Fans who attended Neil Diamond's show at Ohio State University Tuesday night weren't feeling the love. Many left early, complaining of Diamond's raspy voice. What they weren't aware of, however, is that the legendary songwriter had laryngitis.

Diamond, touring behind his recently-released 'Home Before Dark,' didn't mention the illness during the gig, but he's heard the gripes and is making amends. Fans who submit requests before September 5 will receive a refund for the show. "I haven't let you down before and I won't let you down now," Diamond said.

Wednesday night's Green Bay, Wisconsin show has been moved to September 10, and Friday's St. Louis concert will now take place on September 12.

Artist: Raphael Saadiq
Video: 'Love That Girl'
Highlight: The neo-soul singer and former Toni! Toni! Tone! member goes old school in a throwback to '60s Motown. Buy it on iTunes.

The Rules for Battle: Each week, we pit versions of the same song by two different artists in a head-to-head death match for musical supremacy. (Sometimes it will be the original recording vs. a cover version; other times it will be two different covers.) Then it's up to you to decide: Listen to and vote on which version you think should emerge victorious and which should be sent packing. May the best band win!



The Song: 'Are U That Somebody'

The Contestants: Aaliyah vs. The Gossip

In This Corner -- Aaliyah: Timbaland's protege was captapulted to superstardom with this beat-heavy hit for the 1998 film 'Dr. Dolittle.' He was also responsible for adding the baby babbles on the backtrack. Genius? Not really. Just appropriate, given the late singer was only 19 at the time of its release. And her nickname was Baby Girl.

Aaliyah, 'Are U That Somebody'


In This Corner -- The Gossip: No bells and whistles on this 'un -- just a thick bass line and Southern frontwoman Beth Ditto's soulful howl. Where Aaliyah's breathy pipes evoke a feeling of indifference to the question's answer, Ditto's chokehold and demand some fessin' straight out the gate. Squealing baby sold separately.

The Gossip, 'Are You That Somebody'

Buy it on iTunes

Queens-born actress Drea de Matteo's aggressively "Bada Bing" style rendered her a perfect fit for her role as Adriana La Cerva on HBO's mafia drama 'The Sopranos.' South London's Neon Hitch (real name), however, achieved the same look after growing up amongst gypsies and circus folk. Hm.

Labor Day is four days and change away, bringing with it a few summer farewells: 1) the Police, 2) Crocs (R.I.P.), 3) the color white and 4) overpopulated music festivals with redundant headliners. (Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails and Kanye West, among them.) For indie rockers Tokyo Police Club, these last few summer days allow for a time of reflection, recalling their banner season on the festival circuit, which included a case of mistaken identity.

"Playing both Coachella and Lollapalooza was really awesome," singer/bassist Dave Monks tells Spinner. "I remember driving through the desert [to Coachella]. We had rented two SUV's. We showed up and of course all the bands are in their buses -- they've got two 18-wheelers, and a crew bus and band bus. And we come up in these two little SUV's and there's like six people in each one with all of our friends. We asked someone, 'Excuse me sir, where's artist parking?' And he's trying to tell us, 'Festival parking's over there. I don't know what you're looking for.' We're like, 'No, we swear, we're in a band. We're supposed to ...' 'Tokyo who?' he said. 'No, we're playing a stage, for real, I promise.'

'You're My Favorite Waste of Time,' Marshall Crenshaw and the Handsome Ruthless and Stupid Band
From 2000's resissue of 'Marshall Crenshaw' (1982)

The cheeky name of this "group" is somewhat misleading since it was only Marshall Crenshaw himself who provided all of the instrumentation on 'You're My Favorite Waste of Time.' Recorded in 1979, the song was used as the B-side of his 1983 single 'Cynical Girl' -- it now appears on the 2000 reissue of Crenshaw's self-titled debut, one of the most brilliant power pop albums ever.

'You're My Favorite Waste of Time' has everything you want in a great Marshall Crenshaw tune: a catchy melodic hook, lovely harmonies, neat guitar playing and clever lyrics. It's a cool love song that's heartfelt without sounding saccharine. It's even a bit witty, too -- one line goes, "I don't care if being with you is meaningless and ridiculous."

"[I want] Bjork's [career]. Having the success completely on your own terms ... while still managing to be politically aware, fashionable and make art on that scale is breathtaking." --Solange Knowles

Beyonce's baby sister insists that it's not B's larger-than-life career that she's after. She recently told PopEater that she'd prefer that of the decidedly quirky Icelandic singer.

Northern English indie rockers the Cribs, have always been a family band.

The group, fronted by twins Gary and Ryan Jarman, and backed up by their younger brother Ross on drums, once toyed with the idea of calling themselves after their family surname -- the Jarmans -- seeing as they've been kin from birth. But it was probably a good thing they didn't as this past weekend the group revealed they've officially added a non-family member to their ranks: legendary Smiths guitarist-turned-Modest Mouse member, Johnny Marr.

"He's in the band," Gary confirmed to Spinner backstage at the Leeds festival, where Marr joined the former trio on stage. "The fourth record will be with Johnny."

Sonic Youth are officially indie again for the first time in eighteen years. Frontman Thurston Moore says they've completed their Geffen contract and will be releasing their next album -- now in the writing stage -- through an independent label.

Ben Gibbard, Jenny Lewis, Zooey Deschanel and more will team up together onstage at Unconventional '08, during the Democratic National Convention.

Ryan Adams will make his literary debut with his book, 'Infinity Blues,' blogging that it's a "long long sad book but some funny too."

Jay-Z will open the renovated Hollywood Palladium on October 15, backed by a 12-piece band.

While we've never been terribly fond of the skulking impersonators that occasionally surface in the realm of rock 'n' roll -- you know, the guys who try to win friends and scam free meals at the Cheesesteak Factory by claiming to be the bassist in Foghat -- we have plenty of sympathy for innocent victims of mistaken identity. Take the members of Brit-punk combo the FF's, who narrowly escaped major physical trauma after a rampaging mob of hooligans attacked them with all manner of airborne missiles. Their crime? Not being the Foo Fighters.

The band, you see, was playing a teeny side stage at England's Reading Festival on Sunday when a game of audience telephone got out of hand, leading to the rampant rumor that Dave Grohl and company would be performing a "secret" gig. They were hit with everything from bottles to mud to shoes -- which makes us wonder how much worse it could've been if the festival was packed with over-eager fans of Fannie Flagg.