Release Round-Up: Week of August 7
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Tom Tom Club, Let There Be Love (Warner/Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Rhino assembles most of the Talking Heads offshoot group’s discography on a new 6CD or 7LP box set. Let There Be Love contains Tom Tom Club (1981), Close to the Bone (1983), Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom (1988), Dark Sneak Love Action (1991), The Good, the Bad, and the Funky (2000), and Downtown Rockers (2012). Get the detail on what’s included on what’s not by clicking here.
Whitney Houston, WH1TNEY (Arista/Legacy) (Target.com / Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Link TBD / Amazon Canada Link TBD)
Whitney Houston’s most enduring contributions to pop music history – her 11 chart-topping singles – are celebrated on a new LP. The appropriately-titled WH1TNEY, pressed on grape-colored purple vinyl, brings together every hit that topped the Billboard Hot 100 between 1985 and 1996. From her self-titled debut in 1985, there’s “Saving All My Love,” “How Will I Know” and “Greatest Love of All”; 1987 follow-up Whitney yields “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” “So Emotional” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” (these collective album spinoffs gave her a record-setting seven consecutive No. 1s); then there’s the title track from 1990’s I’m Your Baby Tonight and follow-up “All the Man That I Need”; the juggernaut cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” off the soundtrack to Houston’s film debut The Bodyguard, which sat for a then-record of 14 straights weeks atop the chart in 1992 and 1993; and another soundtrack favorite, “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” from her next film, 1995’s Waiting to Exhale. That’s 31 total weeks of No. 1s on the pop front, although it sidesteps charts like Billboard‘s R&B songs survey (where 1985’s “You Give Good Love” and 1998’s “Heartbreak Hotel,” a team-up with Faith Evans and Kelly Price, notched time at the top) or even the U.K. charts, where the 1988 Summer Olympics ballad “One Moment in Time” surged to the summit. No CD or digital version is planned, but with a track list this short and nothing rare among the offerings, this one feels less targeted to collectors and more to casual or even new fans looking to discover the power of Houston’s unmistakable voice. Read more here.
Primal Scream, Vanishing Point (Creation/Sony UK) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Primal Scream’s 1997 album – their first to feature Stone Roses’ Gary “Mani” Mounfield – has been remastered by Matt Colton at Metropolis Studios under the supervision of Bobby Gillespie and Andrew Innes. B-sides and rarities have also been added to this expanded edition. Darran Anderson provides new liner notes. Available on 1 CD or 2 LPs.
Elephant’s Memory, Take It To the Streets (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)
Take It to the Streets is the second studio album by New York rock band (and onetime backing band for John and Yoko) Elephant’s Memory, released in September 1970 on Metromedia Records. It followed the group’s self-titled 1969 debut, which had gained recognition after two songs were featured on the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack. Despite that exposure, the band’s first album sold poorly, and Take It to the Streets also struggled commercially, although the single “Mongoose” did make the Billboard chart at No. 50. Real Gone’s vinyl edition is the first-ever reissue of the Metromedia album. It has been remastered by Mike Milchner at SonicVision and is pressed on clear with black swirl vinyl. There are also two variants available: a Wax Mage version, limited to 25 copies and a Real Gone webstore exclusive “Infinity Splatter” vinyl, limited to 50 copies. Both are available from Real Gone’s website.
En Vogue, EV3 (Light Blue Vinyl Edition) (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music)
EV3, the third album by En Vogue, returns in a new edition from Real Gone. Despite well-documented behind-the-scenes challenges, EV3 debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum by the RIAA, becoming the group’s biggest-selling album. It produced the hit singles “Don’t Let Go (Love),” “Whatever,” and “Too Gone, Too Long.” Real Gone originally released a vinyl version of this album back in April for RSD on forest green vinyl. Now they are bringing it to general retail in light blue vinyl. The 2-LP set comes in a gatefold package. Please note that this version drops the two originally Japan-only bonus tracks featured on the RSD edition. Read more about Elephant’s Memory, En Vogue, and Real Gone’s other August releases here!
Various Artists, Destination Hawaii: 33 Musical Travel Companions to the Aloha State (Bear Family) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Who wouldn’t like to take a trip to Hawaii? If such an excursion isn’t in your immediate future, Bear Family has the next best thing: a collection of vintage tunes conjuring the wonders of the Aloha State. Soundtrack your own luau with over 30 selections from such artists as Bing Crosby, Marty Robbins, The Drifters, Margaret Whiting, Eartha Kitt, and Chuck Berry.
Strawberry Alarm Clock, Where’s One? (Big Stir) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
The “Incense and Peppermints” hitmakers are back for their first full-length album of original music since 1969. Where’s One? features five members from the Alarm Clock’s original run of four albums from 1967-1969: Mark Stephen Weitz (keyboards), Randy Seol (drums/percussion), George Bunnell (bass), Gene Gunnels (drums/percussion), and Oingo Boingo’s Steve Bartek (guitar, flute, sitar and production) as well as guitarist Howie Anderson, who’s been a full member of SAC since 1986. Also available on 2LP via Bandcamp.
