Light in the Attic delivered Fully Qualified Survivor last year, and has now turned its attention to remastering and expanding Rainmaker, Chapman’s 1969 debut for Harvest.  (1971′s Window would fall in between those albums.)  Like that more famous sibling, Rainmaker blends psychedelic, folk and rock influences into a potent brew that’s uniquely Chapman and again features a stellar line-up of supporting artists.  The album was overseen by another Elton John collaborator, Gus Dudgeon, the producer behind John’s remarkable series of seventies classics as well as David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” single.  Dudgeon would go on to produce Survivor for Chapman.  The singer, songwriter and guitarist was joined by drummer Aynsley Dunbar, perhaps best known for his association with Frank Zappa, and a host of other musicians including Clem Clempson (Humble Pie), Alex Dmochowski (Retaliation), Norman Haines (Locomotive), Danny Thompson (Pentangle) and Rick Kemp (Steeleye Span).

Hit the jump for more on Rainmaker, including the full track listing and order links!

Chapman occupies the space somewhere between traditional folk and electric rock, but his music was actually influenced by an array of diverse artists from Miles Davis and John Coltrane to Hank Williams and Elvis Presley.  He also found inspiration in abstract expressionist artists like Mark Rothko and the auteurs of French cinema.   It should be no surprise, then, that his music was well-considered and superbly crafted.  The album’s opener, “It Didn’t Work Out,” offers a unique sound thanks to the use of both electric and acoustic basses, and electric guitars shimmering over traditional folk acoustic guitar.  Norman Haines’ organ weaves in and out of the entire arrangement.  But the ornate musical bed doesn’t overwhelm the gently rueful song, anchored by a powerful rock backbeat.  Chapman was carving out his own niche somewhere between Bert Jansch and John Martyn at the crossroads of pop, folk and rock.  Chapman’s own guitar leads (on both acoustic and electric) stand out on the album, whether on “It Didn’t Work Out” or instrumentals like the title track, complete with sound effects, and “Thank You P.K. 1944” (so named for painter Paul Klee, who actually died in 1940!)  Chapman’s jazz roots shine through on these cuts, as well as his affinity for the blues.  “One Time Thing” is another haunting track, paying homage to the rather time-honored tradition of the one night stand.

Six bonus tracks have been added to the original 12-song lineup.  These include four tracks from an unreleased 1968 album, three of which have been previously unreleased: “Anniversary,” “Among the Trees” and “Sleepy.”  All three tracks, as well as the previously issued “Bert Jansch Meets Frankenstein (Take 2),” are heard in mono.  “On My Way Again,” an outtake from the Window sessions, has also been included, as has the mono single “Mozart Lives Upstairs,” the B-side of “It Didn’t Work Out.”

The lavish, 15-page booklet includes rare and unseen archival photos, and a lengthy essay by Byron Coley drawing on extensive, recent reminisces by Chapman himself.  Nick Robbins at Sound Mastering Ltd. has completely remastered the reissue, which is available in stores now from Light in the Attic on both CD and vinyl.  The 180-gram vinyl replica edition lacks the CD’s bonus tracks, but is housed in a reproduction of the gatefold jacket in its original form (including a deluxe Stoughton “tip-on” jacket)!  You’ll find order links below!

Michael Chapman, Rainmaker (Harvest LP SHVL-755, 1969 – reissued Light in the Attic LITA079, 2012 CD/Vinyl)

1. It Didn’t Work Out
2. Rainmaker
3. You Say
4. Thank You P.K. 1944
5. No One Left to Care
6. Small Stones
7. Not So Much a Garden – More Like a Maze
8. No Song to Sing
9. One Time Thing
10. Sunday Morning
11. Goodbye to Monday Night
12. Anniversary (Mono) (previously unreleased)
13. Among the Trees (Mono) (previously unreleased)
14. Sleepy (Mono) (previously unreleased)
15. On My Way Again (outtake from Window sessions, first issued on Repertoire CD REP-4679, 1997)
16. Mozart Lives Upstairs (Mono) (B-side of Harvest single HAR-5002, 1969)
17. Bert Jansch Meets Frankenstein (Take 2, Mono) (first issued on Repertoire CD REP-4679, 1997)

Vinyl edition contains Tracks 1-12 only.

Hot Streets (the band’s twelfth album, for those of you keeping count, and also a No. 12 LP on the Hot 100) brought producer Phil Ramone and guitarist Donnie Dacus into the Chicago fold; both only lasted for a couple of albums but made strong impressions.  Rhino Records reissued Hot Streets in 2003 as part of its Chicago “expanded and remastered” program; that series ended abruptly in the U.S. after Chicago 17, although Rhino’s Japanese arm continued with 18, 19 and 21.  (The American remasters of 16 and 17 erroneously included alternate versions of some original album tracks, and these were corrected on the 2010 Japanese pressings of those two titles.)

Now, Friday Music has announced its own Chicago reissue campaign by arrangement with Rhino, and that series is kicking off with the return of (the now out-of-print) Hot Streets.  According to the label’s Facebook page, it’s due in stores on March 27.  Hit the jump for more details, including the track listing and discographical annotation!

Phil Ramone set up the band at Miami’s Criteria Recording Studios (birthplace of such other classic albums as Derek and the Dominos’ Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs).  He recollected in 2003 that the band “wanted a more democratic process,” and that showed in the songwriting as well as in the production.  Robert Lamm supplied just two songs for the album, “Love Was New” and the title track.  The opening song was also the first single: James Pankow’s “Alive Again.”  It was Pankow’s sole composition on the LP, but what a song it was.  Dacus shared vocal duties with bassist Peter Cetera and also played the song’s rip-roaring guitar, leaving no doubt that the “new” Chicago could hold its own despite the great loss of Kath.

Studio neighbors The Bee Gees (then cutting Spirits Having Flown at Criteria) dropped in to add backing vocals to Cetera’s “Little Miss Lovin’,” and Chicago repaid the favor when Lee Loughnane and Walt Parazaider contributed flugelhorn and flute to the Gibb brothers’ “Too Much Heaven” track!)  “No Tell Lover,” a collaboration between Loughnane, Cetera and drummer Danny Seraphine, anticipated the soft rock sound with which Chicago would dominate the airwaves in the 1980s.  The Bee Gees’ associate Blue Weaver (“Don’t Throw It All Away (Our Love)”) contributed the synthesized strings to the song.  It was selected as the second single, and hit the same No. 14 Pop position as “Alive Again.”  It bested its predecessor, though, on the AC chart, where it hit the lofty No. 5 spot.  Cetera’s “Gone Long Gone” was the third single, but stalled at a disappointing No. 73.  Seraphine and David “Hawk” Wolinski were represented with two songs on the LP, and Dacus penned “Ain’t It Time” with Seraphine and Warner Schwebke.  Lee Loughnane and Stash Wagner’s “Take a Chance” rounded out the original album.

Friday’s edition has been newly remastered by the label’s Joe Reagoso and includes the same bonus track as the 2003 reissue, a version of Robert Lamm’s “Love Was New” with an alternate vocal by Dacus.  The label promises that original graphics not seen since the original release have been restored for the new CD.  In addition, new liner notes are included.  (A. Scott Galloway provided the essay for Rhino’s 2003 edition.)  If you missed out in 2003, the new Hot Streets should be a fine opportunity to catch up with Chicago, post-jazz/rock and pre-power ballads.  One hopes, however, that Friday’s series will reissue the “corrected” 16 and 17 as well as bring the expanded editions of 18, 19 and 21 to American shores.  Ain’t it time?

Chicago, Hot Streets (Columbia LP FC-35512, 1978 – reissued Friday Music, 2012)

1. Alive Again
2. The Greatest Love on Earth
3. Little Miss Lovin’
4. Hot Streets
5. Take a Chance
6. Gone Long Gone
7. Ain’t It Time
8. Love Was New
9. No Tell Lover
10. Show Me the Way
11. Love Was New (Alternate Vocal) (from Hot Streets, Rhino CD R2 76181, 2003)

The Human League started out as an avant-garde all-male group anchored around Martyn Ware, Craig Marsh, Philip Adrian Wright and Phil Oakey. Their first single, 1978′s “Being Boiled” was a surprise Top 10 U.K. hit, but subsequent works did not find the same audience. Amid weakening support from the band’s label Virgin Records and clashes over the band’s sonic direction, the band broke apart, with Ware and Marsh forming Heaven 17 and Oakey and Wright left to do something – anything – for the League’s winter 1980 tour of Europe.

Against all odds, the duo recruited synth player Ian Burden to flesh out the group’s live sound and found Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall, a pair of untrained best friends spending a night out at the Crazy Daisy Nightclub in Sheffield, to provide vocals for the group. (Sulley and Catherall, both teenagers, needed parental permission to embark on the tour.) Despite the skepticism of initial reviews, things worked out well enough for the quintet to continue as a band in the studio; first single “Boys and Girls” was a moderate success; upon moving to a new studio (away from recording sessions by Heaven 17) and adding guitarist Jo Callis of The Rezillos to the lineup, the first single from those sessions, “Love Action (I Believe in Love)” was a Top 10 hit.

But The Human League really went into the stratosphere with a track that Oakey initially hated. The fictional tale of a musical Svengali whose protegée decides to move on from him professionally and romantically was so disliked by Oakey, he dumped it onto the end of the Dare LP. But “Don’t You Want Me” was the band’s first and only chart-topper for Christmas of 1981 and became a major hit across the globe.

The deluxe edition of Dare features the 2002 remaster of the original album and various, newly-remastered 12″ remixes and instrumentals on the first disc. The bonus disc, meanwhile, collects nearly all of the material on stopgap album Fascination!, which featured a handful of just as successful non-LP singles in “Mirror Man” and “(Keep Feeling) Fascination.”

Don’t you want this, baby? If so, March 26 is the day to get it. Hit the jump to check a pre-order link and track annotations.

The Human League, Dare: Deluxe Edition (Virgin/EMI, 2012)

Disc 1: Original LP and bonus material

1. The Things That Dreams Are Made Of
2. Open Your Heart
3. The Sound of the Crowd
4. Darkness
5. Do or Die
6. Get Carter
7. I Am the Law
8. Seconds
9. Love Action (I Believe in Love)
10. Don’t You Want Me
11. The Sound of the Crowd (12” Version)
12. Don’t You Want Me (Extended Dance Mix)
13. The Sound of the Crowd (Instrumental)
14. Hard Times/Love Action (I Believe in Love) (Instrumental)
15. Open Your Heart/Non-Stop (Instrumental)
16. Don’t You Want Me (Alternative Version)

Disc 2: Non-LP single material

1. Mirror Man
2. You Remind Me of Gold
3. (Keep Feeling) Fascination (Extended Version)
4. I Love You Too Much
5. Mirror Man (Extended Version)
6. You Remind Me of Gold (Instrumental)
7. (Keep Feeling) Fascination (Improvisation)
8. I Love You Too Much (Dub Version)
9. Total Panic

Disc 1, Tracks 1-10 released as Virgin LP V-2192, 1981
Disc 1, Tracks 11 and 13 released as Virgin 12″ VS 416-12, 1981
Disc 1, Track 12 was the B-side to Virgin 12″ VS 466-12, 1982
Disc 1, Track 14 was the B-side to Virgin 12″ VS 435-12, 1981
Disc 1, Track 15 was the B-side to Virgin 12″ VS 453-12, 1981
Disc 1, Track 16 exact origin unknown
Disc 2, Tracks 1-4 and 7 released on Fasination! EP – Virgin HL-1, 1983

• Disc 2, Tracks 1-2 released as Virgin single VS 522, 1982
• Disc 2, Tracks 3 and 7 released as Virgin 12″ VS 569-12, 1983

Disc 2, Tracks 5-6 released on Virgin 12″ VS 522-12, 1982
Disc 2, Track 8 was a bonus track to the digital release of Fascination! (Virgin, 2008)
Disc 2, Track 9 was the B-side to Virgin single VS 569, 1983

Ah, the ’90s jam band revival. One of the more intriguing concepts to come out of the post-grunge explosion era, where it seemed every major label was trying something new to see if it would stick with audiences. The demand for quirky live acts gave popular culture stalwarts like the Dave Matthews Band and Phish as well as bands like The Spin Doctors, who enjoyed massive (if brief) success with Pocket Full of Kryptonite in 1991.

This craze gave somewhat less brief but equally and improbably meteoric rise to Blues Traveler – ironically, a band who’d made friends with The Spin Doctors and the Dave Matthews Band before coming up in the music business – in the mid-’90s. The Princeton-based group, initially comprised of John Popper (vocals/harmonica), Chan Kinchla (guitar), Bobby Sheehan (bass) and Brendan Hill (drums), were staples of the New York club scene when A&M signed them in 1990. Their hardcore touring ethic, perhaps best exemplified by the H.O.R.D.E. Festival they founded through the decade, was what initially drew in fans (including David Letterman, who’s featured the band more times on his Late Show than any other) – but it was the release of 1994′s Four and singles “Run-Around” and “Hook” that earned them mainstream attention. Their songs were catchy thanks to Popper’s distinctive, rapid-fire delivery, free-associative lyrics and howling harmonica playing, and “Run-Around” even won a Grammy.

The band faced some setbacks in the late ’90s and early 2000s with the accidental overdose and death of bassist Sheehan, Popper’s struggles with obesity and being dropped by A&M Records. But the band, now a five-piece with bassist Tad Kinchla (Chan’s brother) and keyboardist Ben Wilson, continues to tour and record, releasing their latest album, North Hollywood Shootout, in 2008. As they get ready to tour another summer and finish up a forthcoming studio album, the band has partnered with their old label to release 25, a double-disc set pairing up the hits with a bonus disc of B-sides and rarities spanning their entire career, almost all of which are making their debut on CD.

The package comes out March 6 and can be ordered after the jump, which is of course where you’ll also find a track list.

Blues Traveler, 25 (Hip-o Select/A&M, 2012)

Disc 1: Greatest hits

1. Run-Around
2. Hook
3. The Mountains Win Again
4. But Anyway
5. You, Me and Everything
6. Amber Awaits
7. After What
8. Back in the Day
9. Girl Inside My Head
10. Carolina Blues
11. Let Her and Let Go
12. Gina
13. 100 Years
14. What’s for Breakfast
15. NY Prophesie
16. Unable to Get Free
17. How You Remember It

Disc 2: B-sides/Unreleased songs

1. Demon
2. The Poignant and Epic Saga of Featherhead and Lucky Lack
3. Blue Hour
4. Trust in Trust (Demo)
5. Didn’t Mean to Wake Up
6. But Anyway ’88
7. Random Amounts
8. 12 Swords
9. The Sun and the Storm
10. Traveler Suite
11. Run-Around (Gunslinger Remix)
12. What I Got

Disc 1, Tracks 1-3 from Four (A&M, 1994)
Disc 1, Tracks 4, 12 and 13 from Blues Traveler (A&M, 1990)
Disc 1, Tracks 5 and 17 from North Hollywood Shootout (Verve Forecast, 2008)
Disc 1, Tracks 6-7 from ¡Bastardos! (Vanguard, 2005)
Disc 1, Tracks 8-9 from Bridge (A&M, 2001)
Disc 1, Track 10 from Straight On ‘Til Morning (A&M, 1997)
Disc 1, Tracks 11 and 16 from Truth Be Told (Sanctuary, 2003)
Disc 1, Track 14 from Travelers and Thieves (A&M, 1991)
Disc 1, Track 15 from Save His Soul (A&M, 1993)
Disc 2, Tracks 2 and 4 from “Run Around” CD single (A&M 314 580 983-2, 1994)
Disc 2, Tracks 8-10 from Decisions of the Sky: A Traveler’s Tale of Sun and Storm EP (BluesTraveler.com download, 2000)
All other tracks previously unreleased

Spearheaded by Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak, the US Festival intended to be a celebration of technology and culture, with a temporary stage and open-air venue paid for by Wozniak himself just for the purposes of the festival. (Initially called the Glen Helen Pavilion, the San Manuel Amphitheater, where the festival was held, remains the largest of its kind in the country.) For two blisteringly hot weekends – Labor Day of 1982 and Memorial Day of 1983, performers including The Ramones, The Police, The Cars, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Grateful Dead, Fleetwood Mac, INXS, The Clash, Van Halen, U2 and David Bowie would take the stage.

Despite the historical value of the performances, which captured many up-and-coming New Wave bands and traditional rock acts toward their peak, the festival was a failure, with at two reported deaths at the 1983 festival and Wozniak and promoters losing some $24 million. Setbacks aside, the performances remain a worthy footnote in rock history, and Shout! Factory aims to memorialize these moments, first through DVD and now on CD.

Performances by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings at the 1983 festival’s “Country Day” – held a week after the festival proper – were both released on DVD last November, and now they’re being released on CD on February 28. Both sets capture two country veterans at their peaks, with solid set lists from each performer (and guest appearances from Jennings on Willie’s set).

Hit the jump to check them out!

Willie Nelson, Live at The US Festival 1983 (Shout! Factory, 2012)

1. Whiskey River
2. Stay All Night (Stay a Little Longer)
3. Funny How Time Slips Away
4. Crazy
5. Night Life
6. If You’ve Got the Money I’ve Got the Time
7. Good Hearted Woman
8. Sweet Memories
9. Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys (with Waylon Jennings)
10. Good Hearted Woman (with Waylon Jennings)
11. Why Do I Have to Choose
12. Help Me Make It Through the Night
13. Bloody Mary Morning
14. Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
15. Blue Skies
16. Georgia on My Mind
17. All of Me
18. Stardust
19. My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
20. I Can Get Off on You
21. Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground
22. On the Road Again
23. Always on My Mind

Waylon Jennings, Live at The US Festival 1983 (Shout! Factory, 2012)

1. Don’t You Think This Outlaw Bit’s Done Got Out of Hand
2. Clyde
3. Amanda
4. Just to Satisfy You
5. Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line
6. Lucille (You Won’t Do Your Daddy’s Will)
7. I’ve Always Been Crazy
8. Breakin’ Down
9. Lonesome, On’ry and Mean
10. Jack-A-Diamonds
11. Theme from The Dukes of Hazzard (Good Ol’ Boys)
12. Storms Never Last (with Jessi Colter)
13. Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way
14. Rainy Day Woman
15. Women Do Know How to Carry On
16. I Ain’t Livin’ Long Like This
17. Good Hearted Woman
18. Honky Tonk Heroes
19. Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)
20. Mental Revenge
21. Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys
22. I Can Get Off on You

All tracks on both releases recorded live at the US Festival, San Bernardino, CA on June 4, 1983

Small Faces (Decca, 1966), From the Beginning (Decca, 1967) and Small Faces (Immediate, 1968) will all be reissued as 2-CD sets, while the band’s acknowledged masterwork, Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake (Immediate, 1968), will be the recipient of a 3-CD set.  These follow the general format of the well-regarded Kinks reissues from Universal, containing the original albums in both mono and stereo (where applicable) plus a plethora of bonus material.  All four sets will arrive in the United Kingdom on May 7.

Hit the jump to plunge into the world of the Small Faces!

Like so many other young British bands of the era, the Small Faces’ earliest musical aspirations were in emulation of their rhythm-and-blues idols.  But, like The Who, the mod scene called to Marriott (lead singer/guitar), Lane (bass/vocals), Jones (drums) and Jimmy Winston (organ).  After proving themselves with gigs in London and environs, the group members were signed by the notorious Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne and soon-to-be manager of Electric Light Orchestra and Black Sabbath, among others.  Arden secured a deal with Decca Records, and Marriott and Lane set about to hone their talents as songwriters.  After a moderately successful first single (“What’cha Gonna Do About It,” cribbed from a Solomon Burke song, and written by Ian Samwell and Brian Potter) and a less successful follow-up (“I’ve Got Mine”), Winston was ushered out of the band, replaced by Ian McLagan.  The Marriott/Lane songwriting team was born with “Hey Girl,” and the Top 10 single led to the band’s first album, simply titled Small Faces.  Even better was their original “My Mind’s Eye,” which headed straight for the top, despite being an unfinished demo!  The Small Faces were on their way to rock supremacy at least in the U.K., maintaining high visibility on television programs and onstage.  They would have to wait for (moderate) American success, though.

By the end of 1966, the band had severed ties with Arden, unhappy with both his punishing tour schedule and refusal to allow them the luxury of studio time to properly craft long-playing albums.  1967’s From the Beginning wasn’t a true Small Faces album, but rather an LP cobbled together by Decca after the band had decamped for new manager Andrew Loog Oldham and his hip Immediate Records label.  Still, the album isn’t without its pleasures, from the budding psychedelia of “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” from the Marriott/Lane team and blazing covers of Del Shannon’s “Runaway” and Smokey Robinson’s “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me.”

The band announced its Immediacy with its second LP in as many years called Small Faces.  Though still rooted in R&B and mod sounds, this Small Faces and engineer Glyn Johns took the psychedelic sound experimentation a step further, placing the band at the cutting edge.  Their Immediate debut single “Here Comes the Nice” heralded the new sound, a rather overtly drug-influenced song.  The next single on Oldham’s imprint was the sun-kissed psychedelic pop ode, “Itchycoo Park.”  It became the Small Faces’ first of two charting singles in America, and likely remains the band’s best-loved song today.  “Tin Soldier” followed “Itchycoo” onto the charts on both sides of the pond, and featured fellow Immediate artist P.P. Arnold on backing vocals.  The restless band, though, didn’t feel that their pop success accurately represented their sound or their ambitions, and so Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake was devised.

Recorded in 1968 over five months in at least four studios, it was the album the band had always hoped to craft, more than just a loose assemblage of songs.  Every bit as quintessentially “British” as the Kinks’ Village Green Preservation Society, it remains one of the most distinct psychedelic albums ever recorded.  Ogdens combined soul, orchestrated pop, R&B, folk and comic, whimsical narration by comedian Stanley Unwin about “Happiness Stan.”  (Goon legend Spike Milligan reportedly turned the band down when offered this gig!)  Marriott even adopted different voices for the LP, including a thick cockney dialect.  Ogdens announced itself with its round cover replica of a vintage tobacco tin; the unusual design and timely, visceral music paid off when the album hit No. 1 in the band’s native England.  In the U.S., however, it placed at a disappointing No. 159.

By the end of 1968, Steve Marriott was gone, reportedly frustrated at the band’s inability to break out of the prescribed pop mold.  Kenney Jones later reflected that the band wasn’t able to perform Ogdens live and therefore couldn’t expose the full breadth of its sound to the public.  (It was performed as a whole live just once, for the BBC.)  A greatest hits-and-rarities double album, The Autumn Stone, arrived in late 1969 from Immediate, but by then, the band had dissolved.  (1970’s First Step, though by Faces, was credited in North America to Small Faces.  Later in the seventies, the band would reunite with some personnel changes, before breaking up again in 1978.  Steve Marriott died in 1991, the victim of a tragic fire believed to be caused by his lit cigarette when he fell asleep.  Ronnie Lane succumbed to multiple sclerosis in 1997 after a valiant fight with the disease.)

The Small Faces’ catalogue has been in a bit of disarray in the compact disc era, with various labels churning out multiple releases over the years.  This Universal series of Deluxe Editions looks to rectify that, as it’s expected to append singles and alternate mixes to each album.  Track listings are not yet available, but we’ll update here once that information is received!  All four titles street on May 7!

Primarily comprised of singer Brian Ferry, guitarist Phil Manzanera, keyboardist Brian Eno, saxophonist Andy McKay and drummer Paul Thompson (with an almost-consistently shuffling lineup during their active years, including England’s greatest fill-in Paul Carrack of Ace, Squeeze and Mike + The Mechanics), Roxy combined the twin elegances of Beatlesesque rock and Bowie-ish glam to rapturous critical and commercial acclaim. None of their studio albums missed the U.K. Top 10, and they amassed 13 Top 20 singles. (Although Eno would leave the band in 1973 for a wildly influential career as a producer, his influence was long felt.) The group split up in 1983, with Ferry and the others embarking on solo careers, but reconvened in 2001 (minus Eno) for a tour and have performed on and off ever since. (The 66-year-old Ferry, ironically enough, made headlines in the entertainment press recently for marrying his 29-year-old girlfriend, who had previously dated one of Ferry’s sons.)

As announced yesterday, The Complete Recordings 1972-1982 will present all eight of the band’s studio albums, from Roxy Music to Avalon, each digitally remastered and expanded with a host of non-LP B-sides and remixes, 12 of which are making their debut on CD. In addition, four DVDs will present the music in “high-resolution audio, transferred digitally from the original analogue masters.” (According to the link at the top, the DVDs will feature the albums in 96/24 LPCM stereo.)

The set is out on April 2, and will, according to a press release, be the first in a series of catalogue activities to commemorate the band’s 40th anniversary. Have a look at the track list after the jump!

Roxy Music, The Complete Recordings 1972-1982 (Virgin, 2012)

Disc 1: Roxy Music (originally released as Island ILPS 9200, 1972)

1. Re-make/Re-model
2. Ladytron
3. If There is Something
4. 2HB
5. The Bob (Medley)
6. Chance Meeting
7. Would You Believe?
8. Sea Breezes
9. Bitters End
10. Virginia Plain (single A-side – Island WIP 6144, 1972)
11. The Numberer (single B-side – Island WIP 6144, 1972)

Disc 2: For Your Pleasure (originally released as Island ILPS 9232, 1973)

1. Do the Strand
2. Beauty Queen
3. Strictly Confidential
4. Editions of You
5. In Every Dream Home a Heartache
6. The Bogus Man
7. Grey Lagoons
8. For Your Pleasure
9. Pyjamarama (Island Mix) (single A-side – Island WIP 6159, 1973)
10. Pyjamarama (Polydor Mix) (single B-side – Polydor 2001 739, 1977)
11. The Pride and the Pain (single B-side – Island WIP 6159, 1973)
12. Do the Strand (USA 7” Mix) (single A-side –  Island 12 713 AT (Germany), 1973) *

Disc 3: Stranded (originally released as Island ILPS 9252, 1973)

1. Street Life
2. Just Like You
3. Amazona
4. Psalm
5. Serenade
6. A Song for Europe
7. Mother of Pearl
8. Sunset
9. Hula Kula (single B-side – Island WIP 6173, 1973)

Disc 4: Country Life

1. The Thrill of It All
2. Three and Nine
3. All I Want is You
4. Out of the Blue
5. If It Takes All Night
6. Bitter Sweet
7. Triptych
8. Casanova
9. A Really Good Time
10. Prairie Rose
11. The Thrill of It All (Edit) (from Greatest Hits - Polydor 2001 739, 1977) *
12. Your Application’s Failed (single B-side – Island WIP 6208, 1974)
13. The Thrill of It All (USA 7” Mix) (single A-side – ATCO 45-7018 (U.S.), 1974) *

Disc 5: Siren (originally released as Island ILPS 9344, 1975)

1. Love is the Drug
2. End of the Line
3. Sentimental Fool
4. Whirlwind
5. She Sells
6. Could It Happen to Me?
7. Both Ends Burning
8. Nightingale
9. Just Another High
10. Love is the Drug (USA 7” Mix) (promo single B-side – ATCO 45-7042 (U.S.), 1975)*
11. Sultanesque (single B-side – Island WIP 6248, 1975)
12. Both Ends Burning (7” Mix) (single A-side – Island WIP 6262, 1975) *
13. For Your Pleasure (Live) (single A-side – Island WIP 6262, 1975) *

Disc 6: Manifesto (originally released as Polydor POLH 001, 1979)

1. Manifesto
2. Trash
3. Angel Eyes
4. Still Falls the Rain
5. Stronger Through the Years
6. Ain’t That So
7. My Little Girl
8. Dance Away
9. Cry, Cry, Cry
10. Spin Me Round
11. Trash 2 (single B-side – Polydor POSP 32, 1979)
12. Dance Away (Single Version) (single A-side – Polydor POSP 44, 1979)
13. Dance Away (Extended Mix) (12″ A-side – ATCO DDK-7504 (Canada), 1979)
14. Angel Eyes (Single Version) (single A-side – Polydor POSP 67, 1979)
15. Angel Eyes (Extended Remix) (12″ A-side – Polydor POSPX 67, 1979)

Disc 7: Flesh + Blood (originally released as Polydor POLH 002, 1980)

1. The Midnight Hour
2. Oh Yeah
3. Same Old Scene
4. Flesh and Blood
5. My Only Love
6. Over You
7. Eight Miles High
8. Rain Rain Rain
9. No Strange Delight
10. Running Wild
11. Oh Yeah (On the Radio) (single A-side – Polydor 2001 792, 1980) *
12. Manifesto (Remake) (single B-side – Polydor POSP 93, 1980)
13. South Downs (single B-side – Polydor 2001 792, 1980)
14. Lover (single B-side – Polydor ROXY 1, 1980)
15. Jealous Guy (single A-side – Polydor ROXY 2, 1981)
16. To Turn You On (First Version) (single B-side – Polydor ROXY 2, 1981) *

Disc 8: Avalon (originally released as E’G Records HP 50, 1982)

1. More Than This
2. The Space Between
3. Avalon
4. India
5. While My Heart is Still Beating
6. The Main Thing
7. Take a Chance with Me
8. To Turn You On
9. True to Life
10. Tara
11. Avalon (7” Single Version) (single A-side – E’G Records ROXY 4, 1982) *
12. Always Unknowing (single B-side – E’G Records ROXY 4, 1982)
13. Take a Chance with Me (7” Single Version) (single A-side – E’G Records ROXY 5, 1982) *
14. Take a Chance with Me (USA 7” Mix) (single A-side – Warner Bros./E’G Records 7-29978 (U.S.), 1982) *
15. The Main Thing (12” Single Version) (single B-side – E’G Records ROXY X5, 1982)
16. The Main Thing (Remix) (single B-side – E’G Records ROXY 5, 1982) *

DVD 1: Roxy Music / For Your Pleasure

DVD 2: Stranded / Country Life

DVD 3: Siren / Manifesto

DVD 4: Flesh + Blood / Avalon

Get ready to be experienced, again, on vinyl.

Sundazed Music and Experience Hendrix have announced a new series of 7-inch vinyl singles, housed in picture sleeves, featuring music not before released in the single format.  The first such single will arrive in April, and both sides will be taken from Hendrix’s incendiary BBC performances of 1967 (released on CD and vinyl LP by Experience Hendrix as BBC Sessions).

Hendrix’s October 17, 1967 performance of Bob Dylan’s “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window” was recorded for the BBC’s Rhythm and Blues show.  At the time of Hendrix’s performance, the song had only been available as a single (with “Highway 61 Revisited” as its flipside) and so it wasn’t one of Dylan’s most familiar songs.  Hendrix, as always, was ready to reinvent the song with a blazing interpretation.   “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?” is backed with the Hendrix original “Burning of the Midnight Lamp,” as performed on August 24, 1967 on BBC Television’s Top of the Pops.

The Top of the Pops performance was captured just one week after the song had been released in the U.K. on the Track Records label.  Sundazed relates an amusing anecdote pertaining to the broadcast:  “In keeping with strict Musician Union regulations, Jimi was to sing live atop the song’s instrumental backing track. The Top of the Pops presenter announced the Experience, but then ‘The House That Jack Built’ by the Alan Price Set began to play. A few seconds in, Jimi, ever polite, offered an apology: ‘I’m sorry, man, but I don’t know the words…” As panic no doubt ensued within the studio’s control room, the program’s flustered presenter apologized and implored Jimi to try it once again.”  Hit the jump for more!

Both sides of this inaugural single feature the original Jimi Hendrix Experience line-up: Hendrix on guitar and vocals, Mitch Mitchell on drums and Noel Redding on bass.  This release, like those that will follow, will feature a full-color picture sleeve.

The association with Sundazed follows a fruitful 2011 for the partnership between Experience Hendrix and Sony’s Legacy Recordings.  South Saturn Delta and In the West were restored to the artist’s catalogue along with the tribute album Power of Soul and DVD releases of Band of Gypsys Live at the Fillmore East, Blue Wild Angel: Live at the Isle of Wight and Jimi Hendrix: The Dick Cavett Show.  The centerpiece of the 2011 releases, however, was undoubtedly Winterland, a 4-CD box set chronicling Hendrix’ s October 1968 stand at the San Francisco music palace.

Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window/Burning of the Midnight Lamp will be presented in mono, and is scheduled to arrive from Sundazed Music and Experience Hendrix in April.  What’s up next from Experience Hendrix?  Watch this space.

Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable album and the reissues they could someday see. Today’s entry: a 25th anniversary spotlight on one of the best dance-pop albums of any era, and a tribute to a powerhouse R&B voice. In a word:

Around this time in 2010, right when The Second Disc was starting out, one of the most surprising reissues from a major label was Arista/Legacy’s 25th anniversary edition of the self-titled 1985 debut by Whitney Houston. Though she had a rich musical legacy in her blood – her mom, Cissy, was a prominent gospel singer, Dionne Warwick was her cousin and Aretha Franklin was her godmother – the 21-year-old’s sudden rise to fame was something of a surprise to much of the public. (It was less so to Arista Records head Clive Davis, a consistent champion for her throughout her storied career.) Whitney Houston topped the charts for weeks, earned four Grammy nominations (with one win) and took three singles – ballads “Saving All My Love for You” and “Greatest Love of All” as well as uptempo smash “How Will I Know” – to No. 1.

It seemed like a tough album to top – which makes it all the more impressive that it did, hands down.

Never one to abandon a successful formula, Clive Davis, as executive producer of Houston’s sophomore album, recruited a lot of the same players that made Whitney Houston so popular. Returning producers Kashif, Michael Masser and Narada Michael Walden were all on board, along with John “Jellybean” Benitez for one track (“Love Will Save the Day”). Session legends were voluminous, from bassists Randy Jackson and Nathan East and strings by Gene Page to Roy Ayers on vibes and Walter Afanasieff on keyboards. (The tenor sax work on “Just the Lonely Talking Again” was that of none other than smooth-jazz icon Kenny G!)

Like its predecessor, Whitney packed a lion’s share of club-ready movers and wistful, theatrical ballads. (In some cases, the songs were literally theatrical; “I Know Him So Well,” a duet with Cissy Houston, was written by ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and Tim Rice for the musical Chess, while “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” was co-written by Frank Wildhorn, later known for his hit musical Jekyll & Hyde.) Sam Dees, writer of “One in a Million You” for Larry Graham, penned “Just the Lonely Talking”; several legendary pop partnerships also contributed tunes. Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly wrote “So Emotional” while George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam, who penned “How Will I Know” for Whitney, wrote an impressive sequel in “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me).”

While critics were quick to pick up on the similarities between both records, Whitney was still a major commercial success. It became the fourth album to debut at the top of the Billboard 200 – the first by a woman – and spun off four No. 1 singles, “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” “So Emotional” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go.” (This gave Houston seven chart-toppers in a row, counting the singles off Whitney Houston.) Though the singer’s most successful days were still ahead of her, namely with 1992′s record-smashing soundtrack to The Bodyguard, Whitney stands as a landmark in Houston’s career which would do well to be recognized as an expanded edition.

While the 25th anniversary edition of Whitney Houston was a CD/DVD affair, our vision of a similar set for Whitney is all about the music, including three non-LP tracks – chief among them “One Moment in Time,” a Top 5 hit written for the 1988 Summer Olympics – and a host of remixes from the vault.

Whitney Houston, Whitney: 25th Anniversary Edition (Arista/Legacy)

Disc 1: Original album (released as Arista AL-8405, 1987)

1. I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)
2. Just the Lonely Talking
3. Love Will Save the Day
4. Didn’t We Almost Have It All
5. So Emotional
6. Where You Are
7. Love is a Contact Sport
8. You’re Still My Man
9. For the Love of You
10. Where Do Broken Hearts Go
11. I Knew Him So Well

Disc 2: Bonus material

1. I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) (12″ Remix)
2. So Emotional (Extended Remix)
3. For the Love of You (Extended Version)
4. Love Will Save the Day (Extended Club Mix)
5. Moment of Truth
6. Shock Me – Whitney Houston and Jermaine Jackson
7. One Moment in Time
8. I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) (A Cappella Mix)
9. So Emotional (The Voice)
10. Love Will Save the Day (A Cappella)
11. Didn’t We Almost Have It All (Live)

Disc 2, Tracks 1 and 8 released on Arista 12″ AD1-9599, 1987
Disc 2, Tracks 2 and 9 released on Arista 12″ AD1-9641, 1987
Disc 2, Track 3 released on Arista 12″ AD1-9632, 1987
Disc 2, Tracks 4 and 10 released on Arista 12″ AD1-9721, 1988
Disc 2, Track 5 was the B-side to “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” – Arista AS1-9598, 1987
Disc 2, Track 6 first released on Perfect: Original Soundtrack (Arista AL-8278, 1985). Later used as the B-side to “Didn’t We Almost Have It All” (Arista AS1-9616, 1987)
Disc 2, Track 7 from 1988 Summer Olympics Album: One Moment in Time (Arista AL-8551, 1988). Released as Arista single AS1-9743.
Disc 2, Track 11 released on Arista 12″ 609 973 (Germany), 1987

• The legendary Glen Campbell has seen a number of his classic albums reissued this year by labels including BGO, Real Gone Music and New Haven.  Our friends at Rockbeat Records have lined up the next Campbell release, revisiting his 1985 LP for the Atlantic label, It’s Just a Matter of Time.  Produced by Harold Shedd, the album found Campbell revisiting some of his past triumphs.  Longtime collaborator and friend Jimmy Webb contributed three songs: the oft-covered “Do What You Gotta Do,” “Shattered,” and “Cowboy Hall of Fame.”  Al DeLory, the producer of Campbell’s “Wichita Lineman” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” was enlisted to conduct the latter.  Bergen White, another familiar face, arranged four songs, and Webb provided the arrangements not only for his own songs but for two others on the LP.  It’s Just a Matter of Time was the third of Campbell’s Atlantic records, following Old Home Town (1982) and Letter to Home (1984).  Rockbeat’s reissue, with the original 10-track lineup, arrives on January 31.  But that’s not all for the legendary guitar-picker.  Hit the jump for news of Glen’s next reissue, plus you’ll also rediscover a Motown lost treasure and peruse the latest jazz reissues from the legendary Impulse! label!

• Capitol has a reissue of the 2008 “comeback,” Meet Glen Campbell, on the docket for February 7 release.  It comes just before The Recording Academy bestows its Lifetime Achievement Award to the artist on February 11.   The acclaimed album, produced by Julian Raymond, brought the sound of Campbell’s classic mid-1960s records to an array of songs from the likes of Green Day, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne and The Replacements.  Capitol’s reissue includes five bonus tracks: 2008 remixes of “Gentle on My Mind” and “Galveston,” plus three live tracks (“Wichita Lineman,” “Rhinestone Cowboy,” “All I Want Is You”) from an AOL Sessions concert of 2008.  Dedicated fans may remember a Wal-Mart exclusive edition of the album, which included the “Gentle” and “Galveston” remixes plus the same treatment for “Wichita Lineman,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” and “Rhinestone Cowboy.”  The AOL Sessions cuts make their physical CD debut here.

• Motown’s Rare Earth imprint doesn’t often get a lot of love.  The imprint, aimed at breaking the lucrative FM rock market, released more than forty LPs between 1969 and 1976, including ten albums by the band that shared its name.  Yet remarkably few of the Rare Earth label’s releases have made it to CD.  One album that has made it is the 1970 collection by The Power of Zeus, entitled The Gospel According to Zeus.  The one and only LP by the Detroit band, it’s a mixture of hard rock, soul and psychedelia, and might be an unknown commodity to even dedicated Motown collectors.  Produced by familiar Motown presences Ralph and Russ Terrana, the album is a true hidden gem, often considered Rare Earth’s first “heavy rock” release.   The Gospel was reissued in 2011 by Get On Down Records, but as that release fell somewhat under the radar ,we felt it was “better late than never” to bring this news to you!  We can only hope that Get On Down and other enterprising labels bring more highlights from the largely-unknown Rare Earth roster to the fore in 2012!  (Wouldn’t a comprehensive label retrospective be nice?)

• Back in July, Universal Music Group’s European arm celebrated the legacy of Impulse! Records with the release of a collection of two-on-one CDs drawn from the jazz imprint’s rich library.  Another round of fifteen titles arrived yesterday on American shores from greats like Charles Mingus, Sonny Stitt, Keith Jarrett and Freddie Hubbard, all with the same distinct cover style.  Even songwriter/television personality Steve Allen shows up to join Oliver Nelson for Soulful Brass!  These budget-minded releases of long-unavailable material can be viewed as an appetizer for the Impulse! 50 box set, containing 50 discs of jazz classics.  That set has been pushed back to March release, but as soon as the details are confirmed, we’ll share them with you!  And here’s the full list of your Impulse! buys:

1. Marion Brown, Geechee Recollections/Sweet Earth Flying (1973, 1974)
2. Mel Brown, The Wizard/Blues for We (1968, 1969)
3. Alice Coltrane, Huntington Ashram Monastery/World Galaxy (1969/1971)
4. Sonny Criss, The Joy of Sax/Warm and Sonny (1976, 1977)
5. Chico Hamilton, El Chico/The Further Adventures of El Chico (both 1966)
6. John Handy, Hard Work/Carnival (1976, 1977)
7. Freddie Hubbard, The Artistry of Freddie Hubbard/The Body and the Soul (1962, 1963)
8. Keith Jarrett, Mysteries/Shades (both 1975)
9. Charles Mingus, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady/Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (both 1963)
10. Blue Mitchell, African Violet/Summer Soft (both 1977)
11. Oliver Nelson and Friends, Happenings/Soulful Brass (1966, 1968)
12. Howard Roberts, Antelope Freeway/Equinox Express Elevator (1971, 1972)
13. Sonny Stitt, Now!/Salt and Pepper (both 1963)
14. Clark Terry, The Happy Horns of Clark Terry/It’s What’s Happenin’ (1964/1967)
15. Michael White, Spirit Dance/Pneuma (1971/1972)