Singer-guitarist Trini Lopez, Texas-born and of Mexican descent, skyrocketed to fame with his 1963 recording of Pete Seeger's "If I Had a Hammer." Lopez's bright and spirited rendition of the protest song went to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and even eclipsed Peter, Paul, and Mary's Grammy-winning top ten hit of one year earlier. It launched Lopez to a successful career as an all-around entertainer, television and film actor, and prolific recording artist. "If I Had a Hammer" came to disc
Welcome to My World: Burt Bacharach and Steven Sater's "Some Lovers" Features Jennifer Holliday, Kristin Chenoweth, Auli'i Cravalho, More
"Burt Bacharach's patented songwriting style is on luxurious display in Some Lovers, the new musical he wrote with Steven Sater, one of the creators of Spring Awakening," wrote The Los Angeles Times upon the musical's 2011 premiere at San Diego's Old Globe. "Octogenarian composer Bacharach brings youthful freshness to the project," opined Variety. "[Some Lovers] is packed with nearly 20 new songs by pop virtuoso Burt Bacharach," offered The San Diego Union-Tribune, "and in theater it doesn't
Do the Dance Now: Cherry Red, Esoteric Reissue Cult Favorites from Colin Scot, "English" Gypsy
Today, we're looking at two recent sets from the vaults of United Artists Records courtesy of Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint. Singer-songwriter Colin Scot (1941-1999) only recorded three albums in his too-short lifetime. While none of them dented the charts, all three revealed a talented singer-songwriter in the folk-rock vein. Esoteric has reissued Scot's first LP, from 1971, in an expanded edition that's actually a repress of the 2006 release on the Eclectic Discs label. In
Let Me Hear Your Body Talk: Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" Goes Deluxe For Its 40th Anniversary
For years, fans have clamored for expanded reissues from Olivia Newton-John's rich discography. Now, those wishes are about to be answered as a catalogue campaign begins for the pop queen with a 40th anniversary 2CD/DVD set of 1981's multi-platinum Physical. It arrives on October 22 from Green Hill, the label arm of publishing powerhouse Primary Wave which partnered with Newton-John in 2020 for a deal encompassing both masters and publishing rights. When Newton-John's character of Sandy
Hold On My Heart: Genesis Looks Back On Tour Companion Collection "The Last Domino?"
On November 15, Phil Collins, Tony Banks, and Mike Rutherford are planning to take the stage at Chicago's United Center as Genesis to launch the band's first North American tour since 2007. (The European leg kicked off in September.) The tour is entitled The Last Domino? (note the question mark), and four days after its debut, Rhino in the U.S. and Virgin/UMC in the U.K. will release a companion collection. The Last Domino?, the album, is due on November 19 and will offer 27 tracks, including
Sweets for My Sweet: Cherry Red, SoulMusic Collect The Sweet Inspirations' Atlantic Recordings on "Let It Be Me"
In its 1960s heyday, Atlantic Records was the destination for deeply-felt soul. Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Solomon Burke, and Wilson Pickett were just a handful of the artists there who defined the sound of soul music. Lesser-known but no less significant were The Sweet Inspirations. Today, the vocal quartet might be best-remembered as Elvis Presley's preferred onstage backup group, but The King was just one of a staggering number of artists they supported - including the
Your Turn to Drive: Two David Bowie Boxes, Including Expanded 'Toy,' Announced
Almost two weeks ago, Warner Music Group announced the agreement that will unite David Bowie's 2000-2016 recordings with the 1968-1999 catalogue already under the Warner umbrella. The same announcement confirmed the resumption of the series of career-spanning Era box sets. Now, it's been revealed that the fifth Era box, Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001), will arrive via Parlophone on November 26. In addition to five remastered studio albums, a live concert, and three discs of rarities, the
A Million Stars: Vinyl Me, Please Teams with Aloha Got Soul for Hawaiian Classics from Mackey Feary Band, Eddie Suzuki and New Hawaii
"Grin, even when you're at your lowest, grin," implores Mackey Feary on the opening track of his 1978 solo album Mackey Feary Band. "You're Young" is all sun and breeze, making it near-impossible to suppress the requested grin. It's languid yet funky, with shimmering guitars, wending saxophone, and sweet female background voices adding to the luster. As a founding member of Kalapana, Feary had been at the vanguard of Hawaiian pop in the 1970s; alongside such artists as Cecilio and Kapono and
Sweet Dream: Jethro Tull's 'Benefit' Gets 50th Anniversary Remix, Expansion
With 1970's Benefit, Jethro Tull continued to refine their sound. The blues/jazz fusion of the band's debut This Was had already ceded to a more eclectic style on Stand Up; Benefit would edge Tull towards riff-rock while still maintaining the folk and jazz touchstones that set the band apart. Benefit ultimately became a best-seller, setting the stage for 1971's Aqualung and the even greater international successes that followed. In 2013, Benefit was expanded as a 2CD/DVD set featuring new
Waiting for the Man: Soundtrack for Todd Haynes' Velvet Underground Film Due in October
Director Todd Haynes has long emphasized music in his filmography. One of his first works to garner significant attention was 1987's controversial and unauthorized Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story; four years later, his evocation of the glam rock era in Velvet Goldmine made more commercial waves. More recently, he's been attached to direct Michelle Williams in the forthcoming Peggy Lee biopic Fever. But before Haynes tackles Peggy, he's returning to a different Velvet: The Velvet
Direct from Hollywood: Frank Zappa's "200 Motels" Turns 50, Goes Super Deluxe
1971 was a banner year for cinema with such all-time classics as The French Connection, A Clockwork Orange, Carnal Knowledge, The Last Picture Show, and Shaft. The highest-grossing film of the year in North America was United Artists' Fiddler on the Roof. But Fiddler wasn't the studio's only musical of the year. Mere days before the Broadway adaptation hit cinemas, UA opened one of the most wild, inventive, outré, and unhinged films of the year: 200 Motels. Written, co-directed, and composed
Morning Has Broken: Cat Stevens' "Teaser and the Firecat" Goes Super Deluxe in November
In 1971, Cat Stevens, a.k.a. Yusuf Islam, built upon the success of his first two albums for Island Records (U.K.) and A&M Records (U.S.) with Teaser and the Firecat. Featuring three of the singer-songwriter's most beloved songs - "Peace Train," "Moonshadow," and an adaptation of the hymn "Morning Has Broken" - Teaser became his first U.K. and U.S. top five chart entry, reaching No. 2 on both charts. Following last year's 50th anniversary deluxe reissues of Mona Bone Jakon and Tea for the
Stop Your Sobbing: Rhino Expands First Two Pretenders Albums for 40th Anniversary
They may have called themselves The Pretenders, but Chrissie Hynde, James Honeyman-Scott, Pete Farndon, and Martin Chambers were as authentic as they come. The four-piece rock combo fused American and British styles (Hynde was the American émigré; the other three were British), bringing the swagger of punk to the craft of classic rock. The Pretenders' hip, seemingly effortless sound was crystallized on the band's first two records (not incidentally, the only two records with the original
Grapefruit Records Spotlight: Complete Collections Arrive from The Sorrows, Fire, and Tintern Abbey
Today, we're spotlighting three recent "Complete" collections from Cherry Red's Grapefruit imprint. "We played punk before punk was invented!" That quote by vocalist Don Fardon of The Sorrows opens up Grapefruit's new 4-CD set Pink Purple Yellow and Red: The Complete Sorrows. The R&B band formed in Coventry in 1963 and became a fixture on the mod scene; later, they were retroactively branded "freakbeat" for their aggressive and edgy style of R&B and rock and roll. Fardon, lead
Who Could Ask for Anything More? Stage Door Concludes "Show Time" Series With Third Volume Featuring "Girl Crazy," "Anything Goes," "Porgy and Bess," and More
By 1953, RCA Victor already boasted a considerable number of Broadway classics in its catalogue - from original cast recordings of Brigadoon and Paint Your Wagon to studio cast renditions of South Pacific and Finian's Rainbow. But the label was eager to build up its musical theatre repertoire and compete with the likes of Columbia and Decca. To that end, the Show Time series was launched - a collection of 16 EPs, each dedicated to four songs from a beloved musical or operetta. The EPs were
In This Together: Simply Red Collect Remixes on New 2CD Set
Rhino U.K. is painting the town Red with the October 22 release of Simply Red Remixed Vol. 1 (1985-2000) collecting 22 remixes (including seven previously unreleased) on 2 CDs or digital platforms from the Manchester pop-soul band. Simply Red's debut album, 1985's Picture Book, introduced the band that then featured Mick Hucknall (vocals), Fritz McIntyre (keyboards/vocals), Chris Joyce (drums/percussion), Tony Bowers (bass), Sylvan Richardson (guitar), and Tim Kellett (trumpet). The album
In His Room: Brian Wilson's "At My Piano" Offers Solo Piano Renditions of Beach Boys Favorites
Those lucky enough to have seen Brian Wilson in one of his solo concerts knows that it's always a special moment when the Beach Boys' leader plays the piano. While he's always seated in front of a keyboard, he leaves the heavy lifting to such long-serving bandmates as Darian Sahanaja, Gary Griffin, or Billy Hinsche. Yet his mastery of the instrument has never been in doubt; in one moving moment of the recent documentary Long Promised Road, he's seen in the studio showing exactly how a tune
Are You Ready for the Sex Girls? Omnivore Reissues Gleaming Spires Discography
"Of the hundreds of new records unleashed on the public each year, few stand out as truly inspired, literate works of art," began Sparks' Russell Mael in his liner notes to Gleaming Spires' 1981 debut Song of the Spires. "Fewer still go beyond that. Though I have not personally had the time to listen to this, the Gleaming Spires' first recorded effort, two of my bridge partners tell me that this record goes way, way beyond." Sparks' tongue-in-cheek endorsement (to which Russell's brother Ron
Spooky, Scary: Andrew Gold's "Halloween Howls" Returns on Friday
When late singer-songwriter Andrew Gold set out to record his Halloween Howls: Fun and Scary Music album, he knew he was filling a void. The composer-lyricist of "Thank You for Being a Friend" and "Lonely Boy" wrote in the 1996 CD's original liner notes, "Each holiday has a mood and usually has music to go with it. However, it's been very hard to find any tapes or CDs of Halloween music. In fact, there's mostly just scary sound effects available and very few songs. So, I fixed that." Over the
Here to Make Music: Vinyl Me, Please Announces Philadelphia International Records Anthology
Sony Music's celebration of Philadelphia International Records' 50th anniversary has so far encompassed a new, vinyl-only series of hits collections as well as the first two releases in the ongoing complete albums series of CD box sets from the U.K.'s Snapper/United Souls label. Now, a major component of the golden anniversary celebration for the house that Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff built has been announced by the Vinyl Me, Please record club. VMP Anthology: The Story of Philadelphia
Love in the Key of C: Demon Reissues Belinda Carlisle's "A Woman and a Man" for 25th Anniversary
In December, The Go-Go's will launch a mini-tour of California and Nevada hot on the heels of their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. Demon Music Group has recently been revisiting the catalogue of the band's breakout star Belinda Carlisle on vinyl. Following such releases as 2017's Heaven on Earth (reissued for its 30th anniversary), 2019's Runaway Horses (also a 30th anniversary), and Belinda earlier this year (marking its 35th), the label has delivered a Deluxe 25th Anniversary 3LP Box
Review: The Beach Boys, "Feel Flows: The Sunflower and Surf's Up Sessions 1969-1971"
Like a Companion for Your Lonely Soul Those placing the needle on The Beach Boys' Sunflower upon its release in 1970 might have been taken aback by the sheer drive of its opening track. The lusty "Slip on Through" - co-written, produced, and primarily sung by Dennis Wilson - rocked harder than just about anything else in the band's discography to that point. The song announced that Sunflower was not just The Beach Boys' first album on a new label but the beginning of a new chapter
Yesterday Once More: Richard Carpenter Returns with Solo "Piano Songbook"
Richard Carpenter's last solo album was titled Pianist, Arranger, Composer, Conductor. Now the musical legend is returning in three of those capacities for his first full-length recording since that 1997 set. His third overall solo album, Richard Carpenter's Piano Songbook arrives from Decca Records - not A&M, but part of the same Universal Music family - on October 22 in CD and digital formats. The nine-song collection features newly-recorded solo piano renditions of some of the rich,
Baby, What a Big Surprise: Chicago's "Japanese Singles Collection," Featuring Rare Versions, Out Now
On the eve of the release of Chicago's At Carnegie Hall: Complete, Rhino Japan has another treat for fans of the horn-rock band. The 2CD/DVD set Chicago: Japanese Singles Collection - Greatest Hits boasts 41 audio tracks representing the band's A-sides released in Japan between 1969 and 1998 plus 17 music videos. It's available now from CD Japan and Amazon Japan, as well as local Amazon stores as an import. Especially in the absence of a long overdue, complete U.S. singles anthology, this is
You Won't Change Me: Black Sabbath's "Technical Ecstasy" Goes Super Deluxe
2021 has been a good year for fans of Black Sabbath: the band's Vol. 4, Sabotage, Heaven and Hell, and Mob Rules have all been reissued and expanded. Now, Rhino is turning its attention to the band's 1976 album Technical Ecstasy. Sabbath's seventh album, the Gold-certified Technical Ecstasy will arrive on October 1 in 4CD and 5LP box set editions featuring the remastered original album, a brand-new Steven Wilson remix, and over 90 minutes of previously unheard bonus material. Black Sabbath
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