It remains wild to consider that The Second Disc is celebrating its 12th Christmas, and is about to celebrate its 13th anniversary in just a few weeks! I've never done anything that long on the Internet, except tell silly jokes and geek out about music. As always, I will do a little of both in our typical end-of-year shingle that we hang up before resting, recharging, listening to plenty of box sets and getting started on another year of catalogue music coverage.
"Where are reissues today?" is a question I find myself asking a lot. Obviously, the last two years have not been normal for much of anything, and the ugly countenances of business, inflation, and a host of other financials that have never and will never make sense to me, all seem to make reissues a tricky proposition. My good friend Stephen Thomas Erlewine put it nicely in his year-end reissue round-up: "Generally, I feel like the output of reissues is slowing across the board: there are specialty labels like Ace and Cherry Red in England, then the major box sets, and very little in between. This is perhaps inevitable but it's still a bit dismaying, especially since I don't think the trend will reverse any time soon."
There are some days I tend to agree - some days when I ask myself what the major labels are doing when it comes to their own dearth of major products or skittishness and slowness in clearing the third-party titles of others. You've perhaps seen it said that music business revenue is going up, up, up, but shouldn't that sunny disposition give way to more intriguing catalogue titles (or at the very least, a better Thriller reissue)?
And yet we all press on. I particularly remain proud of and thrilled at every title that leaves the gate from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music. I know working on things like Meat Loaf's pre-Steinman works and Liza Minnelli's Live in New York have been dream projects made real for Joe. And can you imagine the rush I had to see that Second Disc logo on the Minnelli vinyl in multiple Barnes & Noble locations? I can show my parents that kind of stuff!
And we shouldn't count out the hard work of so many people making this business keep ticking. Getting to shout out the good work at Iconoclassic and Rubellan through some fun interviews with their personnel was a nice treat - I love doing interviews! - and stays true to our mission of celebrating the people who put these reissues together. I know you dig reading about how the meals are prepared, and when someone is generous with their time to explain just that, it makes me very happy. The success of labels like these is everyone's benefit.
If I can go fully self-indulgent here - and I can, because I invented this site - I want to express my gratitude to all the readers who made it possible for me to achieve a real dream of writing my first ever liner notes, to my favorite collection of music of all time. In a year full of personal highs - new job opportunities, the chance to celebrate getting married two years ago with an actual wedding, adopting a deeply cute tabby cat named Ravioli - it's incredible to add that to my list of personal achievements. I've been joking that it's all downhill from there...except it isn't, and you might hear about some more liner notes from little ol' me before too long!
But like I said - these kinds of things would be nothing without you. Whether it's the love of physical reissues, the (deeply appreciated) interest in what's getting loosed from the digital vaults, or a place to honor musical legends when their time on this mortal plane comes to a close, I hope The Second Disc is a place you can be happy when you come over here and check out what's going on about classic music you love.
It's in that spirit of good health and happiness that Joe and I thank you, wish you a joyous holiday season, and a peaceful new year. We'll be back at it in 2023 - can't wait to see you then!
Merry Christmas and congratulations on the upcoming 13th Anniversary. It’s always a treat to get a new email with a story or information about an upcoming release. You all do such a great job and your writings are just a joy to read. Keep up the great work and I look forward to a musical 2023 from Second Disc and Real Gone!
Couldn't have put it better. Fully agree. Merry Christmas and a happy new year to one and all.
Yes indeed. Happy Holidays and thank you to all of those in charge of the second disc website. Very informative and helpful information for the love of music.
The Best of Holidays to you all & my fellow readers of your website(s). I am at best, a "casual" partaker of the musical offerings that you share with us, but without your assistance, I would be much worse off. It seems that only the mainstream items get most of the media coverage. You help fill the void, so that we are kept informed. Thank you again, and congratulations on your upcoming anniversary next year!
One wish for the upcoming New Year is that Warner will bring back what appears to be their now non-existent quality control. What happened with the Joni Mitchell '72-'75 Albums box for Court And Spark and the DVD portion of the '71 BBC performance for Neil Young's Harvest 50th box is inexcusable. We're all still waiting on what they are going to do about those two. At least Universal took care of the Blu-ray for the Elton John-Madman Across The Water box.
What happened with both of them?? I have em both on CD & saw nothing wrong with them...am I looking at them the wrong way?? To me, they were fine & connecting the two, the Joni set has a nice note by Neil to his friend...and the Harvest set has a nice hardcover book & no glitches on the BBC concert DVD...if anything it's a bit short, only 31 minutes...
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!!!!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family, Mike. This is one of my favorite websites, the work here is fantastic and very much appreciated! Thank you for everything and I look forward to the coming year!
Congrats. I enjoy seeing emails from you concerning music news and new releases. Keep up the good work.
I look forward to hearing from you and Joe on a weekly basis. What I love most is that there is never a dismissive vibe to anything you guys mention. Your heart is in what you do, and that is so evident in your posts.
Happy Holidays!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Mike and Joe and the Second Disc team. Thank you for all you do!
Happy holidays and many congratulations on your continuous great informative site.
Happy Christmas to all of you!
I'm not superstitious, so 13 is just a number to me.
However, in this particular instance, 13 signifies each wonderful year that your website has succeeded. Also, 13 years of insightful articles, detailing many music releases on CD I wasn't aware of, if not for you.
Thank You for the music, and being there for so many of us.
Happy Christmas and holidays to you, and thank you for all you do. The Second Disc gets a daily visit from me and I'm super thankful for all the info and the passion you have for music.
Your site keeps me vey well informed every day, thank you and I wish you a Merry Xmas and a great 2023 with los of interesting releases.
Happy Holidays and all the best in 2023! Your site has been a daily stop for me for the better part of a decade. Thank you for all that you do!
Merry Christmas, Mike. And a happy new year. Thanks for your good work. Cheers from Brazil.
Happy Holidays to all on this site...both the creators & community...I come here regularly (as well as SuperDeluxeEdition.com ) as it's fun & informative & find out about releases I would never have found otherwise...hope 2023 is even better & looking forward to the 2022 lists...
Feliz Feliz Navidad! "Every time you here a bell ring;)
an angel gets his wings." Right Clarence? "God bless
us everyone!" Tiny Tim
The Second Disc is a daily go-to for me. I love it and sure appreciate the information shared here. Thank you.
There are still some great albums and recordings missing from CD's, Vinyl, and Digital re-issues. I still marvel that no label has picked up, remastered, and re-issued Kenny Rogers and The First Edition's "The Ballad of Calico" album. That dumbfounds me; it is such a "lost" classic. And there is still a lot more great music somewhere out there.... The Second Disc still serves a purpose, for which I am thankful!
Oh man! You are the only other person I have ever seen mention that excellent Kenny Rogers and the First Edition album. I agree that it needs a remaster and reissue on CD & Vinyl. Michael Murphey wrote the songs and for the longest time I have thought that he should adapt that story and music for the musical stage. So many interesting characters in those songs. I could see it playing on Broadway.