DARLENE LOVE - ROCKET QUEEN'S TESTIMONIAL

Today on SiriusXM OutQ's Morning Jolt with Larry Flick, Larry mentioned that Darlene Love had one of her first hit singles about 48 years ago.  So, it's about time that she is getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next week!

I'm really honored that Rocket Queen, guitarist from one of my favorite bands, The Cocktail Slippers, agreed to write up something brief for me about Darlene.  Take it, Rocket Queen!


"Darlene Love simply fills me with admiration; she's got an amazing voice and she's a role model - for the way she sings, for the way she puts her soul into the songs she's singing, for her beauty and grace and for simply just being a strong modern woman. Needless to say, there's no Christmas without Darlene Love's 'Christmas (baby please come home)'."

Like Darlene's greatest songs, and those of The Cocktail Slippers, it's short, sweet, to the point and awesome.  Thank you Rocket Queen!

But that's not all: watch the video below, filmed at Madison Square Garden, October 29, 2009 at the concerts celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band had Darlene join them for "Fine, Fine Boy" and "Da Doo Ron Ron."  Bruce asks the voters in the audience to vote for Darlene, "Her singing and her stage presence is an inspirational joy, she's really blown all our minds.  She's the voice of some of Phil Spector's greatest creations... and if there's any justice, she's a future member of the Hall of Fame! She's on the ballot this year, so let's get those votes in! She's a one woman 'wall of sound,' the lovely Darlene Love!"

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.

TOMORROW ON OUTQ: HENDRIX, MARLEY, MICHAEL AND SPECTOR

For those of you who are new to No Expiration, you can hear me (almost) every Wednesday morning at 9 am ET on the SiriusXM Channel OutQ on the show The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick. Every week I talk about music. Surprise!

The last few weeks, I've been pretty Grammy focused. Tomorrow, I'm talking about older music.  I mean, hey, if you still have those Amazon or iTunes or Barnes & Noble gift cards, you wanna use them, right?  (And if you have a Borders gift card, you really want use that one sooner rather than later!). Here's some ideas on what to use them on.

Last year, Sony Legacy released a new Jimi Hendrix box set, West Coast Seattle Boy. 4 CDs and a DVD, but it's mainly for the aficionados, I wrote a review of it here.  It's mostly hard-to-find stuff (disc 1 is all music from his days as a sideman) and alternate versions.

Bob Marley & The Wailers' Live Forever on Universal, is a recording of the man's final concert, recorded in September of 1980, just months before he died. It's pretty powerful stuff, although the sound quality starts to crap out towards the end.

Sony has also just re-released George Michael's 1987 album, Faith. Because of many reasons, people have forgotten that in 1987, he was really big - he was a peer of Madonna, Prince and Michael Jackson. This reissue reminds you why.  Disc 1 features the album, Disc 2 is B-sides and dance remixes and Disc 3 is a DVD with an interview from the era, a doc on his Faith tour and his music videos from the album. If you're a George Michael fan, you should definitely pick this up.

Finally, it seems that Sony has acquired the Phil Spector catalog, and they are releasing single CD compilations from some of his artist.  Tomorrow I'll have best of albums by The Ronettes and The Crystals.