Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up!
Little Steven and The Disciples of Soul, Men Without Women [CD/DVD] (Wicked Cool/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Little Steven Van Zandt's 1982 debut with The Disciples of Soul, Men Without Women, remains a high watermark in the Jersey shore bar band sound with its fusion of classic rock and soul sounds. Van Zandt was joined by members of The E Street Band, The Asbury Jukes, and The Miami Horns as well as pals like The Rascals' Dino Danelli and Felix Cavaliere, and Gary U.S. Bonds. This CD release premieres Bob Ludwig's remaster (previously available only on vinyl) on CD and adds a bonus DVD of Little Steven's 1982 Rockpalast concert. The edition that's currently streaming has a number of bonus tracks only available on CD as part of Little Steven's Rock 'n Roll Rebel box set. UPDATE: This title has been pushed back one week, until next Friday (July 31).
Various Artists, Sun City: Artists United Against Apartheid (Wicked Cool/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Little Steven wraps up his standalone CD reissue campaign with the long out-of-print Sun City to CD in Bob Ludwig's remaster. The all-star affair benefiting The Africa Fund features Pat Benatar, Ruben Blades, Bono, Jackson Browne, Ron Carter, Clarence Clemons, Jimmy Cliff, George Clinton, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Bob Geldof, Daryl Hall, Herbie Hancock, Eddie Kendricks, Darlene Love, John Oates, Bonnie Raitt, Joey Ramone, Lou Reed, David Ruffin, Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, Pete Townshend, and many more. The edition that's currently streaming has bonus tracks only available on CD as part of Little Steven's Rock 'n Roll Rebel box set. Read more about the reissue campaign here!
Diana Ross, Supertonic: Mixes (Motown/UMe)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Crystal Clear Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
For the legendary Diana Ross, it's clear that there truly ain't no mountain high enough. The superstar made chart history earlier this year when "Love Hangover 2020" reached the top position on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart - making it her fourth consecutive No. 1 remix of a song that had previously been No. 1 on the Hot 100 in its original version. Now, that record-setting remix is available on CD, clear vinyl LP, and digital formats along with Miss Ross' other three recent chart-toppers and four additional cuts on an all-new album. Supertonic: Mixes, produced by the singer and featuring remixes by producer Eric Kupper, arrived from Motown/UMe on May 29 (digital) while today's the day for the pair of physical releases. July 24 (physical).
Bob Marley and The Wailers, Legend: The Best of Bob Marley and The Wailers [Picture Disc] (UMe/Tuff Gong/Island) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
The classic 1984 compilation from Bob Marley and The Wailers returns to picture disc vinyl, with a previously unseen photo on the flipside. Read more here!
The Vince Guaraldi Trio, Peanuts Greatest Hits [Picture Disc] (Craft Recordings) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Limited to 2,500 individually numbered units, the Peanuts Greatest Hits picture disc celebrates the legacy of Charles Schulz's enduring characters. It culls its 12 tracks from Peanuts' perennial television specials including Vince Guaraldi's "Linus and Lucy," "Great Pumpkin Waltz," and "Christmas Time Is Here," as well as relatively lesser-known compositions like the Woodstock ode "Little Birdie" featuring Guaraldi on vocals, as well. The compilation was originally issued on CD in 2015. Read more here!
Nick Kamen, The Complete Collection (Cherry Pop) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Cherry Pop is compiling the works of U.K. model-turned-singer Nick Kamen in a new 6CD box set. The Complete Collection offers remastered versions all four albums Kamen recorded for Warner Music between 1987 and 1992, plus dozens of bonus tracks and remixes, many of them previously unreleased or new to CD. (The label notes that 20 mixes are previously unreleased, though we suspect this number is higher.) Two never-before-heard tracks are also available: covers of The Everly Brothers' "So Sad" and Breakfast Club's "Right On Track." The set's liner notes feature new recollections from producer Stephen Bray and collaborator Toby Andersen (Curiosity Killed The Cat). Get more details, including the full track listing, here!
Andrew Gold, Lonely Boy: The Asylum Years Anthology (Esoteric Recordings/Cherry Red) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
This 6-CD set boxes up Andrew Gold's classic Asylum discography with copious bonus material. It features all four of Gold's solo albums for the label (billed as newly remastered) plus 16 bonus tracks issued on individual reissues of each album from the Collector's Choice label back in 2005. (Two tracks from those reissues - the pre-Asylum demos "Sometime When a Man's On His Own" and "To Be Someone" - are not included here, but were recently included on Omnivore's Something New: Unreleased Gold.) A sixth disc includes unreleased highlights from two live concerts: one recorded in Los Angeles at the start of 1977, and another recorded in London in the winter of 1976. A region-free DVD includes video from the London show, broadcast on the BBC's The Old Grey Whistle Test, along with six vintage promo videos and an additional in-studio appearance on Whistle Test from 1978. An illustrated booklet with a new essay and an included poster round out this impressive package.
ABBA, The Studio Albums [Vinyl] (Capitol/Polar/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
While the world still awaits new ABBA music, the band's eight classic studio albums have returned to vinyl in this new box set, on which each album has been pressed on a different-colored LP. All albums are presented in replica artwork of the original sleeves.
The Turtles, The Turtles '66 / Golden Hits / More Golden Hits [Vinyl] (Demon)
The Turtles '66: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Golden Hits: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
More Golden Hits: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Demon has three Turtles LPs, all pressed on 180-gram colored vinyl. The Turtles '66 is the 2017 "album that might have been" produced by Bones Howe with such enjoyable tracks as "Outside Chance," "Can I Get to Know You Better," and "Grim Reaper of Love." It's pressed on green vinyl. Golden Hits is the original 1967 mono collection with "Happy Together," "You Baby," "Let Me Be," "She'd Rather Be with Me," and "It Ain't Me Babe." Its 1970 follow-up More Golden Hits boasts "Elenore," "You Showed Me," "She's My Girl," "Lady-O," and "The Story of Rock and Roll." Both hits packages are pressed, appropriately enough, on gold vinyl. Classic AM pop doesn't get any better than this, folks.
Doris Day, Gold (Crimson/Demon) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
The long-running series of budget-priced, music-packed Gold collections continues with this volume dedicated to the timeless artistry of Doris Day. The set features 60 songs on 3 CDs including "Secret Love," "Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)," "Everybody Loves a Lover," "Move Over, Darling," "It's Magic," "Dream a Little Dream of Me," a selection of Christmas songs, and more.
Bill Kirchen, The Proper Years / Waxworks: The Best of The Proper Years (The Last Music Company)
The Proper Years (2CD): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Waxworks: The Best of The Proper Years (1LP): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Telecaster virtuoso Bill Kirchen of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen fame made 10 albums in London for Proper Records between 2006 and 2016. This new 2-CD, 38-track collection features Kirchen favorites as well as collaborations with Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Dan Hicks, Maria Muldaur, and Austin De Lone. Waxworks offers 11 highlights from the bigger set including a cover of "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and appearances by all of the above guests.
Larry Davis says
Surprise new Taylor Swift album dropped today called "folklore" and it's a lovely piece of work/art in an atmospheric indy-folk style...she has touched on this style before in her collab with Civil Wars, but this is a whole record like that, done in isolation, as her "Lover" tour was scrapped due to COVID19...she does a duet with Bon Iver on it...8 covers/packages, 7 only available for 1 week, on her website, each with 1 bonus track..the vinyls, each cover/package a 2LP set with it's own unique colour...a lyric video for each song on YouTube, saw a bit of each one...lovely stuff...
Brian from Canada says
Since the earlier release was mentioned here, Paul McCartney has another free track on his website this week ahead of next week's Archive release.