When I went back to the SER watercooler with my cohorts following the news today of Dick Clark’s death, we were all in a somber and reflective mood. Watching American Bandstand was a late Saturday morning ritual for all of us

The full tracklisting has been announced for the sprawling reissue of Paul McCartney’s 1971 album Ram. The only project to be credited to both Paul and Linda McCartney, Ram was Paul’s second post-Beatles LP.

Dick Clark, who shaped music tastes for generations with TV’s “American Bandstand,” delighted us in the afternoons with the well-watched $25,000 “Pyramid” game show, then gave the world a peek at Times Square craziness with his annual “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” specials, has died.

Paul Rodgers, who toured with Queen for four years in the last decade, said he might not have taken the gig if it had been preceded by the media attention surrounding Adam Lambert’s similar feature spot in 2012.

John Wetton has an over-stuffed briefcase of appointments this year.

This is a drummer’s record but not a record about drum solos. Musically, however, it’s about a lot of other things, like rhumba, West African, reggae, Moroccan, Afro-Cuban, funk-fusion and, finally jazz.

News came on Tuesday that Levon Helm’s cancer has returned, leading us to marvel all over again on his towering achievements in music.