WATCH: CHEAP TRICK "DREAM POLICE (LIVE)"

Nothing super timely about this, but here is Cheap Trick performing their classic "Dream Police" from a recent episode of SIRIUS|XM's Artist Confidential series. I was one of the camera guys - I got all the super close up shots. It was my time seeing Cheap Trick perform (other than a last minute booking at Joey Ramone's posthumous 50th birthday party, but Bun E. Carlos wasn't able to make that show, so it didn't totally count). Check it out.

LITTLE STEVEN'S END-OF-DECADE CHARTS

Little Steven has just posted his top albums and songs of the decade on his website. Some really great stuff there: I immeadiately made a rockin' ipod mix based on his songs list. Well, a slightly altered version, but "best of" lists are subjective, right?  And, sorry, Kelly Osbourne didn't have one of the best garage rock songs of the decade. Aerosmith may have: but it wasn't "Girls Of Summer."

The coolest song of the decade?  Joey Ramone's "Maria Bartiromo." Good pick. Rounding out the top ten: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's "My Lucky Day" (great underappreciated song from Working On A Dream), Oasis' "Lyla" (really underrated, I'd only heard it on Underground Garage) and at number 4, Mick Jagger's "Too Many Cooks (Spoil The Soup)," produced by John Lennon. I would call foul on that one, as it was obviously not recorded this decade, but in the '70s.  But it was only released on the 2007 The Very Best Of Mick Jagger collection, so OK. At #5, one of my personal favorites, Foxboro Hot Tubs with "Stop, Drop and Roll." At #6 is Locksley, one of those bands I would never ever ever have heard of if it wasn't for Little Steven.  Cool band: the song he choose was "There's A Love." At #7 is another personal favorite of mine, The Cocktail Slippers with "Don't Ever Leave Me" from my second favorite album of 2009, Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. And that's another band that I would never have heard if not for Steven. Thank you Little Steven! The top ten was rounded out by Cheap Trick's "If It Takes A Lifetime," Primal Scream's "Dolls" and Tinted Windows' "Nothing To Me" (Bun E. Carlos makes the top 10 twice!). I don't know if I would have choose that Cheap Trick song, or even Tinted Windows, but that's what I'm talking about!

Other entries included legends: Aerosmith, Iggy Pop (a collaboration with Sum 41!), The Pretty Things, Steve Earle, Ray Davies, Neil Young, one-time Underground Garage DJ Joan Jett, Les Paul with Jeff Beck and Sam Cooke, John Fogerty, The New York Dolls, Pearl Jam, The Go-Go's, The Dictators (featuring Underground Garage DJ Handsome Dick Manitoba), The Buzzcocks, U2 and The Rolling Stones.  But there's also younger acts too: The Soundtrack Of Our Lives, Tegan & Sara, Noisettes, The Breakers, The Grip Weeds, The Red Button, The Catholic Girls, The Urges, The Forty-Fives, The Hives, The Len Price 3 and The White Stripes.

The albums chart was a bit rigged. Well, not rigged, but The Beatles In Mono box set was the #1 "album." Not fair. Then at #2 was the Nuggets II box set.  Come on, that's tough to compete with! So the best album that actually contained music that was new during the past decade was Bruce Springsteen's Magic. which is one of my favorite albums of the decade as well. Some people may complain about Bruce placing so high in both charts when Little Steven is a member of the band, but hey, in the Underground Garage, Steven is the boss! #4: The Chesterfield Kings with Psychadelic Sunrise #5: Primal Scream's Riot City Blues #6: Tinted Windows #7: Foxboro Hot Tubs' Stop Drop and Roll!!! #8: The Cocktail Slippers' Saint Valentine's Day Massacre #9:  Iggy Pop's Skull Ring and at #10: Ray Davies' Other People's Lives. Most of the same bands on the singles chart were on the albums chart, which also featured the One Kiss Can Lead To Another box set, of classic girl groups music.

I always check out the year and decade end charts in all the magazines, but I like Steven's the best, even when I disagree with them. (Where was King Khan & The Shrines???)

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: RANCID, STREET SWEEPER SOCIAL CLUB, DEAD WEATHER AND MORE

I had a great vacation, and now I'm glad to be back. I'll be on OutQ tomorrow talking about Rancid's Let The Dominoes Fall, my second favorite rock album of the year (after The Cocktail Slippers' Saint Valentine Day's Massacre), Street Sweeper Social Club's debut and The Dead Weather's debut, Horehound. If time permits, I'll also talk about Tinted Windows - a new band featuring former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, Adam Schleshinger of Fountains Of Wayne, Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick and Taylor Hanson of Hanson. Also, Cheap Trick's new album The Latest - available now on mp3, CD and 8-track! Also, two new b-sides from Green Day's new album and a band that is new to me, The Dolly Rocker Movement.

CHEAP TRICK KICKS IT REAL OLD SCHOOL!

Cheap Trick's upcoming album, The Latest, will not only be released on CD and MP3, but on 8-track. Nuff said! Read more about it at BoingBoing.

CHEAP TRICK'S LATEST

Cheap Trick is releasing their new album, The Latest, on June 23. That's the good news. The bad news is that that is the day they kick off a tour... with Def Leppard and Poison. I hate to be a snob, but please. Still, Cheap Trick is a hard working band who get out there and tour and play to all kinds of crowds, and I respect them for that.

In 2007, they performed The Beatles' Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band at the Hollywood Bowl, and I hear they may bring that show to Vegas, which could be fun.

CHEAP TRICK TO DO VEGAS, SGT. PEPPER'S STYLE?

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal

Cheap Trick may be doing a Vegas residency where they perform The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band backed by an orchestra. That'd be a cool gig for the band -- I'm guessing they'd be able to do their own shows on their nights off -- and another reason for Beatles fans to go to Sin City (along with Cirque du Soleil's Love). Hopefully it will be received more like the original album than the film that starred The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton. 

TOMORROW ON OUTQ PART 1: GREAT GIFTS (i.e. box sets)

What's a cooler gift than a box set? I'm a huge fan of the format, and so are lots of other music fans. So I thought that tomorrow, I'd talk about some recently released box sets that I think are pretty cool.

First off is Roy Orbison's The Soul Of Rock and Roll. This is sort of the classic, career-spanning box set, including hits, album tracks and lots of rare stuff. Fans won't feel ripped off by it, but it's also a good starting point for people just getting into Roy (although starting off a new fan of any artist with a box set can be overwhelming - The Essential Roy Orbison might be a better jump on point). It has a nice booklet with comments from Roy's fellow legends.

Then, there's Hank Williams' The Unreleased Recordings. This box set is made up of long-lost recordings of Hank's radio show from the early '50s: he used to do a 15 minute show at 7:15 am, while people were making breakfast, milking cows, etc. The show was sponsored by Mother's Best flour, which he often plugs. This box set includes some of Hank's classics, as well as his covers of other hits of the day. It may not be the best intro, but on the other hand, it's not like it is for super fans only. Personally, my starting point to Hank was 40 Greatest Hits, but that's hard to find, Gold is proably a better choice.

Cheap Trick 's 2 CD/2 DVD Budokan! is the opposite of a career

spanning box set: it is dedicated to a pivotal moment in the band's career: namely April of 1978 when they played Japan. They didn't really realize how huge they were there until they took the stage. But this was the moment that their career changed; the original live album, Cheap Trick at Budokan was the record that made them stars in the U.S. (and helped kick off the trend of live albums).

Finally, the deluxe reissue of R.E.M.'s full-length debut, Murmur. There's really no reason to remaster the sound on such a lo-fi classic, but the reason to pick this up (even if you have the original

- and who doesn't?) is the bonus second disc with a live performance from Toronto from July 9, 1983.

If you've got a music fan in your life, chances are they may not evne have these yet, they are all fairly recent releases, and they'll brighten anyone's day.

GUITAR HERO: AEROSMITH - OPENING ACTS

Last month, I wrote about Aerosmith's special edition of the video game Guitar Hero. Now Aerosmith easily have enough of a catalog to fill up a game with just thier own songs. Add some of thier covers, you have about 100 great songs.

But it turns out that the band are using some other artists on the game. Some of thier influences, like The Kinks and Mott The Hoople will be included, as well as some bands who have opened for them, like Cheap Trick and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts. This is according to Gaming Today.

To me, this brings up an interesting question: is curating a video game the new "guest DJing" for superstar acts? For sure, it's a good way to hook up bands you love, or bands you are friends with, with nice royalty checks.

I'm not a gamer, but I might check this one out.