THE HUMAN LEAGUE will be the first band to play the Sheffield Carling Academy when they play a one-off hometown show there on April 20th.

PAUL WELLER - currently in the studio with a number of collaborators including Graham Coxon, Noel Gallagher and up and coming guitar band Little Barrie - has announced UK dates for May, playing twelve shows around the country in advance of the release of a new album '22 Dreams' which is currently scheduled for June. See GIGS for all the dates.

DEACON BLUE have confirmed that they will play the annual Summer Pops Festival in Liverpool on July 11th.

BELINDA CARLISLE, BANANARAMA, KID CREOLE AND THE COCONUTS, TOYAH, PAUL YOUNG, MIDGE URE and NICK HEYWARD will all appear on a very special HERE AND NOW bill at the British Motor SHow in London on July 27th, one day after a similar bill - KID CREOLE, BANANARAMA, BELINDA CARLISLE, HOWARD JONES, MIDGE URE, PAUL YOUNG, THE WEATHER GIRLS, HEAVEN 17, T'PAU and TOYAH - play an outdoor show at Exeter's Powderham Castle on July 26th.

DAVID BOWIE has provided vocals on two tracks on 'Anywhere I Lay My Head', the debut album from actress Scarlett Johansson.

REM have announced a summer tour around Europe in support of their forthcoming album 'Accelerate' which will include headline spots at this year's T In The Park and Oxegen Festivals and a show at London's Royal Albert Hall on March 24th, a week before the release of their new album 'Accelerate'. See GIGS for all the dates.

DEPECHE MODE are to be celebrated at a special London clubnight on February 23rd. The evening, entitled 'Music For The Masses', will take place at The London Stone and is organised by the fab people behind the Electric Dreams nights.

YAZOO have added a second London show to their forthcoming reunion show and will now play a second show at the Hammersmith Apollo on June 19th. See GIGS for all the dates.

BJORK will release a new single 'Wanderlust' - from her recent 'Volta' album - on April 14th and will support the release with a short UK tour. See GIGS for all the dates.

DEPECHE MODE, AZTEC CAMERA, NEW ORDER, MORRISSEY, THE SELECTER and THE SPECIALS' classic singles 'Enjoy The Silence', 'Walk Out To Winter', 'Blue Monday', 'Suedehead', 'On My Radio' and 'Ghost Town' respectively are among tracks featured on 'NME Classic' a double CD featuring the NME's definitive NME tracks of the seventies, eighties and nineties which will be released on February 25th.

A-HA's MAGNE F will play a tiny solo show at London's Notting Hill Arts Club on May 23rd as a warm-up for his show with the other members of A-Ha at the Royal Albert Hall on May 24th.

THE SELECTER could reform their original line-up to mark their 30th anniversary according to the band's NEOL DAVIES whose website who is looking for feedback from fans on the idea...

MARTI PELLOW has announced an extensive UK tour in April to promote his forthcoming jazz album 'Sentimental Me' which is due out in the Spring. See GIGS for all the dates.

HOWARD JONES - whose 'Into The Dark' collaboration with Ferry Corsten has now been released (we first reported on it in 2006!) - has announced a very special concert in London to mark his 25th anniversary in the music business. The show will take place at London's Indigo 2 on September 20th. Meanwhile Howard Jones' 1984 remix album 'The 12" Album', along with 'In The Running' and 'Cross That Line' are to be made available in the UK iTunes store from monday.

DURAN DURAN will play their first ever show in Costa Rica at La Guácima's Festival Imperial which will take place on April 19th and 20th.