Darlene Love is Back!

She was the greatest unsung singer of the girl-group generation, subbing for the Crystals when Phil Spector needed someone to sing "He's a Rebel" and "He's Sure the Boy I Love" and singing as Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans on Spector's "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" and "Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Heart?" But it took decades for Darlene Love to get her proper recognition, and then only because David Letterman made a holiday TV tradition out of her deep cut "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." Now that Dave's officially retired, she returns with her first new album since 1988, somewhat puckishly titled Introducing Darlene Love, and several of her famous admirers are on hand to help her out: the video for the lead single, "Forbidden Nights," features Darlene in her convertible, picking up (or passing up) some very familiar faces, including Letterman, Bruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt, Bill Murray, Elvis Costello, Joan Jett, and longtime Letterman bandleader Paul Shaffer. You can see the video -- and pre-order the album, due out September 18!


-- at darleneloveworld.com.

Is Paul Simon Going Country? 

He's literally traveled the world in search of new musical genres to explore, but the songwriting half of Simon and Garfunkel has so far stayed mostly away from the music of Nashville, preferring to mine the folk traditions of Europe (and Africa, and South America). But now comes news that Paul Simon is set to attend the Country Music Hall of Fame benefit called "All for the Hall," which for the last decade has raised funds to support the Nashville museum and its educational programs that spread the word about the rich legacy of the genre. Simon plans to take the stage with Brad Paisley, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, Carrie Underwood and possible others in an informal tradition known as a "guitar pull," where artists gather to spontaneously play on each other's tunes as well as traditional numbers. You'll have to show up, in other words, to hear what Simon classics get the new country treatment, or what Americana songbook selections he might take on.

Tickets for the benefit, to be held on October 6 at the Times Square Best Buy Theater in New York, start at $100 and can be purchased at axs.com.

Thin Wins Again: New Elvis Stamp Revealed

The US Postal Service has, for only the second time ever, released a postage stamp featuring the likeness of Elvis Presley, a move made in conjunction with the recent 38th anniversary of his untimely death. Yet unlike back in 1993, when the USPS created perhaps the first bonafide postage stamp sensation by asking users to vote on a '50s or '70s version of the King of Rock and Roll -- a contest in which the earlier "Thin Elvis" trounced the later "Fat Elvis" by a wide margin -- this latest official national honor comes preordained. While the original Elvis stamp was the first in a groundbreaking series honoring rock stars through new portraits, this one, the first of this year's music crop, features a 1955 photo of the King by William Speer, who also oversaw its transformation into postage. Known as the "Forever" stamp, it also features Presley's signature in gold, the word "forever" (although oddly designed to where it looks crossed out) and a gold crown to signify his "royalty." The new release might also be seen as a way to boost the USPS' revenue in an increasingly paperless world: the original 1993 "thin Elvis" remains the best-selling stamp of all time.