Link-O-Rama …

The music industry must change if it wants to survive. So says Financial Times

Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen joins in Rockford, IL, theatre revitalization effort – Rockford Register Star

Sure, Ray Davies is a great songwriter. But is the Kinkster a great poet? – The New York Times / Paper Cuts

Comparing Pink Floyd’s Animals to the current U.S. presidential election campaigns – Gwinnett Herald

Q&A with Sam Bush – Connect Savannah Online

Ozzy Osbourne takes questions, gives answers – The New Zealand Herald

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

Two things you want to do. That is, if you haven’t already done so. First, read the item we posted about an hour ago about Cyndi Lauper’s The B-52’s, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Rosie O’Donnell, Indigo Girls, Deborah Cox, Regina Spektor, Tegan and Sara, Joan Armatrading and The Cliks on specific dates. Secondly, take a look at the itinerary for an amphitheatre near you.

Bad Religion is doing a House Of Blues run on the west coast. In March the dates are 12 and 14 – 16 in West Hollywood, and April takes the band to lovely Anaheim for gigs on April 3 – 4 and 5.

English comic Eddie Izzard comes back to the colonies for shows in March, April and May. With multiple nights in many top-10 markets cities include New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas, Miami, Boston, Washington and Atlanta.

During the past couple of hours we also updated the schedules for Bobby Vinton, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, Amp Fiddler, Charlie Musselwhite, Jason Boland & The Stragglers, Kid Rock, Lou Reed, Loudon Wainwright III, Mark Chesnutt, Randy Crouch, Simple Minds, Wade Hayes and Willy DeVille.

And that’s the way it stands at the halfway point. More concert data coming right up in Your Latest Update, scheduled for around 3 pm (PST), from Pollstar.com!

This Day In Music History … (from Associated Press)

In 1960, Elvis Presley was discharged from the U-S Army in one of the most publicized returns of a soldier since General Douglas MacArthur.

In 1963, country singers Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins were killed when their small plane crashed near Camden, Tennessee. The three were returning to Nashville from Kansas City, where they had participated in a benefit concert for the widow of a disc jockey killed in a car crash.

In 1969, the rock magazine Creem published its first issue.

In 1989, Pepsi Cola in the U-S said it would withdraw its Madonna TV ads from any station that showed the singer’s new video, “Like a Prayer.” Pepsi in Canada declined to take similar action. But in any case the entire Madonna-Pepsi campaign was scrapped a month later. The video, which already had been banned in Italy, showed a scantily-clad Madonna kissing the naked feet of a statue in a church sanctuary and caressing a priest. Pepsi had paid the singer a reported $5 million dollars to star in a two-minute TV commercial, featuring the same music as the video but showing a more subdued Madonna.

Also on this date in 1998, singer Mariah Carey flew to the Dominican Republic for a quickie divorce from Sony Music president Tommy Mottola. They had separated the previous May after five years of marriage.

Still on this date in 1998, the teenage daughter of heavy-metal star Ozzy Osbourne paid $16,000 at a charity auction in Los Angeles for the privilege of hanging out with the teen band Hanson. Aimee Osbourne’s prize included socializing, concert tickets and backstage passes.