Tomorrow’s the date for Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music’s annual slate of Christmas releases, but those titles aren’t the only holiday releases due to arrive in stores.  Our friends at Real Gone also have a couple of yuletide vinyl titles while, on the other end of the spectrum, the label will bring a Grateful Dead concert to vinyl on November 30.

First up from RGM is Merry, Merry Christmas from New Kids On The Block.  Released in 1989 at the height of the group’s fame between their No. 1 platinum albums Hangin’ Tough in 1988 and Step By Step in 1990, this festive offering was a hit in its own right.  The album was made up of six original tunes and three holiday perennials: “The Christmas Song,” “White Christmas” and “The Little Drummer Boy.”  Among the originals was “This One’s For the Children,” written by the band’s creator/producer Maurice Starr.  The song peaked at No. 7 on the Hot 100 in December 1989.  The album itself peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and eventually went double platinum. Real Gone’s new vinyl reissue comes in green vinyl and is limited to 1,000 copies.  This is the album’s first appearance on vinyl since its initial release.  The package also features the original inner sleeve.

Real Gone then moves into the 1990s for a vinyl reissue of Hanson’s Snowed In.  The album came in November 1997, just six months after the band’s massive breakthrough Middle of Nowhere which featured “MMMBop.”  In fact, singles from Middle of Nowhere were still being issued seven months after Snowed In hit the shelves.  For their first Christmas album, the trio relied mostly upon well-known Christmas tunes, leaning towards the pop/rock and soul variety with covers of such songs as “Little Saint Nick,” “Run Rudolph Run,” “Merry Christmas Baby” and “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree.”  Three original songs were included: “At Christmas,” “Christmas Time” and “Everybody Knows The Claus.”  The album peaked at No. 7, becoming the top Christmas album of 1997, and has since been certified platinum in the U.S.  Hanson returned to the Christmas songbook with last year’s Finally It’s Christmas, and the group also appears on Mike Love’s new Reason for the Season. Real Gone’s new edition of Snowed In marks the album’s first appearance on vinyl.  It comes in “Christmas Tree Green” vinyl and features a new inner sleeve.  It is limited to 1,200 copies.

Coming out on November 30 is Real Gone’s new 6-LP edition of Grateful Dead’s Dick’s Picks Vol. 34 – Community War Memorial Rochester, NY 11/5/77.  Real Gone has been reissuing the band’s Dicks Picks and Road Trips CDs to general release outlets for several years and is now putting out the first vinyl release in the series.

1977 was a big year for Grateful Dead, having signed a new record deal with Arista the year prior.  Terrapin Station, released in July of 1977 was their first studio album in two years.  Their spring tour that year is also one of the most highly regarded by fans.  For this November show in Rochester, the group performed 21 songs over two sets, including an acclaimed over 12-minute long performance of “The Other One.”  Seven bonus tracks have also been appended from the November 2^nd show at the Seneca College Field House in Toronto.

The initial CD release for this set was back in 2005 with Real Gone’s reissue coming in 2011.  This new six-LP version from Real Gone has been newly remastered for vinyl by David Glasser at Airshow Mastering (he did the mastering for last year’s Long Strange Trip documentary soundtrack).  John Golden at Golden Mastering has done the lacquer cutting.  The 180-gram vinyl LPs come housed in a hardshell box which also includes a new 4-page LP-sized insert with graphics from the original release.  Please note that the tracks have been reshuffled from the original release: all of the bonus tracks from the Seneca College Field House have been placed at the end of the presentation so you can experience the Rochester show uninterrupted.  This new edition is limited to 1,500 copies, all hand-numbered.

If you would like to give any of these a chance, we’ve got the preorder links below.  The New Kids and Hanson Christmas releases are available tomorrow, November 9, and the Grateful Dead release will be available on November 30^.  All three are also available now directly from Real Gone’s website.

New Kids On The Block, Merry, Merry Christmas (Limited Green Vinyl Edition) (Originally released on Columbia FC 45280, 1989 – reissued Real Gone Music, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side One

1. This One’s for the Children
2. Last Night I Saw Santa Claus
3. I’ll Be Missin’ You Come Christmas (A Letter to Santa)
4. I Still Believe in Santa Claus
5. Merry, Merry Christmas

Side Two

1. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)
2. Funky, Funky Xmas
3. White Christmas
4. Little Drummer Boy
5. This One’s for the Children (Reprise)

Hanson, Snowed In (Limited “Christmas Tree” Green Vinyl Edition) (Originally released on Mercury 314 536 717-2, 1997 – reissued Real Gone Music, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side One

1. Merry Christmas Baby
2. What Christmas Means to Me
3. Little Saint Nick
4. At Christmas
5. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
6. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree

Side Two

1. Christmas Time
2. Everybody Knows the Claus
3. Run Rudolph Run
4. Silent Night Medley: O Holy Night/Silent Night/O Come All Ye Faithful
5. White Christmas

Grateful Dead, Dick’s Picks Vol. 34 – Community War Memorial, Rochester, NY 11/5/77 (Limited Vinyl Edition) (Originally released on Grateful Dead Records DECD278, 2005 – reissued Real Gone Music, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

LP 1

Side One – 1st set

1. New Minglewood Blues
2. Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo

Side Two

1. Looks Like Rain
2. Dire Wolf
3. Mama Tried
4. Big River

LP 2

Side One

1. Candyman
2. Jack Straw
3. Deal

Side Two – 2nd set

1. Phil Solo
2. Take a Step Back
3. Eyes of the World

LP 3

Side One

1. Samson & Delilah
2. It Must Have Been the Roses

Side Two

1. Estimated Prophet
2. He’s Gone

LP 4

Side One

1. Rhythm Devils
2. The Other One

Side Two

1. Black Peter
2. Sugar Magnolia

LP 5

Side One – Encore

1. One More Saturday Night

From 11/2/77 Seneca College Field House, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

2. Might as Well
3. Estimated Prophet

Side Two

1. St. Stephen
2. Truckin’

LP 6

Side One

1. Around and Around
2. Lazy Lightnin’
3. Supplication