There was much consternation last month when This Charming Charlie, the Tumblr that so brilliantly mashes up panels from old “Peanuts” comic strips with The Smiths lyrics, announced it had received demands from Universal Music Publishing Group that it take down posts over unauthorized use of the band’s lyrics.

On Friday, Ministry debuted the video for new single “PermaWar,” and while bandleader Al Jourgensen gave the clip a cursory plug on his recently launched Facebook page, he was preoccupied with something far more pressing: a “Caddyshack”-like battle against a “thug gang of asshole raccoons.”

Peter Hook announced this week that he’ll release a digital live album capturing his performance of New Order’s first two albums with his band The Light in Manchester earlier this year, then took the opportunity today to swipe at his ex-bandmates’ performance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” last night.

Hours after announcing the rescheduling of his trouble-plagued U.S. tour, Morrissey backed out of tomorrow’s night appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” — which was to have re-launched the tour — saying he could not appear on the same program as the “animal serial killers” from the A&E reality series “Duck Dynasty.”

It’s an election year, which means a steady stream of musicians asking candidates to stop playing their music at campaign rallies. Now comes R.E.M., which today demanded Fox News stop its “unlicensed and unauthorized” use of the band’s “Losing My Religion” in its coverage of the Democratic National Convention.

Morrissey, as he’s wont to do, made headlines this week with a typically acerbic attack on his native England, this time blasting the London Olympics over “the blustering jingoism that drenches the event” and suggesting that the “spirit” of Nazi Germany no pervades modern-day Britain. Billy Bragg disagrees.

With Morrissey’s libel case against the NME slated to go to trial in a month, the music weekly today apologized to the singer, writing, ‘We wish to make clear that we do not believe that he is a racist; we didn’t think we were saying he was and we apologise to Morrissey if he or anyone else misunderstood our piece in that way.’

Elvis Costello’s new live box set ‘The Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook!!!’ is currently listed at $262.39 on Amazon.com, and if you think that’s a ridiculous price for a release that features just one CD, one DVD and one 10-inch vinyl record’s worth of music, you’re not alone — Costello himself does, too.

Peter Hook continues to lash out at his former bandmates, saying he wants to ‘fuck New Order over in any possible way I can’ and that he believes the band — which is reuniting without him for a pair of European charity gigs — is now planning to mount a full American tour as well.

Robert Smith’s not happy with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, slamming the organization online for not mentioning his just-nominated band’s current drummer in its bio of the group, writing, ‘Jason Cooper is The Cure’s drummer — and it sickens me that he doesn’t get a name check… bah!’

Peter Hook this morning called New Order’s surprise decision to reunite without him ‘very sad,’ saying ‘the other three’ didn’t tell him they’d decided to play two October concerts — and that, ultimately, ‘everyone knows New Order without Peter Hook is like Queen without Freddie Mercury, U2 without The Edge, Sooty without Sweep!’

Following yesterday’s brouhaha over Morrissey’s comments on stage about the mass murder in Norway, the former Smiths frontman today released an official statement condemning the killing as ‘horrific,’ but reiterating his attack on fast-food meat, writing, ‘You cannot ignore animal suffering because animals “are not us.” ‘

Leave it to Morrissey to attack his own fans: At a gig Monday night in Bradford, England, the former Smiths frontman and his band took the stage for an encore of ‘This Charming Man’ wearing matching black T-shirts emblazoned with an all-caps declaration, ‘FUCK MORRISSEY-SOLO.COM.’