TOMORROW ON OUTQ: SPRINGSTEEN, PETTY, OZZY

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 to talk about music.  I'm a weekly guest on The Morning Jolt with Larry Flick. This week I'll be talking about some new releases from some pretty big legends.

First up is Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, who just released the DVD London Calling: Live In Hyde Park. I wrote about this a few weeks ago. But I'm still knocked out by what a great show it is. I love it as a DVD, but I think they should release it on CD at some point. Of course, the main complaint about this DVD is that there were better shows on the tour: namely the shows in the U.S. where he played complete albums. Those would make great CDs also. Actually my request would be to get a live version of Joe Strummer's "Coma Girl," recorded at Glastonbury, the night before the show that was filmed for this DVD. Pretty cool that he opened two huge shows with Strummer compositions (London Calling opens with a cover of The Clash song of the same name).

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers have a new album, Mojo, which I'm digging. I don't know if I love it as much as his last two efforts: his reunion/debut album with his pre-Heartbreakers band Mudcrutch, or his solo album Highway Companion. Mojo was definitely inspired by Mudcrutch though: on Mojo the band would record a song within one day, all live on the floor. It sounds like they had a great time on it, and I bet the songs will be great live.

I was a bit cynical when I heard about Cyndi Lauper's new album Memphis Blues, which is, as it sounds, a blues album. Lots of legendary artists do blues albums, either in some bid for some kind of credibility, or because they're out of ideas. I don't think Cyndi worries about cred, and I don't know why she did this album, but I think she did a great job with it. She is a great singer, and knows what she's doing. I think if people listen to this with an open mind, they'll dig it. There are guest shots from harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite, Ann Peebles, Allen Toussaint and (of course) B.B. King, but Cyndi is really the star of her own show.

I started making fun of Sting's Symphonicities last week. Sorry, I can't help it. It's Sting, backed by a symphony orchestra, doing new versions of songs from his Police and solo catalog. This, from the guy who doesn't want to dwell in nostalgia. I'd pay to hear Stewart Copeland review this album. From listening a bit: The Police songs sound goofy, but some of his solo songs work in this context. But they're not as good as the originals. So what's really the point?

I don't think anyone ever expected Devo to do a brand new album, of all new songs. But they did, and it's getting good reviews too. I like a few songs off of the misleadingly titled Something For Everyone. Their philosophy has always been that they don't believe in evolution: in fact, they think the human race is DE-volving. Hard to argue that point, sometimes.

Finally, Ozzy Osbourne's album, Scream, exceeded my expectations. This is his first album in a while without guitarist Zakk Wylde, now he's got a guy named Gus G. and a new drummer Tommy Clufetos (formerly of Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie's bands). Cluefetos replaces Mike Bordin who is back with the reunited Faith No More. Scream is really rocking and very contemporary sounding without condescending. Good job, Oz.

THROUGH BEING COOL: STING

That headline is a bit harsh, I guess, and I actually am a fan of lots of Sting's post-Police solo work.  The Dream of The Blue Turtles was a good album, Bring On The Night is a really great live album, and I'm a big fan of his ... Nothing Like The Sun album. The Soul Cages was devastating, and I really enjoyed Ten Summoner's Tales.  He's done lots of one-off tracks that were great too, like "Freak The Mighty" for The Mighty soundtrack, an amazing cover of Elton's "Come Down In Time," and I could go on and on. I just haven't liked much of his recent stuff.  The latest: he is going on tour with a symphony orchestra. It's called "An Evening With Sting."

BEN HARPER "MY FATHER'S HOUSE" NOW AVAILABLE AT ITUNES

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that Eddie Vedder's great version of Bruce Springsteen's "My City Of Ruins" from the Kennedy Center Honors was posted on iTunes to raise money for Artists for Peace and Justice's for Haiti relief efforts. Now, Ben Harper has posted his version of "My Father's House" from the same ceremony for the same cause.  Ben had previously recorded the song for Badlands: A Tribute To Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska, a great tribute album. The new version is even more sparse. Here's hoping they release Sting's cover of "The Rising" or John Mellencamp's "Born In The U.S.A." or even Jon Stewart's speech about Bruce.

THE KENNEDY CENTER HONORS ON CBS

(photo from Backstreets)  I'm not a huge fan of award shows (and firmly believe that there are way too many of them) but I am also a sucker for a well done tribute. So I can't believe that I've never watched The Kennedy Center Honors before tonight. Many of my favorite artists (musical and otherwise) have been honored, including The Who, Morgan Freeman, Martin Scorsese, Smokey Robinson, Elton John, James Brown, Loretta Lynn, Chuck Berry, Stevie Wonder, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, Pete Seeger, Paul Newman and Ray Charles, among others.

This year's event, honoring Robert DeNiro, Mel Brooks, jazz musican Dave Brubeck, opera singer Grace Bumbry and, of course, Bruce Springsteen, took place a few weeks ago, but aired tonight on CBS. The tributes were sincere, geniune, classy but not too stiff and deserved. Watching a montage of DeNiro's films was incredible, it really reminded you how great he is. I'm not as familiar with Mel Brooks' work, but I think I gotta rent some movies!  (I did love Young Frankenstein.) I also wasn't super familiar with Dave Brubeck, I gotta check him out also. And I'm not an opera fan at all, but I was blown away by Grace Bumbry's story: an African-American opera singer in the 1960s. Wow.

But the reason why I made sure I was parked in front of the screen tonight was Bruce. What a tribute: a hilarious and moving speech from Jon Stewart, and great performances by John Mellencamp, Ben Harper and Jennifer Nettles (from Sugarland), Melissa Etheridge and especially Eddie Vedder and also Sting. You can read a rundown of the show at Backstreets, as well as the essay that the great writer, E Street Radio host Dave Marsh wrote for the event program.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AT KENNEDY CENTER HONORS

(images taken from Backstreets.com)

Last night, Bruce Springsteen was one of the artists who was honored at the annual Kennedy Center Honors ceremony in Washington, DC. I'm glad that he got it this year - it was nice for him to receive the medal from Barack Obama. I mean, what would George W. have had to say about Bruce? The President's speech was predictably great, and you can read it on the White House blog. Jon Stewart also paid tribute, but the real tributes were in the performances: John Mellencamp performed "Born In The U.S.A.," Ben Harper did "My Father's House" (which he first covered for a tribute to Bruce's Nebraska that came out a few years back on Sub Pop), Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland did "Glory Days," Ben and Jennifer did "I'm On Fire," Melissa Etheridge did "Born To Run," Eddie Vedder and a gospel choir did "My City Of Ruins" and Sting with a bigger gospel choir did "The Rising." I can't wait to see this on CBS when it airs on December 29.

THIS WEEK ON OUTQ: CHRISTMAS ALBUMS!

For those of you who are new to No Expiration: every Wednesday morning at 9 am ET, I go on the SIRIUSXM channel OutQ and talk about music on the great show The Morning Jolt With Larry Flick.
Anyway, as I said when I wrote about Christmas music last year, I'm Jewish and not much of a Christmas music guy. That said, last year I came up with some great Christmas music: Little Steven's collection of garage rock Christmas tunes, The Reverend Horton Heat's christmas album We Three Kings, the We Wish You A Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year compilation and the all time classic, Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift For You. I won't even try to beat that lineup, and if you don't have those albums, go get them. But here's some other good stuff, starting with my favorite pick of this year:

I actually wrote about The Hives' holiday collaboration with Cyndi Lauper last year, but I didn't find out about it until after my OutQ holiday music episode. It's called "A Christmas Duel," and it is just as awesome as you would hope it would be. Trust me.

Next up is Bob Dylan's Christmas In The Heart, which I've written about. So much has been written about this album. Is he kidding? Seeing what he can get away with? The album is so straight - New York magazine compared it to Andy Williams! It's not far off - it's done very straight, so to speak. But if you listen to Bob's Theme Time Radio Hour on SIRIUSXM's here, you know that Bob loves that straight up old-school American pop music from the '40s and '50s. As big of a Dylan fan as I am, I didn't feel the need to get the whole record. But if you do, the proceeds go to Feeding America. Actually, having said that, now I feel guilty, maybe I will get it.

Pretentious time! Stewart Copeland must be having field say with this one. After a few years of reminding people of how cool he used to be with The Police reunion tour, Sting is back on the semi-classical music tip with his seasonal album, If On A Winter's Night. Actually, the album sounds like it was made to be made fun of, and of course Sting doesn't care. He can do anything he wants. The two songs I've downloaded, "Soul Cake" and "Christmas At Sea," are quite good, I like them despite myself.

Years ago, I saw Melissa Etheridge at a radio station Christmas concert at Madison Square Garden. It was more of an alt-rock thing with Green Day and Hole headlining. Melissa actually had her own sold-out headlining gig at the Garden the week after, so to make this show different, she did it solo acoustic. Which could be intimidating in a huge arena, in front of a crowd that may not be your crowd. Unless you're Melissa Etheridge. Truth to tell, she blew Green Day and Hole and everyone else away. She did a great cover of John Lennon's "Happy XMas." She's exactly who you want playing Christmas music. She's sometimes a bit too earnest even for me, but I have a soft spot for her. Her Christmas album, A New Thought For Christmas, came out last year, and I didn't get to it, but I figured I'd get it this year. "Christmas In America" is classic Melissa, a great song about someone whose loved one is serving their country overseas on Christmas.


Tori Amos has a holiday album, Midwinter Graces. I was surprised at that, given she's been a huge critic of religion over the years. On the other hand, her dad is a priest! While I haven't enjoyed Tori's last few releases, her first four or so albums are classics, and I am a fan for life. I like the song I heard from the new album, "Star Of Wonder." Will Larry let me discuss her? We'll find out tomorrow. He is not a fan.



Rob Halford has reunited his other band, Halford, for a holiday album, Halford 3: Winter Songs. It is hard to imagine Judas Priest doing this album, but it makes sense, kind of, for Rob. He's like an opera singer. It has elements of metal, but isn't a metal album really. Good for Rob to be able to stretch out between Priest projects.


Last year, Weezer released the EP Christmas With Weezer, and it had a version of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" which sounds just the way you'd expect, it's fun.


Here's a weird one: Eban Schletter's Cosmic Christmas. He does the music for Spongebob Squarepants, among other shows. I am bringing a thermin-based version of "We Three Kings," I don't know if Larry will want to hear it.


Also, if we get to it, the followup EP to last year's We Wish You A Metal XMas. It features Steve "Lips" Kudlow of Anvil singing "Frosty The Snowman," former Coal Chamber singer Dez Fafara singing "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer," Doro Pesch singing "O' Christmas Tree" and the reunited Girlschool doing "Auld Lang Syne."

9/11 MUSIC PART 1 - AMERICA: A TRIBUTE TO HEROES

On one hand, what can music do when the entire country is simultaneously mourning and in shock? On the other - in my opinion, and in that of many others - music helps people to heal in a small way.

The America: A Tribute To Heroes telethon took place on 9/21, just ten days after 9/11. I remember being totally moved, and in the back of mind a bit impressed with the networks. I thought they did a great job of being classy, not cheesy, not embarrassing, and clearly dropped the usual business and commerical concerns.

I listen to the album once a year - around 9/11 obviously. I remember seeing Bruce Springsteen open the show with "My City Of Ruins." At my job at VH1, we actually had footage of him performing it a week or so earlier at a fair in Asbury Park. It was about Asbury Park, but obviously it really worked for the awful situation the country was in. Most people thought he wrote it after 9/11, which goes to show how good of a writer Bruce is. Stevie Wonder along with the vocal group Take 6 did a great version of his underrated classic "Love's In Need Of Love Today" from Songs In The Key Of Life. Alicia Keys did a solo piano reading of Donny Hathaway 's "Someday We'll All Be Free." It was oddly joyous: she was partially mourning, but also looking toward a better future. Dave Matthews did a solo version of his "Everyday," a hit single at the time that also worked perfectly. The Dixie Chicks did a really moving version of "I Believe In Love," which I don't think they'd released yet. Sting did a very apropos "Fragile" and U2 did their best ever version of their instant-classic "Walk On." Sheryl Crow sang my personal favorite song of hers "Safe And Sound" (originally about an ex-boyfriend, it still seemed to fit the situation), Neil Young had one of his finest moments with his cover of John Lennon's "Imagine" (a song that Clear Channel supposedly "banned" from its radio stations post 9/11) and Neil also backed Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready on "Long Road."

For that night, it helped make the events of 9/11 a bit easier to process somehow. Willie Nelson ended the night leading a number of artists (including Mariah Carey) through a ragged version of "America The Beautiful," which made me feel patriotic and like it was time to start trying to move on.

THE POLICE TEAM UP WITH MAYOR BLOOMBERG

Oddly, just a day after The New York Post's lame attempt at swiftboating Sting and Trudie Styler's Rainforrest Foundation, The Police and Mayor Bloomberg announced that the band will play their final gig - ever - in New York City and the tickets will raise one million dollars for Bloomberg's Million Trees project - to make the city "greener." Money from the concert will also go to public television channels in New York City and Long Island.

So who knows, maybe Fox News, who surprisingly defended Sting and Trudie from the Post, will turn on them.

Anyway, lots of credit to the guys for donating lots of money to good causes. Yes, the band have earned millions and millions of dollars from this tour, so it's easy to be cynical. But I believe public televison and the enviornment are important issues, and they are important to the guys in the band - or at least Sting.

FOX SMACKS DOWN THE POST OVER STING AND TRUDIE

I don't know that I'll ever write a more bizarre headline than that.

Is there an easier target for haters than Sting and Trudie Styler's big Rainforrest Foundation concerts? People love to hate on Sting, and his relationship with Trudie, and tree-hugging millionaires, and adult contemporary stars (many of whom show perform at these benefits). So this is like fish in a barrel. It's probably one thing that indie rock blogs and The New York Post can get agree on.

And The Post recently ran a smear piece on the Foundation. But surprisingly, a fellow property in the Evil Empire stepped up and gave them a factual smackdown: Fox News. Read the real deal here.