The Cure will warm up for its three-night stand at London’s Hammersmith Apollo next week with a pair of special guest appearances on Thursday and Friday at the Brian and Robin’s Christmas Compendium of Reason benefit concert, performing “a small clutch of ‘happy hits'” both nights.

The prospects of The Smiths all gathering in the same room — forget about a live performance, just getting the four together behind a podium would have been a miracle — were dashed early Tuesday when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced next year’s inductees, a list that did not include the first-time nominees.

Earlier this fall, Athens, Ga.-based suicide prevention organization Nuçi’s Space launched a fundraising campaign to help save the steeple of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, famous in R.E.M. lore as the site of the first gig by Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe on April 5, 1980.

This week’s new releases include a pair of bonus-laden CD reissues from Trip Shakespeare, plus vinyl re-releases from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (From Her to Eternity, Firstborn is Dead, Kicking Against the Pricks, Your Funeral… My Trial), The Misfits and The Melvins.

Just a couple months after the unreleased “Same Old Madness” was included on the reissue of Ministry’s classic Twelve Inch Singles, another early With Sympathy-era track is seeing the light of day — this time courtesy of bandleader Al Jourgensen, who has famously distanced himself from his band’s early synthpop days.

Tonight’s edition of “Dark Wave” on Sirius XM’s 1st Wave featured Christmas music from Al Jourgensen, Wayne Hussey, Cocteau Twins, X, Wall of Voodoo and The Fall, plus tracks from The Sisters of Mercy, Tones on Tail, TSOL, Camouflage, Pailhead and more.

R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe appeared on “CBS This Morning” today to help promote the band’s recently released “REMTV” DVD box set, discussing the band’s history and his own future and the (un)likelihood that we’ll ever see an R.E.M. reunion (“That will never happen. There’s no point.”).