Going around the Intranets today, amusing summaries of things younger than John McCain (who turns 72 years old in August, for those of you keeping track). And now we have the song version. Moderately NSFW.

(Thanks yet again to my political guru, Brian.)

When I first moved to Raleigh in 1991, my favorite spot on the radio dial was 570-AM -- WLLE, a throwback to the days of old-fashioned community radio stations. In an increasingly digital world, WLLE was a place where you could still hear the vinyl popping. Listening to WLLE was like time-traveling back to the early '70s, with real live deejays spinning vintage soul, gospel and R&B platters and making cryptic on-air dedications. Regular folks turned up on the air, too, dropping by the station to get the word out about an upcoming school or church function.

But times change and WLLE succumbed to out-of-town ownership in 1997, its call letters consigned to history. Nowadays, the only thing heard at 570-AM is talk radio piped in from somewhere else. I was reminded of what we lost this week with the death of Bobby L. Rogers, known on the air back in the day as "Sweet Bob." Future state auditor/Raleigh city councilman Ralph Campbell Jr. was one of many locals who came of age with Sweet Bob and WLLE during the '60s.

"I grew up listening to him on WLLE, playing all the favorite songs and tunes," Campbell says. "He was very energetic, kept everything moving. And prior to being a deejay, he was senior life guard at Chavis Park. He taught me and my sister how to swim."

For more remembrances of "The Big Round Mound of Sound," see the obituary in Thursday's paper.

By now, you've no doubt seen or at least heard about the Bill O'Reilly "Inside Edition" flipout making the rounds. The latest piece of mischief to surface is the dance remix of same. Standard NSFW language warnings apply.

(Thanks, Brian.)

Whatever else can be said about the recent spate of local-band reunion shows, they've been great for the bottom line. According to Cat's Cradle manager Derek Powers, the first half of May has seen the nightclub's highest-ever beer sales -- mostly due to three nights of reunion shows by the Pressure Boys on May 2-3, and Polvo last Saturday.

"The reunion shows bring out a lot of people who haven't seen each other in a while, and they drink like fish," Powers says. "That first Pressure Boys show basically cleaned us out. We were almost completely out of beer by the end of the night."

Powers estimates that the Cradle sold about $27,000 worth of beer at 10 shows, and took in another $5,000 to $6,000 in bartender tips.

This has already been a power year for Shelby native Earl Scruggs, who won a Lifetime Acheivement Grammy Award back in February. Now he's going to be inducted into the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame next month. Induction is set for June 13 in Wilkesboro, with Mike Cross serving as emcee. Deep Gap's Doc Watson is among the other performers who will also be honored at the ceremony. For ticket details, call 336/838-6260.

The first time I saw this commercial, I thought the accompanying song ("It's Love" by Chris Knox) was the most annoying danged thing I'd ever heard. By the third viewing, I found myself humming it afterward. By the seventh, I could not get it out of my head; soon I was craving repeat hearings. And so I pass it on to you.

As a further point of possible interest, the spot was directed by "I'm Not There" director Todd Haynes.

From East Carolina University comes word of the discovery of a new species of spider, Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi, which is named after the venerable Canadian rock star Neil Young. After finding the spider in Alabama last year and determining it was an unidentified species, ECU scientist Jason Bond chose Young for a name because, he told Reuters, "I really enjoy his music and have had a great appreciation of him as an activist for peace and justice."

Hmm, wonder what the spider thinks of its namesake putting out his "Archives" series on the new Blu-Ray format?...

(Thanks, J8.)

If you neglected to pick up a card or flowers for your mom, send along this tribute in song from Kanye West. "Hey Mama" made for one of the more emotional moments at West's Raleigh show the other night.

Friday night's Kanye West show was my first concert of 2008 at Walnut Creek, although I guess it's supposed to be called Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek. Not that you'd know that from the big brown sign on Interstate 40, which still refers to the place as "Alltel Pavilion" (a name it hasn't had since 2006).

Inside, I didn't notice any major differences from last year, although someone else runs the place now. General manager Emma Bennett was laid off earlier this year in Live Nation's latest round of cutbacks (hey, that $120 million they owe Madonna has to come from somewhere). The new guy in charge is Peter O'Donnell, but he wasn't at Walnut Creek on Friday. O'Donnell was at Charlotte's Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (which he also oversees as general manager) tending to that night's Radiohead show. He missed a heckuva show over here, I'd say.

Maybe the most enthusiastic fan in the joint was seated right next to me, a young man named Elijah Branch, who hollered every lyric from start to finish. He was eager to see his name in print. "C'mon," he said when he saw my notebook, "quote me! Anything, I don't care. You can even make something up."

Nah, not necessary.

Word is that the Coal Men have cancelled their Saturday night show at Raleigh's Berkeley Cafe. Which means that you now have one less reason not to go see George Clinton at the Lincoln Theatre instead.

The late Frank Zappa is said to have declared, "Rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, for people who can't read." Two of those might be true -- but don't try to tell me Patterson Hood can't talk. In contrast to many of the terse-spoken folks I deal with, the Drive-By Truckers' spiritual leader is an absolute joy to interview. During a recent phone chat, the five questions I asked Hood yielded 40 minutes of talk about kids, the previous night's Springsteen show, firebrand politics and the real-life subjects of various Truckers songs, among other topics. Most of the conversation centered on the Truckers' latest album, "Brighter Than Creations Dark" (New West Records), which is named after a line in the song "Checkout Time in Vegas." According to Hood, settling on a title was the hardest part of making this record.

"We were thinking about 'Urban Bovine Kneivel,' a line from 'Opening Act,'" Hood said. "That was our second choice. But Wes Freed, who does our artwork, told us, 'I don't care what you call it, I'm drawing "Brighter Than Creation's Dark" because that's what I'm seeing.' So there it was."

For more, including talk about the Truckers' collaboration with soul goddess Bettye LaVette and their split with former bandmate Jason Isbell, see the interview in Friday's paper; and if that's not enough spieling for ya, click through to see a 2004 Q&A interview with Hood. The Truckers open a two-night stand at Carrboro's Cat's Cradle on Tuesday.

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The almost-complete lineups are out for this year's Raleigh Downtown Live free-concert series, and if you were hoping for an upgrade over last year... Well, you tell me:

May 31 -- The Wailers, Saunter, Pete and J, Jive Mother Mary
June 14 -- Cravin Melon, Pete Francis of Dispatch
June 28 -- Carbon Leaf, Colourslide, Bill West & the Sunshine Kids
July 12 -- Alter Bridge, Tantric, The T's, Kennebec, Cori Yarckin
July 26 -- Old 97s
Aug. 9 -- Brian Howe (Bad Company vocalist), Will Hoge, Jim Bianco
Aug. 23 -- Puddle of Mudd, Eve 6, Rev Theory, Saving Abel

I'll vouch for Old 97s on July 26, and it's nice to see the occasional local act in there. But most of this, I'm afraid, is Not So Much.

Actually, I do try to read The Economist, one of the best news magazines out there. And apparently, so does the Chicago rap duo Psikotic, if we are to believe "The Economist Rap" -- an adenoidal but highly entertaining homage to the venerable British magazine. Think They Might Be Giants with drum machines instead of accordions:

He reads Economist so he can get the gist/Its solid competence gives him confidence/That his intelligence is correct. He reads Economist so he can understand/It does a brain scan tryin' to do Iran/So he knows what to expect.

Psikotic's Website also has links to songs about the Internet, McDonald's and other equally odd tributes. Eat your heart out, Paul Barman.

(Thanks, Brian, via Foreign Policy.)

Q: Which of these songs is not like the other?

(1) Duran Duran, "Hungry Like the Wolf"
(2) Ike & Tina Turner, "Proud Mary"
(3) Bob Marley, "I Shot the Sheriff"
(4) Ben E. King, "Stand by Me"
(5) The Who, "Baba O'Riley"
(6) Sam Cooke, "A Change Is Gonna Come"
(7) Bob Dylan, "Mr. Tambourine Man"
(8) Elvis Presley, "Love Me Tender"

A: That would be song number one, covered by token "rocker dude" David Cook on Tuesday night's "American Idol" -- which was given over to selections from The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock 'n' Roll. I mean, yes, "HLtW" is good fun, in a cheesy-fondue kinda way. But (a) I'm amazed it's on the HoF's top-500 list at all; and (b) it sticks out on this list like Clay Aiken in a mosh pit at a Cannibal Corpse show.

Continuing our theme of letting the people have their say, I asked a couple of folks who went to Monday night's on-again-off-again Van Halen show in Raleigh to file reports. Click on through to see those; and if you went, feel free to add yours to the "Comments" section. Also, my review of the show last September in Greensboro is linked from here.

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