Release Round-Up: Week of February 17

February 17, 2015 By Joe Marchese — No Comments

The Pretenders, 1979-1999 (Edsel) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

This mega-box features all of Edsel’s expanded Pretenders reissues, totaling the band’s eight Sire/Warner Bros. albums across 14 CDs and 8 DVDs (with six of the titles as 2-CD/1-DVD sets and two as 1-CD/1-DVD sets). Wow! All of the box set’s albums are also available individually (see below)! All track listings and discography can be found here.

The Pretenders, 1979-1999 individual CD/DVD reissues (Edsel)

Pretenders (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
Pretenders II (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
Learning To Crawl (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
Get Close (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
Packed! (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
Last of the Independents (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
The Isle of View (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
Viva El Amor! (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

All titles are 2-CD/1-DVD sets except for Packed! and The Isle of View, which are 1-CD/1-DVD sets. Complete track listings with discography can be found here.

Bob Marley and the Wailers, Easy Skanking in Boston ’78 (UMe)

Blu-ray/CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
DVD/CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Digital Download: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Easy Skanking in Boston ’78 kicks off a new program from UMe and the Bob Marley family. This new release, consisting of previously unreleased concert footage, will be available in Blu-Ray/CD combo pack, DVD/CD and standalone CD and vinyl versions. The video was shot with a hand-held camera by a fan that Marley allowed to sit right in front of the stage for his 1978 concert at Boston’s Music Hall. The result captures the artist from just a few feet away. Gaps in the original footage have been filled with newly-created animation over the existing audio. The CD preserves live performances of Marley classics like “Get Up. Stand Up,” “I Shot the Sheriff” and “Easy Skanking.”

Chicago, XXXIV: Live in ’75 (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Rhino gives a wide release to the 2011 limited-edition 2-CD set capturing Chicago’s blazing concert from June 1975 at Maryland’s Largo Centre, part of the Beachago Tour. There’s not much of The Beach Boys here, but there is plenty of still-exciting horn rock from Robert Lamm, Terry Kath, Peter Cetera, Danny Seraphine, Lee Loughnane, James Pankow and Walt Parazaider. Look for Joe’s review later today!

Art Pepper, Neon Art: Volume One (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Omnivore presents rare music recorded live in Seattle on January 28, 1981 from the late, great alto saxophonist Art Pepper (1925-1982) – first issued on vinyl in 2012 – on CD and digital download for the very first time!

Glen Campbell, I’ll Be Me: Soundtrack (Big Machine) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Big Machine Records releases the 10-song soundtrack to the documentary film Glen Campbell – I’ll Be Me, including two versions of the Grammy-winning, Oscar-nominated “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” live performances by Glen of “Wichita Lineman” and “A Better Place,” and more, including music by The Band Perry (their Grammy-winning “Gentle on My Mind”) and Campbell’s daughter Ashley. This first physical release of the soundtrack expands upon the originally-released 5-track EP.

Kiki Dee, Loving and Free/I’ve Got the Music in Me and Kiki Dee/Stay with Me (Edsel)

Loving and Free/I’ve Got the Music in Me: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Kiki Dee/Stay with Me: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Edsel has Kiki Dee’s first four albums for Elton John’s Rocket Records label on two CDs! Loving and Free/I’ve Got the Music in Me includes eight non-LP bonus tracks.

The Box Tops, The Original Albums 1967-1969 (Raven) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Raven collects on two CDs the four albums from the Alex Chilton-fronted Box Tops, including such hits as “Cry Like a Baby” and “The Letter,” and adds seven bonus tracks including the mono single versions of “The Letter” and “Cry Like A Baby” and the non-LP 45s “I See Only Sunshine,” “You Keep Tightening Up On Me” and “Since I Been Gone.” Watch for an in-depth piece soon!

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Andrew Powell and Alan Parsons, Ladyhawke: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (La-La Land)

La-La Land’s Expanded Archival Collection grows this week with a 2-CD remastered and expanded edition of the original score to the 1985 film Ladyhawke, starring Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer, and directed by Richard Donner (Superman). Andrew Powell’s orchestral score is supplemented by rock performances produced and engineered by Alan Parsons. This limited edition contains previously unreleased music, including bonus tracks, plus an essay from Tim Greiving with new quotes from Richard Donner, Rutger Hauer, Andrew Powell and Alan Parsons. Ladyhawke ships today from La-La Land!

Categories:

Release Round-Up

Formats:

Blu-Ray, Box Sets, CD, DVD, Digital Download, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Country, Funk, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Art Pepper, Bob Marley, Chicago, Glen Campbell, Kiki Dee, Pretenders, The Alan Parsons Project, The Box Tops

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.