LITTLE STEVEN: "WE NEED AN EMERGENCY BOSS"

Less than two weeks after his editorial for Politico about "reimagining Haiti," Little Steven Van Zandt has written another opinion piece. This one is for Huffington Post, and says that we need an "emergency boss," or an official "master of disaster."  Literally: there should be someone responsible for relief efforts when a huge disaster strikes, a la Haiti or Katrina. Responsible for organizing a quick, global response, and also responsible for accounting for where all the millions of dollars that inevitably get raised goes to. It's an interesting idea.  Read the whole piece here.

BEN HARPER "MY FATHER'S HOUSE" NOW AVAILABLE AT ITUNES

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that Eddie Vedder's great version of Bruce Springsteen's "My City Of Ruins" from the Kennedy Center Honors was posted on iTunes to raise money for Artists for Peace and Justice's for Haiti relief efforts. Now, Ben Harper has posted his version of "My Father's House" from the same ceremony for the same cause.  Ben had previously recorded the song for Badlands: A Tribute To Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska, a great tribute album. The new version is even more sparse. Here's hoping they release Sting's cover of "The Rising" or John Mellencamp's "Born In The U.S.A." or even Jon Stewart's speech about Bruce.

LITTLE STEVEN WEIGHS IN ON HAITI

When Little Steven Van Zandt left The E Street Band in the '80s to concentrate on his solo career, his music got even more political than Bruce Springsteen's was. Some of the albums he released at that time included 1984's Voice Of America and 1987's Freedom: No Compromise. Of course, he also organized the Artists United Against Apartheid project, for the album Sun City and the single of the same name. He wrote one of the greatest songs of all time, "I Am A Patriot," which has been covered by Jackson Browne and Eddie Vedder. You should check that out.

At some point, he decided to leave the overt politics behind. He decided to try to make the world a better place through the preservation of rock and roll via his Underground Garage radio show, his Underground Garage SIRIUS channel, his Wicked Cool Records label and other projects. But you really can't stop caring about those less fortunate.  Actually, if you go to his website, you are met by a page asking you to donate regular household items (and also DVDs of action and comedy movies) to the troops serving in the Middle East.

And, more recently, an editorial in Politico about the situation in Haiti. He is clearly at least a bit cynical about the many celebs who have donated thier time and money, saying "All the symbolic gestures are nice -- and even important -- but they will come and go." And he calls upon a bunch of celebrities, including Bono, George Clooney, and yes, Bruce Springsteen, along with other leaders, to organize a summit of Haitian leaders.  The goal should be not to "rebuild" Haiti, but to re-imagine it. Read the whole article here.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: MICHAEL JACKSON, THE JACKSON 5 AND SONGS FOR HAITI

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, every Wednesday morning at 9 am ET I go on the SIRIUS XM channel OutQ. I am a weekly contributor to The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick. We talk about - surprise! - music. I am usually on for a half-hour, but tomorrow I will be on for an hour.

First, I will be talking about The Jackson 5. Universal/Motown has just reissued the band's last bunch of albums for the label before they left for Sony, including the soundtrack to their 1971 prime-time TV special Goin' Back To Indiana, as well as 1972's Lookin' Through The Windows, 1973's Skywriter, 1973's G.I.T. (Get It Together) and 1975's Moving Violation. Talk about boys to men: the brothers changed a lot in this four years. These albums don't have their biggest hits, but they are worth having for sure.

I'll also be talking about the Michael Jackson concert film, This Is It, which came out on DVD this week. I haven't seen it, but if you have, please call in! I do have some of the tracks from the film, including the title song, co-written by Michael and Paul Anka. It also has a really, really sad demo version of "She's Out Of My Life," with Michael singing accompanied only by an acoustic guitarist. Stunning.

Finally, I'll be talking about various songs you can download to raise money to help fund relief efforts in Haiti, which I've already written about. I can add another one to the list I already posted: Wilco is offering "free" downloads of two concerts from the summer of 2009 on their website, but they ask that if you download them, you donate at least $15 to either Oxfam or Doctors Without Borders. Of course, you should donate what you can to the people of Haiti in thier hour of need - but it's nice that you can get some cool music in return for your generosity!

MTV TO HOST "HOPE FOR HAITI" TELETHON FRIDAY

I can't really add anything to the discussion about Haiti - so much has been said, and it is such a tragedy. There are lots of organizations accepting donations to help aid the situation there, which is a disaster.  I myself have given to the Red Cross by texting "HAITI" to 90999.  Whatever you may think of the Red Cross, I think that they are the most well eqipped to get aid to those in need as quickly as possible. I may be wrong, I'm not an expert. 

MTV is doing the right thing by putting on a telethon this Friday night to raise funds: artists involved will include Wyclef Jean, Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z, Rihanna, Kid Rock, Keith Urban, Sheryl Crow, Justin Timberlake, Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys, Coldplay, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Sting, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, Stevie Wonder, John Legend and Taylor Swift.  Wyclef, George Clooney and Anderson Cooper will be the hosts. All the performances will be available on iTunes the next morning. The show will be broadcast over a ton of networks.  Get more info at MTV.