TOMORROW ON THE MORNING JOLT - STEVIE NICKS, SADE, THE GO-GO'S, DURAN DURAN, THE CARS

Longtime readers of No Expiration know that on Wednesday morning at about 9 am ET(ish), I go on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick on SiriusXM OutQ to talk about music. You can listen even if you aren't a subscriber yet: get a free online trial subscription here. This week I'll be talking about some artists who were huge on MTV in the '80s (I'm not calling this an '80s themed episode though).

I just wrote a bit about Stevie Nicks.  People are really excited about her new album In Your Dreams, which was produced by Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics. I think it's a pretty good album, but I am a much bigger fan of her last one, 2001's Trouble In Shangri-La (several songs were produced by Sheryl Crow). Dave Stewart is an interesting choice.  What do they have in common? How about being involved with a bandmate?  Plus, they've also worked with Tom Petty.

When I was a kid, my mom took me to see a play called "Brigadoon." It was about a city from another dimension, and the portal to get you there only opens once every hundred years or something.  Sade is like that.  Every couple of years, she reappears for a short while, and then vanishes for another decade, only to return looking as if she hasn't aged a day! Anyway, has a new best of out, with a couple of new songs.  The one that I like is "Still In Love With You." It's a Thin Lizzy cover, believe it or not! There are some remixes of her songs with Jay-Z and The Neptunes that I'm not digging as much.

The Go-Go's are reissuing a 30th anniversary edition of their classic Beauty and The Beat album.  I feel a bit old saying that. People forget that The Go-Go's come from punk rock ( I think Belinda Carlisle used to be involved with The Germs) but by this, their debut album, they were moving in a more pop direction.  I'm not mad  at that.  There are some great songs on this album.  The reissue comes with a live concert from the era.

Duran Duran have a new album, All You Need Is Now. Great title for a band that is so heavily associated with the '80s. But some of the most happening producers want to work with them: their last album was produced by Timbaland, and this one is produced by Mark Ronson. I'm curious how fans will react to this one.  I'm hoping that my friend Katy (aka "Ask Katy" on their website), who listens to Larry's show, will call in.

A few weeks ago, I talked about The Cars reunion, and I played a new song, "Sad Song." Their album, Move Like This, is out now, so I have a few more songs, including "Blue Tip." I'm looking forward to seeing them in concert soon, I have my tickets! I never got to see them back in the day.

BRING ME THE PHONEBOOK OF MARK RONSON

I've been a fan of Mark Ronson's work for a while.  I love the stuff that he produced for Amy Winehouse, I love the "Most Likely You'll Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)" remix that he did for Bob Dylan, and his solo albums come off like great parties with incredible music jams (much like the N.A.S.A. album that came out last year). But for a minute, I was wondering if he could do anything outside of his vintage soul with horn section sound. On his new album, Record Collection, he kind of jumps from the '60s to the '80s, drops the horns and picks up bands of synthesizers.

My favorite track is "Bang Bang Bang" which features Q-Tip (who has appeared on all three of his solo albums) and Amanda Warner of a group called MNDR.  But there's also a great jam called "Glass Mountain Trust" featuring D'Angelo - and where the hell has he been? If you just heard this in the background, you'd be excused for thinking it's a Cee-Lo joint. But D sounds excellent on this track, and hopefully it will inspire him to get back into the game!

I also dig "Lose It (In The End)" with Ghostface (who sampled Amy Winehouse's Ronson-produced "You Know I'm No Good," which is where I first heard it, and probably lots of other people too). Then there's "Somebody To Love Me" featuring Boy George. Come on!  Who has that kind of game, to get Ghost and Boy George on the same album! 

Anyway, if you don't know Ronson by name, you probably have heard some of the music he has worked on, but do yourself a favor and buy one of his albums (I love his last one, Version) or download some tracks. 

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: *BOLD FACED* GUEST STAR ALBUMS

For those of you who are new to No Expiraton, every Wednesday morning at around 9 am ET-ish, I go on the SIRIUS XM OutQ channel's The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick (also featuring co-host and professional comedian Keith Price) to talk about music. This week, I'm going to be talking about a bunch of albums that are filled with "star studded" guests.  Sometimes these albums kind of work: Santana's first foray into this, 1999's Supernatural, obviously connected with a lot of people and achieved that ever-elusive goal of "introducing an icon to a new generation." Ray Charles' 2004 Genius Loves Company seemed to be very successful as well. Last year, one of my favorite albums was N.A.S.A.'s Spirit of Apollo, which had guest stars galore. What's more, I bet none of them were in the same room when they were recording.  Generally, I think people should be together when they record together, it provides a "vibe," for lack of a better term.

Jerry Lee Lewis just released Mean Old Man, his second album in a row of "all-star collaborations." 2006's Last Man Standing featured some cool collabs and this is like the sequel. I don't get the sense that too many of these were done in the same room (most of the songs credit an "overdub engineer") and many of them sound like they were literally phoned in. But there are some great moments. Kid Rock (sounding like Steven Tyler) and Slash are both on "Rockin' My Life Away," which is pretty rockin'. If Kid wants to join a band, he could make everyone forget about Weiland if he joined Velvet Revolver. I generally don't like updates of songs featuring the original artist, but on Jerry's last album, he did Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" with Jimmy Page, and I dug it. This time around he takes on two Rolling Stones classics: "Dead Flowers" with Mick Jagger and "Sweet Virginia" with Keith Richards, both of which work (but I like "Dead Flowers" better). Another great moment here (available only on the deluxe edition) is the spiritual "Railroad To Heaven" with Solomon Burke. There are great moments with Gillian Welch and an interesting take on "You Are My Sunshine" with Sheryl Crow. This album isn't where I'd start out if I had no Jerry Lee in my collection, but it's fun.

Ronnie Wood was originally going to do an album of duets with the likes of Eddie Vedder and Amy Winehouse. But his new album, I Feel Like Playing, doesn't feature any duets. Amy is nowhere to be found, and Eddie Vedder co-wrote "Lucky Man," but doesn't actually sing on it. Not to say that there aren't a lot of guests here: Slash, Flea, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Bobby Womack and Ian McLagan of The Faces are some of the guests who help out. "I Gotta See" is a sweet soul ballad that prominently features the vocals of Bobby Womack. I think Ronnie is really underrated as a songwriter, singer and frontman, but I guess that's what happens when you are in bands with Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart!

Herbie Hancock's The Imagine Project is his third Supernatural type collaboration album in a row, after 2005's Possibilities and 2007's The Joni Letters, which shocked everyone by winning the Album of the Year Grammy Award. The Imagine Project is all covers and collaborations. I checked out his take on the Peter Gabriel/Kate Bush classic "Don't Give Up" by John Legend and P!nk. It's nice, but isn't classic (the best version I've heard other than the original is a Willie Nelson/Sinead O'Connor duet version). Much more interesting is "Timitant Tillay/Exodus." "Timitant Tillay" is a Tinariwen song, and "Exodus" is the Bob Marley classic. It features Tinariwen, an amazing band of nomads from the Sahara Desert. I need to write a bit more about them, they're excellent. It also features K'naan, a Somali-Canadian rapper and also Los Lobos. Really cool.

The idea of David Byrne and Fatboy Slim collaborating on an album interested me: Byrne is a contrarian from the rock/pop world, while Fatboy Slim (alias Norm Cook) comes from the supposedly hipper world of electronic dance music, but loves to make music for football stadiums. Here Lies Love is a double album about former First Lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos, and features lots of guests including Florence (of + The Machine) Tori Amos, Sharon Jones, Steve Earle and Cyndi Lauper. It is interesting, but as is often the case with concept albums, the songs often get weighed down by the lyrics and the storyline. There are some cool parts, especially Sharon Jones' song, "Dancing Together."

Dark Night Of The Soul is a creepy and sad album. It is a collaboration between Sparklehorse and Danger Mouse. Sparklehorse, aka Mark Linkous, was most likely experiencing that around the time of the album. Tragically he committed suicide soon after recording the album. The album was sort of a collaboration between both musicians and film maker David Lynch, who put together a book of photos to accompany the album. In fact, they released the book first, due to problems with the record label - and included a blank CD with it ("someone" leaked the album online). Guest on the album include The Flaming Lips, Frank Black, Iggy Pop and Lynch himself.

Mark Ronson's solo albums are always guest-star packed affairs. He's a great DJ, producer and musician, but he doesn't sing. His albums are always really interesting, but on this one he seems to be more influenced by '80s new wave than horn-covered '60s and '70s soul. The one song I've heard is "Bang Bang Bang" featuring Q-Tip (who has been on both of Ronson's prior albums) and Amanda Warner from a new group called MNDR.

Santana is about to release his fourth guest-star-studden album in a row. This one, Guitar Heaven, features him covering some of Rolling Stone magazine's "greatest guitar songs ever" with guest vocalists. The only song I've heard is The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" with Yo-Yo Ma and india.arie. I really like thier take on it, but most of the album is taken up by guys who I am not a fan of: Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots, Gavin Rossdale of Bush, Scott Stapp of Creed. I am kind of looking forward to hearing Chris Cornell's take on "Whole Lotta Love" and Joe Cocker's "Little Wing."

Next week: some great new records from dude singer/songwriters.

DANIEL MERRIWEATHER COVERS THE WHITE STRIPES

Hi, meet Daniel Merriweather! Actually, I don't know that much about Daniel Merriweather. Other than the fact that he guested on an album by super-producer Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen) and sang an incredible version of The Smiths' "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before." Ronson signed him to his label and is putting out Merriweather's debut album, Love & War. I've heard that the album has been a bit problematic and has been delayed a few times.  I downloaded two songs from iTunes: a great duet with Adele "Water and a Flame," and a really great cover of The White Stripes' "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do What You're Told)." So far I'm pretty sold on the guy.  It's pretty interesting that a band like The White Stripes, have been covered by pop/soul singers like Daniel, as well as Joss Stone ("Fell In Love With A Girl") and Kelly Clarkson (who sometimes covers "Seven Nation Army").

THE RETURN OF THE PLASTIC ONO BAND

Earlier this week, Yoko Ono put on a show with a new (and almost definitely one-off) version of The Plastic Ono Band at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. It featured former Plastic Ono Band members - bassist Klaus Voorman and, um, Eric Clapton (but not Yes drummer Alan White!). But also: Sean Ono Lennon, Mark Ronson, Bette Midler, Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon and Paul Simon.  Weird bunch, and it's hard to imagine anyone other than Yoko pulling that off.  Read a review of the show at Rolling Stone. It sounds like the show was a great tribute to the band's original co-leader, John Lennon.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: I'M BRINGIN' THE PARTY

I'm tired from the Ben Harper show I just got home from, so, I'll keep this short. Tomorrow I'll be talking about this interesting DJ combo called N.A.S.A. -- their album has an insane guest list that includes David Byrne, Chuck D, KRS-One, Metold Man, Tom Waits, M.I.A. , Kanye West, George Clinton and John Frusciante, among others. N.A.S.A.'s album, The Spirit of Apollo, reminds me of Mark Ronson's 2007 album, Version, so I'll be talking about that also. And finally, even mopey Morrissey is in a upbeat (for him) mood on his new album, Years of Refusal, so I'll be talking about that. I also have Ben Harper's new single "Shimmer and Shine." And hopefully I'll have a minute to talk about the tour of the summer: Nine Inch Nails with Jane's Addiction.

ELTON JOHN'S TANTRUMS AND TIARAS: THE DIRECTOR'S CUT IS OUT ON DVD

I've never actually seen the Elton John documentary, Tantrums and Tiaras, and as a fan, I wasn't sure I wanted to.  But I'm going to give it a try. I have no illusions about what Elton is like - he's a diva. It doesn't take away from the amazing music he's produced, or the incredible charitable work he's done over the decades. 

Meanwhile, Elton is planning another co-headlining tour with Billy Joel.  I went to that the first time they did it, like 14 years ago, and it was pretty great. Also, NME reports that Mark Ronson is producing Elton's next album.  That has the potential for greatness. I'd heard that he wanted to do an album of collaborations with hip-hop artists, which would probably be embarrassing.

GREAT SONGS FROM 2007 - part 4

The Afghan Whigs: "I'm A Soldier" Who would have thunk that these guys would even have a new song in 2007? But they agreed to get back together to record some tracks for their best-of. Too bad they didn't do any shows, they were a great band. They should have been huge, and yet, weren't. In the '90s, after all the "alternative" bands like Jane's Addiction, Nirvana, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, et al, got huge, it would have been great for these guys to have been next. Instead, "alternative radio" stuck with safer, bands that sounded like Jane's Addiction, Nirvana, et al. I remember reading an interview with frontman Greg Dulli where he talked abot not relating to indie rock bands, because most of them are guys who would go up to a girl they liked and be like, "Um, uh... like, I like you?" Dulli was influenced by great soul singers, who would be like "Baby yeah! Baby please! I NEED you!" etc. The timidness and lack of sexiness that infects most indie music didn't come into play with The Afghan Whigs. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to Greg's collaboration with former Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan, The Gutter Twins. It's one of the albums I'm looking forward to the most in 2008.

Mark Ronson: "Stop Me" I've written a bit about Mark Ronson, I've really liked his production on Amy Winehouse's Back To Black album, and his remix of Bob Dylan's "Most Likely You'll Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)." "Stop Me" is a Smiths cover from Ronson's solo album, Version. It features a singer named Daniel Merriweather. It's a great re-imagining of the song that also uses a bit of the Motown classic, "You Keep Me Hangin' On." Version was actually pretty cool: it had a really fun cover of Britney Spears' "Toxic" (a great song, in my opinion) that featured Ol' Dirty Bastard, an instrumental version of Coldplay's "God Put A Smile On Your Face" featuring the horn section from The Daptones (Sharon Jones' backing band who Ronson uses on most of his productions) and a cover of Radiohead's "Just" with the members of Phantom Planet.

Paul McCartney: "Dance Tonight" Of course you want a Paul McCartney album to be great, but the best you can really expect for is a few good songs. This is one of those songs. I think it's the first time Paul has played a mandolin on a record. It's just lighthearted and fun. When you consider how bitter/angry his latest album could have been, you gotta give the guy credit for kicking off the album with this song.

Randy Newman: "A Few Words In Defense Of Our Country" He released the lyrics to The New York Times as an opinion piece before releasing the song. I wish it had a happier ending.

R.E.M.: "#9 Dream" Like Green Day's "Working Class Hero," this is from the Instant Karma John Lennon tribute album. It had it's own excitement around it, as it featured the band's original drummer, Bill Berry. Too bad the rumors of Bill rejoining the band were untrue. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to the new R.E.M. album, due out this year.

U2: "Instant Karma" Also from Instant Karma. It's almost surprising that they hadn't recorded this before, it almost sounds like it was written for U2 somehow. I'm totally looking forward to U2's album, also due out this year. They're working with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, who of course worked with them on The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree.

Bono and Secret Machines: "I Am The Walrus" Not only did U2 cover a Lennon song, but Bono covered a Beatles song. This is from the film Across The Universe, which I also need to see.