As this week’s rock and roll steeplechase thunders out over the jumps, the following runners and riders make it past the post …

… “First he changed music. Then he changed the world!” and other over-cooked biopic sells.

… Billy Joel returns by the miracle of Artificial Ignorance.

… what you learn from visiting rock stars’ childhood homes.

… what’s Malta done to deserve a four-day Liam Gallagher festival?

… the one thing that’s never changed about Country Music.

… how Hotel California ended up in court.  

… Sam Mendes’ Beatles project and the problem with actors playing very famous people.

… Beyoncé’s ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’: sampled banjo and other misdemeanours.

… from Watergate to Putin: the 50 year-old record so lean, smart and cynical that the world’s only just catching up.

… Don Henley on Irving Azoff: “He may be Satan but he’s OUR Satan.”

… Rock sea-cruises: “get your marital vows renewed by a member of Weezer!”

... why CD has ruined Jackson Browne’s For Everyman.

… what Hugh Grant superimposed on the character of Jeremy Thorpe.  

… and birthday guest Adrian Ainsworth - Arse Curtains and other career-limiting band names.

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