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.

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.

LITTLE STEVEN DEFENDS HIS TOP 50

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Little Steven's year- and decade-end charts. Now, you know I'm a huge fan of Little Steven, his Wicked Cool Records label and his Underground Garage channel on SIRIUS XM. But even I called him out on naming The Beatles Mono Box Set the best album of the past decade. I mean, how could anything else possibly compete with all of those Beatles classics? I also was surprised to see Kelly Osbourne on the best singles list. Apparently, Entertainment Weekly was surprised also: they interviewed him to call him out on those and a few other picks. Check out the interview here.

LITTLE STEVEN'S END-OF-DECADE CHARTS

Little Steven has just posted his top albums and songs of the decade on his website. Some really great stuff there: I immeadiately made a rockin' ipod mix based on his songs list. Well, a slightly altered version, but "best of" lists are subjective, right?  And, sorry, Kelly Osbourne didn't have one of the best garage rock songs of the decade. Aerosmith may have: but it wasn't "Girls Of Summer."

The coolest song of the decade?  Joey Ramone's "Maria Bartiromo." Good pick. Rounding out the top ten: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's "My Lucky Day" (great underappreciated song from Working On A Dream), Oasis' "Lyla" (really underrated, I'd only heard it on Underground Garage) and at number 4, Mick Jagger's "Too Many Cooks (Spoil The Soup)," produced by John Lennon. I would call foul on that one, as it was obviously not recorded this decade, but in the '70s.  But it was only released on the 2007 The Very Best Of Mick Jagger collection, so OK. At #5, one of my personal favorites, Foxboro Hot Tubs with "Stop, Drop and Roll." At #6 is Locksley, one of those bands I would never ever ever have heard of if it wasn't for Little Steven.  Cool band: the song he choose was "There's A Love." At #7 is another personal favorite of mine, The Cocktail Slippers with "Don't Ever Leave Me" from my second favorite album of 2009, Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. And that's another band that I would never have heard if not for Steven. Thank you Little Steven! The top ten was rounded out by Cheap Trick's "If It Takes A Lifetime," Primal Scream's "Dolls" and Tinted Windows' "Nothing To Me" (Bun E. Carlos makes the top 10 twice!). I don't know if I would have choose that Cheap Trick song, or even Tinted Windows, but that's what I'm talking about!

Other entries included legends: Aerosmith, Iggy Pop (a collaboration with Sum 41!), The Pretty Things, Steve Earle, Ray Davies, Neil Young, one-time Underground Garage DJ Joan Jett, Les Paul with Jeff Beck and Sam Cooke, John Fogerty, The New York Dolls, Pearl Jam, The Go-Go's, The Dictators (featuring Underground Garage DJ Handsome Dick Manitoba), The Buzzcocks, U2 and The Rolling Stones.  But there's also younger acts too: The Soundtrack Of Our Lives, Tegan & Sara, Noisettes, The Breakers, The Grip Weeds, The Red Button, The Catholic Girls, The Urges, The Forty-Fives, The Hives, The Len Price 3 and The White Stripes.

The albums chart was a bit rigged. Well, not rigged, but The Beatles In Mono box set was the #1 "album." Not fair. Then at #2 was the Nuggets II box set.  Come on, that's tough to compete with! So the best album that actually contained music that was new during the past decade was Bruce Springsteen's Magic. which is one of my favorite albums of the decade as well. Some people may complain about Bruce placing so high in both charts when Little Steven is a member of the band, but hey, in the Underground Garage, Steven is the boss! #4: The Chesterfield Kings with Psychadelic Sunrise #5: Primal Scream's Riot City Blues #6: Tinted Windows #7: Foxboro Hot Tubs' Stop Drop and Roll!!! #8: The Cocktail Slippers' Saint Valentine's Day Massacre #9:  Iggy Pop's Skull Ring and at #10: Ray Davies' Other People's Lives. Most of the same bands on the singles chart were on the albums chart, which also featured the One Kiss Can Lead To Another box set, of classic girl groups music.

I always check out the year and decade end charts in all the magazines, but I like Steven's the best, even when I disagree with them. (Where was King Khan & The Shrines???)

BEST OF THE '00s: LITTLE STEVEN VAN ZANDT

As the '90s were moving toward their close, it looked like Little Steven Van Zandt was getting ready for retirement.  He hadn't released a record all decade and hadn't done much production work (the exceptions being for Southside Johnny, Meat Loaf and The Arc Angels - an Austin Texas group featuring Charlie Sexton, Doyle Bramhall II and the Double Trouble rhythm section of Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton).

And then 1999 happened.

A few years prior, his beloved Rascals were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Steven gave the speech introducing them. That speech led directly to his acting career. He'd never acted but David Chase offered him the role of Silvio Dante in the HBO-transforming series The Sopranos. The show debuted on January 10, 1999, introducing Steven to a new audience. Later that year, Bruce Springsteen announced
that he was reactivating The E Street Band, complete with Little Steven (making them a three-guitar band, with Bruce, Steven and Nils Lofgren all playing, as well as occasionally Patti Scialfa).

In the 00s, Steven has spent a lot of time on the road with The E Street Band, playing some of the best concerts this planet has ever seen.

But he's also spent a lot of time trying to rescue rock and roll. Not metal, not indie rock, and not adult contemporary, but rock and roll.  He started with his syndicated Underground Garage radio show, which brought non-formatted (and not always old, and not always male-driven and not always white!) rock and roll, one night a week, to the embarassingly boring and dull classic rock format. I heard it on the local classic rock station here, and could not believe it. It was amazing.

He started promoting concerts by garage rock bands old and new.  He also started his own record label, Wicked Cool, for old school garage rock bands, and he also started a twenty-four hour channel at SIRIUS Satellite Radio, with a lineup of DJs that include Dictators frontman Handsome Dick Manitoba, KO & The Knockouts frontwoman Ko Molina, former Rolling Stones manager/producer Andrew Loog Oldham, Radio Legend (and when I say Radio Legend, I mean from the awesome, pre-corporate radio era) Kid Leo and Steven himself.  At one point, Joan Jett was a DJ also. Comedian/actor/game show host Drew Carey hosts a show once a month. And Little Steven gets on the mic as well. (That channel is what made me a SIRIUS subscriber, and that was what gave me the idea to try and get a job at SIRIUS when I needed a job... and that's where I am today).

My second favorite album of 2009 was Saint Valentine's Day Massacre by The Cocktail Slippers, produced by Little Steven and released domestically by Wicked Cool; a bunch of the songs got played fairly frequently on The Underground Garage, and now they are becoming one of my favorite new bands. I would never, ever have heard of this band if it weren't for Little Steven.  But I also have gotten turned on to many others that I would never had heard of without the Garage: The Charms, The Chesterfield Kings, Creatures of the Golden Dawn, The Downbeat 5, The Contrast, The Grip Weeds, The Fondas, The High Dials, The Len Price 3, The Night Marchers (even though I'm a fan of Rocket From The Crypt), The Pigeon Detectives, Vibeke Saugestad and The Jessica Fletchers, among others. I may very well hear something for the first time tommorrow when I'm listening. Do I buy full albums by these bands? Sometimes. Sometimes, it's just about havng a song on one of Steven's many Coolest Songs In The World compilations. Sometimes I'll just buy a song or two on iTunes. But with rock bands, it isn't always about the legends with box sets, tribute albums and huge tours. Sometimes it's about just having one classic 45". Just one 45". That's the magic of the Nuggets collections, and that's kind of what Steven curates with the Garage. He is a man on a mission, you should join him. Check out his radio show, or his radio station, or his website and order some albums. You'll be glad you did. It's the kind of music that makes your life better!

E STREET BAND TO TAKE HIATUS

Most Bruce Springsteen fans probably guessed that The E Street Band would be taking a break after this tour wraps up, but now it's a bit more official: Little Steven Van Zandt, Nils Lofgren and Roy Bittan held a conference call with journalists, and said that they'd probably be taking a year and a half or two years off after the Working On A Dream tour wraps in November. They've been working for over two years straight at this point: the classic Magic album came out just about two years ago (on October 2, 2007 - just weeks after No Expiration started), they toured a lot, recorded Working On A Dream during breaks in the tour, put that out, and have been touring since. I'm sure Bruce will take some time off, and probably do a solo acoustic thing, or maybe hook up with the folks he worked with in The Seeger Sessions Band again. I'd love to see them do an album of Hank Williams songs. I've also heard that the Darkness On The Edge Of Town box set (which will be similar in format to the Born To Run box set that came out a while back) is coming before the end of the year.

"I AIN'T GOT MY SHOES BUT I STILL GOT MY FEET": BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AT GIANTS STADIUM NIGHT 2

I went to see Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band for the second night in a row tonight. I wasn't planning on going; these concerts end up costing a ton of money when you put them all together. But I had some very, very good fortune and got a free ticket. Not just any ticket: a ticket for the much-coveted pit in front of the stage. A general admission section, center stage, that holds a few hundred people (someone said it was a thousand). It was more crowded than my last pit experience at "E Street boot camp" in October. But it was amazing. Like last night, they played over three hours, but they played about 16 different songs than they did last night (which is about half the show). 

The energy seemed pretty amazing tonight (although that may have been because of where I was located). I know I'm not writing eloquently here, so I'll keep this short: it's nearly 1 am ET, and I'm still experiencing that cool feeling after an awesome concert (and no I didn't drink or do drugs). 

What were my highlights? Something about "Girls In Their Summer Clothes" (a song I've written about already) followed by "Thunder Road" really moved me. I know some people think that the line from "Thunder Road," "So you're scared, and you're thinkin' that maybe we ain't that young anymore" is one of his best. I would agree. Somehow I loved hearing that next to "Girls," with one of my favorite lines, "I ain't got my shoes but I still got my feet." (I've taken that line to mean, "Well, I've grown past wearing show-offy clothes like fancy shoes, but I can still dance as good as I ever did!"). Another stragely moving part of the show was "Born To Run," which always resonates, but tonight Max Weinberg let his son play drums on it. The kid (who I heard is a Mastodon fan) plays more like Dave Grohl than his dad, but he was great. You could see how proud everyone in the band was. 

"Drive All Night," an audience request was incredible. So was the less than two minute "Held Up Without A Gun," a song Steven Van Zandt has always wanted to play (I think this may have been the second or third time the band ever did it). "It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City" was just great. And Nils Lofgren stole the show with his guitar solo during "Because The Night," which included a somersault, and I'm not joking. 

I also love the way they end with a Seeger Sessions-era song, "American Land," it's another of Bruce's classics, and I like it more than the kind of similar "Land Of Hope And Dreams." 

Tomorrow night, I'm going to see The Foo Fighters, and Wednesday is Aimee Mann. Thursday: back to Giants Stadium for another Bruce show!