The producers of American Idol think they can find The Next Great American Band on TV (and no, they’re not talking about the next great Grand Funk Railroad). We think we can find some pleasure in this pursuit with our Rock Reality Show Recaps. Here’s our fourth report:

Two Great American Reality Hours in Three Sentences: Occasionally tuneless Detroit garage-rockers the Muggs and always-tuneless gal-punx Rocket, two bands Dicko claimed were a victim of “death by lead singer,” were sent home. After last week’s catty diatribe by the Hatch (”I’d like to say that America has spoken … I think about 300 people in Nebraska have spoken”) neither band were allowed to say goodbye beyond a silent blown kiss and an uncomfortable fidget. The remaining eight bands (including all the country groups — shocking news about a show where Americans choose the results) covered Billy Joel. The complete lack of rap groups on the series makes our yearning for the inevitable hip-hop “We Didn’t Start the Fire” cover even more tangible. (more…)

In what had to be the worst-kept secret in recent record-contract history, Radiohead and ATO Records have come to terms and revealed that the band will physically release In Rainbows in the U.S. on January 2nd. The news comes on the heels of Radiohead’s deal for international distribution with XL Recordings, which was signed last week and will have Rainbows drop worldwide December 31st. The album will be released by Radiohead’s own imprint TBD Records, which means, as the band explains, they “ran into trouble in trying to clear all previously discussed potential label names,” thus TBD stands for “To Be Decided.” Hmm, something finally makes sense. The deal also makes sense considering ATO Records has been pushing “Bodysnatchers” and “Jigsaw Falling Into Place,” the first Rainbows single, on radio stations for several weeks. The band still plans to promote the album next spring with world tour dates, so until then, you’ll just have to bide your time with live versions of Björk’s “Unravel” and New Order’s “Ceremony.”

Related Stories:

• Radiohead Say Goodbye to EMI, Hello to ATO?
• Radiohead Break Out Covers of Smiths, New Order During Webcast
• Radiohead Denies “Wholly Inaccurate” Sales Figures, Ready “In Rainbows” CDs, First Single

• Led Zeppelin will be auctioning off three pairs of tickets for their December 10th reunion show. The auctions, each of which has a starting price of $10,000, begin tomorrow at 9 AM GMT and include invites to the afterparty. The auction will take place on Seatwave.com, and all proceeds go to benefit the Auction for Brazil’s Children Trust, a charity set up in partnership with Jimmy Page.

• Kanye West’s mother, Dr. Donda West, passed away Sunday morning “as the result of complications from a cosmetic surgical procedure,” according to her publicist. Donda West, 58, was chairwoman of Kanye’s education foundation and author of Raising Kanye: Life Lessons from the Mother of a Hip-Hop Star. Kanye had also written “Hey Mama” to Donda. He was in London when he received the news.

• The final three shows of Duran Duran’s Broadway stint will be rescheduled due to New York City’s stagehand strike, which began on Saturday (the band is searching for a new venue). In other labor news, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello supported striking television scribes by singing for 3,000 writers in front of Fox’s Century City headquarters Friday morning.

• Kelly Clarkson is reportedly preparing to release an album of Clive Davis-approved tracks in 2008 under the advice of her new manager. The first American Idol released My December earlier this year amid rumors of a falling out with the label head over song selection, and soon after swapped management teams and canceled a summer arena tour due to sluggish ticket sales.

• Mick Jagger’s son, James, is reportedly being sought to play his father in an upcoming Rolling Stones biopic. “If you’re looking for a young Mick Jagger and a young Keith Richards, I think the first place to look is in their own families,” says the film’s producer. The younger Jagger made his stage debut earlier this year, but representatives for the band and the Jagger family have yet to comment on these rumors.

Norman Mailer, the literary icon who helped frame New Journalism, died from acute renal failure today in Manhattan at the age of eighty-four. Rolling Stone spoke with the author for the first of our Fortieth Anniversary issues earlier this year, and in a sprawling interview with Mark Binelli, Mailer spoke out about taking drugs, President Bush and the future of America. Click below to listen to audio from that interview, and check back for more coverage of Mailer’s extraordinary life and career.

• On marijuana’s superiority to psychedelics for tapping into life’s mysteries, and why Timothy Leary was a “vapid asshole”:
• On why Bush would’ve committed Hari Kari by now if he really cared about America, and what exactly Nixon’s “inner light” might’ve smelled like:
• On the pursuit of knowledge in the “deadening” mediocrity of the Internet age:
• On who’s cut out for the Oval Office in 2008 — and why being a phony can be a good thing:
• On why TV commercials are the anti-Proust:

• The Eagles beat out Britney Spears to land at the top of the charts (click through to see our photographic interpretation of that event), but was their album only available exclusively at Wal-Mart as advertised? A Rolling Stone investigation.

• Prince got so angry with fans claiming he was wrong to go after copyrighted material on their Web sites that he wrote a funky song. That’ll show ‘em.

• Michael Jackson is smelly, and nine other things we learned from Ebony’s big cover feature on the star.

• Radiohead entertained us with a cover-packed Webcast, and released details about the physical release of their album — in the U.K.

• Amy Winehouse and Bob Dylan: The Great Awards Show Slur-Off! (more…)

Even though Radiohead slam-dunked their version of Björk’s “Unravel” during last night’s Webcast, it’s become apparent that the band has not got covers completely out of their system. We’re one hour into tonight’s live telecast, and have already enjoyed two covers: The Smiths’ “The Headmaster Ritual” and, for your viewing pleasure above, New Order’s “Ceremony.” The band also mixed in live versions of their own “Reckoner” (the debut performance of its current incarnation) and “Faust Arp,” which was previously recorded and performed in a field with singer Thom Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood. Between performances, the bandmembers have taken turns DJing (who knew drummer Phil Selway loved him some Iron & Wine?) and broadcasting Stanley Donwood animation as well as hilarious skits, like the Se7en-themed music video for “15 Step.” To join in, head over to www.radiohead.tv.

Does music have a social responsibility? Mary J. Blige tackled the question as part of our interviews about the future of music for our current issue. “From day one, I’ve been singing songs about women,” Blige says. “It’s my responsibility to walk what I’m talking about and say, ‘Okay, if I’m screaming about confidence, then I’ve got to be confident,’ because it’s a different job for me, it’s a different thing.” For more of Blige’s Q&A, click here, and for interviews with Maroon 5’s Adam Levine, Marilyn Manson, Gerard Way and more, click here.

Six months ago, we alerted you to Albumsix.com, and how it mysteriously re-routed visitors to Weezer.com, the official Web page of the band of the same name. After lead singer Rivers Cuomo told Rolling Stone that the band’s sixth album was due in April, we wondered whether Albumsix would finally reveal itself as a hoax or a legitimate site. Today, finally, came an answer. Visitors to the site now are greeted to two album plugs, one for Cuomo’s own Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo and the other for Weezer’s album six, which gets a release date complete with day of the month: April 22nd, 2008. Case closed.

Earlier this week, Jimmy Page revealed that the Led Zeppelin reunion concert would contain “a lot of songs that people would want to hear.” That’s incredibly vague, as any Zeppelin concert containing “a lot of songs that people would want to hear” would last roughly ten hours. To help Page and the boys draw up a more feasible setlist, we’re asking you what five songs must be played at the show. On Monday, we’ll poll together all the votes and announce the ultimate Zeppelin setlist. Until then, here are our personal picks:

• “When the Levee Breaks”
• “Misty Mountain Hop”
• “Ten Years Gone”
• “Down By the Seaside”
• “The Rain Song”

A new documentary, “Rolling Stone: Voice of Our Generation,” is hitting PBS this month; it’s hosted by Paul Shaffer and features interview footage with RS founder and editor Jann S. Wenner, along with clips of many of the artists who’ve made the cover over the years. Check out this snippet, featuring the Police, Bruce Springsteen and U2. “Voice of Our Generation” airs tomorrow on WLIW (channel 21) in New York and nationwide next week.

Nearly everyone agrees MTV’s Video Music Awards are a lost cause when it comes to offering up what its viewers actually want (live performances! cool presenters!) as opposed to what they unfortunately get (clips of live songs! footage playing up the glitz and glamor of the event! people partying who are not you!). But the VMAs’ little brother, the mtvU Woodies, are thankfully far more in touch with its college-age audience. Last night the fourth-annual show taped at New York’s Roseland Ballroom, and the lineup was packed with fan-voted nominees and performers who’ve carved out their own niches in hip-hop and rock, like Spank Rock. The Academy Is… and Tokyo Police Club. Lupe Fiasco and Rilo Kiley filled in for original headliner Amy Winehouse, who may well have been the Woodie’s Britney in Vegas had she not bailed last week due to visa troubles.

(To check out photos of Fall Out Boy, Rilo Kiley and the rest of the Woodies lineup, plus red-carpet interviews, click here.)

Highlights ranged from Lupe Fiasco’s opening performance of “Superstar” with guest vocals from Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump (in the house with his band to present Best Video Woodie) to onetime RS Artist to Watch The Academy Is… performing their breakthrough power ballad “Everything We Had” with a string section of Julliard students adding tear-jerking accompaniment. The performance-heavy lineup allowed most acts to play two full songs, as though mtvU was offering a mea culpa for the VMAs’ hotel-suite snippets. (more…)

• As if shadily beating out Britney Spears to the top Billboard spot wasn’t enough, Don Henley has now added insult to injury. Talking about the added pressure of being both a rock star and a father, Henley admits each band member is “Deeply involved in being a good parent and not having our kids grow up to be Paris Hilton or Britney Spears.” Ouch, Don, way to kick a girl when she’s down. Couldn’t you at least say “Hilton or Winehouse?”

• Michael Jackson will not lose the last vestige of his empire, the Neverland Ranch, according to his spokesperson. Even though Jackson is late on a $23 million loan, he plans to refinance the payment.

• In a shocking new study, it’s been found of 33 percent of all hit songs contain allusions to sex, drugs or alcohol. We say “shocking” only because we thought that number would be much higher. In really surprising news, only 14 percent of rock songs contain lyrics about substance abuse, while 80 percent (!) of rap songs deal with the topic. So much for “sex, drugs and rock & roll.”

• One Florida man is brazenly suing Apple for $15,000, stating that Apple is “in possession of monopoly power in the portable digital media player market, the online music market and the online video market and has the power to control prices in these respective markets and has been able to exclude competition from these respective markets.”