News …

Writers Guild will not picket Grammys – Los Angeles Times (registration may be required)

£10 million pounds each ($19.5 million U.S.) adds up to a lot of spice for The Spice Girls – The Evening Standard

The stars shine for Obama – Associated Press

Yazoo to “reconnect” with U.K. tour – Virgin Media

Drug video may result in charges against Amy Winehouse – The Times Online

Kimya Dawson says having her songs on the motion picture soundtrack for “Juno” makes her “totally scared” – The New York Times (registration may be required)

Views …

Plain White T’s in London “swooned as languidly as ever ” – The Evening Standard

Morrissey at London’s Roundhouse – “no longer resembles the snake-hipped visionary of yore” – Guardian U.K.

Chris Botti in St. Louis – “What a pleasure to be reminded of the freshness of jazz and the vibrancy of its chaotic nature” – The Current

The Police still pack a Sting Down Under – Courier Mail

Marilyn Manson in Miami “brought rock back to a place where it belonged all along – to the place of spectacle” – Miami New Times

James Blunt in Wolverhampton – “mixing genres such as blues and rock and displaying expert musicianship with both the guitar and piano” – Express and Star

They Say It’s Their Birthday … (Or so says Associated Press)

Anita Pointer (Pointer Sisters) is 60

Danny Federici of (Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band) is 58

Bill Cunningham (Box Tops) is 58

Robin Zander (Cheap Trick) is 55

Anita Baker is 50

Earl Falconer (UB40) is 49