While The Second Disc prides itself on connecting people to reissues and box sets they can keep on their shelves, it's no secret that listening audiences are also digital - catalogue music lovers, too - and our passion is connecting people to music from the past that they might adore. So we've introduced a new Saturday feature: The Weekend Stream, which focuses on hidden gems that recently made it to digital channels that might make your playlists a little brighter!
Pearl Jam, Deep (Monkeywrench/Republic)
The iconic rockers have unleashed 186 live shows onto digital platforms! We obviously can't highlight them all here, though they're all available to stream and download (here's a Spotify playlist of highlights) and come from the group's tours in 2000, 2003, 2008 and 2013. If you're a member of the band's long-running Ten Club, you can access Deep, a searchable database and microsite about these gigs.
Madonna, Express Yourself (Warner/Rhino) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify)
Another vintage bundle of Madonna remixes! This time, it's the second single from Like a Prayer - another batch of mixes available on the Japanese EP Remixed Prayers plus the 7" remix version of the No. 2 hit.
Terry Jacks, Seasons in the Sun (Expanded Edition) (Bell/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify)
Known for the worldwide No. 1 title track (adapted by Rod McKuen from a Jacques Brel tune), Seasons in the Sun is surprisingly solid folk-pop work from Terry Jacks - and this version includes four non-LP sides, including another Brel-McKuen composition: "If You Go Away," based on the classic "Ne me quitte pas."
Lou Rawls, She's Gone (Bell) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify)
Lou Rawls had been pounding the pavement as a smooth, soulful musician since the '60s. Of course, his most famous material was recorded for Philadelphia International Records in the late '70s, but in 1975 - right before he set up shop with Gamble and Huff - he recorded this velvety album punctuated by the title cover of Daryl Hall & John Oates' classic plus some Stax-style classics like "You Don't Miss Your Water."
And a Weekend Read: Over at Pitchfork, Michaelangelo Matos has penned an incredible, must-read piece on James Brown's Star Time, a box set that celebrated its 30th anniversary. It's an incredible wealth of insight and context on the box itself as a career-spanning product devoted to the Godfather of Soul - as well as its hallowed place in the greater context of catalogue music. Universal Music Enterprise's Harry Weinger and former Brown/Prince touring manager Alan Leeds, who won Grammy Awards for their work on the box, offer great insight in new interviews included in the piece (plus an uproarious anecdote about Prince during the making of Star Time).
John F says
Thumbs up on the Weekend Stream.
zubb says
I get the Terry Jacks and the Lou Rawls albums if they issued them on CD.