For its May lineup, Real Gone is releasing titles from the 1970s, 1990s, and 2000s from jazz, rockabilly, heavy metal, and rock artists.  All of these titles are hitting store shelves this Friday, May 5 and we've got all the details below.

The Donnas formed in California in 1993.  Brett Anderson (lead vocals), Allison Robertson (guitar, backing vocals), Maya Ford (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Torry Castellano (drums, percussion, backing vocals) met when they were in the eighth grade.  The self-taught musicians formed a band to perform at a school dance.  The quartet initially formed a group called The Electrocutes which had a metal queen image.  But, deciding they also wanted to play some softer tunes without changing that group's style, they also began to perform as The Donnas, where each member used the stage name of Donna.  Their first single, "High School Yum Yum," came out in 1995 and their self-titled debut album was released in 1997 on the small Super*Teem! label.  The group had to take a week off from their senior year of high school to tour Japan from promotion.  The band would sign with Lookout label the next year.  Real Gone's new CD compilation Early Singles 1995-1999 collects fourteen single sides from their first two labels during those five years.  In 2002, they signed with Atlantic Records for a pair of albums.  The Donnas would release one more album, Bitchin', for the Purple Feather label in 2007 before breaking up.

Real Gone first released Early Singles 1995-1999 a couple of weeks ago on Record Store Day as a limited edition vinyl.  Now it is coming to CD.  The booklet contains rare photos and memorabilia plus track-by-track commentary and liner notes by all four band members.  It has been remastered by Mike Milchner at SonicVision.  This is just the start of Real Gone's reissues for the band as they will be reissuing their four Lookout albums later this year.

Los Angeles-based metal group Unruly Child was formed in 1991 with Marcie Free on vocals, Bruce Gowdy on guitar, Larry Antonio on bass, Jay Schellen on drums, and Guy Allison on keyboards.  The next year, their self-titled debut album was released on Interscope.  After that, they have recorded sporadically, both as a group and on Marcie Free albums.  Their last album was 2020's Our Glass House.

Upon its initial release, Unruly Child came out on CD everywhere but the only vinyl edition was in Europe where the nearly 55-minute album was put on one LP.  Real Gone is now giving the album its U.S. vinyl debut and spreading it out to 2 LPs for increased audio fidelity.  Housed in a gatefold jacket, it comes on red vinyl and is limited to 1,500 copies.

By 2000, The Reverend Horton Heat was already a well-established act.  Founded in 1985 by singer/songwriter/guitarist James Heath (who also uses the stage name "Reverend Horton Heat"), The Reverend Horton Heat are pioneers of the psychobilly genre, which marries punk and rockabilly.  The group's first album came out in 1990 on Sub Pop; they would continue into Interscope and then then move to new label, Time Bomb Recordings, for Spend a Night in the Box in 2000.  Produced by Paul Leary of Butthole Surfers fame, the album was a bit of a return to a more classic rockabilly sound.  Heath performs on his 1954 Gibson ES-175 guitar and is joined by longtime group bassist Jimbo Wallace and drummer Scott Churilla for the fourteen original songs.  It would peak at No. 23 on the Billboard US Heatseekers chart and No. 2 on the CMJ chart.  This would be the group's only album for Time Bomb before moving on.  Their last album was 2018's Whole New Life.  Real Gone's debut vinyl reissue comes on gold vinyl.

Bassist Henry Franklin has an enviable musical resume, from playing with Hugh Masekela at Monterey Pop and on the chart-topping "Grazing in the Grass" to recording and performing with such luminaries as Stevie Wonder, The Three Sounds, Woody Shaw, O.C. Smith, and Al Jarreau.  Franklin made his debut as a leader with 1972's The Skipper on the Black Jazz label.  Two years later, he returned with The Skipper at Home.  Franklin would stay with Black Jazz through 1975 when the label folded.  He moved to the small Catalyst label where he released his next album, Tribal Dance.  A bit more spiritually inclined than his first two solo efforts, Franklin reunited for the six-song set with some players from Black Jazz, including saxophonist Charles Owens, trombonist Al Hall, Jr. (who contributed two songs), and guitarist Kenneth Climax.  He was also joined by West Coast jazz players like percussionist Sonship and pianist Dwight Dickerson.  Tribal Dance would be Franklin's only record for Catalyst.  He continued being a session player while also releasing albums of his own for labels such as Daagnim and Beezwax Records.  His last solo record was 2021's Shower of Blessings on his own Skipper Productions label and he teamed last year with other artists (including Adrian Younge, Ali Shaheed Muhammed, and Dangerboard) for a pair of co-headlining albums.

Having reissued his first two solo albums on CD and vinyl during its Black Jazz reissue series, Real Gone continues here with Franklin's catalogue, giving Tribal Dance its first vinyl reissue.  It has been pressed at Gotta Groove Records, the same plant used for the Black Jazz reissues.  It is available as a regular LP at all retailers or on orange and black swirl vinyl, limited to 200 copies and available only on Real Gone's website.

Staying in the jazz realm, but moving up two decades, Real Gone is reissuing a pair of albums by Medeski Martin & Wood on vinyl.  The jazz fusion trio first formed in 1991 and first performed together in New York.  The members are John Medeski on keyboards, Billy Martin on drums, and Chris Wood on bass.  Inspired by funk and hip-hop, they are known for their unconventional style and instrumentation and have been described as "avant-groove."  Their first album, Notes from the Underground, was released in 1992.  It's a Jungle In Here came out in 1993 on Gramavision (and was just reissued by Real Gone for Record Store Day a couple of weeks ago).  1995's Friday Afternoon in the Universe (the title taken from Jack Kerouac's poem "Old Angel Midnight") was the trio's follow-up album for the label.  Joined by Danny Blume on guitar, Tonino Benson on raygun and vocals, and Carl Green on Thai flute, the band laid down thirteen original songs as well as one of Green's tunes and a cover of Duke Ellington's "Chinoiserie."  The song "Chubb Sub" would feature on the soundtrack to the film Get Shorty. [Note that Amazon is now showing the delivery date as June 26 despite the release date being officially listed as May 5.]

MMW gathered in a remote, solar-powered shack in Hawaii to record their next album, 1996's Shack-Man.  The gambit paid off as the eleven-song album, powered by Medeski's Hammond B3 organ performances, hit No. 7 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart.  They would eventually leave Gramavision and move to Blue Note for a few albums and are still together today.  Real Gone's debut vinyl reissues of Friday Afternoon in the Universe and Shack-Man were both pressed at Gotta Groove Records.  [Note that Amazon is now showing the delivery date of Shack-Man as May 27 despite the release date being officially listed as May 5.  RGM's own website is currently sold out of both titles.]

If you would like to give any of these titles hitting stores tomorrow a try, we've got the ordering links and full tracklistings below.

The Donnas, Early Singles 1995-1999 (Real Gone Music, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. High School Yum Yum
2. A Boy Like You
3. Let's Rab!
4. Da Doo Ron Ron
5. Don't Wanna Go to School
6. I Don't Wanna Rock 'N' Roll Tonight
7. Last Chance Dance
8. I Wanna Be a Unabomber
9. Message from The Donnas
10. Speeding Back to My Baby
11. Wig Wam Bam
12. School's Out
13. Strutter
14. Keep On Loving You

Unruly Child, Unruly Child (Limited Red Vinyl Edition) (Originally Released as Interscope Records CD 92101-2, 1992 - reissued Real Gone Music, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)

LP 1

Side 1

1. On the Rise
2. Take Me Down Nasty
3. Who Cries Now

Side 2

1. To Be Your Everything
2. Tunnel of Love
3. When Love Is Gone

LP 2

Side 1

1. Lay Down Your Arms
2. Is It Over
3. Wind Me Up

Side 2

1. Let's Talk About Love
2. Criminal
3. Long Hair Woman

The Reverend Horton Heat, Spend A Night in the Box (Originally Released as Time Bomb Recordings CD 74321 75347 2, 2000 - reissued Real Gone Music, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)

Side 1

1. Spend a Night in the Box
2. Big D Boogie Woogie
3. Sleeper Coach Driver
4. The Girl in Blue
5. Sue Jack Daniels
6. Hand It to Me
7. I'll Make Love

Side 2

1. It Hurts Your Daddy Bad
2. The Bedroom Again
3. King
4. Whole Lotta Baby
5. The Millionaire
6. Unlucky in Love
7. The Party in Your Head

Henry Franklin, Tribal Dance (Originally released as Catalyst Records LP CAT-7618, 1977 - reissued Real Gone Music, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)

Side 1

1. Tribal Dance
2. Eric's Tune
3. For Penny

Side 2

1. Spring Song
2. Cosmos Dwellers
3. Prime Mover

Medeski Martin & Wood, Friday Afternoon in the Universe (Originally released as Gramavision CD 79503, 1995 - reissued Real Gone Music, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side 1

1. The Lover
2. Paper Bass
3. House Mop
4. Last Chance to Dance Trance (Perhaps)
5. Baby Clams
6. We're So Happy

Side 2

1. Shack
2. Tea
3. Chinoiserie
4. Between Two Limbs
5. Sequel
6. Friday Afternoon in the Universe
7. Billy's Tool Box
8. Chubb Sub
9. Khop Khun Krub (Thai for "Thank You")

Medeski Martin & Wood, Shack-Man (Originally released as Gramavision CD 79514, 1996 - reissued Real Gone Music, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side 1

1. Is There Anybody Here That Love My Jesus
2. Think
3. Dracula
4. Bubblehouse
5. Henduck
6. Strance of the Spirit Red Gator

Side 2

1. Spy Kiss
2. Lifeblood
3. Jelly Belly
4. Night Marchers
5. Kenny ​