Rob Davis, Les Gray, Dave Mount, and Ray Stiles formed Mud in 1966 and released their first single, "Flower Power," the very next year on CBS Records. But the band wasn't destined to make their name with psychedelic pop; instead, they persevered until breaking through in 1973 on Mickie Most's Rak label. By that time, they'd morphed into glam rockers with a fifties revivalist sensibility. Cherry Red's 7Ts label has already chronicled Mud's 1975-1979 albums on a 4CD box set as well as the
Hey There: Stage Door Expands John Raitt's "Songs of the Open Road"
Back in May 2020, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Stage Door Records brought some much-needed sunshine with an Original Album Series volume for Broadway baritone John Raitt (1917-2005). The 2CD volume collected Raitt's four LPs originally released between 1955 and 1960 on the Capitol and Warner Bros. labels; now, Stage Door has turned the clock back to 1947 for a first-time-on-CD expanded edition of his 1947 Decca EP Songs of the Open Road. Born in Santa Ana, California, Raitt
Thank U Very Much: Cherry Red, Esoteric Release Comprehensive "Box of Scaffold"
A poet, a comic, and a musician walk into a room... The Scaffold was hardly an ordinary band. In fact, it wasn't a band at all. Yet Roger McGough, John Gorman, and Mike McGear (a.k.a. McCartney, a.k.a. Paul's younger brother) of Liverpool released singles on Parlophone produced by Sir George Martin, had a chart-topping hit, and sold out such esteemed venues as the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's South Bank. Their thirteen-year time together outlasted The Beatles. Now, Cherry Red's
Leavin' Here: Motörhead's Earliest Classic Trio Recordings Unearthed
Motörhead's 50th anniversary will be celebrated with a fascinating find: the premiere release of the first studio sessions to feature the trio's classic line-up. The Manticore Tapes, released on June 27, will offer the first studio sessions from the late summer of 1976 with the beloved line-up of singer/bassist Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke and drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor. Though cut in a perhaps unusual location well associated with one of progressive rock's
Smile Happy: WAR's "Why Can't We Be Friends?" Deluxe Box Comes to CD
Following its release last week on vinyl for Record Store Day, the expanded 50th anniversary edition of WAR's seminal 1975 album Why Can't We Be Friends? is coming to CD and digital formats. On June 6, the 3CD box will arrive in stores via Rhino and Avenue Records. WAR's seventh album, Why Can't We Be Friends? found the large musical collective - Lonnie Jordan, Howard Scott, B.B. Dickerson, Harold Brown, Papa Dee Allen, Charles Miller, and Lee Oskar - continuing on its path blending funk,
The Weekend Stream: May 10, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. This week, classic rock icons celebrate their live history, a modern music icon gets serious, a master of horror films (and soundtracks) revisits his first non-movie music and a former folk duo open their vault. The Doors, Live in Pittsburgh 1970 / Live in Philadelphia '70 / Live in Detroit (Bright Midnight/Rhino) Pittsburgh: Apple /
Release Round-Up: Week of May 9
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Jackie DeShannon, Love Forever: Demo Recordings 1966-1968 (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Jackie DeShannon signed with Liberty Records and Metric Music in 1960 as a performer and songwriter. Her big break would come in 1964 when she would open for The Beatles on their first U.S. tour. The next year
No Substitute: Release of 1971 Gig by The Who Heralds Their Farewell Tour
Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend today announced that, just over 60 years since their first appearances, The Who will bid farewell this fall with The Song is Over, one final tour of North America. But the music is hardly stopping, so to speak: the group will also officially release a long sought-after live performance this summer. Available first as part of the band's revived Wholigan Fan Club, then as a general release on August 22, The Who's Live At The Oval 1971 will finally canonize the
Beyond Today - and Tomorrow: A Look At Liberation Hall's Recent and Upcoming Releases
The Liberation Hall label has, of late, been a haven for interesting and unusual reissues from exciting corners of the post-punk scene. (They've also been active during Record Store Day, recently releasing a box set of albums by The Blasters and an anthology of work by Clarence White of The Byrds.) Here's a look at three noteworthy releases that have been or will be in stores soon. The label in April released an expansion of the debut album by Pearl Harbor & The Explosions, a
Listen To The Warm: Real Gone's May Line-Up Includes Rare Petula Clark plus Jesse Ed Davis, Lamb, The Bottle Rockets, Béla Fleck & the Flecktones and Others
We've already told you about the Jackie DeShannon CD - Love Forever: Demo Recordings 1966-1968 - coming from Real Gone Music tomorrow, May 9. But the label has a packed line-up of other titles ranging from pop to metalcore and years spanning the 1960s to 2000s on both CD and vinyl. Keep reading for all of the details. First up is a new expanded CD reissue of Petula Clark's 2007 album Solitude & Sunshine: The Songs of Rod McKuen. Clark and McKuen first met in France in the 1960s and
Omnivore Sets Sail with Expanded Edition of Christopher Cross' Debut
A new wind reaches the sails of one of yacht rock's defining masterpieces, courtesy of Omnivore Recordings. The label will offer an expanded reissue of the self-titled debut album from Christopher Cross, the unforgettable 1979 release that became a commercial juggernaut and propelled the unlikely star to the music business' upper echelon. The CD or 2LP release will feature 11 bonus tracks including the rare non-album single "Mary Ann" and a slew of demos, six of which are made available for
Never Gonna Be the Same: A Conversation with Gary Clark of Danny Wilson
The best known hit of his band begins with "Everything is wonderful / being here is heavenly..." and perhaps no line better sums up the experience of hearing a song by Gary Clark. The Scottish singer/songwriter formed the trio Danny Wilson with his brother Kit and bassist Ged Grimes in the mid-'80s, eventually scoring a hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1987 and 1988 with the sublime "Mary's Prayer." While it's easy to place Danny Wilson in the same British sophisti-pop continuum that
Soundtrack Watch: La-La Land Spins 'Thelma & Louise,' Intrada Revisits 'First Blood' and New Varese Club Titles
The month ahead brings even more soundtrack news than the big John Williams box set! New archival reissues from La-La Land Records, Varese Sarabande and Intrada are all on the calendar. First up, after expansions of Rain Man, A League of Their Own and Gladiator in recent months, La-La Land will give the expanded treatment to Hans Zimmer's score to the 1991 hit Thelma & Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by writer-director Callie Khouri (her first credit!), Thelma &
Give It to Me Baby: Rick James' 'Collected' Goes Deep
Universal's overseas arm developed the Collected series as a line of compilations that would appeal to both casual and hardcore fans, combining an artist's biggest hits with harder-to-find material. (For instance, a 2017 volume on Huey Lewis and The News offered rare edits and 12" mixes, guest appearances and even a single track from the group's pre-News existence as American Express.) Now distributed through the Music on CD label, Collected is still going strong - as evidenced by a forthcoming
Come Up and See Me: Steve Harley's 'Best Years' Revisited in 2CD/DVD Box Set
One of the best-loved British albums of the mid-'70s will be revisited this summer with a fresh new mix and a host of bonus material: Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel's The Best Years of Our Lives. Previously released as a 4CD/DVD set, Chrysalis' new 2CD/DVD, available June 20, shuffles things around a bit. The original nine-track album, featuring the national chart-topper "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)," has been newly mixed in stereo by the album's original co-producer Alan Parsons.
Mondo Maestro: New John Williams Box Set Series Announced, Plus 'Star Wars' Re-Recordings on Vinyl
With yesterday being "May the Fourth" and an informal day of celebration for Star Wars fans (even though "orthodox" fans might recognize the original film's release date, May 25, as a holiday of its own!), the time is right to plan a few music reissues related to the film - and one exciting, ambitious new announcement for the catalogue of the series' longtime composer, John Williams. The 93-year-old composer has kept a low profile since the release of his score for the fifth and final Indiana
The Weekend Stream: May 3, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. We've got a real party mix for you this week: alt-rock, soft rock, classic rock (in Spanish!), post-hardcore, funk, Barbra Streisand - you name it, we're spinning it! R.E.M., Radio Free Europe 2025 EP (Craft) (Apple / Amazon / Bandcamp) The legendary Athens, Georgia rockers have a special, timely treat for fans this weekend. With the
Release Round-Up: Week of May 2
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Pink Floyd, At Pompeii (Pink Floyd/Legacy) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada More than half a century after its release, Pink Floyd's arresting 1972 concert film -
Review: Eric Burdon and WAR, "The Complete CD Collection"
With the recent release of WAR's Why Can't We Be Friends? as an expanded edition for Record Store Day (with a CD edition to follow - links still aren't active), TSD has given a spin to Rhino's most recent WAR CD release: The Complete CD Collection from Eric Burdon & WAR. "Peace and love was happening, and we figured that nobody would forget the name of the band if we called them WAR. And we were right," Jerry Goldstein remembered in Dan Epstein's liner notes to the new box set Eric
Voices, Another Sound: Duran Duran Bow 'Greatest' on Vinyl
Duran Duran will bring their latest - and, appropriately, greatest - compilation to vinyl for the first time this summer. 1998's Greatest - a tidy summary of the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers' most commercially successful period in the '80s and '90s - will be pressed as a double album on white vinyl - featuring a newly cut master created at Abbey Road Studios - with sleek packaging including an embossed front cover (recalling the companion DVD release of the band's biggest videos) and
Reissues...and Stuff Like That! Classic Quincy Jones Titles Due on Vinyl, SHM-CD This Summer
A cadre of titles from the discography of the late Quincy Jones - spanning nearly 25 years of his storied career - are coming back into print on physical formats thanks to the shared efforts of Universal' Music Group's teams in America and Japan. Coming June 6 are new SHM-CD pressings of seven of Jones' LPs: This is How I Feel About Jazz (1957), The Quintessence (1962), Big Band Bossa Nova (1962), Walking in Space (1969), Body Heat (1974), Mellow Madness (1975), Sounds...and Stuff Like
Hero of the Day: Metallica Unloads Massive 'Load' Box Set
We'll spare you additional ribald jokes and puns in sharing that Metallica have announced their latest sprawling box set reissue, this time dedicated to their sixth studio album - 1996's Load. Available June 13, the centerpiece of the Load reissue campaign is a box that'll offer 15 CDs, six LPs and four DVDs featuring the remastered album, rare single material, scores of unreleased outtakes (from demos to rough mixes), audio or video of five full shows and plenty additional concert
A Man Could Get Lost: Soft Cell to Expand 'Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing' with Rare Remixes
After expanding their debut album for a box set in 2023, Soft Cell will revisit the next entry in their discography: the remix album Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing. Available June 20, the collection comes back to two CDs or two LPs with a host of bonus material, including vintage non-LP singles and remixes plus a host of rare promo remixes issued in the last decade. (While UMC's solicitation notes three of the 12 tracks on the set's bonus disc are unreleased, our research puts it at one, with the
Sign In Stranger: Steely Dan's "The Royal Scam" Returns in June
Are you gonna do it without the fez on? 1976's The Royal Scam, Steely Dan's fifth album, is returning on June 6 in a variety of formats to conclude the band's reissue campaign which began in November 2022 with Can't Buy a Thrill. Like the past titles in this series encompassing the Dan's ABC/MCA discography, The Royal Scam will be reissued on 180-gram vinyl from Geffen/UMe while an audiophile-aimed UHQR 45 RPM, 200-gram vinyl edition and a hybrid stereo SACD (playable on all CD players) will
The Weekend Stream: April 25, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. Strap in for a killer line-up of titles this week: two more Record Store Day debuts, an incredible posthumous collaboration between two '80s icons, the return of one of glam's most beloved bands, new music by some of our favorite pop girls, a hotly anticipated new take on a Broadway favorite, exciting moments in gospel/soul, an exciting new song
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