Reunited 2 Tone ska legends The Specials made their third American late-night TV appearance this year tonight, performing ‘Night Klub’ on ‘The Late Show with David Letterman.’

San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall this fall hosts a pair of truly special concerts dubbed ‘Costello Sings Lowe/Nick Sings Elvis,’ a one-night charity event that will feature Elvis Costello performing songs by his onetime producer Nick Lowe, and vice versa.

Having spent the better part of the last month touring their native Australia, pop-rock powerhouse Hoodoo Gurus will venture overseas in late September and to play shows in Spain, France and the U.K., followed by a brief seven-city tour of the United States in October.

In keeping with Morrissey tradition, the forthcoming 20th anniversary edition of ‘Bona Drag’ will feature new — or at least slightly altered — artwork.

That once-angry young man, Elvis Costello, turns 59 today, and to commemorate the occasion, we cast our spotlight not on the rocker’s brilliantly prolific early period, but, rather, his late-’80s, post-Attractions comeback following a nearly three-year break: the 1989 album ‘Spike,’ a personal favorite.

Classic synthpop group Heaven 17 will reissue its celebrated 1981 debut ‘Penthouse and Pavement’ this November as a multi-disc ‘super luxury box set’ that will include a full CD of newly unearthed eight-track demos, band co-founder Martyn Ware tells Slicing Up Eyeballs.

College-rock fixture-to-be R.E.M. released its landmark debut EP, ‘Chronic Town,’ 28 years ago today, and to commemorate the anniversary, we present alternate versions of three of the record’s five songs: a faster version of ‘Wolves, Lower’; ‘Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)’ with different vocals and no fadeout; and ‘Shaking Through,’ featuring an organ in the mix.