Welcome to 2024's final edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts! With no Release Round-Up this Friday and a few weeks of peace and quite from (and for!) us until 2025, we've got a few more treats for you under the tree from Wham!, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Miles Davis, Archie Bell & The Drells and so much more!

Wham!, Last Christmas (Epic/Legacy/Sony Music U.K.) (iTunes / Amazon)

For its 40th anniversary, Wham!'s holiday classic was reissued on various physical formats last month - and quietly got a digital reissue, too. This four-track EP features the well-known single version and longer "Pudding Mix" of the track, along with an instrumental TV track and an unreleased live version Michael performed solo at London's Wembley Stadium in 2006. (The song climbed to a new U.S. chart peak of No. 3 this month and just yesterday was crowned the U.K.'s official Christmas No. 1 for the second year in a row. On Netflix, the home of last year's brilliant Wham! documentary in America, has a new "Last Christmas" mini-documentary produced by the BBC available to stream as well.)

Elton John, Never Too Late: Soundtrack to the Disney+ Documentary / Never Too Late: The Deeper Cuts (Rocket)

Soundtrack: iTunes / Amazon
Deeper Cuts: iTunes / Amazon

With the release of the new Elton John documentary Never Too Late on Disney+, Universal have not only released two new versions of the film's "title track," which Elton recorded with Brandi Carlile. They've also released two streaming-only compilations tied to the picture: a soundtrack that offers "Never Too Late" alongside 39 other hits and favorites, and a Deeper Cuts playlist offering 58 previously released album tracks, B-sides and other oddities. (Some tracks appear on both.) Our thanks to reader Larry Davis for making us aware of this one! Fans might also get a kick out of a madcap new alternate music video to Elton's holiday staple "Step Into Christmas," featuring actress/model Cara Delevigne doing her best Elton-circa-'73 drag.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, The Live Series: Songs Under Cover Vol. 3 (Columbia/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon)

An early holiday present for Bruce Springsteen devotees: another installment of the streaming-only Live Series, drawn from live sets The Boss has issued on Nugs.net. This time, it's another 15 career cover songs, and they're some of the most unique entries in his many, many set lists: a take on The Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man" from the Born in the U.S.A. tour, a run-through of Jimmy Cliff's "Trapped" with the 1992/1993 "other" band, a stirring rendition of INXS' "Don't Change" from an Australian date in 2014, and this year's did-that-just-happen version of "Ghostbusters" on Halloween night in Montreal. (Next year is shaping up to be a possibly exciting year for Bruce collectors, per Shore Fire Media's promise of "a look back at Springsteen's storied recording career, featuring never-before-heard material" next year. Rolling Stone suggests it might be a sequel to 1998's Tracks; we're ready to report on the possibilities as they become real!)

Aphex Twin, Music from the Merch Desk (2016 - 2023) (Warp) (iTunes / Amazon)

A surprise drop this week from the British electronic favorite, Music from the Merch Desk is a 38-track collection premiering on digital an assortment of tracks that had, until now, only ever been released on exceedingly rare 12" singles sold at specific concerts and DJ sets.

Verdine White, Superman (Triple Fire) (iTunes / Amazon)

Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White would have turned 83 this week, and EWF bassist Verdine White has celebrated with a rare lead vocal on a hip-shaking tune he wrote in loving tribute to his big brother.

John Murphy, Theme from "Superman" (Trailer Version) (WaterTower Music) (iTunes / Amazon)

Speaking of Superman, comic book fans have been dissecting this week's trailer for next year's new cinematic incarnation of the Man of Steel, written and directed by Guardians of the Galaxy helmer James Gunn (who's also the new co-chairman/CEO of DC Studios at Warner Bros.). In addition to early looks at David Corenswet as the last son of Krypton, the preview unveils a sleek, electric guitar-driven take on John Williams' immortal theme to 1978's Superman: The Movie as arranged by composer John Murphy (who's scored hits like 28 Days Later, Kick-Ass and Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3). Murphy's score has been confirmed by Gunn as featuring nods to that theme along with original material.

Miles Davis, Birth of the Blue (Columbia/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon)

Released on vinyl last week by Analogue Productions, this four-track collection of previously released outtakes chronicles the first 1958 session by the legendary sextet that would record jazz's bestselling album, Kind of Blue.

INXS, Viking Juice (The Butcher Mix) (Petrol/Atlantic) (iTunes / Amazon)

We're about halfway through the last batch of All Juiced Up Part 2 with this alternate take on the closer of 1993's Full Moon, Dirty Hearts.

Archie Bell & The Drells, Dance Your Troubles Away (TSOP) (iTunes / Amazon)

After three albums on Atlantic (along with the chart-topper "Tighten Up"), Houston, TX-born soul group Archie Bell & The Drells signed to Gamble & Huff's TSOP label and got to work with the label's heaviest hitters: Gamble, Huff, McFadden & Whitehead, Victor Carstarphen and Bunny Sigler had some hand across all seven of the album's tracks. "Let's Groove (Part 1)," a Huff/McFadden/Whitehead/Carstarphen composition/production, became a Top 10 hit on Billboard's R&B and dance charts.

The Augustana Choir, Christmas Music (RCA Camden) (iTunes / Amazon)

One last rarity from Legacy Recordings' Yuletide deliveries is this 1960 album by The Augustana Choir, a mixed ensemble from the Illinois university of the same name. After several releases on the Word gospel label, the group (under the direction of Henry Veld) issued this offering of classic winter carols as one of their first of several for the RCA Camden label.

And a last note of gratitude from Team TSD...

It's impossible to believe, but January 2025 marks 15 years since The Second Disc first opened its digital doors. I can't even begin to describe the thrills of all the good it's brought into my life: getting to work with reissue labels large and small, talking to people whose work I've admired for years and years, a sturdy and lasting professional partnership and friendship with our tireless editor Joe Marchese, and the opportunity to shine a light on some of the most important people in the world of music reissues - the ordinary folks who do extraordinary work behind-the-scenes, and you, the readers who celebrate your most anticipated releases and occasionally check us on a typo or two.

This past year has been unpredictable and extraordinary in so many ways. At TSD's New York City HQ, I have conducted interviews and posted news (and occasional opinion) pieces while raising twin daughters and writing my ass off in the few spaces where honest, paid work can be done. Getting to reconnect with music on their level - playing John Williams for my youngest in the NICU, hearing my wife sing songs from The Little Mermaid and Wicked to ease them through discomfort, rocking them to "Feed the Birds (Tuppence a Bag)" through heavy tears upon learning the last of the songwriting duo behind that tune had passed away, or seeing their smiles as I shimmy them to Steve Winwood's "Higher Love" - are some of the happiest memories I have ever formed.

Attempting to work in or report on music catalogue isn't easy. It sometimes feels like the business I wanted to cover as an eager twentysomething doesn't exist in quite the same way. Sometimes doors are shut and there's not much you can do to open them. But Joe and I (and everyone who makes our site what it is) do this for love of the game as much as anything else. The only way we can continue to persevere through uncertain times is with love, hope, strength and gratitude for what we have - and believe me when I say that I'm glad we have you reading our work for these many years. I'm so excited for the next 15, for so many reasons.

May the spirit, camaraderie and music of the season ease your mind into a prosperous new year.