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On the way: Tim McGraw

He'll be at Sprint Center on June 17 and he'll be Faithless -- with Jason Aldean and Halfway to Hazard (but no Def Leppard). One of his official tour sponsors: KC Masterpiece.

Happy 25th, "Thriller"

It's safe to assume that there will never be a crossover album as huge and successful and influential as "Thriller." The title track's video was mindblowing at the time; bringing in Eddie V. for the solo on "Billie Jean" was billiant. "Thriller" was everywhere, all the time for a couple of years and deserved to be. The 25th anniversary edition comes out on Feb. 12. To hear people involved (like Quncy J.) and some awestruck bystanders talk about the album and its consequences, go to MJ's YouTube channel. 

Sharon Jones: A fan's notes

Some of us wussed out last night because of the weather and stayed home instead of driving to Lawrence and seeing one of the best live bands out there. Not our guy and regular commentator, Wadkc, who files this dispatch after seeing/hearing Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings on Tuesday:

Sometimes making the cold, late night trek to hear some live music in Lawrence pays off in a “best of 2008” event. Last night was one of those nights. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings brought their funky grooves to the Granada.

Her tight band started off the night with a couple of warm-up tunes, a la James Brown or Magic Slim & the Tear Drops. This would not be the only James Brown comparison.

Amy Winehouse has used this band on occasion but to no better effect that what they laid down with Jones on their recent CD, “100 Days, 100 Nights.” All eight members were there: three horn players, two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer and a percussionist.

Billboard charts: New home for the little guys

The best-selling album of the week ending Jan. 27 was the "Juno" soundtrack, which is No.1 on this week's Billboard Top 200 chart. According to Billboard, it's the first soundtrack to reach No.1 since last year, when the soundtrack to  "Dreamgirls" did it, and the first soundtrack from an Academy Award best-picture nominee to do it since "Titanic" exactly 10 years ago.

Warped Tour has a time, but no place (yet)

Above: Last summer, Paramore was a big attraction at the Warped Tour. File photos.

It's coming here -- somewhere -- on July 2. The 18-plus bands include the Bronx, Gym Class Heroes, Reliant K, The Academy Is ... and Reel Big Fish.

Warped has been in the parking lot east of Sandstone Amphitheater the past several years. However, we've also heard it may move to the parking lot outside Kemper Arena this year. For now, the site is TBA.

Just like heaven: Cure tickets on sale Saturday

The show is May 19 at Starlight Theatre. Tickets are $40 to $75. Word is they'll go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday via Ticketmaster.

Irish events at Cultural Center

The Irish Museum and Cultural Center in Union Station has a lot of events planned in the run-up to St. Patrick's Day. Many of them include music, like an Elders show on Feb. 23 and the Dublin Fire Brigade Pipes & Drums on March 16. Check out the schedule.

Local news: What goes with Winger?

Above: Kip Winger and the band he founded sing "Seventeen" (and he doesn't mean the magazine).

Jim Kilroy, the Arthur Bryant of heavy rock in KC, is sponsoring an event that has nothing to do with Club Wars and the winner takes all: the opening spot for Winger at the Beaumont Club. The Battle of the Bands starts at 9 p.m. Feb. 23 at Danny's Bar & Grill, 13350 College Blvd. in Lenexa. You must be at least 21 years old to get through the doors. The competitors: Lucid Fiction, Weatherspoon, Blackout Velvet, Crash The Car and After Burn.  The Winger show at the Beaumont is March 5. Tickets are $20. That one's an all-ages show.

All of Sparks (no Jordin)

This trend of classic artists' playing their classic albums in their entirety lately has been pretty thrilling, especially for diehard fans.  A couple really stand out to me (Bowie's 2002 BowieNet-only show of "Low" and "Heathen" or Patti Smith's unreal 2005 Meltdown "Horses"), but Sparks are getting ready to outdo the others.

'Little Steven' radio show coming to KC

"Little Steven’s Underground Garage," a two-hour internationally syndicated weekly radio show, begins in this area on 99.7 FM (KBLV) -- “The Boulevard" -- from 10 p.m. till midnight on Sunday, Feb. 3.

Here's part of the play list from the Jan. 20 show, which included the Stones, the Beatles, the Ramones, the Kinks, the Searchers ...

Yeah, it's late on a Sunday night, but this is still good news. (That's him on the right, yelling at Patty Scialfa to get out of his way.)