​In 1962, Neil Sedaka said everything that needs to be said about ending relationships when he sang, "breaking up is hard to do." It's simple in an "aw shucks" 1960s pop song sort of way, but the tune's direct approach has not meant the end of the break-up song. In fact, we've got some pretty dandy ones the past few years, the kind that make you almost forget that guy/girl/celebrity crush who just won't return your fan mail who ripped out your heart, spit on it and fed it to his/her dog for dinner. Almost.

Here, for your misery and heartache, are five recent songs that say everything about breaking up that you never could.
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For mom and dad, there will be less time to watch the Nets

​For those of you not in the know, or not near a TV or Internet this weekend, it finally happened: Jay-Z and Beyoncé gave birth to what is soon to be the most famous heir in hip-hop history: Blue Ivy Carter. Young Blue's middle name allegedly is for her mom and pop's birthdays (both being on the fourth of the month). That being said, since Blue is the latest in a long line of interesting names selected by hip-hop and R&B artists, we're going to highlight some of our favorites over time.

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Yelawolf

​As Eminem's protege, the Alabama-raised Yelawolf is the latest rapper to tap into a niche you could politely call white trash rap. His debut album on Shady Records, Radioactive, openly embraces his less-than-classy roots, with brags about his body being totally tatted up, rocking "dirty ass jeans," and stockpiling run-down cars in his front yard. (Em joins in the fun by dropping a guest verse on "Throw It Up" that pays tribute to those fine high-class emporiums K-Mart and Payless.) So to get you revved up for Yela's show at The Observatory this Friday, here's the ultimate white trash rap playlist.
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John Cusack as Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything

​Teen movies, in general, have great music. I don't know how that is, but when you think about it, teenagers take music more seriously than any other demographic I can think of, so if you're making a movie by/for them, it's gotta have a great soundtrack. Some of the choices may be silly, but, then again, most teen movies are too.More >>

​Christmas is a lame holiday celebrating the fake birthday of some guy who probably never even existed. And that's just one reason why it sucks, which is why January 8 is a way better day to get your party on.

For those who don't know, January 8 is Elvis Presley's birthday. Depending on which camp you reside in, either Elvis would have been 77 years young this Sunday or he is turning 77 years young (by that, I mean either you think he died Aug. 16, 1977, or you think he is still alive). Personally, no straight man on this planet loves the King of Rock 'n' Roll more than I do (although rumor has it Elvis is even more popular on Uranus), but even I don't think he's still living. I sure as hell wish he was, but that's another story. 

A few years ago, some friends coined a term called "Elvismas" and instantly I knew they were onto something. As a total atheist-leaning agnostic who hates standing in crowded lines at the mall even more than he hates all the religious aspects of Christmas, instantly I knew that Elvismas was something I could get behind.

I understand this holiday is new to you, so to help I'm offering these five tips that will get you in the Elvismas spirit. And if none of these work, you could always fall back on the unspoken sixth rule, which more or less equates to getting shitty drunk until you pass out. But I guess you don't really need Elvismas to do that.
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Jeremy Eichenbaum

​Champagne. Kisses at midnight. Some dude throwing up.

These are what we've come to expect at New Year's Eve parties, which is why I'm headed to the Blue Cafe in Long Beach to see the Spell, Ambush Freqs and Mr. Elevator & the Brain Hotel. I'm no psychic (although I play one on this blog), so here's what I'm planning on seeing this Saturday evening.
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​So what if Foreigner's Mick Jones is the less seminal/famous Mick Jones? The guitarist and songwriter of the schmaltzy arena-ready pop-rock band of the '70s is still making more money from Foreigner albums than the Clash ever did (with over 50 million records sold worldwide). At any rate, Jones is 67 today, so a celebration is in order. After the jump, five things you probably didn't know about Foreigner, and a video of the earworm of the century.

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Susan Sabo

​You only have one holiday shopping weekend left.

Freak ya out? In order to help your lazy, procrastinating ass, we enlisted the help of drummer extraordinaire Josh Freese.

And why not? The man who rocks behind the kit for bands such as Devo and Weezer is also one of the greatest marketing minds in music today (editor's note: And he was also the subject of a Weekly cover story). When he released both of his solo albums, the drummer put together some of the most creative ideas rolled out for a single record. For as little as $5, you could buy a simple MP3 version of the record, and if you wanted to splurge a bit and fork over $75,000, well, let's just say you get a whole lot more.

That being said, we figure there's no one better to ask for shopping suggestions than Freese. Here are a few of his favorite things (in no particular order).

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Jim Carrey works out too!

​Look, you ate too damned much during the four-day Thanksgiving break. But it's cool. We've all been there. The good news is there's this little thing called exercise that's going to get you back to who you were last Wednesday.

As an avid gym member (the girl at the front desk knows my name), I know that Mondays there suck because people think they can just take one spinning class and work off all the bad shit they've put into their bodies since Friday. Coming off the Thanksgiving break, I assume today will be incredibly busy with people who want to be able to see their toes again, which only makes working out sound like even less fun than it already is. That's why I'm here to help.

With these six songs on your iPod (or whatever listening device you use), you're guaranteed to lose the extra helping of grandma's stuffing and those seven beers you drank Thursday night after having four glasses of wine at your sister's house.

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