If you happen to stop into a Target this weekend and see a preponderance of people clad in purple, don't be alarmed -- they're just Prince fans.

On Sunday, three albums from rock's reigning funk genius will go on sale exclusively at the retailer (though you can also get them by buying a membership to the artist's Lotusflow3r.com website).

For years, there have been Austin shadow parties and festivals in opposition to SXSW's corporate juggernaut -- the best, known affectionately as Fuck by Fuck You, booked local (and international) punk bands to squall and scream and spill beer all over the backyard of a venue called the "Typewriter Museum" (the 2009 event was redubbed Type by Type Writer).

Of all the taglines coming from current reality TV -- "Make it work," "Pack your knives and go," "Your shot at love is over" -- by far the fiercest and most resonant is RuPaul's pump-stomping command, "It's time to l-l-l-lip-synch for your lives!"

No Doubt kick off their first tour in more than five years on May 5, at New Jersey's Bamboozle Festival (see all tour dates). To get the inside details on what fans can expect from the longtime Orange County hitmakers, we sat down with them recently in Los Angeles:

The Watchmen is without a doubt the most highly anticipated superhero film since, uh, last summer's The Dark Knight.

On his website, blink-182 singer/bassist Mark Hoppus responded to something I posted in a blog yesterday.

Given all the new beneficiaries of President Obama's economic stimulus package -- first-time home-buyers, small business owners, unemployed bloggers -- the American rock music industry seems to have been cruelly overlooked. For just a fraction of that $787 billion, many singers and rappers at risk could be pulled from the brink of ruin.

February 20 marks what would have been Kurt Cobain's 42nd birthday. He died almost fifteen years ago, on April 5, 1994.

We don't know all the details, but unless a lot of people are very wrong about a lot of things, R&B star Chris Brown physically assaulted his girlfriend, pop starlet Rihanna, last weekend just before both were set to perform at the Grammys.