Tonight’s episode of ‘Dark Wave’ — the weekly Sunday night show on Sirius XM’s classic-alternative station 1st Wave — manged a few nice surprises, including not one but two of long-forgotten U.K. synthpop duo Vicious Pink’s 1985 singles (‘Fetish,’ ‘Cccan’t You See’), and a dash of avant-garde electronic artist Anne Clarke (‘Our Darkness’).

Tonight in San Sebastian, Spain, U2 dusted off fan favorite “Spanish Eyes” — the B-side to “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” — for the first time since 2001, and only the third time since ‘The Joshua Tree’ tour in 1987.

With its as-yet-untitled new record nearly complete, Duran Duran today announced its first South African concerts in 17 years, a five-date run in December that’s being billed as ‘the start of an enormous global campaign around the release of their next studio album.’

Long-dormant Canadian New Wave act Men Without Hats — or at least frontman Ivan Doroschuk and some backing musicians — will return to the stage tonight in British Columbia as a ‘publicity stunt’ to help promote next year’s planned ‘DanceIfYouWantTour 2011,’ much to the apparent displeasure of Doroschuk’s brother and former bandmate.

Fans of The Wedding Present have two new live collections to look forward to this fall: ‘Bizarro: Live in Tokyo 2010,’ a download-only full-album performance of the band’s 1989 album; and ‘Live 1989,’ a 2CD reissue of two of the cassettes the band sold at concerts and through its fanzine in the late ’80s.

Just stumbled across this and had to share: Sonic Youth delivering a glorious, 12-minute version of ‘Expressway to Yr. Skull,’ off 1986’s ‘EVOL,’ that was filmed by Big Ass Lens at the band’s July 31 show in New York City’s Prospect Park.

It’s one of the more unlikely covers you’ll ever hear: former New Order frontman Bernard Sumner crooning Elvis Presley’s melodramatic 1969 hit ‘In the Ghetto’ in a new recording made by the singer’s current band Bad Lieutenant for a forthcoming charity album to benefit a U.K. homeless advocacy group.

Today we celebrate Concrete Blonde frontwoman Johnette Napolitano’s 53rd birthday by forgoing some of the more obvious cuts from the late ’80s or the band’s breakthrough album ‘Bloodletting,’ and instead digging up this early 1994 performance of ‘Mexican Moon’ on the ‘Late Show with David Letterman.’

The Pet Shop Boys today revealed the tracklist for their upcoming 19-song best-of ‘Ultimate Pet Shop Boys’ — which also will be available as a special edition with a bonus DVD of vintage BBC live performances — and announced the set will close with a newly recorded single called ‘Together.’

Largely sidelined by the 2001 suicide of frontman Stuart Adamson, Scottish New Wave rockers Big Country — immortalized by their iconic hit ‘In a Big Country’ — have drafted Mike Peters of The Alarm to take over as lead singer for a series of 30th anniversary concerts beginning New Years Eve.

Fans who purchase Yazoo’s forthcoming ‘Reconnected Live’ album on iTunes will get a much-coveted bonus: the previously unreleased track ‘Get Set,’ recorded by Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke in 1983 for use as the theme to the BBC children’s TV show ‘Get Set For Summer.’

This week’s releases include new studio albums from OMD, ex-Orange Juice frontman Edwyn Collins and reunited no-wave act Swans; plus a new Jesus and Mary Chain best-of; and expanded reissues of the Bangles’ first two albums, ‘All Over the Place’ and ‘Different Light.’

Beginning Monday, fans of The Cure will be able to bid on a double-vinyl edition of the new ‘Disintegration’ reissue signed by Robert Smith that’s being auctioned off to help raise money for the West Memphis 3 legal defense fund.