Frank Sinatra. Antonio Carlos Jobim. Two great musical tastes that taste great together. Ol' Blue Eyes brought his inimitable voice to the smooth bossa nova compositions of Jobim in 1967 with the LP Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim, in which the two teamed up on Jobim's best tracks ("The Girl from Ipanema," "How Insensitive") and some great standards as well (Berlin's "Change Partners," Porter's "I Concentrate on You"). Four years later, another Sinatra-Jobim session yielded one
Archives for April 2010
Something to Shout About
A few new titles coming our way from Shout! Factory. The label perhaps best known for being born of Rhino ex-pats - ex-pats who got one of the best live concert films ever out on DVD for the first time - have announced reissues of two very different titles that will please rock fans out there. First up, Concrete Blonde - the seminal Los Angeles alt-rockers of the late '80s and early '90s - had previously announced a reunion tour to commemorate the 20th anniversary of their most famous LP
Back Tracks: Cheap Trick
In reading about Cheap Trick on Web sites like the All Music Guide, one keeps finding aspects of the band's work described as "perverse." That's a weird way of defining it - not in the sexual sense, mind you, but as a means of describing how unusual they are - but I guess it fits well enough, for a number of reasons. In the Rockford, Ill.-based band are, visually, one of the most arresting bands ever; vocalist Robin Zander and basist Tom Petersson look like your typical gorgeous rockers, while
Reissue Theory: Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Blood Sugar Sex Magik"
The fearful question reissue enthusiasts have to ask - particularly those who might have a hand in putting them out for public consumption - is: when is the reissue wave going to crash? I don't pose the question in terms of when people will stop paying money for physical media, because I don't think that's a particularly relevant problem right now. As long as fans keep buying enough reissued CDs now and future generations take a moment to ponder the merits of sound quality, this isn't an issue.
Hot Fudge Sundae!
Their repertoire was pretty standard for the late 1960s: a Lennon/McCartney tune here, a Bacharach and David song there, a Motown cover for good measure, even "The Windmills of Your Mind." But similarities ended there between Vanilla Fudge and their MOR-covering contemporaries. Over the course of five albums for the Atco label, the Fudge brought a psychedelic touch to the gestating sound of so-called "heavy rock" with blues-drenched, extended takes on familiar songs. Shadow Morton, famed
Review: Chicago - "Chicago Transit Authority" Quadradisc
What is Quadio? That's the question currently being posed by the fine folks over at Rhino.com. For an answer and some fun interactivity, click here. But in short, Quadio describes the new series of four-channel audio DVDs (or "Quadradiscs") being introduced by Rhino with the reissue of 1969's Chicago Transit Authority, the first album by the band later known simply as Chicago. This release is a landmark in a number of ways. For one thing, it signals a new attempt to court the dedicated
Reissue Theory: Malcolm McLaren, "Duck Rock"
The recent passing of music impresario Malcolm McLaren has led to a lot of emotions. Some hate McLaren for his self-aggrandizing ways and mismanagement of The Sex Pistols' supernova career. Others laud him for his contribution to music history as not only a tastemaker and agent provocateur, but as a semi-successful musician as well. There's something to be said about some of that music, too. McLaren's debut LP, 1983's Duck Rock, has been championed - thanks to both the quality of the music and
Review: Elvis Presley - "On Stage: Legacy Edition"
When Elvis Presley took the stage of the newly-built Las Vegas International, "the world's largest resort hotel," on July 31, 1969, few predicted that a new era would start for the entertainer. Presley had been absent from the concert stage for eight years and the Vegas community still harbored memories of his poorly-received 1956 stint at the New Frontier Hotel. Despite the recent success of singles "In the Ghetto" and "Suspicious Minds," not to mention the hallowed '68 Comeback Special,
Tommy and Gina Redux
If you're from New Jersey, chances are you are (or know someone who is) a Bon Jovi fan. They were perhaps the best of the big-haired arena-rockers in the late '80s and '90s, and still know how to pack 'em in to this day. And now, it looks like they're reaching the rarified ranks of solid catalogue artists, thanks to a pretty wide series of reissues from Island and Universal Music Enterprises. Amazon is listing reissues of ten Bon Jovi albums - everything from 1984's self-titled debut to 2007's
Reissue Theory: The Smiths - "The Smiths"
One of the books devoured by this author over the Easter break was The Smiths: Songs That Saved Your Life by Simon Goddard. If you're a fan of The Smiths, are thinking about being a fan of The Smiths or just like '80s alt-rock in general, you would do well to add this to your bookshelf. It provides an in-depth account of every song released or recorded by the band in their too-brief career and covers Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce through prose that's both artistic and
News Roundup: Back from Hiatus Edition, Part 1
Well! After a fun weekend of sun and Easter candy, it's back to tracking the catalogue world at The Second Disc. A hearty thank-you to Joe for his contributions over the weekend, and a welcome back to our loyal readers. A few release nuggets came through the pipeline over the weekend, so let's clean house by getting some of them out of the way. More to come before the end of the day, so stick around! NME reported that a new Oasis compilation would see a U.K. release on June 14. Time Flies
The (Original) Sound of Philadelphia
Long before the triumvirate of Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff and Thom Bell immortalized "The Sound of Philadelphia" as silky, smooth soul, Cameo-Parkway Records supplied the soundtrack to the City of Brotherly Love. The label may be best known for dances like the 81, the Twist, the Hully Gully, the Wah-Watusi and the Mashed Potato, or for teenage icons like Bobby Rydell. But Cameo-Parkway's roster was in fact much more diverse, from garage rockers ? and the Mysterians to doo-wop legend Johnny
Review: David Bowie - "David Bowie" Deluxe Edition
David Bowie circa 1966 was an artist in search of an identity. He had flirted with theatre, the mod movement, and even mime. When signed by Decca's Deram arm, he had already released six unsuccessful singles on three different labels and fronted a number of quickly-vanishing bands. The Decca contract came shortly after his recordings for Pye, which had been shepherded by British hitmaker Tony Hatch of "Downtown" and "Call Me" fame. The Deram album, simply titled David Bowie, was all but
You've Still Got A Friend: "The Essential Carole King"
The Second Disc is pleased to introduce our first contributor, Joe Marchese. Joe is a NY/NJ-based writer, theatre director and music enthusiast, and is thrilled to be on board. For many of her fans, Carole King's career begins and ends with Tapestry. It's not hard to see why; the seminal 1971 album spent fifteen weeks perched at No. 1 on Billboard’s album chart, remained on the chart for six years, spawned two chart-topping pop singles, and influenced an entire generation of introspective