About - The Second Disc

On January 11, 2010, The Second Disc published its first post: a look back at the best reissues of 2009 featuring titles from Elvis Costello, The Beatles and Michael Jackson. The same day, Mike Duquette posted our first true news item, about Legacy Recordings' acquisition of the Jimi Hendrix catalogue. On January 31 came our first review, of Whitney Houston: The Deluxe Anniversary Edition. On March 4, 2010, Joe Marchese joined The Second Disc with two reviews - one of David Bowie's Deram Records debut, and one of The Essential Carole King, in case you were wondering - and a news article about an upcoming reissue campaign for the Cameo-Parkway catalogue.

Since those early days, The Second Disc has published over 3,600 articles, or roughly two articles per day for those five years. We've recently welcomed a new contributor and look forward to adding more new voices in the weeks to come. Though we've changed quite a bit since 2010, as has the music world we cover day in and day out, our goals are the same as they were on Day One as detailed in our "The Second Disc Explained" post:

They say the music industry is dying. In the past decade, as digital downloads, shrinking record stores and a bumper crop of flavor-of-the-month artists invaded the public consciousness, some would quickly agree: the music biz is dead, long live the music biz.

But this attitude ignores the one ace that major labels have tucked away in their sleeves: their back catalogues. You can debate the merits of contemporary music as much as you want, but the sounds of the past will continue to shine between generations. In 2009 alone, current events led audiences back to the works of Michael Jackson and The Beatles, and sales were considerably mighty - a simple reminder that some music will always stand the test of time.

We promised that "if it's reissued, remastered or expanded, you'll find it here." Having covered more than 500 titles each year, we still stand by that pledge. Whether you want to read about classic rock, popular vocals, vintage jazz, disco, Broadway cast recordings, or film soundtracks, you'll find them all here. We hope you enjoy and explore the all-new Second Disc designed by Metaglyphics. We're most happy to introduce a Release Calendar among our new features. As it will be updated on a daily basis, it will allow us to cover even more catalogue music titles than before.

Of course, we're most proud of our latest, and most significant, project. On March 10, we will mark the launch of Second Disc Records. Joe Marchese of The Second Disc has teamed with the musical gurus at Real Gone Music to bring remastered and expanded reissues to life on compact disc. As an imprint of Real Gone, the Second Disc Records label inaugurates its catalogue with Johnny Mathis' Life is a Song Worth Singing: The Complete Thom Bell Sessions and Bob Crewe's The Complete Elektra Recordings. We truly hope you will check these titles out; both feature previously unreleased and/or new-to-CD music, while the booklets contain the same style of in-depth writing you've come to expect here. And those two releases are just the tip of the iceberg as to what we have planned for 2015 and beyond.

So, thank you for joining us on this ride, and especially on our newest and most exciting venture yet with Second Disc Records. We couldn't do it without you. As we said back on that first day, five years ago:

Now go and cue up your favorite songs and read on - you never know what you might rediscover!

- Joe Marchese, January 13, 2015

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others.

He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

Michael Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he discovered there was more than one version of John Williams' soundtrack to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his intended profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small, from vintage soul to stirring film scores. His passion for reissues turned into a profession in 2014 with co-producing credits on two best-selling vinyl singles for Sony's Legacy Recordings: a 30th anniversary "ecto-green" pressing of Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters" and a celebratory pressing of Wham!'s "Last Christmas" on red and green vinyl. Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with an ever-expanding collection of box sets and vinyl.

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