ROCK HALL ANNOUNCES PRESENTERS: LITTLE STEVEN BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG, WYCLEF, TREY

Today Rolling Stone announced the presenters for this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day for The Stooges. You know I love Green Day. But Billie Joe, to me, isn't the right guy.  In my mind, it would have been Anthony Kiedis or Perry Farrell.  Even Kris Novoselic.  Of course, Billie Joe and Green Day did back Iggy Pop on his Skull Ring album, so there is some connection.

Trey Anastasio of Phish for Genesis. A weird pick, and I really thought Muse would have perfect for this. I know that when Trey split up Phish, he was really influenced by Peter Gabriel's solo song "Solisbury Hill," which was written about quitting Genesis.  I'm not sure that makes him the right guy to celebrate Genesis, especially the trio lineup from the '80s and '90s.

Wyclef Jean for Jimmy Cliff. That's who I would have picked. He does a great "Many Rivers To Cross," and at one point I heard that The Fugees were going to star in a remake of The Harder They Come.

Little Steven Van Zandt for The Hollies. I kind of picked that also. If you listen to Little Steven's amazing SIRIUS|XM channel The Underground Garage, you know that Steven is a huge champion of the more pop and harmony based '60s garage rock bands.  He gives a great speech: his speech about The Rascals in the '90s is what got him his role on The Sopranos.

And Barry Gibb and Robin Gibb of The Bee Gees will do the speech for ABBA, which makes sense. I was kind of thinking Madonna or Lady Gaga or even Elton John, but the Gibbs is a great choice.

Anyway, I can't wait for the ceremony, which airs on March 15 on Fuse.

WHAT THE... SANTANA'S SUPERNATURAL TURNS 10!

Man, time does fly.  Next week, Sony Legacy is releasing the tenth anniversary edition of Santana's Supernatural. It isn't remastered, I don't think - it came out in 1999, I doubt they could improve the sound! Disc 1 is the entire original album, and disc 2 includes some tracks that didn't make the original (including a second collab with Dave Matthews and Carter Beauford, "Rain Down On Me," remixes of "Corazon Espinado" (the song that featured Mana, the Mexican rock band) and the huge hit "Maria Maria" (produced by Wyclef Jean and featuring his then-protegees The Product G&B), an extra jam with Eric Clapton and some other stuff.

The album was a pretty stunning comeback for Carlos Santana. At that point, he was pretty much an "oldies" classic rock type artist.  This not only made him a rock star, it made him a pop star and even saw him crossing over into hip-hop and R&B. Yes, people can bitch that a lot of it was contrived marketing on the part of co-producer and record mogul Clive Davis (who originally signed him to Columbia after Woodstock, and signed him to Arista thirty years later). But the fact is, these "all-star" type albums that are supposed to bring a legacy artist to a new generation hardly ever work, and I can't think of many, or any, that have worked this well (with the exception of Ray Charles' Genius Loves Company). It connected Carlos with the jam band scene that he had such a huge influence over via the Dave Matthews collab ("Love Of My Life" - the first single, although it didn't really become a hit), the alt-rock scene with "Put Your Lights On," featuring former House Of Pain MC turned singer/songwriter Everlast (and that song was a pretty huge hit), hip-hop and R&B with "Maria Maria" as well as "Do You Like The Way" produced by Lauryn Hill and featuring Cee-Lo Green (then with Goodie Mob, now more famous for Gnarls Barkley). The song with Mana reminded folks that he was the first big Latino rock star (or one of them), and the Clapton song was a nod towards classic rock. But it was his biggest pop hit ever, "Smooth," a collaboration with Rob Thomas of matchbox twenty that really made the album a monster. I've written about how people really hate on the guy, but this is a good song, and as far as I'm concerned, bringing Carlos Santana to new audiences is a great thing.

Anyway, the extras on the album are cool, but not essential. Amazon is selling the album for $13.99, which is good for two cds, but if you have the original, it may not be a totally necessary purchase.

MTV TO HOST "HOPE FOR HAITI" TELETHON FRIDAY

I can't really add anything to the discussion about Haiti - so much has been said, and it is such a tragedy. There are lots of organizations accepting donations to help aid the situation there, which is a disaster.  I myself have given to the Red Cross by texting "HAITI" to 90999.  Whatever you may think of the Red Cross, I think that they are the most well eqipped to get aid to those in need as quickly as possible. I may be wrong, I'm not an expert. 

MTV is doing the right thing by putting on a telethon this Friday night to raise funds: artists involved will include Wyclef Jean, Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z, Rihanna, Kid Rock, Keith Urban, Sheryl Crow, Justin Timberlake, Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys, Coldplay, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Sting, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, Stevie Wonder, John Legend and Taylor Swift.  Wyclef, George Clooney and Anderson Cooper will be the hosts. All the performances will be available on iTunes the next morning. The show will be broadcast over a ton of networks.  Get more info at MTV.

STEVIE WONDER, ALICIA KEYS AND MORE TO CELEBRATE NELSON MANDELA

If there's someone who deserves a concert to celebrate his birthday, it's Nelson Mandela. And producer/Eurythmic Dave Stewart is putting together a big show at Madison Square Garden to celebrate the man's 91st birthday July 18. So far, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Aretha Franklin, Wyclef Jean, Queen Latifah, TLC (now a duo?), Cyndi Lauper, Angelique Kidjo, Baaba Maal, Josh Groban and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy are signed on to perform. Should be a great show - I may have to check that one out. Might I suggest the reunited Specials?

GREAT SONGS FROM 2007 - part 2

Here's more songs I loved from 2007, not including tracks from my favorite albums of the year.

Green Day: "Working Class Hero" I was a bit disappointed with the Instant Karma John Lennon tribute that came out this year. Still, the proceeds went to Amnesty International, so at least a good cause benefited. Andyway, Green Day did a great job on "Working Class Hero," which features a short bit of Lennon's own version at the end of the song. I'll also give Green Day a shout out for their version of "The Simpsons Theme" from The Simpsons Movie.

Rush: "Far Cry" No secret that I'm a huge Rush fan. I didn't love thier new album, Snakes & Arrows, but I think this song is among their best. I know that back in the '70s, they were thought of as totally un-hip because (among other reasons) drummer/lyricist Neal Peart was very influenced by the writings of Ayn Rand whose writings were very pro-individualism and were not what you could call "altruistic." But after traveling across the country (Peart has crossed the country many times on his motorcycle trips, which he's written books about) he's gotten scared by the way religion and dogma has been influencing many (mostly republican) leaders, and the direction of our country, and the direction of the world. "Far Cry" addressed that in a global way, "It's a far cry from the world we thought we'd inherit/It's a far cry from the way we thought we'd share it" (which seems to be pretty un-Rayd-ish, but maybe he grew out of that). But he also personalizes things: "One day I feel like I'm on top of the world/and the next it's falling in on me/ I can get back on, I can get back on." It resonates with me.

Dropkick Murphys: "The State Of Massachusetts" I've always kind of known about this band from going to the Warped Tour back in the day, they were always part of that scene. I think I saw them once at the Fleadh Festival as well and liked them. And I think Dicky Barrett of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones told me that they were his favorite band ever. But they really got my attention last year with "I'm Shipping Up To Boston" from soundtrack to The Departed. But this song, "The State Of Massachusetts," is great, just a classic combination of punk rock and traditional Irish music that really "works." I'm going to have to start checking out their albums based on this one.

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals: "Ah Mary" This is the first I've heard of her, I don't really know how long she's been around for. I've heard that Bonnie Raitt is a fan. I enjoyed the rest of this album: I can see her being a real "people's" artist, the way Dave Matthews or Jack Johnson is.

Wyclef Jean and Norah Jones: "Any Other Day" I kind of mentioned this one when I was writing about Norah's album Not Too Late (which this doesn't appear on). It's on Wyclef's The Carnival II, which features all different collaborations with 'Clef. I like that Wyclef can get on stage with any hip-hop act and freestyle, or get on stage with a rock band, strap on a guitar and jam, or produce hits for everyone from Whitney Houston to Santana. Norah is such a great duet partner too, isn't she? Anyway, I didn't love the whole album, but it did have some great moments, including "Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill.)" I'm surprised to mention that song, because it features two guys who seem to be on every other hip-hop/pop single, Akon and Lil' Wayne. But what can I say, it's a great song.

Social Distortion: "Far Behind" This is one new track from Social D's Greatest Hits album. I don't think that they get enough credit, they are just super-consistent and great. Really, it's all about frontman Mike Ness, who is the only founding member left in the band. He also did some really underrated solo albums a few years back. Social D. fly under the radar these days, but still sell out almost all of their shows. They've earned the loyalty of their fans. I saw them last year, they killed it.

Ray Davies: "Morphine Song" I didn't love Ray's latest, Workingman's Cafe, as much as his last one, Other People's Lives. Still, this is a great song. I do hope that The Kinks do some shows this year, as long as they're in shape to do it. But I think Ray is better served doing solo albums, and not trying to recreate the magic of The Kinks in the studio.

I'm still not done: there are still songs by The Hives, The Arctic Monkeys, The Afghan Whigs, Mark Ronson, Q-Tip, Randy Newman, Paul McCartney and more to write about.