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 one Vault track from Prince, four albums unearthed by SuperVisible Multi Media, five rare mixes from Bowie and Jagger, and more than 100 hard-to-find cuts from Connie Francis – now that’s some rock and roll math!

Prince, “Sign O’ the Times” (Live in Rotterdam 1987) (NPG/Legacy) (Apple / Amazon)

A welcome respite from sharing fabricated, possibly AI-generated inspirational quotes on social media, the Prince estate has released the opening track from the Sign O’ the Times concert film, which is playing in IMAX across the country this weekend. The movie – arguably Prince’s best – was planned to be culled from three nights of shows at The Ahoy in Rotterdam, The Netherlands at the end of June 1987; ultimately, audio from those sets were paired with footage Prince shot on the soundstage in his Paisley Park recording complex in Chanhassen. (A show from a week earlier in Utrecht, The Netherlands was included in the Sign box set in 2020.) No word if a fuller representation of the sets – or a wider U.S. video release of the rarely-seen film – will follow.

David Bowie & Mick Jagger, Dancing in the Street E.P. (2025 Remaster) (Parlophone/Rhino) (Apple / Amazon)

To mark the 40th anniversary of Bowie and Jagger’s delightfully campy team-up on the Martha and The Vandellas classic, “Dancing in the Street” has been remastered for a 12″ single release with a digital equivalent, too. This five-track EP improves upon the three-track version that had been digitally available, including Bob Clearmountain and Steve Thompson’s mixes of the track, a dub mix, plus a new-to-digital edit and instrumental. (They’ve also created a video for Thompson’s extension of the song, featuring a bunch of cool outtakes from the video shoot.)

Connie Francis, The Singles 1955-1957 / The Singles 1958-1959 / The Singles 1960-1961 / Rarities 1957-1959 / Rarities 1960 / Rarities 1961-1962 (Republic/UMe)

Singles 1955-1957: Apple / Amazon
Singles 1958-1959: Apple / Amazon
Singles 1960-1961: Apple / Amazon
Rarities 1957-1959: Apple / Amazon
Rarities 1960: Apple / Amazon
Rarities 1961-1962: Apple / Amazon

The late-career triumph of Connie Francis – whose B-side “Pretty Little Baby” became an improbable TikTok sensation and minor Hot 100 hit months before she passed away this year at the age of 87 – is now honored with a posthumous catalogue excavation. More than 100 non-LP singles and rarities have made their digital debuts across six newly-curated compilations. And it’s far from all: more digital deliveries are planned next month, including original and expanded albums that aren’t streaming. An expanded edition of her holiday LP Christmas in My Heart is coming this season on CD and vinyl, too.

Natalie Cole, Good to Be Back (Deluxe Edition) (Craft) (Apple / Amazon)

Following a major comeback with 1987’s Everlasting and its hit cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Pink Cadillac,” Natalie Cole returned to the charts with the Top 10 “Miss You Like Crazy,” the lead single from 1989’s Good to Be Back. That album – featuring smooth soul-pop production from heavy hitters like Dennis Lambert, Narada Michael Walden and Michael Masser – has now been remastered and expanded with three bonus edits and mixes. Cole would hit an entirely new, different peak with her next album, 1991’s Unforgettable…with Love, a collection of standards made famous by her father Nat “King” Cole including the hit virtual duet with her dad, “Unforgettable.”

James Brown & Laidback Luke, “I Got Soul (Super Bad)” (Dim Mak) (Apple / Amazon)

From Dutch DJ Laidback Luke comes an intriguing electro-based rework of the Godfather of Soul’s 1970 single, incorporating his original vocals over a new track. Read about how it came together in Billboard.

Rachel Zegler, “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” (New Miami Mix) (Really Useful Group) (Apple / Amazon)

Another new take on an old favorite: a new dance mix of the standout number from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita, sung with gusto by singer/actress Rachel Zegler, who’s about to wrap up her acclaimed turn as Eva Perón on the West End next month.

Hayley Williams, Ego Death At a Bachelorette Party (Post Atlantic) (Apple / Amazon)

The Paramore leader recently shared an assortment of 17 tracks in no particular order, which fans took to calling Ego. Williams has now canonized her own running order on Ego Death At a Bachelorette Party, adding the new track “Parachute” to the end of the album.

John Oates, Oates (PS) (Apple / Amazon)

John Oates returns with a new studio LP simply entitled Oates. Following a string of releases in an Americana vein, the singer-songwriter-guitarist returns to his R&B and soul roots for his seventh solo album.

Trevor Jones, The Dark Crystal (Expanded Motion Picture Soundtrack) (La-La Land Records) (Apple / Amazon)

Expanded on CD earlier this year by La-La Land Records, the label also acquired digital rights and has now released Trevor Jones’ score to the 1982 Jim Henson/Frank Oz non-Muppet fantasy film more widely. It’s a 1:1 release with that 3CD set, including both the expanded score and the original soundtrack album.

Vangelis, 1492: Conquest of Paradise (Music from the Original Soundtrack – Expanded Edition) (Atlantic/Rhino) (Apple / Amazon)

Ridley Scott’s 1992 dramatization of Christopher Columbus’ westward journey to the New World is perhaps best remembered for its soundtrack by Vangelis, who’d previously collaborated with Scott on the cult classic Blade Runner. This expanded release, which was also released on CD and vinyl, includes two extra tracks released on a CD single promoting the soundtrack more than 30 years ago.

Wynn Stewart, It’s Such a Pretty World Today / Love’s Gonna Happen to Me (Capitol Nashville)

Pretty World: Apple / Amazon
Love’s Gonna: Apple / Amazon

Our pals at SuperVisible Multi Media have been busy once more, getting another four titles digitally available across multiple genres. First up are the second and third LPs – both released in 1967 – by Wynn Stewart, a cult country hero whose music helped kickstart the Bakersfield sound popularized by Buck Owens and others. (It’s Such a Pretty World Today remains Stewart’s biggest hit, topping the U.S. country chart.)

Fred Knoblock, Why Not Me (Expanded Version) (RCA/Legacy) (Apple / Amazon)

Another SuperVisible assist, this appealing soft-rock/country album is perhaps best remembered for its wistful title track from the point of view of a wedding attendee who used to date the bride. “Why Not Me,” an adult contemporary chart-topper and a Top 20 pop hit, was followed by two Knoblock singles that reached No. 10 on the country charts: “Killin’ Time,” a duet with Susan Anton, and a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Memphis.” Neither of them made the Why Not Me album, so they (and two non-LP B-sides) have now been added to this digital version.

Bill Quateman, Night After Night (RCA) (Apple / Amazon)

Chicago folksinger Quateman had a promising self-titled debut for Columbia in 1972 with the minor pop hit “Only Love.” But his status as a signing of Clive Davis’ made him a challenging sell when Davis was ousted from the label. He eventually landed at RCA Victor in 1977, working with founding Wings drummer Denny Seiwell in the producer’s chair on Night After Night. SuperVisible’s last title of the week is that album, its first proper release on digital storefronts. (Quateman long left music behind, finding a lucrative career in natural and holistic medicine.)

Kenny Burrell, Kenny Burrell / Frank Wess, John Coltrane, Paul Quinichette, Mal Waldron, Doug Watkins & Art Taylor, Wheelin’ & Dealin’ / Wayne Shorter, Introducing Wayne Shorter (Craft)

Kenny: Apple / Amazon
Wheelin‘: Apple / Amazon
Wayne: Apple / Amazon

Some of the recent remasters of jazz titles in Craft’s catalogue include an early album by guitarist Kenny Burrell (released on the Prestige label in 1957), Wayne Shorter’s 1960 debut as a bandleader for Vee-Jay, and a solid early Prestige session featuring John Coltrane and a host of other heavy hitters.

Don McLean, Live in Manchester (StarVista) (Apple / Amazon)

Newly digitally available from StarVista: a super-sized 2014 live album from Don McLean, featuring all his hits in concert.

Harlow, Harlow (Reprise) (Apple / Amazon)

This hard rock oddity from 1990 may be best known as an early showcase for Black N’ Blue guitarist Tommy Thayer, who’d played on a few tracks on KISS’ Hot in the Shade the year before. (That album’s engineer, Pat Regan, played keyboards in Harlow, having done so on Quiet Riot’s Metal Health.) Thayer, of course, would join KISS as Ace Frehley’s replacement in 2002, serving with the group until their retirement in 2023.

Winchell: The Musical (NYC Studio Recording) (Yellow Sound Label) (Apple / Amazon)

Yellow Sound Label has a world premiere recording of the musical Winchell with an all-star cast – and for a special cause, too. Roger Daltrey, Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Darlene Love join Broadway’s Kate Baldwin, Julia Murney, and Jason Robert Brown and television/stage/film star Jon Cryer in this star-studded studio cast recording of the musical by composer Keith Levenson (the orchestral recording of The Who’s Tommy) and late lyricist Martin Charnin (Annie). Winchell, about the life of the (in?)famous newspaper columnist who ruthlessly transformed American journalism with his questionable ethics and keen ear for what the public wanted, was originally slated for production in 1991 but has remained unheard until now. Composer-lyricist Jason Robert Brown portrays Walter Winchell on the album. Proceeds from this currently digital-only release will benefit the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, which has helped Keith Levenson in his battle with Parkinson’s Disease.