Over the past month, Rhino has been releasing numerous titles as part of its Sounds of the Summer initiative, for a total of over two dozen vinyl releases hitting brick-and-mortar stores.  These titles encompass various reissues as well as new entries in the label's ongoing Now Playing series of compilations.  As of now, these LPs are all exclusive to independent record stores and Barnes & Noble locations.  We've given a spin to a few of these titles!

How to distill the discography of one of America's pre-eminent songwriters into the contents of one mere CD?  The intrepid team at Rhino did just that in 2001 with the release of The Best of Randy Newman. Compiled by Newman and David McLees, the 21-track anthology wasn't his first such set; unique collections had arrived in Europe and Australia (The Best of Randy Newman and Retrospect, respectively) in 1983, and four years later, Europe saw the release of Lonely at the Top.  But Rhino's 2001 iteration was the best yet, second only to 1998's definitive 4-CD box set Guilty in capturing just what makes Newman's music and lyrics so special.  Now, The Best of Randy Newman has made its debut on vinyl.  Its songs are alternately humorous ("Mama Told Me Not to Come," "You Can Leave Your Hat On," "Short People"), beautifully devastating ("I Think It's Going to Rain Today," "Louisiana 1927," "Marie"), wry and sadly ever-relevant ("Political Science," "It's Money That I Love"), shocking ("Rednecks"), and heartwarming ("You've Got a Friend in Me," "Feels Like Home") - and often some combination of those qualities ("Sail Away," "Dixie Flyer," "Shame").  Since the original CD release, Newman has only released two more studio LPs of original songs, 2008's Harps and Angels and 2017's Dark Matter.  Both albums boast ample candidates for inclusion on a set such as this ("Losing You" and the title track from the former, "Lost Without You" and "Wandering Boy" from the latter, just to name a couple from each), but until another, updated compilation arrives, this one will do just nicely.  It's made the jump to vinyl on 2 LPs in a single-pocket package (no gatefold, alas) with an insert that preserves Newman's pithy track-by-track notes as well as credits and a number of photos.  Keith Blake's original mastering sounds warm and detailed on the quiet "sea blue" vinyl pressing.

Few bands have ever changed their style in such a drastic fashion with as much success as Chicago.  The groundbreaking "rock and roll band with horns" - founded by Robert Lamm, Peter Cetera, James Pankow, Lee Loughnane, Walter Parazaider, Danny Seraphine, and Terry Kath - struggled to regain its footing in the wake of guitar hero Kath's death in January 1978.  Even such A-list producers as Phil Ramone and Tom Dowd found themselves largely unable to rekindle the magic that permeated the group's early albums.  Then, in 1982, a seemingly new band emerged.  They'd moved from Columbia to Warner Bros., Bill Champlin had joined the lineup (and percussionist Laudir de Oliveira, who'd played on every Chicago LP since 1974, had exited); and David Foster had taken over production duties.  For the first time, outside writers were enlisted.  Chicago 16 introduced this seemingly new band.  Peter Cetera was out front, singing or sharing lead vocals on nine of its ten tracks.  The brass section was far less prominent, and power ballads were the order of the day.  Foster's utterly contemporary approach was daring, but paid off: the album went Platinum, reaching No. 9 on the Billboard 200, and lead single "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" became only their second No. 1 single on the Hot 100.  "Love Me Tomorrow" became a top 10 AC smash.  Chicago was off and running...again.  Foster remained on board for 17 and 18, while Ron Nevison and Chas Sandford kept the hits rolling on Chicago 19.  (Cetera, the "voice" of the new Chicago, left after 17, and new recruit Jason Scheff and Bill Champlin stepped up to become the band's key singers.)  This hit-after-hit era was chronicled in 1989 on Greatest Hits 1982-1989 which promptly became one of the band's biggest-ever LPs - 5x Platinum, in fact.  This all-killer, no-filler compilation has returned on "sea blue" vinyl, and remains an invigorating listen from start to finish.  There are few hints of the rock-jazz sound of "25 or 6 to 4," "Saturday in the Park," or "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is," but one can't argue with the enduring power of "Hard to Say I'm Sorry/Get Away," "Look Away," "Will You Still Love Me," "You're the Inspiration," or "Hard Habit to Break."  These durable compositions were sung and played with passion, and became the anthems for a new generation of Chicago fans.  Greatest Hits 1982-1989 remains a gateway drug for the band, and even as subsequent collections of the band's recordings have been more comprehensive, its return to vinyl is welcome.

Rhino has also released a number of titles in its ongoing Now Playing series of 10-song compilations.  These aren't geared at the longtime collector but rather at the casual fan amassing a vinyl library, but for ostensible "budget" collections, they more often than not boast beautiful cover photos (just look at the Hall and Oates and Frankie Valli in the '70s sets!) and solid, thoughtful curation.  We're taking a look here at some of our favorites in the series.

Nowadays, it's impossible to consider a release from Daryl Hall and John Oates without mentioning the elephant in the room: the acrimonious breakup that's recently played out in public, putting an end to 50+ years in which their names have been inextricably linked.  But when all is said and done, what remains is the venerable discography of rock 'n soul that these two men created.  Their first three joint LPs were released on Atlantic Records before they moved to RCA, where their careers truly took off.  For this new Now Playing volume, Rhino had only the three Atlantic LPs and one hit single from which to draw, so this is naturally a "deep cut"-styled collection.  That's all in its favor, though, as it's a breezy sampler of some of the funkiest, most deeply-felt, melodic pop-soul of the 1970s.  "I'm Sorry," "Lilly (Are You Happy)," and "Fall in Philadelphia" have all been culled from 1972 debut Whole Oats, with the latter one of Daryl Hall's finest compositions - equal parts sly, sophisticated, and affecting.  The 1973 classic Abandoned Luncheonette (like its predecessor, produced by Atlantic stalwart Arif Mardin), yielded the hit radio staple "She's Gone;" it's joined here by "Had I Known You Better Then" and "Las Vegas Turnaround (The Stewardess Song)," both penned by Oates, and Hall's "Everytime I Look at You."  (Sadly, standout cut "When the Morning Comes" isn't reprised here.  Note that "She's Gone" is presented in its full album version, not the more familiar single version.) 1974's Todd Rundgren-helmed War Babies remains a thrillingly outré album, incorporating harsher textures and an art-rock sensibility.  Hall's "Is It a Star" and "You're Much Too Soon" have both made the cut here, though Hall's "Beanie G and the Rose Tattoo" and Oates' "Can't Stop the Music (He Played It Much Too Long)" are equally worthy.  In short, fans should seek out all three of Hall and Oates' Atlantic long-players.  But in the meantime, this 10-track overview on "sea blue" vinyl is a most enjoyable one.

Todd Rundgren's Utopia bandmates John Siegler and Willie Wilcox joined him in the band for War Babies; happily, Utopia is the recipient of its very own Now Playing entry.  Its ten songs draw on the poppier side of the band, eschewing their earliest, more prog-oriented LPs (Todd Rundgren's Utopia, Ra) but sampling the 1977-1984 period which yielded Oops! Wrong Planet ("Love Is the Answer," a No. 1 AC hit for England Dan and John Ford Coley, "Love in Action"), Adventures in Utopia (the top 40 hit "Set Me Free," "The Very Last Time," the prog-meets-pop epic "Caravan"), Deface the Music (the spot-on if rather naughty Beatles pastiche "I Just Want to Touch You"), Utopia ("Feet Don't Fail Me Now"), and Oblivion ("Crybaby").  Too often, Utopia was viewed as a mere side project for Rundgren; in reality, the band dazzled with their versatility as musicians, singers, and songwriters.  This compilation showcases Roger Powell's lead vocals on "Feet Don't Fail Me Now" and "Caravan," Wilcox's on "You Make Me Crazy," and Kasim Sulton's on "Set Me Free."  Once again, song selection on releases as such as this are a matter of taste; the Wilcox-and-Powell-sung power pop nugget "Neck on Up" and soulful, Rundgren-led ballad "I'm Looking at You But I'm Talking to Myself," both from 1982's Utopia, are just two of the absent songs that would have fit snugly on this pop-themed collection.  But virtually song here sounds like a hit - a testament to the strength of the tunes and the impeccable production.  Those unfamiliar with the Utopia catalogue will find this a great place to start.  Once again, it's on well-pressed "sea blue" vinyl.

Not one, but two, volumes of Now Playing celebrate the music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.  Valli, 90, is still on the road today, and an average concert setlist will include nearly all of the 14 songs on Greatest '60s Hits and half of the ten on Greatest '70s Hits.  Both volumes server as effective primers for the group that, under the auspices of writer-producers Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe, moved from doo-wop and early rock-and-roll ("Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Walk Like a Man") to edgier pop-rock ("Let's Hang On (To What We've Got)," "Beggin'") and timeless balladry (the solo Valli's smash "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," one of the most famous recordings of all time) before the '60s were out.

Valli, solo and with his group, then deftly shifted to meet a new era head-on, both with "confessional"-style ballads ("My Eyes Adored You," "Fallen Angel") and disco anthems ("Swearin' to God," "Who Loves You") as well as updates of their classic sound ("December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)").  Every song on the '60s volume (featuring Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito, Nick Massi, and Joe Long) is a well-known hit; the '70s set (with Valli, Lee Shapiro, Gerry Polci, Don Ciccone, and John Pavia as well as Gaudio and Long) still packs chart power ("My Eyes Adored You," the single edit of "Swearin' to God," "Who Loves You," "December 1963," and the Barry Gibb-penned title song of Grease) but also offers some lesser-known gems such as Valli's sensitive reading of Boz Scaggs' "We're All Alone," his persuasive take on the Alessi Brothers' "Easily," and the Seasons' rocking "Down the Hall" from writers Bob Gaudio and Judy Parker.  It's difficult to label a group with over 40 hits (including five Pop No. 1s and another two for the solo Valli) as "underrated," but these two compact collections prove that the Seasons indeed occupied the same rarefied air as The Beach Boys, The Beatles, and their contemporaries.  For more on the Seasons, check out our review of last year's mega-box set Working Our Way Back to You: The Ultimate Collection.

Al Stewart rose to fame as a historically-minded folk-rock troubadour but experienced his greatest commercial breakthroughs once he teamed with producer Alan Parsons for a trio of albums.  1975's underrated Modern Times set the stage for the following year's Year of the Cat; its success, in turn, led to Stewart's 1977 Arista Records debut Time Passages.  Unsurprisingly, Arista chief Clive Davis encouraged the singer-songwriter to continue in an expressly commercial vein, and Stewart (at least briefly) obliged.  His 10-track volume of Now Playing is almost exclusively drawn from Year of the Cat (five songs) and Time Passages (three songs), with its final two cuts from 1980's Arista LP, 24 Carrots.  Stewart's five U.S. chart hits are all here - "Year of the Cat," "On the Border," "Time Passages," "Song on the Radio," and "Midnight Rocks" - in their single versions.  (You can hear all of these, and many more, on Stewart's 2023 Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music CD release Songs on the Radio: The Complete U.S. Singles 1974-1981.) While the productions of these songs were all radio-friendly, the compositions found that Stewart hadn't changed all that much.  All boast his sharp, clever lyrical sensibility and easygoing way with a melody.  The three albums represented on Now Playing only tell part of the remarkable story of Al Stewart, but for those fans looking for just the hits, this set happily obliges.