Today, we're taking a look at three recent releases from Demon Music Group's Edsel and Driven by the Music imprints!

From the 1961 release of his first-ever single "Runaway," a chart-topper on both sides of the Atlantic, to the time of his death in 1990, Del Shannon was rock-and-roll royalty.  Demon Music Group's Edsel label has been giving Shannon some long-overdue attention lately with a reissue of his final album, the posthumously-released Rock On! and with the announcement of an exhaustive 12-CD box set, Stranger in Town: A Del Shannon Compendium, due in February.  In the meantime, though, Edsel has offered a 2-CD, 61-song sampler sure to whet appetites.  Handy Man: The Best of Del Shannon offers just about every highlight from Shannon's singular career. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee followed up the catchy yet eerie "Runaway," co-written with Max Crook, with another Top 10 hit, the self-penned "Hats Off to Larry." Shannon and Maron McKenzie's "Little Town Flirt" did almost as well, and Shannon continued his winning streak when he became the first American artist to record a Beatles song with his 1963 cover of "From Me to You." More hits followed: revivals of "Do You Wanna Dance" and "Handy Man," and his own "Keep Searchin' (We'll Follow the Sun)." As the sixties progressed, Shannon experimented with psychedelic productions and more adventurous pop fare, but alcoholism slowed his productivity in the 1970s. Still, he found time to work with younger artists for whom he had been a key influence, including Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Dave Edmunds, and the Smithereens. The final track on Handy Man, "Walk Away," was a collaboration with both Petty and Lynne. Phil Kinrade has remastered all of the audio here.  Alan Robinson's liner notes round out the package chronicling the career of a truly underrated singer and songwriter. This isn't the first comprehensive double-disc anthology of Shannon's relatively small yet mighty discography, but it's clearly one of the finest.  The melancholy underneath the surface eventually got the better of Del Shannon, but he left behind a memorable body of work, both haunted and joyous, that's worth rediscovering.

Edsel has another 2-CD anthology out now with The Best of The Box Tops.  Lead singer Alex Chilton was still a teenager when songwriter Wayne Carson Thompson's "The Letter" ascended to the top of the Billboard Hot 100.  Recording at Memphis' famed American Studios, producer Dan Penn emphasized Chilton's raspy, deep and beyond-his-years growl of a voice.  It wasn't a voice he would deploy often on his subsequent records with Big Star, but it defined the pop-soul sound of The Box Tops.  The group would eventually record four albums for the Bell label, all of which are sampled on this 2-CD, 30-song collection.  Tracks from 1967's The Letter/Neon Rainbow include Thompson's "She Knows How" and the No. 24 hit "Neon Rainbow," tunes from the prolific producer Penn and his writing partner Spooner Oldham ("Everything I Am," "Happy Times," "I'm Your Puppet"), and covers of songs by Procol Harum ("A Whiter Shade of Pale"), Burt Bacharach and Hal David ("Trains and Boats and Planes," complete with the bridge that so many rock versions eschewed) and John D. Loudermilk ("Break My Mind").  The band's second album Cry Like a Baby was anchored by the electric sitar-propelled title track by Penn and Oldham; other highlights reprised on this set include Mickey Newbury's "Good Morning Dear" and a heavy cover of Holland-Dozier-Holland's Supremes smash "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by way of Vanilla Fudge.  The Box Tops' third LP (and second of 1968) Non-Stop, yielded a pair of minor hits: Donnie Fritts and Eddie Hinton's "Choo Choo Train" and Penn and Oldham's "I Met Her in Church."  Though personnel changes would keep dogging the group, a fourth and final album arrived with 1969's Dimensions.  Chilton came into his own as a songwriter with such cuts as "Together," "I Must Be the Devil," and "The Happy Song," even as Wayne Carson Thompson brought The Box Tops full circle when he gifted them their final top 20 hit with "Soul Deep."  The Best of The Box Tops has all of the group's chart hits save one: 1970's "You Keep Tightening Up on Me" (No. 92 on the Hot 100).  Alan Robinson has again contributed the sleeve notes.  While all four of The Box Tops' albums are essential listening (and not that difficult to track down; the now-defunct Raven label once released all four on a 2-CD set), The Best of The Box Tops is an enjoyable and breezy listen for those not looking to dig (soul) deep.

Edsel's sister imprint Driven by the Music has also revisited Donna Summer's 1982 self-titled Geffen album in a new book-style edition in the style of past releases including I'm a Rainbow: Remixed and Recoloured, A Hot Summer Night, and The Wanderer: 40th Anniversary.  Donna Summer: 40th Anniversary contains the original album plus seven bonus tracks: the B-side "Sometimes Like Butterflies," three single edits, two Le Flex remixes of "Mystery of Love," and a remix of "Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)."  Although Driven by the Music has issued this album before in various formats with different bonus cuts, this set is a fine introduction for those who don't already own it.  Produced by Quincy Jones, Donna Summer marked an artistic rebirth for Summer, on her own after a long collaboration with Giorgio Moroder.  It was released in 1982 after a six-month recording period in which Jones brought on an array of his frequent A-team of musicians including David Foster, Michael Sembello, Greg Phillinganes, Ernie Watts, Jerry Hey, and Rod Temperton. The latter had authored "Off the Wall" and "Rock with You" for Michael Jackson, and he offered Donna the top 10 single "Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)." James Ingram was tapped to add vocals to "Mystery of Love" (he provided backgrounds elsewhere on the album, too) but the guest spots didn't end there. Bruce Springsteen wrote and played guitar on "Protection," and a star-studded chorus joined Donna on "State of Independence." Christopher Cross, Dionne Warwick, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Michael McDonald, Brenda Russell, and Kenny Loggins all supported Summer with their participation. A cover of Billy Strayhorn's art song "Lush Life" harkened back to Jones' jazz roots. Donna was rewarded with a gold record for Donna Summer.  The 40th Anniversary edition has a new foreword by the artist's widower, Bruce Sudano, as well as comprehensive liner notes by Christian John Wikane drawing on quotes from participants including lyricist John Bettis ("The Woman in Me"), David Foster, Steve Lukather, Le Flex, Richard Page (co-writer and background vocalist on "Mystery of Love"), Brenda Russell, Greg Phillinganes, and others.  Full lyrics and credits are also included in the full-color, 32-page mediabook. Audio has once again been remastered by Phil Kinrade.

All three titles are available now at the links below.

Del Shannon, Handy Man: The Best of Del Shannon (Edsel EDSL0124, 2022) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. Runaway
2. Hats Off to Larry
3. Hey! Little Girl
4. So Long Baby
5. The Answer to Everything
6. He Doesn't Care
7. Wide, Wide World
8. His Latest Flame
9. Misery
10. Ginny in the Mirror
11. I Won't Be There
12. Cry Myself to Sleep
13. The Swiss Maid
14. You Never Talked About Me
15. Little Town Flirt
16. Kelly
17. From Me to You
18. A World Without Love
19. Two Silhouettes
20. Sue's Gotta Be Mine
21. That's the Way Love Is
22. Two Kinds of Teardrops
23. Memphis
24. Mary Jane
25. Handy Man
26. I'll Be Lonely Tomorrow
27. Do You Wanna Dance
28. Keep Searchin' (I'll Follow the Sun)
29. I Go to Pieces
30. Why Don't You Tell Him
31. Needles and Pins
32. Rag Doll
33. Over You
34. Broken Promises

CD 2

1. Stranger in Town
2. Break Up
3. Move It On Over
4. I Can't Believe My Ears
5. I Wish I Wasn't Me Tonight
6. For a Little While
7. She
8. The Big Hurt
9. Under My Thumb
10. The Letter
11. Show Me
12. Led Along
13. Mind Over Matter
14. Cut and Come Again
15. Runaway '67
16. Thinkin' It Over
17. Gemini
18. Raindrops
19. Sister Isabelle
20. What's a Matter Baby
21. And the Music Plays On
22. Sea of Love
23. To Love Someone
24. Cheap Love
25. Life Without You
26. Callin' Out My Name
27. Walk Away

CD 1, Tracks 1, 6-9 from Runaway, Big Top LP 12-1303, 1961
CD 1, Tracks 2-5, 10-14 from Hats Off to Del Shannon, London Records (U.K.) LP HA-X-8071, 1962
CD 1, Tracks 15-17, 19, 22 from Little Town Flirt, Big Top LP 12-1308, 1963
CD 1, Tracks 18, 21, 23-26 from Handy Man, Amy LP 8003, 1964
CD 1, Track 20 from Berlee single B-501, 1963
CD 1, Tracks 27-34 & CD 2, Track 1 from 1661 Seconds with Del Shannon, Amy LP 8006, 1965
CD 2, Track 2 from Amy single 925, 1965
CD 2, Track 3 from Amy single 937, 1965
CD 2, Tracks 4-5 from Amy single 947, 1966
CD 2, Track 6 from Liberty single 55889, 1966
CD 2, Track 7 from Liberty single 55939, 1966
CD 2, Track 8 from This Is My Bag, Liberty LP LST-7453, 1966
CD 2, Tracks 9, 11 from Total Commitment, Liberty LST-7479, 1966
CD 2, Track 10 from Liberty single (Philippines) LB-20376, 1967
CD 2, Tracks 12-15 from Home and Away, Zonophone CD 0946 374853 2 3, 2006
CD 2, Tracks 16-17 from The Further Adventures of Charles Westover, Liberty LP LST-7539, 1968
CD 2, Tracks 18, 20-21 from And the Music Plays On, Sunset (U.K.) LP SLS 50412, 1978
CD 2, Track 19 from ABC-Dunhill single D-4224, 1970
CD 2, Tracks 22-25 from Drop Down and Get Me, Elektra 5E-568, 1981
CD 2, Tracks 26-27 from Rock On!, Gone Gator/MCA Records MCAD-10296, 1991

The Box Tops, The Best of The Box Tops (Edsel EDSL 0128, 2022) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. The Letter
2. She Knows How
3. Trains and Boats and Planes
4. Break My Mind
5. Whiter Shade of Pale
6. Everything I Am
7. Neon Rainbow
8. People Make the World
9. I'm Your Puppet
10. Happy Times
11. Turn on a Dream
12. Cry Like a Baby
13. Deep in Kentucky
14. Fields of Clover
15. Good Morning, Dear

CD 2

1. You Keep Me Hanging On
2. The Door You Closed to Me
3. Choo Choo Train
4. She Shot a Hole in My Soul
5. People Gonna Talk
6. I Met Her in Church
7. Soul Deep
8. I Shall Be Released
9. Midnight Angel
10. Together
11. I Must Be the Devil
12. Sweet Cream Ladies, Forward March
13. (The) Happy Song
14. Rock Me Baby
15. I See Only Sunshine

CD 1, Tracks 1-10 from The Letter/Neon Rainbow, Bell LP 6011, 1967
CD 1, Tracks 11-15 & CD 2, Track 1 from Cry Like a Baby, Bell LP 6017, 1968
CD 2, Track 2 from Mala single 593, 1968
CD 2, Tracks 3-6 from Non-Stop, Bell LP 6023, 1968
CD 2, Tracks 7-14 from Dimensions, Bell LP 6032, 1969
CD 2, Track 15 from Mala single 12035, 1969

Donna Summer, Donna Summer: 40th Anniversary (Geffen LP GHS 2005, 1982 - reissued Crimson/Driven by the Music DBTMCD210, 2022) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. Love Is Control (Finger on the Trigger)
2. Mystery of Love
3. The Woman in Me
4. State of Independence
5. Livin' in America
6. Protection
7. (If It) Hurts Just a Little
8. Love Is Just a Breath Away
9. Lush Life
10. Mystery of Love (Le Flex "Summer Mystery" Remix) (previously unreleased)
11. Love Is In Control (Finger on the Trigger) (7" Version) (Geffen single 29982-A, 1982)
12. State of Independence (7" Version) (Geffen single 29895-A, 1982)
13. The Woman in Me (7" Version) (Geffen single 29805-A, 1983)
14. Sometimes Like Butterflies (Geffen single 29982-B, 1982)
15. Mystery of Love (Le Flextended "Summer Mystery" Remix) (previously unreleased)
16. Love Is In Control (Finger on the Trigger) (Dance Remix) (Geffen 12-inch single 29938-A, 1982)