TOMORROW ON OUTQ: SOME GREAT OUTLAW COUNTRY ARTISTS

Tomorrow morning on The Morning Jolt With Larry Flick on SiriusXM OutQ, I'll discuss some great artists who you can hear on the SiriusXM channel Outlaw Country. Full disclosure: I work at SiriusXM.  But I'll also point out that I was a SIRIUS subscriber before I worked there. Little Steven Van Zandt's Underground Garage was the main reason, but Outlaw Country was the next reason. By the way, Little Steven produces Outlaw Country as well as Underground Garage.

The Drive-By Truckers, as most No Expiration readers know, is one of my favorite bands.  I can honestly say I wouldn't be a fan without Outlaw Country.  Tomorrow I'll talk about their latest album, Go-Go Boots. Steve Earle isn't just one of the channel's biggest artists, he also hosts an excellent weekly show, Hardcore Troubadour Radio, hear it Saturday nights at 9 pm (full schedule of rebroadcasts here). I really dig Steve's new album, I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive. Lucinda Williams is another of the biggest artists on the channel, and she's just released a great album, Blessed. Buddy Miller is not as well known, but he's played with both of them, along with Robert Plant, Patty Griffin, Solomon Burke and John Fogerty. I also like his own music, and his latest album, Majestic Silver Strings, is his most ambitious yet.

I'll also preview upcoming albums by Emmylou Harris and Alison Krauss & Union Station, and play a few tracks from Hayes Carll's new one, KMAG YOYO.  Carll is a great semi-up-and-coming artist, and another one I'd never have heard of without Outlaw Country.  So check out this video, I recently got to film them at SiriusXM doing the title track from the new album. (P.S. don't have a SiriusXM subscription? Go here to get a free online trial).

DARLENE LOVE - A BEGINNER'S GUIDE

When I heard that Darlene Love was being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I thought, "Little Steven does it again!" Steven Van Zandt has a history of campaigning for legendary artists who haven't gotten their due, including The Rascals, The Dave Clark 5 and The Hollies. I think Steven had a lot to do with Darlene's being voted in, and good for him (and her).

One of the problems with Darlene Love is that she's recorded for a number of groups, as well as under her own name. The Hall of Fame generally inducts someone for the work they've done under the name they are being inducted for. In other words, Rod Stewart is a Hall of Famer for his solo career, not for The Faces (who are not in the Hall of Fame for some reason).

In Darlene's case, she's been a member of The Blossoms, The Crystals, Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans, and has also recorded as a solo artist. So I think that has sort of held her back.  This induction feels like a lifetime achievement award more than an induction strictly for her solo career, but no matter.

The other thing I thought when I heard that Darlene was going to be inducted was that it's kind of hard to find her greatest hits these days.  A lot of the songs are on the Phil Spector box set, Back To Mono, but I think that's out of print now.  Happily, the folks at Sony Legacy have just released The Sound Of Love: The Very Best Of Darlene Love. Full disclosure: I got this for free from the press department of Legacy. But I think it's actually a very timely and important collection. People will no doubt want to check out Darlene's career after they see her perform at her induction (which will air on Fuse Sunday March 20, the event takes place March 14), and this gives a really easy way to do that. However, it doesn't include any of her Christmas songs ("Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" is probably one of her biggest hits, she does a great "Winter Wonderland" and "Christmastime For The Jews," which she recorded for Saturday Night Live a few years back is still not available anywhere that I know of).

If you first discover Darlene Love from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony (or you just know her as Danny Glover's character's wife from the Lethal Weapon films), you're in for a treat, this CD is one of the best ways to spend $10 that you can find.

THE COCKTAIL SLIPPERS NEW SINGER IS...

The other day, when I was making my weekly appearance on SiriusXM OutQ show The Morning Jolt With Larry Flick, I played the latest single from The Cocktail Slippers, "It's Christmas." Longtime readers of this blog and listeners of Larry's show know that I am a huge fan of The Cocktail Slippers.  St. Valentine's Day Massacre was one of my favorite albums of 2009.

But the ladies recently announced that their singer was leaving the band, which is always tough for a group.  I was wondering what the deal is, and I know guitarist Rocket Queen a bit, so I asked her.  Here's what she told me: "The new Cocktail Slippers lead singer is the talented Ms Liberty. Till now Liberty has been playing keys in Cocktail Slippers. We are extremely excited about her doing the lead singing and we are so much looking forward to touring lots in 2011. The release date for the new album has not been set yet by the way..."

I can't wait to hear new music from the new lineup. For those of you who have been reading No Expiration for a while, you know that I generally write about well-known groups. The Cocktail Slippers really aren't that well-known in America, but that should change. They are one of the best new bands I've heard in the past decade.  Forget about all that animal collective stuff, and whatever else rock critics are going gaga about. The Cocktail Slippers are more fun, more rocking and better than most of the bands who are getting tons of hype these days.

Little Steven produced their last album (hopefully he'll work with them on this one also), and I read where he said it was one of the best records he ever worked on.  To remind you of what else is on his resume... Born To Run, Darkness On The Edge Of Town and Born In The U.S.A. to name just three.  But I don't think he was exaggerating.  It is a really great album, please check it out.

MEET THE LEN PRICE 3

This is turning out to be a pretty cool year for new music. I've really been digging the new album by The Len Price 3, Pictures. I talked about them and played some of their songs earlier this week on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick on SIRIUS XM's OutQ channel.

As I mentioned, they remind me a lot of The Who and The Kinks circa the early '60s.  Short hair, mod suits, scooters.  They also sound like a lot of other garage rock bands of the era, maybe I'd add in The Pretty Things or The Creation.  They also remind me a bit of The Jam, or Green Day's alter egos, Foxboro Hot Tubs. Of couse, The Jam and FHT are totally influenced by the aforementioned bands. These guys should be in the next "Austin Powers" film if there is one.

I don't think I would have ever heard of the band if it weren't for Little Steven's Underground Garage. They used to play the band's music (this is their third album) but this time around, they actually signed the band and Steven exec produced the album. The songs are all tight and memorable, with firm backbeats and excellent backing vocals.  It's not a mellow album, it's a high energy dance party album from swinging London in 1964.  Some people will write it off as "retro" or something like that, but I personally prefer great songs to originality.  I also firmly believe that more songs should have "ba ba ba BA!" backing vocals.  Anyway, this is another cool album that you may not hear about elsewhere, but you should check it out.

THE COCKTAIL SLIPPERS COVER ELLIE GREENWICH

This is the third video from one of my favorite albums of 2009, The Cocktail Slippers' Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. It's my job to expose more people to this awesome, awesome band. Not my job, but my responsibility. This is a song written by the late Ellie Greenwich, one of the greats of the Brill Building era. She is getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year in the "non-performer" category. Little Steven will be at the ceremony, to present The Hollies. Maybe he can hook it up so that the Slippers can perform a tribute to Ellie.