Features / The Weekend Stream

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts, plus new works from legacy acts and even some personally curated favorites. Rare George Michael remixes, late period a-ha and more Andy Partridge demos are kicking off another great week of streaming tunes – including three new soundtracks from theme park attractions!

George Michael, “Monkey” (Columbia/Legacy) (Apple / Amazon)

The latest of the Faith-era digital EPs is here, and it’s a corker: these 1988 remixes of “Monkey” by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis helped George Michael score his fifth Top 5 U.S. hit (and fourth No. 1) from the album. This EP may be the most exciting in terms of rarities: only four of the six versions here – single and extended mixes, an a cappella track and “extra beats” – were included on the deluxe reissue of Faith (with the latter two combined on one track). Of the remaining bonuses, the instrumental and dub versions were only released on promo singles.

a-ha, Analogue (20th Anniversary Edition) / Foot of the Mountain / Ending on a High Note (Deluxe Version) /  Cast in Steel (Deluxe Edition) / MTV Unplugged: Summer Solstice (Rhino)

Analogue: Apple / Amazon
Foot: Apple / Amazon
Ending: Apple / Amazon
Cast: Apple / Amazon
Unplugged: Apple / Amazon

A deluxe version of a-ha’s 2005 album Analogue was released on vinyl for Record Store Day by Rhino and followed shortly thereafter on CD. Now, it’s available digitally – and four of the group’s latter-day albums are now distributed by the same label. There’s two studio albums – 2009’s Foot of the Mountain and 2016’s Cast in Steel – and two live albums: 2010’s Ending on a High Note (representing the final concert of their planned farewell tour) and a 2017 performance on Europe’s MTV Unplugged – with a gentle version of “Take on Me” that made the song go viral with a new generation.

Andy Partridge, Fuzzy Warbles, Vol. 4 (Ape House) (Apple / Amazon)

The fourth volume in the XTC co-founder’s demo collection includes versions of favorites from standout album Skylarking (“Season Cycle,” “That’s Really Super, Supergirl”) and even a version of the holiday B-side “Countdown to Christmas Party Time,” which was sung on the final version by the group’s other songwriter, bassist Colin Moulding.

Olivia Rodrigo, “the cure” (Geffen) (Apple / Amazon)

The celebrated young singer-songwriter calls this second single the “thesis statement” of upcoming album you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love. It’s a nearly five-minute heartwrecker anchored by acoustic guitar, roiling strings and a dynamic that recalls The Smashing Pumpkins at their peak. And speaking of…

The Smashing Pumpkins, Zodeon At Crystal Hall (Martha’s Music) (Apple / Amazon)

There’s quite a bit of history behind this one: in 2022 and 2023, The Smashing Pumpkins – by now featuring longtime frontman Billy Corgan, reunited with guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin (three quarters of the classic line-up) – recorded a three-album cycle called Atum, a “sequel” to the stories and characters depicted in the group’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1996) and Machina/The Machines of God (2000). After its releases, a limited box set collected all of those albums plus a further 10 live-in-studio, mono psych-folk songs on five 7″ singles. A new sequencing of those tracks plus three others was released as the vinyl album Zodeon At Crystal Hall, and it’s now available digitally as well. (Thanks to JG for bringing this one to our attention!)

Clodagh Rodgers, It’s Different Now (RCA) (Apple / Amazon)

Legacy’s rollout of Clodagh Rodgers’ early-’70s albums continues with It’s Different Now, her fourth of five albums for RCA. Keith Mansfield replaced Kenny Young in the producer’s chair for this set including songs by John Lennon (“Imagine”), Kris Kristofferson (“Help Me Make It Through the Night”), Goffin and King (“Natural Woman,” “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”), Neil Diamond (the lesser-known “Coldwater Morning,” from his Tap Root Manuscript), and the Motown team of Pam Sawyer and Clay McMurray (“If I Were Your Woman”). Mansfield would return for Rodgers’ next album…stay tuned…

Reba McEntire, “Hurt Like That” (Rockin’ R/MCA Nashville) (Apple / Amazon)

The prolific Dave Cobb produces “Hurt Like That,” the new single from music superstar and Happy’s Place lead Reba McEntire. The dramatic ballad finds McEntire in a less-than-happy place, returning to her roots as a country storyteller with a capacity for heartbreak.

Billy Stritch, “Try Your Wings” (Club44) (Apple / Amazon)

The pianist, songwriter, and cabaret star has delivered a new single this weekend: “Try Your Wings,” a favorite of the late Blossom Dearie penned by Dion McGregor and Michael Barr. It’s a lovely and elegant showcase for the busy Stritch, who will be back in NYC this week accompanying Melissa Errico at 54 Below in a tribute to Barbra Streisand.

Nina Simone, “See-Line Woman” (Mochakk Mix) (Verve) (Apple / Amazon)

A traditional African-American folk song that became a staple of Miss Simone’s repertoire since its inclusion on the B-side of her influential single “Mississippi Goddam,” “See-Line Woman” gets a new flavor as imagined by Brazilian remixer Mochakk.

Billy Walker, Alone Again (RCA Victor) (Apple / Amazon)

Known for a host of country hits for the Columbia, Monument and MGM labels through the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s – including “Thank You for Calling,” “Charlie’s Shoes,” “A Million to One,” “Ramona” and “When a Man Loves a Woman (The Way That I Love You)” – Billy Walker’s last major label tenure was with RCA, with 1976’s Alone Again being his second of three LPs released there. The single “Don’t Stop in My World (If You Don’t Mean to Stay)” was the Tall Texan’s final Top 40 country hit, though he continued recording and performing until his passing in 2006.

Tommy Roe, Energy (Monument) (Apple / Amazon)

Remembered as a pioneering ’60s bubblegum pop singer behind the chart-topping singles “Sheila” and “Dizzy,” Tommy Roe pivoted to a country-rock direction in the mid-’70s, with Energy being his first of two albums for the Monument label. A host of Nashville and Memphis session legends known for collaborations with Elvis Presley appear on this LP, including producer Felton Jarvis, guitarist Dennis Linde (who wrote “Burning Love”), keyboardists Bobby Emmons and David Briggs, drummer Larrie Londin and backing vocalists J.D. Sumner, Bergen White, Buzz Cason and Mary and Ginger Holladay.

Brush Arbor, Page One (Monument) (Apple / Amazon)

After a pair of LPs for Capitol, California-raised bluegrass band Brush Arbor (featuring brothers Jim and Joe Rice – another, Wayne, had then briefly departed the group) pressed on at Monument with this solid offering of country rock.

John Powell, How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk (Universal City Development Partners, Ltd.) (Apple / Amazon)

British composer John Powell earned an Oscar nomination for his score to the 2010 DreamWorks animated film How to Train Your Dragon and built an expansive musical world over two sequels in 2014 and 2019 and even a 2025 live-action adaptation of the first film. With a whole area of Universal’s Epic Universe theme park in Florida devoted to the film series, Powell has returned to score guests’ adventures on the Isle of Berk – now available for everyone to hear on this new album.

Bruce Broughton, Soarin’ Over America (Walt Disney Records) (Apple / Amazon)

Moving over to Florida’s other major theme park, Walt Disney World will debut a new film for the latest iteration of its Soarin’ flight simulator attraction. Originally known as Soarin’ Over California when it opened at Disneyland’s California Adventure theme park in 2001, the ride was themed into Soarin’ Over the World for the East Coast version at EPCOT in 2005. Now, both parks will open Soarin’ Over America this summer for the country’s 250th anniversary – and it’ll feature a score by Over the World composer Bruce Broughton, once again adapting the rousing theme Jerry Goldsmith wrote for the original version some 25 years ago.

Mike Rubino, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (Walt Disney Records) (Apple / Amazon)

Our musical trip through Walt Disney World has one more stop this week: into the galaxy’s Gamma Quadrant, where Buzz Lightyear – space ranger co-star of the Toy Story animated series – battles the evil Emperor Zurg on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin! Operating in the Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland area since 1998, this dark ride attraction recently reopened following a redesign that incorporates new blasters, targets, scenes and a score by composer Mike Rubino, who adapts Randy Newman’s themes from the original film.

PASSINGS

As if the opening sample of Lyn Collins’ “Think (About It)” – Jabo Starks’ scintillating drum break, punctuated by writer/producer James Brown’s “Yeah! Woo!” yelps – wasn’t enough to get you out of your seat when “It Takes Two” bursts from the speakers, there’s that opening lyrical salvo: “I wanna rock right now / I’m Rob Base and I came to get down…” In the wild early days of hip-hop moving toward the mainstream, Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock’s “It Takes Two” was a firecracker in 1988, eventually scraping the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 but never really leaving the popular consciousness. The Harlem duo scored another minor pop hit with “Joy and Pain,” sampling Maze featuring Frankie Beverly; Base issued a solo album in 1989 before reuniting with his partner five years later. The arc of hip-hop history can be cold – E-Z Rock (born Rodney Bryce) died from complications of diabetes in 2014 at only 46 years old, and cancer took Base (born Robert Ginyard) this past Friday at only 59. But wherever there’s a dance floor in need of rocking, listeners will always know just which two it takes to make a thing go right.

Though saxophone is not the first instrument you might associate with Pink Floyd, the group had several distinctive moments with the horn, notably The Dark Side of the Moon cuts “Money” and “Us and Them” as well as a portion of Wish You Were Here‘s epic “Shine on You Crazy Diamond.” Those moments were unfailingly played by Dick Parry, a lifelong friend of David Gilmour who also logged time with J.J. Jackson, Rory Gallagher, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and Jon Entwistle of The Who. Parry toured with Floyd extensively, present at every gig from 1973 to 1977 as well as their tour in support of 1994’s The Division Bell. “Since I was seventeen, I have played in bands with Dick on saxophone, including Pink Floyd,” Gilmour said in a statement sharing the news of his passing. “His feel and tone make his saxophone playing unmistakable.”

According to legend, members of Doctor Hook and The Medicine Show would point to their bus driver when asked who, exactly, Doctor Hook was supposed to be. But for their entire tenure, their leading voice was that of Dennis Locorriere, whose vocals powered the group’s unique path through the pop charts. Doctor Hook’s hits spanned boogie, country, soft rock and even flirtations with disco, including Top 10 hits like the Shel Silverstein-penned “Sylvia’s Mother” and “The Cover of Rolling Stone,” “Only Sixteen,” “Sharing the Night Together,” “When You’re in Love with a Beautiful Woman” and “Sexy Eyes.” Locorriere (whose Silverstein co-write “A Couple More Years” was covered by Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan) retained the rights to the Doctor Hook name, licensing it to bandmate Ray Sawyer and taking the mantle back up after Sawyer’s retirement from the road in 2015. He only retired himself last year, and had battled chronic kidney issues for some time.

Ike Willis had the kind of success story folks dream of: a political science major at Washington University and longtime Frank Zappa fan, he got to meet the iconoclastic bandleader backstage at a campus gig in 1977. A year later, he joined Zappa’s band as a guitarist and vocalist and never left. He’s perhaps best known as the voice of the title characters in the concept releases Joe’s Garage (1979) and Thing-Fish (1984).