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/ News

Baby, What a Big Surprise: Chicago's "Japanese Singles Collection," Featuring Rare Versions, Out Now

September 9, 2021 By Joe Marchese 9 Comments

Chicago Japanese Singles Collection

BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

On the eve of the release of Chicago's At Carnegie Hall: Complete, Rhino Japan has another treat for fans of the horn-rock band.  The 2CD/DVD set Chicago: Japanese Singles Collection - Greatest Hits boasts 41 audio tracks representing the band's A-sides released in Japan between 1969 and 1998 plus 17 music videos.  It's available now from CD Japan and Amazon Japan, as well as local Amazon stores as an import.  Especially in the absence of a long overdue, complete U.S. singles anthology, this is a fascinating and worthwhile addition to any Chicago library.

The first disc of Japanese Singles begins with 1969's Robert Lamm-penned "Questions 67 and 68" single from the Chicago Transit Authority LP - also Chicago's U.S. single debut - and concludes with 1978's "Little One" by the team of drummer Danny Seraphine and David "Hawk" Wolinski.  The Chicago XI track is an appropriate closer as it features Terry Kath's final lead vocal on a Chicago record before his tragic death some four months after the album's release.  Disc Two starts with James Pankow's "Alive Again" from 1978's Phil Ramone-produced Hot Streets and ends with Desmond Child and Marc Beeson's "All Roads Lead to You," a newly-recorded track from the 1998 compilation The Heart of Chicago 1982-1998 Volume Two.  (In the U.S., the song was released on The Heart of Chicago 1967-1998 Volume Two.  This discrepancy resulted from Japan covering the band's then-30-year history in four volumes instead of two as in the U.S.; the first two Japan issues covered 1967-1981.)

The two discs of Japanese Singles Collection, attractively housed in an old-school double jewel case, boast a total of 20 unique single mixes, edits, and versions.  Some of these were made specifically for the country, including "Lowdown" and "Questions 67 and 68" sung in Japanese by Peter Cetera (joined on "Questions" by Lamm), and others replicate the original U.S. single versions.  [Note that the Japanese-language "Questions" did get a promotional U.S. issue.]  The collection includes a number of deep cuts that wouldn't typically appear on an American Chicago hits compilation ("Someday (August 29, 1968)," "State of the Union," "Little One," "Take a Chance," "Must Have Been Crazy").  In addition, a few familiar U.S. favorites weren't released on 45 RPM in Japan and as such aren't included, notably "Colour My World," "Wishing You Were Here" and "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is."

The DVD of music videos naturally draws upon the band's David Foster era and beyond, beginning with 1982's "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" and continuing with such other '80s classics as "Hard Habit to Break," "You're the Inspiration," "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love," and "Look Away."  The DVD, in region-free NTSC format and playable in all DVD players, is rounded out by four 2019 U.S. tour performances of "Saturday in the Park," "Feelin' Stronger Every Day," "25 or 6 to 4," and the otherwise-absent "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is."

Two booklets are included in the jewel case: one with beautiful, full-color reproductions of every Japanese picture sleeve and a second with an essay in Japanese and lyrics in both Japanese and English.  In a nice touch, every member of the band is acknowledged from the initial line-up to the current one still featuring Robert Lamm, Lee Loughnane, and James Pankow.  Japanese Singles has been remastered by Ryuichi Tanaka at Warner Music Mastering in Japan.

You'll find the complete track listing and order links for Chicago's Japanese Singles Collection below.  The band's Chicago at Carnegie Hall: Complete is due out tomorrow from the U.S. Rhino label.

Chicago, Chicago: Japanese Singles Collection - Greatest Hits (Rhino/Warner Music Japan WPZR-30913/5, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

  1. Questions 67 and 68 (U.S. Edit/Mono Mix)
  2. Make Me Smile (U.S. Edit)
  3. 25 or 6 to 4 (Japanese Edit)
  4. Someday (August 29, 1968) (Japanese Edit)
  5. Free
  6. Lowdown (Japanese Lyrics)
  7. Beginnings (U.S. Edit)
  8. Questions 67 and 68 (U.S. Edit/Japanese Lyrics)
  9. Saturday in the Park
  10. Dialogue (Part I & II) (U.S. Edit)
  11. State of the Union (Japanese Edit)
  12. Feelin' Stronger Every Day
  13. Just You 'N' Me
  14. (I've Been) Searchin' So Long (U.S. Edit)
  15. Call on Me
  16. Harry Truman
  17. Old Days
  18. Another Rainy Day in New York City
  19. If You Leave Me Now
  20. You Are on My Mind (U.S. Edit)
  21. Baby What a Big Surprise
  22. Little One (U.S. Edit)

CD 2

  1. Alive Again (U.S. Edit)
  2. Take a Chance
  3. Must Have Been Crazy
  4. Hard to Say I'm Sorry (U.S. Edit)
  5. Love Me Tomorrow (U.S. Edit/Remix)
  6. Stay the Night
  7. Hard Habit to Break
  8. You're the Inspiration
  9. Along Comes a Woman (U.S. Edit/Alternative Mix)
  10. 25 or 6 to 4 (Remake) (U.S. Edit)
  11. Will You Still Love Me? (U.S. Edit)
  12. If She Would Have Been Faithful...
  13. I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love
  14. Look Away (CHR Mix)
  15. You're Not Alone (Remix)
  16. Chasin' the Wind
  17. Explain It to My Heart
  18. The Only One
  19. All Roads Lead to You

DVD

  1. Hard to Say I'm Sorry
  2. Love Me Tomorrow
  3. Stay the Night
  4. Hard Habit to Break
  5. You're the Inspiration
  6. Along Comes a Woman
  7. 25 or 6 to 4
  8. Will You Still Love Me?
  9. I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love
  10. Look Away
  11. You're Not Alone
  12. Chasin' the Wind
  13. Explain It to My Heart
  14. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? (Live)
  15. Saturday in the Park (Live)
  16. Feelin' Stronger Every Day (Live)
  17. 25 or 6 to 4 (Live)

Categories: News Formats: CD, DVD Genre: Classic Rock, Pop Tags: Chicago

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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, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. 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.

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Comments

  1. RichD says

    September 9, 2021 at 12:30 pm

    The DVD contains the first legitimate releases of the videos for "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" and "Explain It To My Heart".

    The band didn't like the video for "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" so it was never released to MTV, etc. when the song was a hit back in the late 80's.

    Reply
  2. Tod H. says

    September 9, 2021 at 8:17 pm

    Does anyone know of the DVD is Region Free and will thus play on US/North American DVD players?

    Reply
    • RichD says

      September 9, 2021 at 8:47 pm

      The DVD says "ALL - NTSC"

      Reply
    • Avatar photoJoe Marchese says

      September 9, 2021 at 8:52 pm

      Hi Tod, Yes! I mentioned above in the article that it’s an all-region NTSC DVD. Enjoy!

      Reply
      • RichD says

        September 9, 2021 at 9:14 pm

        As a Chicago fan from the Bill Champlin era, it's amazing to see pristine quality copies of those two above mentioned rare music videos !!!

        Reply
      • Tod H. says

        September 11, 2021 at 1:17 am

        I totally missed that one, Joe…my bad 🙄. Thanks!

        Reply
  3. Earl Foreman says

    September 9, 2021 at 8:49 pm

    I noticed disc 1 includes "Harry Truman". I wonder if it will again cause a frenzy in Japan as it did when originally released in the 70s. I couldn't blame Japan, and I couldn't blame Chicago....it was Columbia's error, overlooking how Truman had opted to end WWII. But here it is again. Those who refuse to learn from history are destined to repeat it.

    Reply
  4. MGUSA says

    September 10, 2021 at 5:48 am

    If coulour my world does not cement the soul of the band in the heart pound baritone of Kath , then this IS NOT A TRIBUTE OR WORTH listening to who Hendrix considered “ better than I “ So under rated Terry babe !

    Reply
  5. Joe says

    October 12, 2021 at 5:26 pm

    The first 7 tracks on this CD were originally released as mono 45's. Can anyone confirm that they used those versions on this set?

    Reply

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