Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up!

B.J. Thomas, In Remembrance: Love Songs and Lost Treasures (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Real Gone Music remembers the late, great B.J. Thomas with this new collection of rare and previously unreleased material drawn from both Thomas' personal archives and the vaults of Reprise and Warner Bros. Records.  In Remembrance: Love Songs and Lost Treasures features 18 tracks, 13 of which are making their debut here, including all five songs which B.J. recorded for the 2008 independent film Jake's Corner, and tracks cut with producers Steve Dorff, Jim Ed Norman, and Stewart Harris.  B.J.'s wife Gloria provides the new introduction, and TSD's Joe Marchese has penned the liner notes based on unpublished interviews with the artist.  Read more here!

Natalie Cole, Unforgettable...with Love: 30th Anniversary Edition (Craft Recordings)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Black Vinyl LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Purple Vinyl: NatalieCole.com
White Vinyl: Barnes & Noble
Pink Vinyl: Target

Craft Recordings recently acquired Natalie Cole's Elektra catalogue, and now the label is marking the 30th (+1!) anniversary of a beloved Cole classic.  Unforgettable...with Love was Cole's Elektra debut and her first full-length album to celebrate the music of her father, Nat "King" Cole.  It became the biggest success of Natalie's career, topping multiple charts including the Billboard 200, earning multi-platinum status, and picking up a boatload of Grammy Awards including for the title track, a posthumous duet with Nat.  Craft's CD reissue features remastered audio and adds two bonus tracks, the B-sides "A Cottage for Sale" and "At Last."  The expanded edition is available on CD February 4 while the original album is released on vinyl February 18.  A Target-exclusive pressing on opaque pink vinyl is out now.  Read more here.

The 5th Dimension, The Complete Soul City/Bell Singles 1966-1975 (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Real Gone has re-pressed The 5th Dimension's 3-CD singles collection, originally released in 2016, hot on the heels of the group's appearance in Questlove's documentary Summer of Soul.  This expansive set features a total of 61 songs, all in the original single mixes.  Most of these are in mono and had never appeared on CD before until the initial 2016 release.  It has been remastered by Mark Wilder at Battery Studios and features liner notes from Paul Grein with quotes from all four surviving members of the group.

The Moving Sidewalks, Flash (RockBeat)

CD: Bandcamp / Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP on black vinyl at Amazon U.S., "freak swirl" at Popmarket, or "metallic goldfish" at Newbury Comics

Texas-based psychedelic garage group The Moving Sidewalks, featuring future ZZ Top singer-guitarist Billy Gibbons and drummer Dan Mitchell, only released one album: 1969's Flash, on the Tantara Records label.  Back in 2012, Rockbeat Records included Flash as part of a complete Moving Sidewalks box set.  Now, the label is reissuing it on its own, plus the non-LP side "99th Floor."  Available on CD and various vinyl versions.

William S. Fischer, Circles (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)

Real Gone brings a super-rare title back to vinyl today as part of a trio of Black History Month-themed releases.  William S. Fischer's Circles was the multi-instrumentalist's first and only album for Herbie Mann's Atlantic imprint, Embryo Records.  The 1970 LP blended funk, rock, soul, and fusion, prominently incorporating a Moog synthesizer.  Fischer was joined on the LP by bassist Ron Carter, guitarists Eric Weissberg and Hugh McCracken, drummer Billy Cobham, and a five-piece cello section.  Fischer would record two more solo albums before returning to sideman work and collaborating with Roberta Flack, Yusef Lateef, Gene Ammons, Roland Kirk and Pharoah Sanders, among others.  The new vinyl reissue from Real Gone is the first vinyl pressing of the album since its initial release.  It is limited to 2,000 copies and comes on "black ice" vinyl.  The LP also preserves the original circle cut-out stencil cover and includes new liner notes by Peter Relic with quotes from Fischer.

Don Julian and The Larks, Super Slick (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)

Second up from RGM is a reissue of Super Slick from Don Julian and The Larks ("The Jerk"). The 1974 soul platter is in the vein of Curtis Mayfield and Isaac Hayes and includes original material as well as covers including the Jerry Fuller-written, Al Wilson hit "Show and Tell," Bread's "Make It with You," The Temptations' "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)," The Staple Singers' "Respect Yourself," and Al Green's "Let's Stay Together."  This new vinyl release is the first reissue of the album.  It comes in two colors: blue and "hellfire red," the latter of which is limited to just 200 copies and only available from Real Gone's website at the link above.

The Flamingos, Flamingo Serenade (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)

RGM's third release is a stereo presentation of the classic Flamingo Serenade from doo-wop legends and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Flamingos, including the group's era-defining version of the standard "I Only Have Eyes for You." This is the album's first reissue on vinyl since 1981 and its first reissue outside of Japan since 1991.  It comes on powder blue vinyl to match the group's dapper tuxedos on the front cover of the album.

Marshall Crenshaw, # 447 (Shiny-Tone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Marshall Crenshaw has reissued, remastered, and expanded his 1999 album # 447 on his own Shiny-Tone label.  # 447 remains one of Crenshaw's finest hours (as well as one of his favorites of his own albums) with melodic pop originals such as "Dime a Dozen Guy," "Tell Me All About It," and evocative instrumentals "Eydie's Tune" and "You Said What??"  The new edition, remastered at Sterling Sound by Greg Calbi, adds two newly-recorded cuts, "Will of the Wind" and "Santa Fe," which are in Crenshaw's tradition of hooky, tuneful, and smart songcraft.  These are featured after the album on CD and as a bonus 7-inch single with the vinyl edition.

The Rave-Ups, Tomorrow (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Jimmer Podrasky, Terry Wilson, Timmy Blatnik, and Timmy Jiminez - a.k.a. The Rave-Ups - have reunited for their first album since 1990.  The rousing Tomorrow happily recalls their "cowpunk" sound of yesterday, with Marty Rifkin's pedal steel and Wilson's twangy guitar adding to the country flavor of the rocking tunes which touch on romance, politics, and everything in between.  Available on CD and digital formats.

Wings, Wild Life [Half-Speed Mastered Edition] (UMe) (UDiscoverMusic.com)

Paul McCartney continues his half-speed mastered vinyl series with this new reissue of Wings' quirky and homespun 1971 debut Wild Life.  It's available through Universal's online storefronts as well as at independent record stores.

Judy Garland, Live at Carnegie Hall (Avid) (Avid / Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The powerhouse vocalist's 1961 classic live album gets a reissue this week from the U.K.-based Avid label as part of its occasional Classic Concert Series.  This new edition has been mastered by Nick Dellow; he's performed similar duties on past Avid releases of Garland material. The label's press release promises, "For the first time, Garland's concert performance has been properly pitched across the entire recording (the original LP runs slightly sharp), giving her voice - and the orchestra under the direction of Mort Lindsey - greater depth, intimacy and 'pow,' as Garland put it in a 1961 Life Magazine profile. The show takes on a whole new life as a result of this remastering, allowing listeners to experience the concert as if for the first time. Garland's voice is richer, the brass is crisper, and the bass is fuller."  The sequence follows that of the original 2-LP release.  In addition to the original liner notes, the booklet will include new notes from Lawrence Schulman and recent remarks from the Grammy Award-winning designer of the famous original album cover, Jim Silke.  This reissue of Judy at Carnegie Hall is made available due to current U.K. public domain laws.

The Divine Comedy, Charmed Life: The Best of The Divine Comedy (DCR) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This 3CD set from the Neil Hannon-fronted group promises to include both hit singles and fan favorites on 2 CDs, while the bonus CD premieres a handful of new and previously unreleased recordings.  A 2-LP vinyl version of the set arrives on February 18 and includes one new song, "The Best Mistakes."  A digital version is also out today.

Prince, Catalogue Reissue Series (Legacy Recordings)

In 2021, Prince's estate continued its evolving relationship with Sony Music, with much of The Artist's Warner Bros.-era albums getting digital distribution through Legacy Recordings. Now, 12 physical reissues of classic Prince albums are returning to print today from Sony's Legacy Recordings.  These CD and vinyl titles make up the bulk of the Minneapolis icon's '70s and '80s recordings, as well as a select handful of his early '90s work. (Warner Music distributes in perpetuity the soundtracks to Prince's three films - 1984's Purple Rain, 1986's Parade and 1990's Graffiti Bridge - as well as his album for Tim Burton's Batman in 1989. Just about everything from 1995's The Gold Experience onward has been distributed by Legacy since shortly after Prince's passing, with a handful of reissues and select collections entering the marketplace in recent years.) These titles will be available on black vinyl instead of the usual purple pressings Legacy's been issuing in recent years - though 1999 and Sign will be given clear vinyl pressings with white swirl available through Walmart and Target, respectively. No remastering information has been offered, though it's likely 1999 and Sign will use their newer remasters.  You'll find order links for all titles below.

For You (originally released as Warner Bros. BSK 3150, 1978 - reissued NPG/Legacy, 2022)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Prince (originally released as Warner Bros. BSK 3366, 1979 - reissued NPG/Legacy, 2022)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Dirty Mind (originally released as Warner Bros. BSK 3478, 1980 - reissued NPG/Legacy, 2022)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Controversy (originally released as Warner Bros. BSK 3601, 1981 - reissued NPG/Legacy, 2022)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1999 (originally released as Warner Bros. 23720, 1982 - reissued NPG/Legacy, 2022)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Black 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Clear/White Swirl 2LP: Walmart

Around the World in a Day (originally released as Paisley Park 25286, 1985 - reissued NPG/Legacy, 2022)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Sign O' the Times (originally released as Paisley Park 25577, 1987 - reissued NPG/Legacy, 2022)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Black 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Clear/White Swirl 2LP: Target

Lovesexy (originally released as Paisley Park 25720, 1988 - reissued NPG/Legacy, 2022)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. (TBD) / Amazon U.K. (TBD) / Amazon Canada (TBD)

The Hits 1 (originally released as Warner Bros./Paisley Park 45431, 1993 - reissued NPG/Legacy, 2022)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. (TBD) / Amazon U.K. (TBD) / Amazon Canada (TBD)

The Hits 2 (originally released as Warner Bros./Paisley Park 45435, 1993 - reissued NPG/Legacy, 2022)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. (TBD) / Amazon U.K. (TBD) / Amazon Canada (TBD)

Come (originally released as Warner Bros. 45700, 1994 - reissued NPG/Legacy, 2022)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. (TBD) / Amazon U.K. (TBD) / Amazon Canada (TBD)

The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale (originally released as Warner Bros. 47522, 1999 - reissued NPG/Legacy, 2022)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. (TBD) / Amazon U.K. (TBD) / Amazon Canada (TBD)