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Because talk radio is abrasive and Sunday morning pundit shows are on too early, Bruce Haring is debuting his own online talk show, broadcast in streaming media, on his OFFtheCHARTS.com site. Haring kicks off the show tonight at 8 p.m. Pacific time with Metallica/Dr.Dre attorney Howard King, rocker Wayne Kramer, USA Today pop critic Edna Gundersen and Billboard West Coast bureau chief Melinda Newman. Haring just published a book, "Beyond the Charts: MP3 and the Digital Music Revolution." We haven't read it, but the pitchers sure are purty… Epitonic.com and ZDNet have hooked up to present the weekly list, "Ten Bands You Need to Hear," on ZDNet's music site. Artists there right now include Beck, Girls Against Boys and Sarah McLachlan. The list includes news, reviews and MP3 samples, culled from Epitonic's catalog of more than 2500 tracks. And you'll be able to buy music there too. Imagine that. Don't do it. Just imagine it… So much for two turntables and a microphone: Numark is manufacturing a control module for Visiosonic's professional model two-track MP3 player. How geeky of a DJ do you have to be to whip this thing out?… Yesterday, The Crosswalk launched an online election site that allows users to listen to downloads and vote on whether or not the band should release its album, "Venus Loves a Melody." The LP was rejected by Hollywood Records, which then dropped the band. Ballsy move or desperate publicity stunt? You decide. Either way, vote early and vote often at TheCrosswalk.com… CheckOut.com was picked as the first online retailer for Sony's streaming video service, Video Music Network. Available digitally in windows the size of a cassette tape are clips from Gloria Estefan, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Jamiroquai and more. Now that's progress… Let's end on some news from MP3.com, or as we call it, "Savior of NASDAQ": The rare Elliott Murphy/Bruce Springsteen collaboration from 1995, "Everything I Do (Leads Me Back to You)" was saved from obscurity when Murphy put the track up on the site. Now if only we could say the same for his career. [Ed. Note: The writer is young and has no knowledge of any music recorded prior to 1993. We apologize to Elliott and his fan base. Thank you.]… And finally, a partial list of the speakers for the lineup of MP3 Summit 2000, taking place June 20 and 21 at the University of San Diego has been announced: michael robertson',390,400);">michael robertson',390,400);">Michael Robertson is one of them. No word whether Elliott Murphy will join him.