Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. This one has it all: Sting, a family named King, one Boss, two Deborahs, 311, '00s power-pop nuggets, an actress with a killer voice singing on England's hottest balcony - and a trailer for our most-anticipated music documentary of the month!
Sting, The Dream of the Blue Turtles (Expanded Edition) (A&M/UMe) (Apple / Amazon)
Concurrent to its SHM-CD release in Japan (alongside other previous digital-only deluxe editions), Sting's 1985 solo debut celebrates its 40th anniversary with a new expanded reissue featuring a fistful of vintage B-sides and remixes and a whole lot of '90s and '00s dance versions of songs like "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" - almost all of which are making their digital debuts. (Sadly, Mike's most-coveted track - the unique 7" mix of "Set Them Free" by John "Jellybean" Benitez, who engineered the original 12" - is not included.)
The Killers, Encore At the Garden (Island) (Apple / Amazon)
Released on vinyl this past April for Record Store Day, The Killers' 2022 appearance at the world's greatest arena featured a three-song guest appearance by Bruce Springsteen (and one member of The E Street Band - check the above video!), covering his "Badlands" and "Born to Run" as well as their team-up "Dustland."
38 Special, "All I Haven't Said" (38 Special Records) (Apple / Amazon)
The classic rockers behind "Hold On Loosely" and "Caught Up in You" are back with their first studio album since 2004's Drivetrain. Though only singer Don Barnes remains from the band's classic line-up, the forthcoming Milestone (and lead single "All I Haven't Said") gets a boost thanks to co-writing and production credits from Survivor co-founder Jim Peterik, who co-wrote the group's two biggest pop hits.
311, 311 (30th Anniversary Edition) (Capricorn/Volcano/Legacy) (Apple / Amazon)
The Omaha funk-rockers' third album, released in 1995, was their arguable breakthrough, with singles "Down" and "All Mixed Up" reaching No. 1 and No. 5 on Billboard's alternative rock charts while the album became their first Top 20 placement. This remastered digital edition features seven bonus rarities and outtakes.
John Prine, Live At The Other End, Dec 1975 (Atlantic/Rhino) (Apple / Amazon)
A 2021 Record Store Day title that recently made its way to digital, this is a striking pair of solo acoustic sets by the legendary country-folk songwriter at the New York City club now known as The Bitter End.
The King Family, The King Family Show! (Expanded Edition) / The King Family Album (Expanded Edition) / Live! In the Round / The King Sisters, The New Sounds of the Fabulous King SIsters (Warner/Rhino)
Show: Apple / Amazon
Album: Apple / Amazon
Live!: Apple / Amazon
New Sounds: Apple / Amazon
The King Sisters - any of six siblings part of the larger Driggs family of movers and shakers for generations in America - enjoyed sustained success as a vocal group through the late '30s and early '40s, but had been mostly forgotten when they appeared on The Hollywood Palace in 1964, leading to a series of well-regarded specials and a weekly television series. (The show featured the talents of Luise King's husband and musical director Alvino Rey, whose grandchildren were key members of Arcade Fire.) The shows led to three new pop albums by the extended King Family and one by the Sisters between 1965 and 1966; previously released as two-fers by Collector's Choice Music, they're now available digitally, with The King Family Show! and The King Family Album augmented with rare mono single mixes.
Deborah Allen, Trouble in Paradise (Capitol) (Apple / Amazon)
Several years before scoring a trio of Top 10 country hits including "Baby I Lied" and "I've Been Wrong Before," celebrated singer/songwriter Deborah Allen cut her first LP for Capitol, including the minor hit "Nobody's Fool." Never released on CD or digitally, it's been transferred from the original tapes and given a shot at a new audience with the assistance of our friends at SuperVisible Multi Media.
Debbie Harry, Def, Dumb & Blonde (2025 Remaster) (Sire/Rhino) (Apple / Amazon)
Recently reissued as a 2LP set that included this complete 1989 release on LP (including three CD-only tracks), the Blondie frontwoman's third solo album (her first as "Deborah Harry," although current metadata goes back to Debbie) featured collaborations with longtime songwriting partner Chris Stein, Blondie producer Mike Chapman and Tom Bailey and Alannah Currie of the Thompson Twins.
Ronan Keating, Life is a Rollercoaster EP (Polydor/UMR) (Apple / Amazon)
The former Boyzone singer's self-titled debut turns 25 this year and will be expanded in September with a bonus live disc. In the meantime, Universal will be rolling out B-sides and other rarities from the period. Up first: the original single sides from U.K. No. 1 hit "Life is a Rollercoaster," a killer cut written and produced by killer songwriters Gregg Alexander and Rick Nowels, intended for Alexander's sole album as New Radicals.
The Click Five, Modern Minds and Pastimes (Deluxe Edition) (Atlantic/Rhino) (Apple / Amazon)
This Boston-based power-pop group had a tough go of it after scoring a Top 20 hit with the sublime "Just the Girl" in 2005 (written by the late, great Adam Schlesinger). Vocalist Eric Dill departed during pre-production for their follow-up album, with new singer Kyle Patrick taking his place. 2007's Modern Minds and Pastimes, now featuring three bonus tracks, dented the bottom of the Billboard 200 but helped the group get a toehold in Asian markets; three of the five members, including Patrick, ended a 12-year hiatus this year with a tour through Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and The Philippines in May.
Rachel Zegler, "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" (The Other Songs) (Apple / Amazon)
Last season, director Jamie Lloyd set Broadway ablaze with his shockingly stripped-down reinvention of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, shepherding star Nicole Scherzinger to a Tony Award. Now, Lloyd is back in London (where Sunset originated) and working his magic on another Lloyd Webber musical about a larger-than-life lady: Evita, co-written with Tim Rice. Rachel Zegler (West Side Story, Snow White) is portraying former Argentinian first lady Eva Peron, participating eight times a week in a coup de theatre which finds her belting the musical's anthemic "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" to massive crowds in London's Argyll Street from the balcony of The London Palladium (filling in rather nicely for the Casa Rosada). With her nightly performance, the new production of Evita has blurred the lines between theatre and reality; now, listeners everywhere can hear what the fuss is about on a new single. The A-side has "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" in a studio setting; the B-side is an extended live performance from the Palladium balcony. In both versions, Zegler is simply spine-tingling. While we wait for the inevitable dull cast recording and likely transfer to Broadway, this thrilling sample of the revival will do quite nicely. A 7" blue vinyl version is also available at the theatre and via the show's online store with an a cappella mix on the B-side rather than the live recording.
Kenny Nolan, Oh, Peaceful Mountain (StarVista) (Apple / Amazon)
Best known as a songwriter of hits like Frankie Valli's "My Eyes Adored You" and Labelle's "Lady Marmalade" as well as his own hit "I Like Dreamin'," Kenny Nolan now charts a bold new course with a new album of inspirational material, with moving ruminations on love and compassion.
And one last thing...Next week on HBO Max (yes, it's back to that name again!) will see the premiere of the first part of Billy Joel: And So It Goes, a new in-depth documentary on the Piano Man's extraordinary life and career. (Part 1 will air July 18, with Part 2 following a week later.) Check out the trailer below, brimming with rare, newly-restored footage from Joel's archive and more - and keep your eyes peeled on The Second Disc soon for an illuminating interview with one of the producers who helped wrangle all that footage together!
Following Deborah Allen's 1979/1980 success as Jim Reeves' posthumous duet partner with three RCA top ten hits, her first solo album for Capitol was released in mid-1980. Unfortunately the chart success that she enjoyed as Reeves' singing partner did not immediately transfer to her excellent solo efforts on the Trouble In Paradise LP. Nice to see that this overlooked album is finally available again after 45 years!
Unlike many other country artists with rather thin catalogs this reissue now makes all of Deborah's major label releases available once again. They include three RCA albums, two from the Giant label and one on Curb. Several more recent albums are also available including her Rockin' Little Christmas album.
To view them use the links posted above for the Deborah Allen release.
Re: Evita. Did you really mean “dull” cast recording? “Full” maybe?