MY FAVORITE SONGS OF 2012 (OR, THIS IS WHERE I MENTION FRANK OCEAN)

Over the past few days, I've posted about some of my favorite albums of the year. But there were a lot of great songs that weren't on any of them, so I'm gonna do one more quick list. Ready?  Here we go:

Frank Ocean - "Thinkin' 'Bout You": I kind of feel like I have to justify why Ocean wasn't on my top albums of the year.  So here it is:  I really wanted to like his album. A vote for him seemed to equal a vote for a world where being gay is no big deal. I'm all about it. But I just don't love the album, it doesn't keep my interest at all.  And that said, "Thinkin' 'Bout You" might be the best song I heard all year. It's so moving, it gets me every time.  Just based on this song, I'll pick up his next album.  The guy is clearly talented as hell.

Solange - "Losing You": My boss turned me on to this song, and he's a tough crowd, so I checked it out. What an amazing song.  If it's possible for her to get out of her sister's shadow, this is the song that should be able to do it.  

M.I.A. - "Bad Girlz": Unfortunately, the headlines M.I.A. made in 2012 were all about her little moment of  giving the finger to the camera at the Super Bowl. It was dumb and goofy.  But at least she put out a great song, and the video for this was pretty cool too.

Santigold - "Disparate Youth": She's always interesting. This song is a bit more "new-wave-y" than her prior songs.  It actually reminds me of New Order for some reason.

The Chris Robinson Brotherhood - "Let's Go Let's Go Let's Go": I'm not very familiar with Chris Robinson's solo stuff, although I have certainly enjoyed his music with The Black Crowes. But wow, what a great song, it sounds like something that would have been on a Sam Cooke record or a very early Motown single.

Ryan Shaw - "Morning Noon And Night": Actually, I need to check out his album.  I heard his song in Starbucks, Shazam-ed it, and downloaded it.  It's one of the best things I've heard all year and also kind of Sam Cooke-ian.

Leonard Cohen - "Going Home": I can't really get into entire Leonard Cohen albums, but I do love some of his songs, and this one is a classic.

Willie Nelson - "Just Breathe": I liked Willie's album, Heroes, but not enough to include it in my top albums of 2012.  But this Pearl Jam cover was incredible.

The Beach Boys - "That's Why God Made The Radio" I'm fascinated that it even got made. And I love the fact that there's no acknowledgement of anything current.  This is a 100% authentic Brian Wilson creation.

Van Halen - "Stay Frosty": This was also an unlikely, and solid, reunion.  David Lee Roth had lots of great lines, Ed Van Halen sounds inspired and Alex and Wolfgang are solid. This song is the highlight, and actually can stand up next to some of their earlier stuff. 

The Rolling Stones - "Doom And Gloom"/"One More Shot": Basically, they kicked everyone's ass with these songs.  

Led Zeppelin - "Good Times Bad Times (live)": I could have picked any song from Celebration Day, really.  But this is the first song on the album and the excitement is tangible.  I have to do a separate post about this album, I can't believe how great it is. 

Aerosmith - "Oh Yeah": I wish I liked their album, Music From Another Dimension, more than I do.  We had to wait so long for it! But "Oh Yeah," which Joe Perry wrote, is 100% classic Aerosmith. 

Paul McCartney/Dave Grohl/Krist Novoselic/Pat Smear - "Cut Me Some Slack": Rocking.  

The Wallflowers featuring Mick Jones - "Reboot The Mission": Basically a Clash tribute.  In the best way. 

Joey Ramone - "New York City": It holds up to the greatest Ramones songs.  I love it. 

Gaslight Anthem - "45": I thought this should have been the song to bring them to the "next level." 

Iggy Pop and Bethany Cosentino - "Let's Boot And Rally": a great song from True Blood, written by the show's music director, Gary Calamar. Calamar wrote the song for them, and he told me about it. And this is where I get to include Best Coast (the band Ms. Costentino sings for; I like them, but not enough to include them on this list). 

GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD

Martin Scorsese's George Harrison documentary, Living In The Material World, has been in the making for a long time. It was worth the wait.  The first half seemed like watching The Beatles Anthology documentary from a George-centric view, but there were some great scenes.  I'd never seen the footage of an older, wiser George in the '70s, watching video of The Beatles performing.  Also, there was a great story of John Lennon and George Harrison visiting Stu Sutcliffe's girlfriend Astrid (who was interviewed for the special) after Stu died.  She took some photos of them in the area where Stu did his paintings. I'd never seen those photos before, they were incredible.  The second half covered the Beatles breakup and the years after.  There was a lot about All Things Must Pass, and from there it concentrated more on his relationships with Monty Python's troupe, his friendship with Ravi Shankar, and his life at home.  Which is fine, I didn't like many of his albums between All Things Must Pass and Cloud 9. I wish the doc  talked more about Cloud 9, which was the album that introduced him as a solo artist to a younger generation (myself included).  I would have loved to see Jeff Lynne talk more about the making of that album... and also George's final record, Brainwashed.

I wish there was more Traveling Wilburys footage - pretty much everything here is the same footage included on the DVD that comes with the recent Traveling Wilburys collection that compiled both of their albums. And speaking of them, it would have been great if they got Bob Dylan in this doc (especially since Scorsese did a wonderful Dylan doc, No Direction Home).

But I really loved watching it. The interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were great.  It was cool to see Tom Petty talking about him, and the interviews with Olivia Harrison, Dhani Harrison, Eric Clapton added a lot to the picture of George.

If you missed it, I think it comes out on DVD (with extra footage) in six months, and it is still airing on HBO - if you want to see it, check out HBO.com and search for George Harrison.

RAVE ON BUDDY HOLLY

I know that a lot of people hate the idea of tribute albums.  I don't.  In the pre-downloading age, I bought tons of them, even if there was just one artist I liked on the album. I really like the idea of artists paying tribute to other artists, I always have. It's hard to overstate Buddy Holly's importance.  He was there at the beginning of rock and roll.  He influenced The Beatles. The Rolling Stones covered him on their first album. I remember watching Bob Dylan talk about a Buddy Holly concert when he was accepting his Grammys in 1997.

I think it's important to our culture to keep reintroducing this kind of classic music to younger generations (or "demographics").  Rave On Buddy Holly does a good job at putting together a great list of diverse artists.   Do any of them improve on the original songs?  No, of course not. But there are lots of great versions of these classics, and if Rave On turns some new people on to Buddy Holly's music, then mission accomplished.

I think my favorite songs on the album are Paul McCartney's "It's So Easy," Karen Elson's "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" and Cee-Lo Green's "You're So Square (Baby I Don't Care)." Sir Paul sounds like he  is harnessing the excitement that he felt when first hearing Buddy's music as a kid. It's actually kind of shocking hearing him rock out so hard!  No Expiration readers know that I really like Karen Elson, and I love her take on "Crying, Waiting, Hoping."  It's hard not to imagine that she was thinking about her soon-to-be-ex-husband (who produced the track and plays drums on it) when she was singing this.  Even still, it's a bit more upbeat than her most of the stuff on her excellent debut album The Ghost Who Walks. Cee-Lo Green? He just sells it so well.

There's a lot of other great moments: The Detroit Cobras (props to the producers for including them) on "Heartbeat," The Black Keys' "Dearest," Justin Townes Earle's "Maybe Baby," My Morning Jacket's "True Love Ways," She & Him's "Oh Boy!" and even Kid Rock's "Well All Right." It's not all good.  The singer from The Strokes and Modest Mouse both do pretty boring takes on Buddy classics.

But even the songs I don't like may serve a purpose.  If popular artists like the singer from The Strokes or Modest Mouse can attract some new people to the amazing and timeless music of Buddy Holly, then well done.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: CLASSIC ROCK: OZZY, IGGY, NEIL, PAUL, LEVON

I don't know if your average classic rock programmer would consider all of these artists "classic rock," but it's my blog, and they are all classic rock to me!  I'm going to be talking about some great releases this week on SiriusXM OutQ's The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick.

First off is Roadkill Rising, a 4 CD box set of Iggy Pop bootlegs, which includes his entire solo career, as well as The Stooges' reunion shows.  The sound is a bit muddy in places (it is all bootlegs, although supposedly Iggy helped to choose what songs were used), but it is really cool.  The earliest performances on the box feature his great '70s band that included David Bowie on keyboards and backing vocals, Tony Sales on bass and Hunt Sales on drums.  Bowie and the Sales brothers went on to form Tin Machine many years later.  Anyway, each disc covers a different decade, I like the '70s and the '00s stuff the best.

Then, there are the reissues of the first two Ozzy Osbourne solo albums, 1980's Blizzard Of Ozz and 1981's Diary of a Madman. Both albums featured what was probably his best post-Sabbath band: the late Randy Rhoads on guitar, bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake. There's an interesting story behind these reissues which you can read a bit about here. Diary comes with a bonus live disc - that band featured Ozzy, Randy, Rudy Sarzo on bass and Tommy Aldridge on drums and is pretty rocking.

Paul McCartney continues the reissuing of his catalog with 1970's McCartney and 1980's McCartney II. McCartney was his first release after the breakup of The Beatles (and in fact was released shortly before Let It Be) and definitely comes off like a reaction to it.  It doesn't have an epic sense of self-importance, it's just Paul enjoying himself in the studio. He plays all of the instruments - it's a true "solo" album - and the songs are simple, but lovely.  "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "Every Night" are on that album.  I don't like McCartney II: it was supposed to be a short break from Wings, but Wings never ended up getting back together.  I love "Coming Up," but I don't like the rest of the album.

I just wrote about Neil Young's A Treasure. It's a great document of his foray into hardcore country music from the '80s.  This isn't Eagles-like, soft-rocky country-rock, but actual country music. It's also a great tribute to Neil's longtime musical partner, steel guitarist Ben Keith, who passed away a few months ago. I really dig this album, and this side of Neil.

Finally, Levon Helm's new album, Ramble At The Ryman, where he takes his traveling version of his "Midnight Ramble" shows to Nashville's legendary venue.  As is often the case with his Rambles, he was joined by a few great artists: Sheryl Crow, John Hiatt and Buddy Miller. I think the album is a lot of fun, and reminds me that I have to go see Levon when he plays Central Park Summerstage later this summer. But I really want to go up to one of his Rambles at his place in Woodstock.

I hope you guys enjoy some of these.  By the way, if you aren't a SiriusXM subscriber, go here for a free online trial subscription.

PAUL McCARTNEY AT THE APOLLO - AWESOME!

I had the great privilege tonight to see Paul McCartney's amazing concert at Harlem's Apollo Theater. It was an invite-only event put on by SiriusXM in honor of hitting the 20 million subscriber mark (I am an employee of the company, but the event was, rightfully so, for subscribers). (By the way, I didn't take this picture, my friend Jon, who is a subscriber, and won a ticket to the show, took this picture).

It was an incredible show (for a full setlist, check me out on Twitter, I tweeted each song as he played it). Ostensibly, he is promoting the 30th anniversary of what is maybe his greatest post-Beatles work, Wings' Band On The Run, and he played a bunch of songs from the album ("Band On The Run," "Jet," "Let Me Roll It" and "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five"), but the setlist had tons of his songs from when he was fab. The opened with a very muscular version of  "Magical Mystery Tour," followed closely by "Drive My Car," "All My Loving" and even "One After 909."

Paul is one of the greatest songwriters of all time, even his detractors have to admit that. But he is also a great showman, and knows how to write a setlist.  He goes from totally rocking with songs like "Back In The U.S.S.R." to really quiet songs like "Blackbird" (which he said was inspired by the racial injustices in America). He can go from a pretty angry song ("I'm Looking Through You" is one of his meanest, it always seemed a bit out of character to me) and then the very next song was the tender "And I Love Her." And it's all believable.  I don't think he gets enough credit for the diversity of styles he has mastered, both musically and lyrically.

My highlight of the night, though, was his cover of Marvin Gaye's "Hitchhike." He did it as a tribute to all the great performers who had played at the Apollo.  It was a bit messed up, the sound on the vocals went out during the song ("now you know it's a live radio broadcast," he joked afterwards) and he had to start over.  But it was a great performance and it featured go-go dancers, rocking it '60s style (if I had to guess, I would say Maureen Van Zandt, wife of Steven, was the choreographer). There were other guests - a children's choir - on "Wonderful Chrismastime," one of my least favorite Paul songs, but it was sweet. I loved when Paul put on the mandolin for his semi-recent classic "Dance Tonight." Another great moment was "A Day In The Life" which went into John Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance." And, finally, the ending medley of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" which went into "The End."

Like Bob Dylan and Ozzy Osbourne, Paul couldn't do it without an incredible band.  These guys love Paul, and they love and respect his music. Keyboardist Wix has been with Paul since 1989 (the first tour I saw Paul on, Flowers In The Dirt), the other three guys have been with him since 2001: guitarist Rusty Anderson, guitarist/bassist Brian Ray and especially drummer Abe Laboriel Jr., who is not just a monster behind the kit, but also has a charisma and sense of humor that everyone love (especially, it seems, Paul). It doesn't just come off as the Paul McCartney review, these guys really make it rock and come off like a band.  Paul ended the night saying "See you next time," and I can't wait until "next time" comes around. At 67, the guy rocked for two hours, if you ever have the chance to see him, you should definitely go! He really works it: besides playing his main instrument, bass, he also switched to electric and acoustic guitar, piano and even mandolin. All these years later, he still rocks.

Oh and by the way, "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da" was a hell of a lot of fun, I know people make fun of that song, but get over it!

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: WE DISCUSS THE BEATLES

2009 was a great year for Beatles fans: it saw the long-overdue remastering of the band's catalog. Also, their mono recordings were available on CD for the first time. Plus, there was their edition of the popular video game Rock Band.

2010 isn't going to top that. But there are some cool releases from The Beatles and their members that we'll be talking about tomorrow morning on SIRIUS XM OutQ's Morning Jolt with Larry Flick.

First off, the reissues of the "Red" and "Blue" albums. Released in 1973, "Red," or 1962-1966, is a double album which includes their biggest hits from the first half of their career. "Blue," or 1967-1970, is a double album that covers the rest of their career. My parents had "The Blue Album," and I still have that copy.  That's one of the first albums I remember listening to. There is nothing on "Red" or "Blue" that wasn't reissued last year, but for people looking to start getting into the band, these are great places to start (there's also the single CD best of 1, but that's a bit too short for my tastes). Both collections hit stores next week.

Out now is The 4 Complete Ed Sullivan Shows Featuring The Beatles 2 DVD set which I just wrote about. Of course the highlights of these are The Beatles world-changing performances. But it is interesting to watch the rest of the shows, to see what passed for entertainment back then.  I don't mean that in a snobby way: it's just that, compared to the rest of the entertainers on Sullivan, The Beatles were totally wild and radical.  These days, The Beatles are part of the cultural language.  But watching these shows, you get a better sense for why they had the effect that they had.

This past weekend, the whole world seemed to be celebrating the life and music of John Lennon, as he would have turned 70 on Saturday. The official John Lennon page on YouTube featured video messages from Ringo Starr, Aerosmith, DMC, Jeff Bridges, David Gray and many others, plus lots of non-celebs, just fans. And of course, his catalog has just been reissued, including a box set.  But what interested me the most is the new version of 1980's Double Fantasy, which has the original album, and a "stripped down" version of the album, kind of un-re-mixed by Yoko Ono and Jack Douglas (who produced the original).

Meanwhile, Paul McCartney is reissuing what is arguably his finest post-Beatles work Wings' 1973 album Band On The Run. It comes out November 2, and will have extra discs with bonus tracks and a DVD with video footage from the era.

The Beatles have long been holdouts in the digital music marketplace: you still can't download thier music (legally) anywhere. But they are thawing a bit: they are going to reissue the non-Beatles Apple Records catalog on October 25, including music by Badfinger, James Taylor (his first album) and Billy Preston.

IT CHANGED EVERYTHING: THE BEATLES ON SULLIVAN

You can see what they saw, but you can't really feel what they felt. I can't imagine any cultural happening that could equal the excitement of that very first Beatles performance on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. The world was a different place, most people had never seen a rock band. There were three or four channels (which signed off at the end of the night). It's been said before, but The Beatles weren't just a band, they were a cultural revolution. And by the way, I'm saying this as someone who was born five years after the fact. But ask anyone who was, say, seven years old or older when The Beatles played Sullivan, they'll probably not only remember it, but how it changed everything.

I was glad to find out that Universal (not Apple Corp) was putting out a 2 DVD set including all four episodes that The Beatles appeared on: February 4, 16 and 23 1964 and September 12, 1965. It doesn't just include The Beatles' performances, it includes the entire broadcasts for all four shows, commericals included.  In a way, I just want to see The Beatles. On the other hand, it is so interesting to see what else passed as entertainment back then: acrobats, magicians, puppets.  It's quaint, but you watch it and realize just how radical The Beatles were (which is easy to forget these days, when they are still so ubiquitous, 40 years after their breakup. Some of the other performances are of note: comedian Soupy Sales (whose sons, Hunt and Tony, would years later play in Iggy Pop's backing band, and then join David Bowie in Tin Machine), Frank Gorshin (who went on to play The Riddler on the Batman TV kitch-fest) and Cab Calloway.

But of course The Beatles' performances are what you want to watch for, and they aren't just intersting as a historical document, you can feel the joy and excitement, even now. A couple of weeks ago, after a blackout, we had power but not cable. Instead of watching whatever was on TV that night, I popped in disc 1 and watched the performance that I'd seen clips of umpteen times and was blown away.  Maybe not blown away like those lucky 73 million people who watched live in 1964, but blown away nonetheless.

KNEBWORTH GETS A 20TH ANNIVERSARY REISSUE

Wow, it's been twenty years? I remember working at sleepaway camp over the summer and listening to the live broadcast of this concert over the radio. The concert featured British rock royalty, and raised funds for the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy and the Brit School of Performing Arts. Nordoff -Robbins "specializes in transforming the lives of children and adults constrained by illness, disability, trauma or isolation, through the power of music." It's easy to understand why so many musicians would donate their time and efforts. Learn more about Nordoff-Robbins here.

The concert itself was incredible.  Tears For Fears, a very hot band at that time, opened. They were followed by two legendary U.K. bands that never caught on here, Cliff Richard & The Shadows and Status Quo. And then it got really good.

Robert Plant, who was absolutely huge at that moment thanks to his hit album Now & Zen performed, and towards the end of his set was joined by Jimmy Page. Phil Collins, one of the biggest stars in the world played a solo set.  After a few songs, most of his band (minus drummer Chester Thompson and guitarist/bassist Daryl Stuermer) left and Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks joined for a Genesis set. Then Phil's band rejoined for a huge-ass "Turn It On Again" medley. Eric Clapton and The Dire Straits (both at their commercial peaks) performed a set together, playing songs from both catalogs, and then were joined by Elton John for some of his songs (including his then-#1 single "Sacrifice"). 

Paul McCartney, who was at the time on his first tour in over a decade and played an abbreviated version of his usual show. And, believe it or not, he wasn't the headliner: Pink Floyd (the post-Roger Waters version, alas) closed the show. I lost my CD version of the show, and ended up finding it on eBay and buying a new copy. I really like some of it: especially Plant's set, but before and after Page joins.  He was really enjoying having a hit album, I think. I also liked the Clapton/Elton/Dire Straits thing. Plus it brings back memories of listening to it over and over that summer (of course we taped it off the radio. I wish I still had the tape, since not all the songs made it to the album).  But now, Eagle Rock Entertainment is reissuing it (unfortunately with no bonus tracks).  It comes out March 23.

THIS MORNING ON OUTQ: OSCAR MUSIC

As per my last post, this morning on OutQ, I'll be talking about songs that have been nominated for Oscars this year, by Ryan Bingham, Randy Newman and others. I'm also bringing some songs from films that were not nominated, including songs by Paul McCartney, U2, Mary J. Blige and Jack White.

I HOPE RYAN BINGHAM WINS A GOLDEN GLOBE TONIGHT

Yes, two of my favorite artists ever are up for the "Best Original Song - Motiton Picture" Golden Globe tonight, U2 and Paul McCartney. I've heard U2's song "Winter" from Brothers, it was cool. I really liked Paul's "I Want To Come Home" from Everybody's Fine. But I would really love to see Ryan Bingham's "The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart win. I haven't seen the other two films, and "The Weary Kind" is pretty central to Crazy Heart. Also, Ryan is a great artist (you can hear him on SIRIUS XM Outlaw Country) who would get a big career boost from the award.

I won't be watching the Globes - 24 debuts tonight! Also, the Globes are kind of bogus.  As opposed to the Oscars, which are voted on by over 6000 people (making it difficult to "campaign"), the Globes have 82 voters, and their only criteria for maintaining voting status is to have two articles a year published.  It could be in the smallest publication. Plus, with that few voters, lots of movie stars are able to effectively campaign. There are often events where a movie star will pose for photos with all of the voters. These are probably the types of people who feel "completed" by the presence of celebs, and I'm sure that's an effective method of getting people to vote for you.  Read more about it here.

Anyway, this past week, Ryan Bingham came to perform on Mojo Nixon 's show on Outlaw Country, here's his performance of "The Weary Kind." Stunning.

The 82 voting members of this organization (the Academy has 6000) have had their credentials challenged year after year. Very few members are full-time journalists. The skinny is that they’re in it for the parties and the movie stars and, of course, the annual network TV show which nets them a tasty $6 million.

GUEST POST: A REVIEW OF PAUL McCARTNEY'S GOOD EVENING NEW YORK CITY

I have been wanting to invite some other bloggers who don't normally write about music to do guest posts on No Expiration, and for my first one, I am honored and fortunate enough to have Melanie Nayer, who taught two blogging classes that I took via Media Bistro. She keeps reminding me that "I am NO music critic." But that's generally who I'd like to hear from the most. I was bummed when I missed Paul McCartney's CitiField shows this summer; Melanie saw one of Sir Paul's concerts in Boston around the same time. So thank you, Melanie, for contributing to No Expiration. And without further intro...

I grew up in a house where Simon & Garfunkel provided sermons and The Supremes sang life's lessons; where Jerry Garcia was ruler of an unknown (but totally far out) universe and Michael Jackson was a way of life. I had a pair of blue suede shoes and memorized the entire dance number for “Jailhouse Rock.” But above all I knew that in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. The Beatles - as far as this Midwestern girl was concerned - were simply the best. I was too young to remember the day John Lennon was shot, but I very vividly remember the first day I heard Paul McCartney sing "Yesterday" on the radio and I haven't been the same since.

Fast forward 25 years and I finally got my chance to see Sir Paul in concert at Fenway Park in Boston. It was a magical night full of inspiration, excitement and some of my favorite songs. To watch your musical idol come to life on stage is an awesome moment - it's a reminder of how powerful music is in our lives. So when McCartney released the CD of his latest tour, Good Evening, New York City, I snatched it up. I popped the two-disc set into my car's CD drive and set off for a three-hour drive to Vermont, just me and Paul.

The CD is a compilation of all his songs from the concert, but it's void of one thing: personality. While the songs were the same, the live concert CD cut out the best part of the live show: Paul talking to the audience between songs. I waited anxiously after track one, then track two, then track three, eager to hear him speak to the crowd. I was disappointed, but trudged on with disc one and sang along as if I were back at Fenway.

I sang my way through "Eleanor Rigby," "Blackbird" and swooned to "My Love." I flipped to disc two and grooved to "Back in the USSR" before holding my own moment of silence for George Harrison during "Something." Paul crooned into "Paperback Writer" and then gracefully lingered into Track 6, "A Day in the Life." I sang along as the riffs changed chords and went into "Give Peace a Chance." I was taken back to my night at Fenway when McCartney, the band and the thousands of fans held up peace signs and symbols and sang effortlessly, yet passionately, to the four words that could save any nation. I was reminded that once there were four young men from Liverpool who had a dream and, not without their battles, set out to rule the world. Despite the struggles and the tragedies, they had a mission not unlike any of us -- to just be at peace. While the concert was, of course, much better than any live CD could ever be, the words and music of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr still give me hope.

RINGO AND PAUL'S NEW SONG

Ringo Starr's new album Y Not won't be out until next month, but you can get the first song, "Walk With You," featuring Paul McCartney, on iTunes now. They've played on each other's albums often over the years, and even performed with each other earlier this year, and couple of years before that at a tribute to George Harrison.

Y Not is the first time Ringo has produced himself (or anyone else, for that matter), I wonder what the dynamic was like for that. Paul taking orders from Ringo. This is a lovely song, you should really check it out. (And ditto for Paul's new song "I Want To Come Home" from the film Everybody's Fine.)

Whenever Ringo puts out an album, people roll out the red carpet because they love to be around him, he's a cool guy and a Beatle. They take a cursory listen to the album, and then forget it once he's out the door. And, fair enough, all of his albums aren't great.  On his last album, Liverpool 8, the very last song "R U Ready?" was also really good, and he has gems scattered throughout his recent solo career. But who knows, this album may be a creative rebirth for him (I heard rumors that Ben Harper & Relentless7 are the backing band on the album, but I don't know if that's true).

PAUL MCCARTNEY AND U2 GET GOLDEN GLOBE NODS

Earlier this week, the semi-bogus but semi-legit movie awards, The Golden Globes, announced the nominees for this year's ceremony (although on the music tip, The Globes rightly awarded Bruce Springsteen's "The Wrestler" with a trophy last year, while The Oscars didn't even nominate him).

This year's Golden Globe nominees include a U2 song that I hadn't even heard of: "Winter," from the film Brothers.  Also on the ballot is Paul McCartney's "I Want To Come Home" from Everybody's Fine. And finally, a song written by O Brother music supervisor (and awesome producer) T-Bone Burnett and singer-songwriter Ryan Bingham, "The Weary Kind," from Crazy Heart. That song is performed in the film by the star, Jeff Bridges (aka "The Dude") who apparently plays a Kristofferson/Jennings type character. So far, I've heard U2's song which is nice but didn't knock me out, and Paul's song which I really do like. I haven't heard the Crazy Heart song, but I am definitely going to see that movie, and I can't wait.

In honor of U2 and Sir Paul being nominated, here's a video of them together from Live8, performing "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

BEST OF THE '00s: THE BEATLES

Yes, The Beatles. Yes, they broke up four decades ago. And yet, they had the best selling album of the decade, 1. It had no new songs on it, nothing new at all. What it did have was 27 of the greatest songs of all time, and gave a great jumping-on point for young fans (by the way, one thing that The Beatles - or their estate - didn't do, was to make their catalog available digitally.  The USB drive doesn't count, I'm talking a la carte).

The Beatles did Vegas, albeit in a much cooler way than some of their peers and idols. The Beatles Cirque du Soleil show, Love, was a huge hit. The Beatles-fuelled film Across The Universe, genuinely did introduce a whole new audience to the band.  I saw proof of that in my young barely teenage cousins who know lots of Beatles songs thanks to that film.

The Beatles Rock Band game will also turn on lots of younger kids (although I imagine that lots of copies of the game and its accessories have been purchased by adults). Oh yeah, the same day that was released, so was the remastered Beatles catalog, as well as two box sets - and the Fab Four sold 600,000 CDs in one week. All of this can be attributed to the power and timelessness of The Songs. Yes, they were well marketed back then, and are really well marketed now. But it's really The Songs.

Of course, not everything was great this decade: we lost The Quiet Beatle, George Harrison. All Things Must Pass. His final album, Brainwashed, produced by his fellow Traveling Wilbury Jeff Lynne and his son Dhani Harrison, is a great album and an awesome final statement. You should check it out. I didn't love Paul McCartney's music as much, but I love his mandolin-heavy song "Dance Tonight," and I also really enjoyed Ringo Starr's "R U Ready?"

Today I finally ordered The Beatles box set (in mono) from Newbury Comics, and I can't wait to hear it.  Few things can inspire such unabashed joy in so many as the music of The Beatlees. I don't care that it was created 40 years ago or more. It sounds just as fresh and just as relevant today.

More Best Of The '00s: Bob Dylan
Willie Nelson
Aimee Mann
Jeff Tweedy
David Johansen
Levon Helm

PAUL McCARTNEY AND ERIC CLAPTON: "SOMETHING"

A new friend reminded me of how moving this performance was. It was from "The Concert For George," the George Harrison tribute concert from a few years ago. Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton did a duet on George's Beatles classic, "Something," backed by an allstar cast, including George's Wilbury brother Jeff Lynne and Ringo Starr. I never really get into the personal lives of rock stars, but I have to wonder what went through their minds here. There must have been... regret. It's no secret that Paul (and John Lennon) bullied George a bit, looking back, was he sorry about it? And Clapton, on one hand a close friend of George's was also George's rival for Patti Boyd. Most people wouldn't still be friends after that - these guys played on each other's albums and even toured together. That's a deep relationship!

Below the "Something" video is another performance from the same concert, Paul doing George's solo song "All Things Must Pass," the title track from George's first post-Beatles album. The Beatles actually turned that song down! I think George actually wrote it about The Beatles, but of course it can take lots of other meanings - including about life. Life being a "thing" that "can pass." To me, it is the most moving performance by Paul I've ever seen. Also moving: Beatles sideman Billy Preston on keyboards and Traffic's Jim Capaldi on percussion, both no longer with us.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ PART 1: LAST MINUTE GIFTS!

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 on the show The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick to talk about music. It is usually a half hour deal, but tomorrow I will be there for an hour. The original plan was to talk about last minute gifts for Hanukkah and Christmas. But since the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced their induction class for 2010 this morning, I'm going to be talking about that tomorrow as well. But first, on to the last minute gift ideas. One box set and a bunch of live albums - I find this kind of thing to be a great gift. Of course, I would think that!

A few weeks ago when I talked about box sets, I hadn't yet gotten a copy of Elvis Presley's Elvis 75 - Good Rockin' Tonight. I am not a huge Elvis fan actually (my first impression of him was during his "fat" era I think, and later on by Public Enemy's lyric "Elvis was a hero to most, he never meant shit to me"). But you simply cannot deny his influence on modern music and aside from that, he has some great songs. I would argue that most of his recorded output wasn't really that great, but the stuff that is great (mainly what he recorded for Sun Records) is earth-shattering. Again, I'm not a huge fan, but you really can't deny it. This 4 CD box set covers his entire career. If you are getting a gift for an Elvis beginner and want to spend a little bit, this is a great gift. A cheaper alternative is the single CD Elv1s 30 #1 Hits. I have that - I even thought that was a bit long for me. I would actually prefer Elvis At Sun. One gem I do love on this box set, though, is his cover of Bob Dylan's "Tomorrow Is A Long Time," recorded in 1966.

Moving from one Elvis to another: Elvis Costello's Live At The El Mocambo is a pretty great live album. Recorded in 1978 between his first two albums, My Aim Is True and This Year's Model, it shows Elvis and The Attractions as a hungry, up-and-coming band with something to prove (by the way, this isn't the same set as the one that is included in the Deluxe Edition of My Aim Is True). No Expiration readers know how much I love to see great artists - like Elvis Costello - make amazing art decades into thier careers. That said, there's nothing like hearing an artist when they are the hot new thing. That's what you get here. The sound quality is a bit bootleggy - lots of loud audience sounds, but it almost feels like you are there. Kind of for hardcore fans, but it is really great stuff.

Next is Neil Young's Dreamin' Man, which I've been looking forward to. Recorded in 1992 on a solo acoustic tour, he was playing the songs for Harvest Moon (released later that year) for the first time. I went to one of the NY shows, and was blown away. This is kind of more for hard-core Neil fans, but it really is a lovely album.

Tom Waits' Glitter and Doom is a live album also, documenting his latest tour. It mainly features stuff from the past decade, with some dives into past decades as well. It's two discs: one is songs, the other is stories that he tells between songs. I don't know if that would work for anyone but Tom Waits! Kind of only for hardcore fans.

Paul McCartney's Good Evening New York City documents his concerts this summer at CitiField, which replace Shea Stadium. Paul has released a ton of live albums over the past twenty years, but they are all fun. This one spans his career, from The Beatles to his latest project as The Fireman. The coolest part of the album is probably his live version of The Beatles' "A Day In The Life," which he'd never performed before (as it was mainly a John Lennon composition). This is not just for hard core fans, but if you have a limited budget, I'd say any of The Beatles remasters is probably a better gift.

Finally, The Rolling Stones' Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out deluxe edition, a re-release of the 1969 live album, which comes with a DVD, bonus tracks not on the original album, and the opening sets from Ike & Tina Turner and B.B. King. I've written about this one before.

Also, Beyonce and Kylie Minogue have new live albums, I don't have them, but Larry may bring them in.

RINGO STARR TO RELEASE Y NOT IN JANUARY

Ringo Starr's new album, Y Not, due in January, has some exciting points about it, but none more than this: there are a few songs with Paul McCartney. Paul and Ringo have played on each others albums over the years, but there's still something cool about the idea of them still working together. Who knows, maybe it will lead to another performance together - I doubt it, but it's nice to be able to hope!

Ringo's last album, Liverpool 8, had a great song on it, the last song on the album, "R U Ready?" Hopefully there will be more great songs like that. On this album, other than Paul, guests include Ben Harper, Joss Stone and Joe Walsh. It's also the first time Ringo has produced one of his albums. I'd heard a rumor that Ben Harper & Relentless7 was the backing band on a lot of the songs (they backed him at a benefit concert in April). That would be cool!

LETTER TO THE BEATLES: PLEASE LEAVE THE YELLOW SUBMARINE AT THE DOCK

Lots of bad ideas going around lately! Bono and The Edge doing songs for a Spider-Man musical. Steven Tyler maybe quitting Aerosmith. The other four guys from Aerosmith thinking about working with another singer. Now, filmmaker Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, and creepy sorta animated films like Polar Express and A Christmas Carol) wants to remake The Beatles' Yellow Submarine. Dear Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr: don't let him. The Beatles didn't want to really be involved in it the first time around - it is actually voice actors playing the roles of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Being involved in this one wouldn't make up for it. The Beatles have handled their legacy exceedingly well in the past decade or so: everything they've done has been cool (with the possible exception of Let It Be ... Naked) and well executed. The greatest hits album 1 sold millions, Love is a hit in Vegas, Across The Universe turned young kids on to their music, etc. But this would most likely come off as lame, so don't do it!

ON iTUNES: FOO FIGHTERS GREATEST HITS EP

Tomorrow sees the release of the Foo Fighters' Greatest Hits album. A deluxe version will have a DVD of the band's videos. But iTunes will have a cheapter EP version, which will just have the two new songs, "Wheels" and "Word Forward," as well as the acoustic version of "Everlong" and a cover of Paul McCartney's "Band On The Run" which is exclusive to the EP. Dave Grohl and Sir Paul are total bros: Dave played drums for Paul at the Grammys last year (and I think he joined them for "Band On The Run" at one of Paul's shows in the summer of '08). I watched part of the Foo Fighters exclusive Facebook show on Friday night, and it was pretty cool.

Of course, that's probably the last we'll see of the band for a while, since Dave is about to spend the next few months with Them Crooked Vultures. I imagine the other Foos - drummer Taylor Hawkins and guitarist Chris Shiflett - will do solo stuff, and bassist Nate Mendel may work with Sunny Day Real Estate again.

PAUL MCCARTNEY TO RELEASE LIVE ALBUM

Between Tripping The Live Fantastic, Paul Is Live, Back In The U.S. and Unplugged, Paul McCartney has put out lots of live albums in the past few decades, but what's wrong with another one? Nothing, that's what! He's putting out a document of his concerts from the summer that opened Citi Field (the former Shea Stadium). Good Evening, New York City comes out in November, find out more at Paul's official website.