Mary Wilson...our world is empty without you. When Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard (along with their friend Barbara Martin) first came to Motown, they were known as The Primettes. Before their first single's release, they had been rechristened The Supremes. While there was initial skepticism of the name, any such doubts clearly dissipated when "Where Did Our Love Go" reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 on August 22, 1964. It was the first of a staggering twelve No. 1s The
Short Takes: More of Frank Sinatra's "Reprise Rarities" Compiled, Universal Reissues Peggy Lee and David Bowie
Frank Sinatra Enterprises and UMe have released a second volume of their digital-only Reprise Rarities series, bringing together another 13 sides from Frank Sinatra's time at the label he founded, all of which are new to download and streaming. This baker's dozen from the Chairman of the Board spans 1960-1995 and is arguably even more eclectic than the first collection. Reprise Rarities Vol. 2 includes single B-sides ("Tina," "Blue Lace," "Star!," "It's Sunday") as well as the sublime 1976
Add Some Music: Universal Japan Reissues Beach Boys Collections on CD
Beach Boys collectors' alert: late in December 2020, Universal Japan quietly released a series of six collections from the group in the MQA-CD format on UHQ (Ultimate High Quality) CDs and housed in mini-LP paper sleeves with OBIs. While these discs are playable on all CD players, those listeners equipped with MQA decoders are promised a higher-fidelity listening experience. All titles have been 24-bit remastered. The six titles from Brian, Carl, Dennis, Mike, Al, and Bruce (plus Ricky and
Long Shadow: Dark Horse Label Relaunches with "Assembly" from Late Clash Frontman Joe Strummer
Last year, just before COVID-19 derailed most of the world, Olivia and Dhani Harrison announced that George Harrison's Dark Horse label would be relaunching. Founded by the late Beatle in 1974, Dark Horse released George's own records but also LPs from artists including Ravi Shankar, Wings guitarist Henry McCullough, the David Foster band Attitudes, the duo Splinter, and soul group The Stairsteps and Stairsteps member Keni Burke. While there's been no news as to reissues of those vintage Dark
Look at the View: Cherry Red's New Strawberry Imprint Collects Mod, Pop, Psych, and Freakbeat on "Halcyon Days"
Last year, Cherry Red's RPM imprint closed up shop after almost 30 years and some 600+ releases. But a new imprint was announced to pick up where RPM left off: Strawberry. Its inaugural collection, Halcyon Days: '60s Mod, R&B, Brit Soul, and Freakbeat Nuggets has proved an auspicious debut for the imprint with big shoes to fill. The 3-CD collection traces the development of '60s British soul and R&B from the mod period to the first flowering of psychedelia featuring a blend of names
Ain't Misbehavin': Mosaic Collects Louis Armstrong's "Complete RCA Victor and Columbia Studio Sessions 1946-66"
Throughout his remarkable and influential career, Louis Armstrong recorded in a variety of styles for a number of labels. In April, some of his most significant sides for both RCA Victor and Columbia are coming to CD in a new box set from the fine folks at Mosaic Records. The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia and RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1946-1966 is a sprawling and comprehensive 7-CD collection with all 29 of Satchmo's 1946-47 RCA sides plus his '50s Columbia LPs with producer George
Blame It on the Boogie: Legacy Expands Three Jacksons Albums, Reissues "Live!" on Vinyl
45 years after their first recordings were released by Epic and Philadelphia International Records, Sony's Legacy Recordings is turning its attention to The Jacksons. On February 12, the labels will issue digital-only expanded editions of The Jacksons (1976), Goin' Places (1977), and Destiny (1978) while on March 26, a 2-LP vinyl version of The Jacksons Live! (1981) will be released. After seven years at Motown, four-fifths of The Jackson 5 - Michael, Tito, Marlon, and Jackie - made the move
Little Wonder: David Bowie's "Brilliant Live Adventures" Series Continues with 1997 "Look at the Moon!"
The fourth installment of David Bowie's six-concert Brilliant Live Adventures build-it-yourself box set is now available for pre-order. On February 12, Look at the Moon! (Live Phoenix Festival '97) will arrive from Parlophone Records in 2-CD and 3-LP versions. Both formats are one-run-only releases. Look at the Moon! was recorded on July 20, 1997 at the Phoenix Festival at Long Marston Airfield near Shakespeare birthplace Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Bowie was backed by Zachary Alford on
Tommy James and The Shondells' "Celebration: The Complete Roulette Recordings" Out Today on Grapefruit
UPDATED 1/29: Ohio-born, Michigan-raised rocker Tommy James fronted some of the 1960s' most indelible hits, including "I Think We're Alone Now," "Mony Mony," "Crystal Blue Persuasion," "Sweet Cherry Wine," and the chart-topping "Hanky Panky" and "Crimson and Clover." Combining garage rock attitude with pop polish, Tommy James and The Shondells' recordings are still beloved staples of oldies radio today. Now, all of those hits and more have returned to CD in a new 6-disc box set from Cherry
Life Lessons: America's Gerry Beckley Looks Back on New Solo Career Retrospective "Keeping the Light On"
For over fifty years, Gerry Beckley has performed, written, and recorded with the group he co-founded with Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek, America. But with his 1995 album Van Go Gan, Beckley began a parallel solo career that also continues to this very day. On the heels of his sublime 2019 release Five Mile Road, the singer-songwriter is looking back with a new solo retrospective. Keeping the Light On: The Best of Gerry Beckley will arrive in 2-CD and 2-LP formats via the Blue Élan label on
Puttin' on the Ritz: Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein" London Cast Comes to CD from NoteforNote Music
Young Frankenstein, billed as The New Mel Brooks Musical, came to Broadway in fall 2007 as one of the Great White Way's most hotly-anticipated tickets. A musical adaptation of Brooks' beloved 1974 film, the production reunited the creative team behind The Producers, the record-breaking, multiple Tony Award-winning show that had closed in spring '07 after six years and 2,502 performances: composer, lyricist, and librettist Brooks; co-librettist Thomas Meehan (Annie, Hairspray);
Heavy: Cherry Red, Esoteric Collect Iron Butterfly's "Unconscious Power" on New Box Set
Truth in advertising: Iron Butterfly's first album was titled Heavy. The 1968 Atco Records release introduced the band's dense sound fusing hard rock and psychedelia with a set of original songs plus a reimagining of Allen Toussaint's "Get Out of My Life Woman." While three-fifths of the band left after that debut, Heavy nonetheless began Iron Butterfly on a journey encompassing four studio LPs, one-off tracks, and live sets through 1971. Now, that journey has been lavishly chronicled on a
Point of Rising: Jeff Larson, Jeddrah Team Up for Collaborative Album "New Moon"
Who says that classy adult pop is a thing of the past? The California pop-rock sound is in gorgeous full bloom on Jeff Larson and Jeddrah's New Moon, available everywhere today on digital/streaming services as well as physical CD from Japan's Vivid Sound label. The first (but hopefully not the last) full-length collaborative album between the two artists, New Moon is collaborative in every sense. Larson, a mainstay of the West Coast scene who's worked extensively with America and recently
Wake Up Everybody: 50 Years of Philadelphia International Celebrated by Legacy Recordings, VMP, Snapper Music
Fifty years ago, the release of Billy Paul's Going East on LP and The Ebonys' "You're the Reason Why" on a 45 RPM single marked the birth of Philadelphia International Records. By 1971, co-founders Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff had already garnered significant chart success with their songs and productions for such artists as The Soul Survivors ("Expressway to Your Heart"), The Intruders ("Cowboys to Girls"), Archie Bell and the Drells ("(There's Gonna Be A) Showdown"), Lesley Gore, Dusty
Takin' Care of Business: Dutton Vocalion Reissues Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Burton Cummings, Mott the Hoople, Leonard Bernstein, More in Quadraphonic
The Dutton Vocalion label has announced its first batch of hybrid SACD releases (playable on all CD players) for 2021 including another group of long-out-of-print quadraphonic surround mixes. First up is a three-for-one release from Ian Hunter and Mott the Hoople. The first disc of this 2-SACD set presents 1974's The Hoople (the band's highest charting album in the U.S.) in stereo and quadraphonic; followed by a stereo-only presentation of 1972's All the Young Dudes (featuring David Bowie's
Heart and Brain: Omnivore Preps Spoken Word Releases from Richard Pryor, Allen Ginsberg
Omnivore Recordings is heating up this winter with a trio of spoken-word releases from two legendary and provocative figures, Richard Pryor and Allen Ginsberg. Richard Pryor (1940-2005) wasn't just one of the most significant and influential stand-up comedians of all time but also a genuine film superstar, an accomplished writer, an Emmy Award recipient, Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize honoree, and five-time Grammy Award winner. Omnivore Recordings is traveling back to the early years of the
I Want a Kiss: Stage Door Reissues 1967 Recording of "The Desert Song" Starring Mary Millar and Robert Colman
Late last year, Stage Door Records reissued the London Studio Cast Recording of David Heneker's musical Jorrocks, originally released on the Saga Records label. Now, Stage Door is returning to the Saga vaults with another CD premiere, this time of the label's 1967 recording of the classic operetta The Desert Song. The Desert Song has endured since its Broadway debut in November 1926. The production began its life under the title Lady Fair for tryouts in Wilmington and Boston before making
Short Takes: Cherry Red Spotlight on Tasmin Archer and Kevin Rowland
Today's Short Takes looks at some nice things we've missed over the past few months from Cherry Red! Yorkshire-born singer-songwriter Tasmin Archer has only released three full-length studio albums in nearly thirty years, but there's no doubt that she has practiced "quality over quantity." The title of her first LP, 1992's Great Expectations, might have been tongue-in-cheek as Archer exceeded all expectations. The opening track and first single, the rhythmic ballad "Sleeping Satellite,"
Rocks: Primal Scream's "Give Out But Don't Give Up: The Original Memphis Recordings" Gets Run Out Groove Reissue
The Scottish rockers of Primal Scream always refused to be pigeonholed, with their music reflecting a wide range of sounds from jangle pop and garage rock to psychedelia and house/dance. In 1993, the band traveled to Memphis, Tennessee's Ardent Studios for a brace of blues-rock sessions with legendary producer Tom Dowd (Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin, Jackie DeShannon), engineer Jeff Powell, and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. But Creation Records reportedly wasn't happy with the
A Few Words on Phil Spector (1939-2021)
"I'm feeling a range of different emotions right now. I feel a sigh of relief but emptiness too. Another chapter in my life has come to an end. A truly sad ending to a brilliant music pioneer. I will say, if it weren't for Phil, there would never be a Darlene Love." - Darlene Love "It's a sad day for music and a sad day for me. When I was working with Phil Spector, watching him create in the recording studio, I knew I was working with the very best. He was in complete control, directing
It's Only "Words": Playback Collects Rarities on "A Bee Gees Songbook"
While The Bee Gees have never truly faded from the popular consciousness, it's fair to say the group founded by Barry Gibb and his late brothers Maurice and Robin is currently experiencing a renaissance. Director Frank Marshall's documentary How Can You Mend a Broken Heart earned acclaim for its candid chronicle of the group's ups and downs while Barry has reaffirmed his legacy with the new album Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers Songbook Vol. 1. On the latter, he's joined by an array of country
Turn Up the Night: Rhino Reissuing First Two Dio-Era Black Sabbath Albums
Ozzy Osbourne was a tough act to follow, but Ronnie James Dio more than filled his shoes when he took over the frontman role in Black Sabbath for the metal pioneers' 1979 album Heaven and Hell. On March 5, Rhino will salute the Dio era with deluxe 2-CD or 2-LP reissues of both Heaven and Hell and its 1981 follow-up, Mob Rules. When it became clear that Black Sabbath couldn't proceed with its original lead vocalist, Ozzy Osbourne, Ronnie James Dio (Elf, Rainbow) was paged. Dio was introduced
Let the Sunshine In: Music on Vinyl Reissues Expanded Edition of "Hair"
Ready to head back to the dawning of the Age of Aquarius? Hair, from composer Galt MacDermot and librettist-lyricists Gerome Ragni and James Rado, made quite a splash Off-Broadway in 1967, but when it moved uptown under the avant garde direction of Tom O'Horgan, it was an immediate, shocking sensation. The original Broadway production of "the American tribal love rock musical" would ultimately run for 1,750 performances and inspire three Broadway returns, but the reach of the pro-peace,
Midnight Rocks: Cherry Red, Esoteric Reissue Al Stewart's "24 Carrots," Collect Anthony Phillips' "Missing Links"
Periodically this month, we'll be looking at titles released in the latter part of 2020 that we either didn't cover, or only covered briefly, the first time around! We hope you enjoy this look at "some nice things we've missed." Scottish singer-songwriter Al Stewart released his first album in 1967 but didn't break into the lucrative American market until 1974's Past, Present, and Future (released 1973 in the U.K.). While that LP only peaked within the second half of the Billboard 200, the
I Want You, I Need You: Retroactive Reissues Three from Chris Christian Including Star-Studded LP with Cross, Valli, Champlin, Beckley, Foster
Chris Christian rose to prominence as one-third of the pop trio Cotton, Lloyd and Christian alongside producer Michael Lloyd (The Osmonds, Barry Manilow) and Daryl Cotton (Zoot, Olivia Newton-John). Before long, Christian's songs were being recorded by the likes of Elvis Presley ("Love Song of the Year"), Dionne Warwick ("When the World Runs Out of Love"), and Carpenters ("(Want You) Back in My Life Again"). Christian also produced and wrote songs for artists including B.J. Thomas, Marilyn
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