It's safe to say we've given Boy George more than enough time to realize his crime. The beleaguered singer has had more than his share of legal troubles throughout the '90s and 2000s, and that has occasionally overshadowed the music he put out in the 1980s. This is a shame, since Culture Club was one of the better U.K. pop bands of the early '80s. Don't let George's gender-bending look fool you. Heaven knows that's become the primary takeaway for nostalgists, but there's a lot more underneath
Archives for October 18, 2010
Perseverance Leads to Two New Score Reissues
To be honest, The Second Disc hadn't heard of Perseverance Records until yesterday, but they sure did score a nice pair of score reissues for November. The label, which has specialized in smaller-scale soundtracks and soundtrack reissues since 2002 (most notably the score to the 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers), will release expanded scores of the '80s action epic Red Sonja (1985) and the hugely successful drama Rain Man (1989). Red Sonja, based on the Marvel Comics character,
Review: Jimmy Webb, "Ten Easy Pieces Plus 4"
Often a reissue celebrates a classic album of years past. Through additional content, new remastering or expanded liner notes, the listener can put the original in perspective. It can be a reminder of just why we loved that album so much the first time around or take us to a special time in our own past. At other times, a reissue brings a forgotten album to light, revealing it as a lost treasure. Such is the case for Jimmy Webb's Ten Easy Pieces, now Plus 4 courtesy the fine folks at DRG
Solo Smokey, Thrice as Nice
It's always a delight to see Hip-o Select dig up treasures from those fabled Motown vaults. It's as much of a treat, too, to see Select tackle those hidden in plain sight bits - the music that has been around officially for years, but has yet to make its debut on CD. One of the most exemplary artists who until recently was hard to find on CD was the great Smokey Robinson. The angel-voiced Motown man had a phenomenal solo career for the label after separating from The Miracles, but those albums
In Case You Missed It: Common's "Resurrection," Resurrected
The irony is so thick, you can cut it with a knife: lately, there's been a lot of talk about the presence and/or absence of rap music being reissued, remastered and anthologized. The Guardian did a nice piece on the burgeoning rap reissue scene, and even yours truly threw his hat into the fray with a guest post on Record Racks back in August about seminal works of the genre that demand a reissue. It's funny, then, that one particular rap reissue got lost in the shuffle a few months back. I'm
From Marcy to Madison Square: Jay-Z Compilation Forthcoming (UPDATE 10/18)
A new compilation for rapper Jay-Z will be on store shelves very soon from Island Def Jam. The influential hip-hop artist/businessman has never had a compilation released stateside, outside of a bonus CD packed with special copies of last year's DJ Hero video game. So this is quite a monument; the man born Shawn Carter is arguably the most pre-eminent figure in rap since the end of the 1990s. His career has weathered retirements, comebacks, feuds, reconciliations and the jump from Roc-a-Fella