Features / The Weekend Stream

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. We’ve got a gem from Linda Ronstadt’s vault, a new update of a Disney classic and a fascinating sit-down with one of folk’s most important matriarchs – plus tributes to artists we lost this week and a potential hint at a very exciting reissue from one of the pivotal duos in ’70s rock.

Linda Ronstadt, “How Do I Make You” / “Rambler Gambler” (Asylum/Rhino) (Apple / Amazon)

This week, song interpreter extraordinaire Linda Ronstadt turned 79; this year, one of her best albums – 1980’s new wave-influenced Mad Love, turned 45. To celebrate, Rhino’s made one of the few Ronstadt studio B-sides available digitally: a cover of the Western folk song “Rambler Gambler,” which was the flip side of lead single “How Do I Make You.”

The Disneyland Children’s Chorus, it’s a small world (70th Anniversary) (Walt Disney Records) (Apple / Amazon)

Yesterday was the 70th anniversary of Disneyland opening its doors to the public back in 1955, and the House of Mouse has a sweet gift for fans of the happiest cruise that ever sailed the seven seas: it’s a small world, which opened in the park in 1966, two years after debuting at the 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing, NY. This newly remixed version of the ride soundtrack adds a parting gift from “small world” songwriter Richard M. Sherman: a final verse he added to the song before his passing in 2024.

Mother Maybelle Carter, Mother Maybelle Carter (Columbia) (Apple / Amazon)

Five years before the matriarch of America’s most notable folk music family passed away, she recorded this must-hear studio set with producer Larry Butler and a crack team of Nashville session players. The double-album features a loose set of Carter family songs and memories, including “Good Old Mountain Dew,” “Wabash Cannonball,” “Wildwood Flower” and many more, with Maybelle accompanying herself on guitar and autoharp.

Phil Collins, “One More Night (BBC Live, 1985)” (Atlantic/Rhino) (Apple / Amazon)

The vinyl-only reissue of Collins’ Both Sides in 2023 did result in a digital release for the included EP Live from the Board – Official Bootleg; now it seems like some of the material exclusive to the forthcoming No Jacket Required (Fully Tailored) vinyl box will be available digitally, too, like this live BBC recording of “One More Night.”

The Velvet Underground, Live At Max’s Kansas City (Deluxe Edition) (Atlantic/Rhino) (Apple / Amazon)

When it was originally included in the box set of Loaded in 2015 in an alternate edit, the 1972 VU concert album (sourced from a rough-and-tumble audience recording) offered a more streamlined experience of Lou Reed’s final gigs with the band. This expanded, double-disc reissue from 2004 includes both full sets recorded that night plus a bonus radio promo.

Adam Ten, Jackie (IT) & Kool & The Gang, “GET DOWN” (Island/UMe) (Apple / Amazon)

Continuing the series of summery modern dance remixes of Kool & The Gang’s classic singles with a take on the group’s 1982 Top 10 hit “Get Down on It,” as reimagined by a pair of Tel Aviv-based DJs.

Randy remembers the late Connie Francis (1937-2025)…

When Connie Francis passed away earlier this week at the age of 87, many of the headlines read: “Connie Francis, ‘Pretty Little Baby’ Singer, Dies” or similar. Mere months ago, the song referenced would have been “Where the Boys Are” or perhaps “Who’s Sorry Now.” But something remarkable happened early in 2025, when songwriters Don Stirling and Bill Nauman’s all-but-forgotten tune from 1962 went viral on TikTok. All of a sudden, Connie Francis was in the news once again…68 years after her first top ten hit.

Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero was born in 1937 in Newark, New Jersey. During her childhood, her father encouraged her to enter contests and pageants with her singing accordion playing. In 1950, before she was even in high school, she was tapped to appear on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts. Godfrey advised her to drop the accordion and change her name to Connie Francis. She didn’t take that name immediately, but did begin to appear on NBC’s Startime Kids between 1953 and 1955. She had changed her name by the time she signed with MGM Records in 1955.

Francis’ singles at MGM did not meet the label’s commercial expectations. They were ready to drop her when, at her final recording session for MGM, she was persuaded to cover the 1923 Bert Kalmar/Harry Ruby oldie “Who’s Sorry Now?” Connie reportedly did not like the song at all and thought it would go nowhere, like her other singles. That seemed the case until it debuted January 1, 1958 on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. The dramatic ballad, brought to life with Connie’s emotive vocal, climbed to No. 4 on the pop charts, and MGM quickly renewed her contract.

Her follow-up single didn’t meet as much success, but then she was introduced to Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. After going over a few songs, the pair played her “Stupid Cupid.” It would become Francis’ second it, going to No. 14 in the U.S. and No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart. The proud Italian-American songstress would reach the Billboard Top 40 an additional eight times during the 1950s with such songs as “My Happiness” (No. 2), “Among My Souvenirs” (No. 7), “Lipstick on Your Collar” (No. 5) and “Frankie” (No. 9).

In 1959, Francis went to London and recorded the album Connie Francis Sings Italian Favorites. It became her biggest-selling album and led to another seven Favorites albums through 1964. She also continued to have success on the singles charts in the youth market with songs like “Breakin’ in a Brand New Broken Heart” (No. 7), “When the Boy in Your Arms (is the Boy in Your Heart)” (No. 10), “Second Hand Love” (No. 7), and “Where the Boys Are” (No. 4). The latter song by Sedaka and Greenfield would become her signature and was also the theme to Connie’s first motion picture of the same title. In April 1960, Francis became the first female artist to top the Billboard pop chart when “Everybody Somebody’s Fool” hit the peak position. She would gain further No. 1s with “My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own” and “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You.”

Even after her hits began to slow, Connie continued to make great music including a session with U.K. hitmaker Tony Hatch and an album of Bacharach and David classics. She persevered despite tremendous adversity including a sexual assault in 1974 which led to a nationwide reform of hotel security practices, and the murder of her brother. She continued to be a major draw in concert and on records in such international markets including Germany, and wrote volumes of memoirs.

Connie Francis retired in 2018 but the music never stopped. Eight times a week, she’s portrayed by Gracie Lawrence in Just in Time, the Broadway musical about her onetime flame, Bobby Darin, and “Pretty Little Baby” has brought Connie’s singular sound to new generations.  Who’s sorry now?  Quite the contrary; we’re grateful for all of the gifts Connie Francis has given us.

Joe shares memories of lyricist Alan Bergman (1925-2025)…

With the passing of Alan Bergman less than two months shy of his 100th birthday, another chapter of the Great American Songbook comes to a close. With his wife Marilyn (1928-2022), Bergman wrote songs that were popularized by the greatest voices of the 20th century. Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis, Jack Jones, and Frank Sinatra all released entire albums of the Bergmans’ songs – Sinatra’s was a compilation, but the point remains – while Tony Bennett, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, Andy Williams, Neil Diamond, Stephen Bishop, and Melissa Manchester all recorded indelible versions of Bergman compositions. And what compositions they were! A shortlist of their most well-known songs includes “The Way We Were,” “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” “How Do You Keep the Music Playing,” “The Windmills of Your Mind,” “It Might Be You,” and “Nice ‘n’ Easy.” Alan was mentored and encouraged by none other than Johnny Mercer, and the elder tunesmith’s gifts of impeccable craft and powerful communication were absorbed by the young songwriter.

The Bergmans won three Oscars, four Emmys, two Grammys, and an induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. They worked with the best of the best; those who composed music to their lyrics included Marvin Hamlisch, Michel Legrand, Dave Grusin, John Williams, Henry Mancini, Ennio Morricone, Johnny Mandel, David Shire, Cy Coleman, and Quincy Jones. They wrote for television (themes to Alice, Maude, and Good Times), film (The Way We Were, The Thomas Crown Affair, Same Time Next Year, Yentl, Tootsie), and stage (Something More, Ballroom, Like Jazz, Chasing Mem’ries). Though the Bergmans’ musical theatre work is among their least well-known, just listen to Ballroom‘s “A Terrific Band and a Real Nice Crowd” or “Fifty Percent” to witness their mastery of writing for character with authentic, even devastating emotion.

Alan and Marilyn Bergman wore their hearts on their sleeves. They never shied away from sentimentality, and often a ravishing melody was the only kind suitable for their vividly romantic lyrics. In 2007, Alan made his solo recording debut with Lyrically, Alan Bergman. Featuring intimate and often touching versions of his most famous songs, it revealed him as a first-classic interpreter of his own work. In “How Do You Keep the Music Playing” – here’s Johnny Mathis’ sublime reading – Alan and Marilyn concluded, simply, “the music never ends.” For their love and their collaboration, it’s true. There will never be a day when the music of Alan and Marilyn Bergman isn’t playing somewhere – inspiring, consoling, or moving all who listen. Their lyric to the theme to the film The Promise goes, When I say always, I mean forever/I trust tomorrow as much as today/I am not afraid to say, “I love you”/And I promise you, I’ll never say goodbye…Thank you, Marilyn. Thank you, Alan.

Finally, a remembrance of Dave Cousins of the Strawbs (1940-2025) from Mike…

The lineups of U.K. combo the Strawbs included such luminaries as Sandy Denny, Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman and Bee Gees sideman Blue Weaver – but it was the voice, guitar and occasional banjo of Dave Cousins who powered each of the group’s studio releases and overall momentum. What started as a bluegrass outfit in the mid-’60s gave way to one of the more striking progressive rock outfits of the ’70s: often based in folk tradition and relatively unconcerned with chart success. (Cousins did pen U.K. Top 20 hit “Lay Down” in 1972; another, “Part of the Union,” reached No. 2 at home the next year.) Active for some seven decades – often with longtime lead guitarist Dave Lambert and even several of Wakeman’s sons in the line-up – Strawbs were at home in acoustic and electric settings, offering a fine alternate route through the country’s prog scene beyond Pink Floyd or Genesis. Cousins was a true original who maintained a solid studio and stage presence until his health wouldn’t allow it, and he leaves behind a formidable body of work.

One more thing…is one of the most mythical out-of-print albums coming back? Fans were shocked Thursday to see complementary posts on the Instagram pages of long-estranged Fleetwood Mac member Stevie Nicks and her former bandmate/ex-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham. The images feature each musician piecing together the line “And if you go forward…I’ll meet you there,” each half written in their respective handwriting. That lyric, as fans may know, comes from “Frozen Love,” the closing track to their 1973 album Buckingham Nicks, which the duo recorded two years before joining Fleetwood Mac. This album may be one of the highest-profile LPs to never have an official CD release; could that be about to change? (Mick Fleetwood added fuel to the fire by posting himself listening to the same track.)

 

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