As Bruce Springsteen brings his River tour to Ireland, Ed Power looks back on the 1980 album that suddenly feels so relevant again

THIRTY years after his childhood trip to Walley World in Vacation (1983), Rusty Griswold (Ed Helms) takes a similar Vacation (15A) with his wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) and sons James (Skyler Gisondo) and Kevin (Steele Stebbins). 

AMERICA’S guitar-and-chorus chronicler of the Great Depression, the Dustbowl, and social injustice, Woody Guthrie, once described California as “a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see...” and even if he was warning those forlorn, destitute farmers fleeing the Midwest’s Dustbowl not to go to California, he could hardly have imagined that something approaching a Dustbowl catastrophe might hit the Golden State. 

Soul’s James Brown is the latest singer to have his life story filmed, in a ‘rags to riches’ genre that began with the first ‘talkie’ in 1927.

Si Kahn says his music career began as a hobby. He is also a union activist.

PETE Seeger was born in Patterson, New York, on May 3, 1919, and was 94 when he passed away last week in a hospital in New York City.

Musicians and campaigners are among those who have paid tribute to the folk music giant and activist Pete Seeger who has died at the age of 94.

Pete Seeger, the banjo-picking troubadour who sang for migrant workers, college students and star-struck presidents in a career that introduced generations of Americans to their folk music heritage, has died at the age of 94.

In 1986, Sam Baker was on a train in Peru that was blown up by terrorists. The blast killed the people sitting with him and he had a cut artery, blown-in eardrums and brain damage. This prompted the Texan to write, and to become a singer-songwriter.

CELEBRATING the workers’ rights activism of Cork-born firebrand, Mary Harris, The Spirit of Mother Jones Festival takes place in the Shandon area of Cork city from Jul 30-Aug 1.

He may be as publicity shy as ever, but Kristian Matsson tells Ed Power his days of running away from problems are over.

House of Earth

Gifted musician, storyteller and activist Paddy Pecker Dunne has died.

Where Have You Been?

MUSIC NEWS: Thom Yorke of Radiohead has unveiled some tracks from his Atoms For Peace project during a DJ set in the US.

As he starts an Irish tour, Arlo Guthrie recalls how his father Woody gave him his first guitar when he was just five, writes Gerry Quinn

SATURDAY

O’Riada’s iconic radio series is now being rebroadcast to mark 40 years since his death,says Colette Sheridan

Bob Dylan was 70 this week. He has had many guises in 50 years as a musician — from folkie to protest singer to prophet and preacher — but he is always relevant, says Carl Dixon

THE night before he came, the acrid smell of burning and conflict were in the air. A riot broke out, prompting the call for reinforcements from Dublin. Baton-wielding cops charged the crowd. Mindless violence kicked out in all directions as the booze took hold.

THE French have a saying that the more things change the more they stay the same. This weekend thousands of young people will flock to the Oxegen music festival at Punchestown, but unlike some such gatherings elsewhere, it does not seem to have any real focus of protest.

Bob Dylan has sparked rumours he is quit his three-year stint as the host of a satellite radio show - after naming the theme of his latest broadcast "goodbye".

BANKERS who broke the law to feed their greed will wind up behind bars, Justice Minister Dermot Ahern pledged.

GERRY ADAMS quotes Woody Guthrie in an attempt to fudge the issue of IRA criminality.