And the great soul music just keeps on comin’. Our friends at Funky Town Grooves have announced quite a slate of dance classics sure to keep your feet moving this May. The varied line-up has been drawn from the vaults of Sony (CBS, Arista and RCA) and EMI (Capitol) and includes both artists new to the label and returning favorites. In addition, a number of titles are making their first-ever CD debuts and some editions have been expanded with rare dance mixes. Intrigued? Ron Banks of The
"Get Back" To The Beatles With Ace's "Black America Sings Lennon and McCartney"
“Yesterday” is considered the most-covered popular song of all time, but might The Beatles also be the most-covered band of the rock era? I’ll leave that one to the Guinness folks, but needless to say, there are thousands of cover versions of songs introduced by The Fab Four, most of which were written under the “Lennon and McCartney” umbrella. On June 7, Ace will release a follow-up to its acclaimed 2010 collection How Many Roads: Black America Sings Bob Dylan, turning the spotlight onto the
Elton, CSN, Costello, Taylor and More Salute Neil Young on Tribute DVD and Blu-Ray
What do David Crosby, Luciano Pavarotti, Bono and Neil Diamond all have in common? Each gentleman is a past honoree as MusiCares Person of the Year. Administered by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and chosen by the MusiCares Foundation, the title is bestowed upon artists to commend both artistic achievement in music and commitment to philanthropy. A tribute is to paid to the recipient with an evening of eclectic performances celebrating his or her legacy. In 2011, the
Release Round-Up: Week of April 26
Derek and the Dominos, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (Universal) The 2-CD remastered/expanded 40th Anniversary Edition (previously a Best Buy exclusive) and super deluxe 4-CD/2-LP/1-DVD box set of the seminal album both arrive in stores today. Read more here. (2-CD – Amazon, Box Set – Amazon) Bob Dylan, The Other Side of the Mirror: Live at the Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965 (Columbia/Legacy) Murray Lerner’s film chronicling Dylan’s incendiary performances at Newport is released on
It's Motown Monday: Kent Releases The Definitive Monitors In June
It's Motown Monday here at The Second Disc as we're pleased to spread the news of the latest title in Ace Records' series of lost Motown treasures! Previous releases have been devoted to The Satintones, The Contours and Marv Johnson, and this June will see the first-ever CD anthology dedicated to the recordings of The Monitors. Led by future Temptation Richard Street, The Monitors released five singles on Berry Gordy's V.I.P. and Soul labels and one LP on Soul. Say You!: The Motown Anthology
Review: Don Sebesky, "Giant Box"
Why can’t jazz be populist and pure, both at the same time? One imagines Creed Taylor asked that question when he launched CTI (Creed Taylor Incorporated) as a solo label back in 1970. Three years earlier he had decamped from Verve and christened the CTI name as an imprint of Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss’ A&M Records. At A&M, Taylor produced nearly 30 albums by such jazz greats as Wes Montgomery, Montgomery's heir apparent George Benson, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Herbie Mann. Taylor’s
Stage and Screen Classics, Reissued: "Until September" and "Camelot"
If there’s a link between Kritzerland’s two new releases, it would have to be melody. I’m speaking of sheer, unadulterated, romantic melody, courtesy of two of music’s finest purveyors of such themes: John Barry and Frederick Loewe. This morning, the stage and screen specialists announced two limited edition titles of 1,000, and both are notable, indeed. From Mr. Barry comes the 1984 score to Until September, while Mr. Loewe is represented by the first-ever CD release of the 1964 Original
WE HAVE A WINNER!: Bob Dylan's "The Other Side of the Mirror" on Blu-Ray
The Second Disc would like to extend hearty congratulations to reader MICHAEL ELDER! Michael is the winning entrant in our contest for The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965 on Blu-Ray, courtesy of our wonderful friends at Legacy Recordings! Mike and I would like to extend a big "THANK YOU!" to all who entered, as well as a special thanks to those of you who had such nice things to say about The Second Disc along with your contest entries. Your
Friday Feature: "Night Shift"
Fate works in mysterious ways. Dionne Warwick was home one evening, half-asleep while the 1982 film Night Shift played on her television set. “I didn’t really pay attention to the names that were going up on the credits,” Warwick recounted, “but I knew that was Burt Bacharach’s melody. There was no way in the world it could be anybody else’s.” She was speaking of “That’s What Friends Are For,” an all-but-forgotten song written for the 1982 film Night Shift, Ron Howard’s major big screen
Now Boarding: Jefferson Airplane Reissues Take Off On BGO and Friday Music
Now departing from San Francisco: it's Jefferson Airplane! While the classic band's live reissue series launched by Collector's Choice Music remains in limbo, fans of the classic rock line-up of Grace Slick, Marty Balin, Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady and Spencer Dryden don't have to fear! Both BGO Records and Friday Music have a rich slate of Airplane projects to keep the group flying high! Friday Music kicks things off with a 180-gram vinyl LP remastering of the ironically-titled
Bob Seger Reissues His Live Albums with a Bullet
If you're in the mood for that old time rock & roll, you just might be in luck! Capitol and EMI have announced two remastered editions of classic live albums from Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. 1976's Live Bullet and 1981's Nine Tonight are both due in stores on May 17. Bob Seger catapulted to national stardom in 1976 with the LP Night Moves, after a string of regional hits in the Detroit area and throughout the Midwest. Just before that commercial breakthrough, Seger and his
Heavy Traffic: "The Jim Capaldi Story" Told On Upcoming Box Set
It's time to clear a space on your shelf next to Steve Winwood's 1995 box set The Finer Things or its 2010 counterpart Revolutions. The life and career of Winwood's longtime collaborator Jim Capaldi (1944-2005) is being celebrated by the fine folks at Universal U.K. with a lavish new box set, Dear Mr. Fantasy: The Jim Capaldi Story. Set for release on June 27, Dear Mr. Fantasy is named after one of Traffic's most beloved songs. It encompasses Capaldi's work with that group as well as early
Shirley Bassey Goes Beyond "Goldfinger" On BGO Reissue
Dame Shirley Bassey first blazed into the American consciousness in 1964 singing the immortal theme to Goldfinger. Bassey's full-throttle take on the John Barry/Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse song became her first and only American Top 10 single, and helped the film’s soundtrack recording climb all the way to the top spot. Bassey returned to both John Barry and James Bond with the themes to Diamonds are Forever (1971) and Moonraker (1979), but she never again scaled the heights of commercial
Beach Boys Reunite on Record for Japan Relief
Take it from one who knows: the Record Store Day-exclusive 78 RPM release of The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes and Villains" wasn't easy to come by. You've now got another chance, however, to own a special Beach Boys collectible vinyl single. At the same time, you can help a great cause. Among the highlights of Al Jardine's 2010 solo album A Postcard from California was "Don't Fight the Sea," a track reuniting Jardine with Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Bruce Johnston and even Carl
Robinson Is "Smokin'" On 1978 Live Set Due from Hip-o Select
The Supremes aren't the only Motown act getting a little bit of reissue love today from Hip-o Select! William “Smokey” Robinson has lived up to his nickname in a staggering seven decades now, setting the charts ablaze with particular frequency in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. So it was with a deep catalogue already behind him – and yet more hits ahead of him – that Robinson recorded the double live album Smokin’, which arrived in stores in October 1978. Back in January, The Second Disc
"What's New?" Ronstadt and Riddle Classic Revisited on Gold CD
While the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has inexplicably remained immune to her charms, few artists have had the career of Linda Ronstadt. She's racked up 38 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including ten that went Top Ten. On the album chart, she's placed 36 entries, including ten that reached the Top Ten there too (her magic number!) and three that hit pole position. And consider this: after playing a vital role in the country-rock scene with the Stone Poneys and their hit recording of Mike
"Would You Believe" The Complete Hollies 1963-1968 Is Coming From EMI?
Fans of the Hollies have lately had plenty of items on their wish lists, thanks to recent releases from the Sundazed and BGO labels. Yes, it’s been quite a year in catalogue terms for the lads from Manchester! EMI’s U.K. arm continues the celebration with the May 9 release of one whopper of a box set. The Clarke, Hicks & Nash Years (what about Bobby Elliott? Just askin’!) is subtitled The Complete Hollies: April 1963 – October 1968, and if this is somewhat of a fallacy, it’s more or less the
Crossing the Pond: "London American Label 1963" Spotlights Spector and More
It’s 1963. Imagine a label that counted Roy Orbison, Darlene Love, James Brown, The Drifters and Jerry Lee Lewis all among its artists. While such an array of talent never convened under one roof in America, it was a very different story in the United Kingdom. The U.K.’s Decca Record Company indeed brought all of those artists, and more, under the umbrella of its London American label. London American delivered the best in American pop, R&B and rock and roll to British audiences. Ace is
Right On: Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" Receives 40th Anniversary Box Set (UPDATED WITH TRACK LIST)
Smokey Robinson has called it "the greatest album of all time." Rolling Stone ranked it in the Top Ten in its survey of the Greatest Albums of All Time, at No. 6. Marvin Gaye's What's Going On broke the Motown mold as Gaye delivered one of the most personal albums of all time: impassioned, outraged, haunting, beautiful and altogether unexpected. That seminal LP was released on May 21, 1971 and has remained in print since. Ten years ago, for its thirtieth anniversary, Motown reissued What's Going
That's Amore: Capitol Releases More from Dean Martin in June
Dean Martin once implored in song, "Please don't talk about me when I'm gone." Dino has been gone since 1995, but I doubt he'd mind that fans and collectors alike haven't stopped talking about him since. Part of this is due to the seemingly endless stream of repackaged "greatest hits" collections - and guess what? Not one, not two, but three such sets are on the way this June, just in time for Father's Day. Now ain't that a kick in the head! Back in February, we reported on Hip-o's two-CD,
Review: Bob Dylan, "In Concert: Brandeis University 1963"
Will the real Bob Dylan please stand up? Sunday, May 12, 1963. A 21-year old Bob Dylan is scheduled to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, America’s favorite variety program. The young singer plans to perform his satirical “Talking John Birch Paranoid Blues,” taking sharp aim at the radical anti-Communist John Birch Society. In the song, Dylan’s narrator joins the group, walking off with his “secret membership card," ready to hunt for reds. “Now we all agree with Hitler’s views, although he killed
No Gloomy "Sunday" with Complete Les Baxter Debut
Les Baxter sure gets around. The past year has seen reissues of the maestro's scores from a number of labels including Intrada, La-La Land and Kritzerland, and the latter ups the ante today with the release of the exotica master's score to 1960's infamous Black Sunday (La Maschera del Demonio, or The Mask of Satan). Mario Bava's Italian horror classic stars Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Arturo Dominici and Ivo Garrani in the tale of a vampire/witch put to death by her brother who is reborn
Rhino Knows What Time It Is: Chicago "Live in '75" Coming from Handmade (UPDATED 4/11)
UPDATE 4/11: The link just before the jump takes you directly to the order page for this set. Original post: Billboard has certified them as the second-most successful American rock band in music history, only following The Beach Boys. The RIAA places them handily in the Top Ten of all-time album sales from an American group. So it's fair to say that Chicago is still perhaps the most successful American rock band to have been wholly ignored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band has
Back Tracks: The Shirelles on Scepter
Diana Ross, Martha Reeves and Mary Weiss – and even Joan Jett, Victoria Beckham and Nicole Scherzinger – all owe a debt to Shirley Owens, Doris Coley, Addie Harris and Beverly Lee. That quartet doesn’t have the name recognition of those that followed them, but those four young women from Passaic, New Jersey ignited the girl group phenomenon when they joined forces as The Poquellos, soon to be renamed The Shirelles. Were The Shirelles the first girl group? Probably not. Were they the first to
Another Barrel Full of Monkees from Friday Music?
So you want to be a rock 'n' roll star? Then listen now to what I say...Just get an electric guitar, then take some time and learn how to play... Those acerbic lyrics from The Byrds' 1967 "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star" were admittedly aimed at The Monkees, according to the song's co-writer, Chris Hillman. Yet from the vantage point of over forty years later, the pop and television stars have more than proved their true musical credentials. They're taking their act on the road this
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 161
- 162
- 163
- 164
- 165
- …
- 172
- Next Page »