The Weekend Stream: February 7, 2026
Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. New tracks from old favorites, deep cuts, good causes, a fun recent Grammy winner, and the triumphant return of The Muppets? What more could you possibly ask for?!
The Muppets, The Muppet Show Theme (2026) (Walt Disney Records) (Apple / Amazon)
It’s time to play the music! The Muppet Show made a triumphant return to television this week: a special episode that aired on ABC and Disney+, produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and guest starring Sabrina Carpenter. (Though billed as a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the show’s original run, it sure seems like a trial balloon for a sixth season of the program, which last aired in 1981.) The show featured some typically great musical numbers and performances, and Disney has released a new recording of Jim Henson and Sam Pottle’s original theme that opened the special. Careful listeners will notice that it reprises the opening arrangements of the fifth season intro – a truly Muppetational bit of musical continuity. Let’s hope it isn’t too long before Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo and all the rest are back on our screens!
Daniel Lanois feat. Aaron Neville & Brian Blade, “Grace” (Red Floor/Arts Music/dRhino) (Apple / Amazon)
The legendary producer and collaborator to U2, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Neil Young, Willie Nelson and others announced yesterday a new deal with Warner Music, who released his earliest solo works in the late ’80s. The partnership is slated to include reissues of older LPs alongside “new and unreleased works to be released through 2026 and beyond.” The first in that latter category is “Grace,” is an ambient rework of the timeless hymn featuring drummer Brian Blade and the unmistakable vocals of Aaron Neville.
Beck, Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime (Iliad/Capitol) (Apple / Amazon)
Alt-rocker Beck’s first substantial release since 2019’s Hyperspace is a mini-collection of mostly stray covers for soundtracks and compilations over the years (Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” The Flamingos’ “I Only Have Eyes for You” and Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” the latter of which is one of two previously unreleased cuts on the set) along with the original “Ramona” from the soundtrack to 2010’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. A vinyl version will be available starting next Friday, February 13. (Thanks to reader Johnny Kalifornia for the tip!)
Bruce Hornsby, “Indigo Park” (Thirty Tigers) (Apple / Amazon)
The eclectic singer/songwriter/pianist has hardly stayed idle since rounding into his 70s: since 2019, he’s released four albums, most recently 2024’s BrhyM, Deep Sea Vents. The title track to his newest, Indigo Park, is out now ahead of the full LP’s April 3 release. It will feature guest turns from Bonnie Raitt, Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend, and two crucial connections to the Grateful Dead: two tracks co-written by Hornsby and longtime lyricist Robert Hunter (who passed away in 2019), and one featuring the band’s recently-departed, much-missed Bob Weir.
The Blasters, The Blasters / Hard Line (Liberation Hall)
The Blasters: Apple / Amazon
Hard Line: Apple / Amazon
Libration Hall has given a good home to the material of roots-rockers The Blasters, recently releasing a box of their remastered albums for Record Store Day last year. Those newer remasters of their self-titled sophomore release from 1981 and 1985’s Hard Line – the last to feature both Dave and Phil Alvin – are both available digitally, with physical breakouts to follow.
Patti Page, Just Patti / Page 1 / Page 2 / Page 3 / Page 4: A Collection of Her Most Famous Songs / Golden Hits (Mercury)
Just Patti: Apple / Amazon
Page 1: Apple / Amazon
Page 2: Apple / Amazon
Page 3: Apple / Amazon
Page 4: Apple / Amazon
Golden Hits: Apple / Amazon
The singin’ rage called Patti Page was the best-selling female artist of the ’60s thanks to a string of hard-to-resist country-pop classics. A few digitally out-of-print collections, including the standards-packed quartet of Page 1 to Page 4, have recently been made available again. (Thanks to reader dirk for letting us know!)
Peter Gabriel, “Put the Bucket Down” (Bright-Side Mix) (Real World) (Apple / Amazon)
The second track from Peter Gabriel’s forthcoming album o\i is now available.
Joe Jackson, “Fabulous People” (earMUSIC/Edel) (Apple / Amazon)
So is the second single from Joe Jackson’s next LP, this spring’s Hope and Fury.
Ziggy Marley, “Many Mourn for Bob” (Tuff Gong Worldwide) (Apple / Amazon)
The reggae legend’s eldest son was inspired to write a song for his late father during the production of the 2024 biopic about his life and career. It’s available now digitally and will be part of his new album Brightside, releasing on vinyl for Record Store Day and available digitally in May.
Public Enemy, “She Got Game” (Enemy) (Apple)
Chuck D and Flavor Flav have recast their 1998 title track to the Spike Lee joint He Got Game as a women’s sports empowerment anthem (inspired in part by Flav’s backing of several female-led American Olympics teams). They’ve assembled a group of great female artists to back them up – including guest vocalist Flau’jae, bassist Blu DeTiger and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana (wife of guitar legend Carlos) – and will be donating proceeds from the song to the Women’s Sports Foundation and Black Music Action Coalition’s Female Fund.
The Format, “The Bar is Set So Low” (The Vanity Label) (Bandcamp)
Indie-pop duo The Format just released their first album in nearly two decades last month, and they’re back with a bonus track from the sessions with producer Brendan O’Brien. It, like other songs we’ve covered recently, is a protest song of sorts, albeit one written before some of the current predicaments the country is in, and thus cursed to have some sort of resonance now. As such, the pair will donate their proceeds from the song to Women’s Foundation of Minnesota’s Immigrant Rapid Response Fund, Immigrant Defense Network, Advocates for Immigrant Rights, and Latino Memphis.
Various Artists, Some Girls Try Too Hard (A Few Good Records) (Bandcamp)
It started as a joke post by author (and the album’s executive producer) Josephine Reisman, but it’s real and spectacular: all 12 songs from Blink-182’s seminal commercial breakthrough Enema of the State (including favorites “All the Small Things,” “What’s My Age Again?” and “Adam’s Song”) covered by trans female artists. Every cent of proceeds from the album go to Trans Lifeline – so if you feel bad about missing the first Bandcamp Friday of the year, the next one is May 6, or any time to donate to a community that always could use help – by way of some great pop-punk tunes.
The 8-Bit Big Band, “Super Mario Praise Break” (Team Chuck) (Apple / Amazon)
This isn’t a new track, but it was one of the nice surprises from the pre-telecast of last weekend’s Grammy Awards. This jazzy orchestral combo, led by Tony Award winner Charlie Rosen, picked up a Grammy Award for Best Arrangement – Instrumental or A Cappella (shared by Rosen, Bryan Carter and pianist Matthew Whitaker) thanks to this thrilling medley of music from generations of Nintendo’s Super Mario video game series (which turned 40 last year) – cannily presented in the style of a fervent gospel rave-up. If you’re looking for a carefree listen to set the weekend mood right…well, let’s-a go!!!
PASSINGS
Rock and roll lost one of its most indelible voices with the passing earlier this week of Three Dog Night’s Chuck Negron (1942-2026). A New York native, Negron honed his gifts singing street-corner doo-wop before making the move out west and teaming with Danny Hutton and Cory Wells to form Three Dog Night (originally Redwood, with the patronage of Hutton’s close friend Brian Wilson) at the dawn of the classic rock era. Between 1969 and 1975, Three Dog Night scored 21 top 40 hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, three of which went to No. 1 (Randy Newman’s “Mama Told Me Not to Come,” Hoyt Axton’s “Joy to the World,” and David Arkin and Earl Robinson’s “Black and White”). The group was unusual for the era in that its repertoire was primarily written by outside songwriters. As lead singer, Negron’s voice brought to life not only those aforementioned songs, but other classics by Harry Nilsson (“One”), Paul Williams and Roger Nichols (“Out in the Country”), Laura Nyro (“Eli’s Coming”), Daniel Moore (“Shambala”), and the Hair team of Galt MacDermot, James Rado, and Gerome Ragni (“Easy to Be Hard”).
Three Dog Night’s final full-length studio album, 1976’s American Pastime, was the work of a fractured group; they disbanded that same year. The original trio reunited in 1981 and stayed together until 1985. Hutton and Wells then led various lineups through Wells’ death in 2015. Today, Hutton continues as TDN’s sole remaining original member. Chuck Negron titled his 1999 memoir Three Dog Nightmare, chronicling his descent into drug addiction and eventual recovery. Beginning in the 1990s, he embarked on a fruitful solo career that saw the release of several solo albums. He also toured with his own show featuring the hits of Three Dog Night. (Joe had the pleasure of seeing Chuck and his band perform to large and appreciative crowds in the 2010s at Epcot’s Flower Power concert series in Orlando.)
After a long period of estrangement, Danny Hutton and Chuck Negron recently reunited before Chuck’s death at the age of 83. This powerhouse singer and rock legend who, indeed, spread much joy to the world will be missed.
Billy “Bass” Nelson (1951-2026) was barely out of his teens when singer George Clinton – both the owner of the barbershop he worked in and a member of doo-wop group The Parliaments – recruited him and friend/guitarist Eddie Hazel to perform in his backing band. By the time Clinton took the group to Westbound Records to secure a deal, Nelson devised a name for the group that would help define one of the key genres of Black music: Funkadelic. His bass powered the group’s first three albums (including the landmark Maggot Brain (1971)) – and while he was also the first of many to depart Clinton’s orbit due to financial issues – later playing alongside The Temptations and the Commodores – his legend was long assured even before his 1997 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the sprawling Parliament-Funkadelic organization.
A fixture of New York’s punk scene, Fred Smith (1948-2026) co-founded the group Angel and The Snake in the spring of 1974; he’d depart the following year, by which point singer Deborah Harry inspired their name change to Blondie. He’d dig a deeper trench into the scene with his subsequent replacement of Richard Hell in another CBGB fixture, Television. Within two years, the group recorded 1977’s Marquee Moon, one of the undisputed classic albums of the era. Television broke up not long afterward, but reunited off and on in the ’90s, ’00s and ’10s; Smith was present for all performances and also performed on the solo works of his bandmates Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd.
Finally, a note of gratitude to Lynn Blakely, a journeywoman musician who performed as a touring member of seminal ’80s alt-rock bands Let’s Active and Oh-OK (fronted by Lynda Stipe, sister of R.E.M. frontman Michael; Blakely had replaced previous guitarist Matthew Sweet) before releasing music on Yep Roc in the ’00s as a member of Tres Chicas. Her presence in the sprawling alternative scenes during the decade also inspired Paul Westerberg, whose near-romance with her (after The Replacements and Let’s Active shared a bill) partially inspired the lyrics of one of the ‘Mats’ greatest tunes, “Left of the Dial.”
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Thank you for the Beck nod!
Sananda Maitreya has released a remastered version of his second album ‘Neither Fish Nor Flesh’ to digital platforms, ahead of his forthcoming ‘Juvenilia’ vinyl box set.
https://open.spotify.com/album/5aGbjGjUkTyGJaohRN8RRB?si=YRaPzgYAQ9CjDDQgTyC66A