WHO ARE THE GUTTER TWINS?

I was excited to hear that Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan are working together as The Gutter Twins. Dulli , of course, fronted one of the best bands of the '90s that never "made it," The Afghan Whigs, and since then has fronted a project called The Twilight Singers. Lanegan fronted another great '90s band, Screaming Trees while maintaining a solo career. He has sometimes been a member of Queens Of The Stone Age, and has also collaborated with Isobell Campbell (of Belle & Sebastian). They have a few things in common: one is that they both seemed to have been their own worst enemy when it came to their careers. They certainly made great music, but their various behaviors prevented them from being the rock stars that they should have been. Both seemed to have musical roots that extended way past '70s punk rock (which made them stand out among many alt-rockers of the '90s) -they both knew blues, soul and country. I'd also argue that both the Afghan Whigs and Screaming Trees ended on their finest albums (although I'm sure I could get killed in some parts of Seattle for that comment).

The Gutter Twins will play NY, but unfortunately on Valentine's Day. If there's any two people you don't want to see on Valentine's Day, it's these guys. But hopefully they'll do another date at some point. I can't wait to hear this album.

ZEPPELIN TO PLAY BONNAROO?

That's the rumor circulating on the web right now: that Led Zeppelin and Metallica will be headlining Bonnaroo in 2008. Of course, Robert Plant has been bullish in every interview that the upcoming Zeppelin reunion concert is a "one-night stand" (although Jimmy Page clearly hopes that they'll do more). Plant has stated that next year, he'll be touring with Alison Krauss for their awesome collaboration, Raising Sand. Of course, he could do that and hit the festivals with Page and John Paul Jones in the summer. Bonnaroo is the perfect festival for Zep: it kind of has the hippie spirit that Plant at least has. He's always been more into the psychedelic and garage rock scenes than hard rock and metal. In fact, being associated with hard rock and metal seems to annoy and embarass him. Bonnaroo would also be a great place for him and Ms. Krauss to perform, if he was of the mind to perform with her and with Zep in the same weekend. John Paul Jones kind of did that last summer: he performed with a bluegrass band that he produced called Uncle Earl, and then also at the "superjam" with Ben Harper and ?uestlove from The Roots. Man, if Zeppelin didn't do a U.S. tour, but just played Bonnaroo, that would be crazy. Last summer, The Police were one of the headliners - but they also did a fairly extensive tour. But if Bonnaroo was the only opportunity to see Zeppelin in the U.S... that would be pretty insane.

Add to that Metallica. One of my favorite bands, but a surprising choice for the festival, given James Hetfield's conservative politics and the fact that he's always had a disdain for hippies. But if they play a set like the ones they did at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit a few weeks back (they covered Rare Earth, Nazareth, Garbage and The Dire Straits!), that could be a cool deal for Bonnaroo.

Although Bonnaroo always books lots of jam bands, I wonder what happens when tons of rockers come just to see Zeppelin and Metallica? While I've never been to the festival, there's been many years where the lineup has been tempting. I've just never wanted to take the time off, pay for the plane fare, and go through the trouble of camping. I've always read that the festival has been incredibly well-run, treats the concert-goers well, and has been enviornmentally conscious. But I wonder if this brings it dangerously close to a Woodstock '99 type scene.

But despite what I said in an earlier post, I think that if this turns out to be my only chance to see Zeppelin, I may have to buy a tent.

TOM PETTY - YOU GOTTA LOVE HIM

I just wrote about Tom Petty last night, but I read a great interivew with him at Rolling Stone magazine's web site. He basically talked about how his deal for playing the Super Bowl is a deal with the NFL, not any other sponsors - it's no different than when he plays The Tonight Show and there's commercials, or he plays an arena that hangs beer logos up. He can't do songs with drug references like "You Don't Know How It Feels," but so what - he has the opportunity to play to millions of people of all ages from all different kinds of backgrounds, just like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones did on The Ed Sullivan Show back in the day. They weren't allowed to have drug references in their songs either, and probably rightfully so. I know that that isn't cool to say, but if I had kids, I don't know that I'd want them to hear songs about "smoke another joint" on the Superbowl halftime show. Tom also promised no backing dancers or fireworks or whatever. He noted that recent Superbowl performers Paul McCartney, The Stones, U2 and Prince came off cool because they just basically did their thing. He also mentioned that he's working on a new album with The Heartbreakers, although he didn't mention the rumored reunion album he's doing with his Mudcrutch, the band he was in before he went solo (but some of The Heartbreakers were in that band also).

THE JACKSONS TO REUNITE?

Rumor has it that The Jacksons (as opposed to The Jackson 5) are going to reunite. That's pretty wild. Obviously all those guys, including Michael, are hurting for money. Still, it will be interesting to see how this works out. The Jackson 5 (and later The Jacksons) made some great music - I have the pictured album, ABC, on vinyl, and it's pretty great. Still, this is essntially a boy group reuniting. And of course, if Michael is there (and no one will care about it if he isn't) he's got to do some of his solo classics - and he has way more solo hits than he had with his brothers.

There's also news that he's re-releasing Thriller. Bad move I think: even though he's having some of the hottest producers like Kanye West and will.i.am remix tracks, it just feels desperate. Although I am interested to hear what his new album will be like. I hear he's working with will.i.am: that could actually be good. One of Michael's big problems is that he's never been OK with not being huge. All of his superstar peers like Springsteen, Madonna and Prince have, at some point, accepted that they won't ever be as big as they were in 1984. Michael's never been able to swallow that, and because of it, he comes off as desperate. I'm not at all interested in the tabloid aspect of his life. But if he could do a few new songs that are as good as the better moments on Dangerous (like "Black Or White"), that'd be pretty cool.

NEW BILLY JOEL SONG

Over ten years ago, Billy Joel announced that he wasn't going to write any more songs, he said he was done with it. Earlier this year he released a new song, a love ballad called "All My Life," which he released on iTunes. Now, news comes that he has another new song, but he wrote it and barely appears on the recording. It's called "Christmas In Fallujah," and it is being recorded by a young singer-songwriter named Cass Dillon, who was in his single digits when Billy released his last full length rock album, The River Of Dreams. According to a Billboard interview, Billy felt that the song, about a guy spending the holidays in the Middle East, needed to be sung by a younger voice.

I don't think Billy gets enough credit for his songwriting. He'd be the first to admit that some of his songs are a bit cheesy (I've read interviews where he openly mocks "Just The Way You Are"). But he writes about regular people struggling with the world around them with a near-Springsteenian eye. "The Downeaster 'Alexa,'" "Goodnight Saigon" and "Allentown" are great examples of this. Billy isn't in my top echelon of favorite artists, but I've always been a big fan. I'm looking forward to this song, which hits iTunes tomorrow.

Incidentally, I really respect Billy's deciscion to get off the treadmill. He has nothing more to say, why put out new albums just because he's "supposed" to? He tours, plays the old songs that his fans want to hear, and that's great. I think it's more natural for a guy like him, who has recorded so many great songs, to quit if he can't match the quality of his earlier music. Not everyone can be Springsteen or Petty. That said, I have high hopes for this new song.

TOM PETTY TO ROCK THE SUPERBOWL

I was kind of surprised to find out that Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers have been named as the halftime performers at this year's Superbowl. I had my money on Bruce Springsteen or The Eagles. I guess Bruce's politics might have knocked him out of the running - or maybe he just didn't want to do a big corporate sponsored event. Most of his new songs are probably offensive to the football audience (as they criticize the government, how bad radio is, corporations, war, etc.). I imagine The Eagles' politics, and the songs on their new album (which I haven't heard) might create the same problems.

Still, it's such a corporate event, and Tom (to my knowledge) doesn't have a new album to promote. But whatever, I'll tune in, and good for Tom for getting such a large forum for his music. As much of a joke as the Superbowl halftime shows have historically been, there's been a few good ones. U2 was transcendent. I thought Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones were both great. Prince blew the roof off last year. I'm curious what songs Tom will play (I'm guessing "American Girl" will be one) - whatever he does, it will be great. He comes with less hype than the other artists that I've mentioned, but he's just as great. Hopefully he'll play "Money Becomes King."

GET WELL SOON, DANNY!

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band have kicked off the European leg of their Magic tour, and, sadly, keyboardist Danny Federici is taking a leave of absence, to receive treatment for Melanoma. Until Danny rejoins the band they're using Charles Giordano, who played with Bruce last year in The (Seeger) Sessions Band.

Back in my days as an interviewer, I had a few occasions to speak with Danny. He was always really cool. A few of them were before Bruce reunited with The E Street Band. Like the rest of the group, he was trying to get a new career going (he was recording solo albums of mainly accordian-based instrumental music)... and of course every interviewer asked about Bruce. Danny was very gracious about it. I was really happy for him when Bruce got the band back together. Anyway, get well soon, Danny, it won't be the same without you.