The fall/winter reissue rush isn't just for the major catalogue labels! Iconoclassic Records is working hard to finish 2023 strong with a quartet of titles in October and November - including a world premiere CD, an expansion of an '80s curio and the label's first-ever vinyl titles.
One of the most exciting additions to the Iconoclassic catalogue is Dance of the Age of Enlightenment, a very rare album from David Sancious and Tone. Sancious, a talented keyboardist, first gained prominence as a charter member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. (Ironically, the group wouldn't be codified by that name until Sancious, whose mother's house on that Belmar, New Jersey stretch inspired it in the first place, had left.) After playing piano, organ and keys on Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ; The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle and the title track of Born to Run, Sancious founded Tone with bassist Gerry Carboy and another former E Streeter, drummer Ernest "Boom" Carter.
Fans expecting the Jersey Shore sound were in for a surprise: Tone were influenced by prog and jazz fusion, and Dance of the Age of Enlightenment - a four-movement ballet - was no different. The album was awash in painstakingly overdubbed keyboards and synths and featured vocals from Mahavishnu Orchestra/Return to Forever singer Gayle Moran and another vocalist on the shore scene named Patti Scialfa (who would later marry Springsteen). Despite its artistic merits, Sancious' label Arista projected little commercial fortunes, and it's only been heard through low-quality dubs of the rare promo vinyl copies that squeaked out. That all changes with this CD premiere, newly remastered from the original tapes by Sancious himself. (He's also penned liner notes for the package, which features a restoration of the original album artwork.) Fans of '70s prog and fusion will find this one irresistible.
Also premiering on CD from Iconoclassic is Duke Jupiter 1, the fourth album from Rochester, New York rockers Duke Jupiter. Released in 1982, the title was possibly a reference to a hard reset the group had done after spending the late '70s as a larger, occasionally horn-suffused combo on Mercury Records. Duke Jupiter 1 found the group paring down to original members Marshall Styler (vocals/keyboards) and Greg Walker (vocals/guitar) and new additions Rick Ellis on bass (original bassist George Barajas played on parts of the album before his death from a brain tumor that year) and drummer/singer David Corcoran. Promoted with a free hometown concert whose attendance figures are the stuff of local legend, single "I'll Drink to You" was a minor Billboard Hot 100 hit and a recurrent on the nascent MTV. Duke Jupiter would go on to open up for what felt like every major rock act of the early '80s before splitting in 1986; the list included REO Speedwagon, David Bowie, ZZ Top, Huey Lewis & The News and more. For this brand-new release, Vic Anesini has remastered the album as well as a non-LP B-side from the era, while Rochester-based writer Marcia Greenwood has penned liner notes.
While Iconoclassic is known for championing the CD reissue format, they're also taking two earnest dips in the vinyl pool this fall. Their first LP title will be an expansion of Packet of Three, the 1984 live release by the late British singer/guitarist Steve Marriott, fronting a power trio of the same name that featured Jim Leverton and drummer Fallon Williams. Well known in the rock world for his contributions to Small Faces and Humble Pie - Ozzy Osbourne, Paul Stanley and Steve Perry have all cited him among their favorite singers - Marriott was keen, in the wake of a lucrative early '80s Humble Pie reunion that offered him some needed remuneration, to play wherever his muse took him. On July 6, 1984, that "wherever" was legendary London venue Dingwalls, where he wowed an intimate crowd with favorites from his previous bands as well as some stalwart covers. Released on a small U.K. label that same year, it was expanded on CD a decade later with nearly twice as many tracks as the original release; that program is now being pressed on vinyl, with those six bonus tracks debuting on the format. Andy Pearce has digitally remastered the set, which features new sleeve notes by writer Ralph Chapman within its restored artwork.
The label's next vinyl comes from the artist who spurred the Iconoclassic revival: British rocker Graham Parker. In the mid-'90s, he'd signed to the U.S. label Razor & Tie, putting out the introspective, acoustic-driven 12 Haunted Episodes in 1995. A year later, he followed it up with Acid Bubblegum , an album that lived up to its name. Fans hoping for a return to Parker's early angry-young-man sound were not disappointed, courtesy of some terrific songwriting backed by a band that featured former Blondie keyboardist Jimmy Destri, drummer Gary Burke (who kept time for Joe Jackson through a good portion of the '80s and all of the '90s), and bassist Andrew Bodnar, Parker's bandmate in The Rumour. Acid Bubblegum is Parker at his purest - and this premiere vinyl pressing (an LP and bonus 7") on - what else? - pink bubblegum vinyl is sure to be a hit with the faithful. It's limited to just 1000 copies worldwide and includes new liner notes penned by Parker himself.
Links for all four titles are coming through the Amazon pipeline but can also be pre-ordered through the Iconoclassic site. The Steve Marriott title is released September 22, followed by Duke Jupiter on October 6, Graham Parker on October 27, and David Sancious on November 17.
Steve Marriott, Packet of Three (2LP Expanded Edition) (Iconoclassic ICON 1050, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
LP 1
- What'cha Gonna Do About It
- Fool for a Pretty Face
- Shame, Shame, Shame
- Bad Moon Rising
- The Cockney Rhyme
- All Shook Up
- The Fixer
- All or Nothing
- Five Long Years
LP 2
- Thirty Days in the Hole
- I Don't Need No Doctor
- Big Train Stop at Memphis
- Walkin' the Dog
LP 1, Tracks 1, 4, and 6-9 and LP 2, Track 2 released as Aura AUL 729 (U.K.), 1983
LP 1, Tracks 2-3 and 5 and LP 2, Tracks 1 and 3-4 released on Relativity CD 9714 99301 2, 1993. Previously unreleased on vinyl
David Sancious and Tone, Dance of the Age of Enlightenment (Iconoclassic ICON 1063, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
- Overture - Wake Up (to a Brand New Day of Love)
- 1st Movement (Dance of Glory and Playfulness)
- 2nd Movement (Dance of Purification)
- The Dawn
- 3rd Movement: Part I/Part II (Dance of Unbounded Joy)
- 4th Movement (Dance of Serenity and Strength)
- Finale: Part I (Gone is the Veil of Illusion)/Part II (Dance of Gratitude and Devotion)
Originally scheduled for release as Arista AL-4130, 1976
Graham Parker, Acid Bubblegum (Iconoclassic ICON 1070, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
LP
- Turn It Into Hate
- Sharpening Axes
- Get Over It and Move On
- Bubblegum Cancer
- Impenetrable
- She Never Let Me Down
- Obsessed with Aretha
- Beancounter
- Girl At the End of the Pier
- Milk Train
7"
- They Got It Wrong (As Usual)
- Baggage
- Character Assassination
Originally released as Razor & Tie RT 2826-2, 1996
Duke Jupiter, Duke Jupiter 1 (Expanded Edition) (Iconoclassic ICON 1074, 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
- I'll Drink to You
- Rockin' in a Motel Room
- (You've Gotta Love) The Wrong Ones
- Don't You Look At Me Like That
- Sugar Blues
- Rock 'n' Roll Band
- Slow, Loud and Dirty
- Don't You Walk That Way
- Baby, I Do
- Begin Again
Tracks 1-9 released as Coast to Coast ARZ 37912, 1982. Track 10 released as B-side to "I'll Drink to You" - Coast to Coast ZS5 02801, 1982
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