Release Round-Up: Week of July 17

July 17, 2012 By Joe Marchese — No Comments

America, Perspective/In Concert (BGO)

Two out-of-print albums from Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell circa 1984 and 1985 are now available as a two-for-one CD from the U.K.’s BGO label! Read more here.

Donny Hathaway, Live + In Performance (Shout! Factory)

The Shout! Factory label combines two of the late soul man’s live albums (the first, from 1972, and the second, a posthumous set from 1980) in one package, newly remastered by Steve Hoffman. Read more here.

Elton John vs. Pnau, Good Morning to the Night (Mercury/Casablanca)

Sir Elton opened up his vaults to Australian dance-pop duo Pnau, and the result is this club-ready collection of mash-ups! Eight new songs have been created from Elton favorites as well as deep tracks. Read more here.

MC Squared, Tantalizing Colours: The Reprise Recordings (Now Sounds)

Now Sounds unearths a long-lost album from a psychedelic band including session vets Randy Sterling and Jim Keltner, circa 1968! The label describes the band as “sounding like a unique hybrid of The Mamas and the Papas and Jefferson Airplane,” which strikes us as about right! Watch for Joe’s run-down soon.

Melba Moore, This Is It: Expanded Edition (Funky Town Grooves)

Melba Moore’s 1976 collaboration with producer Van McCoy is expanded with two bonus tracks!

Sam Phillips, Martinis & Bikinis (Omnivore Recordings)

Sam Phillips’ classic pop-inspired 1994 LP, produced by T Bone Burnett, arrives on CD and vinyl with four bonus tracks! Keep an eye open for Joe’s review tomorrow. Read more here!

Various Artists, Pete Waterman Presents the Hit Factory (Sony U.K.)

This affordably-priced box set rounds up eighties classics from Bananarama, Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Rick Astley, Cliff Richard and Samantha Fox, among others from the famed PWL label! Read more here.

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MC Squared, Melba Moore, Sam Phillips

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.