, the 7th in Vancouver, British Columbia, at Richard’s On Richards Cabaret, Quebec City on the 16th at L’Anti and Montreal on the 17th at Le National.

So far our intrepid group of concert data researchers (1,431 strong and counting, all of them carefully screened for your safety) has also updated the schedules for The Acacia Strain, Tea Leaf Green, Simple Minds, Shonen Knife, Stars, Liz Mandeville, Jack’s Mannequin, David ‘Honeyboy’ Edwards, Casting Crowns, Snow Patrol, The Outlaws, The Vines, Travis, Tommy James & The Shondells and Yngwie Malmsteen.

But that’s only the first half of this fine, fine Friday. Check out the latest concert information in Your Latest Update, posting around 3 pm (PDT) on Pollstar.com!