Slim Dunlap, who joined The Replacements following the expulsion of Bob Stinson and played guitar on the band’s last two albums, was hospitalized this week after suffering a “severe” stroke that has, according to his wife, left the 60-year-old partially paralyzed, but still ‘sharp and aware.’

Morrissey has issued a wide-ranging statement upon the completion of his recent U.S.-Mexico concerts (“It was a dream tour”) in which he seemingly gives up hope of signing a deal with a “grownup label,” claiming “the follow-up to Years of Refusal grows less and less likely.”

Former Depeche Mode member Alan Wilder is auctioning off a treasure trove of studio equipment, records and other memorabilia that spans his tenure with the synthpop group — including everything from Dave Gahan’s custom mic stands from the Devotional Tour to a pair of the keyboardist’s trousers.

Saturday night, following a U.K. solo-acoustic gig, The Alarm’s Mike Peters discovered someone had walked off with his lyric book. And he wants it back: ‘Mike has been using this book extensively… to play lesser-known songs requested by fans,’ according to a post on the Alarm’s site.

Guitarist Vini Reilly — frontman of iconic Factory Records post-punk outfit The Durutti Column — recently suffered ‘a minor stroke,’ according to a post today on the band’s website, ‘but after four days in hospital and then discharging himself he is well on the road to recovery.’

OK, so it’s not the most cheerful song if you actually listen to the lyrics, but there’s no denying this sounds great today: X’s classic country rocker ‘Fourth of July,’ written by short-lived member Dave Alvin and recorded for the ‘See How We Are’ album.

Ex-Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett’s political career hasn’t been going so great lately, and things went from bad to worse today when Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd demoted the former rocker over a “bungled home-insulation scheme,” according to Reuters.