Happy New Year, and welcome to The Second Disc's Seventh Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! As with every year's awards, our goals are simple: to recognize as many of the year's most essential reissues and catalogue titles as possible, and to celebrate as many of those labels, producers and artists who make these releases happen in today's unpredictable retail landscape. The labels you'll read about below have, by and large, bucked the trends to prove that there's still a demand for physical
In Memoriam: George Michael (1963-2016)
Last night, the shocking news came that George Michael had died at the age of 53. Born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, the artist created music that lived up to the title of WHAM!'s second album Make It Big. Michael's fearlessness was big; his ambition was big; his talent, of course, was big. Whether crafting bright, ebullient and danceable pop, sensual balladry or funky dancefloor jams, the passionate Michael (as writer, producer, musician, and vocalist) wore his heart on his sleeve.
Happy Holidays and Release Round-Up: Weeks of December 23 and 30
Christmas is just around the corner, and here at The Second Disc, we're hoping that you'll join us in celebrating the spirit of the season - heading home for the holidays, spending time with cherished family and friends, enjoying bounties of food, love, and music, and reflecting on the good times you shared in 2016. Our year was, by and large, a wonderful one. We released six titles on our Second Disc Records imprint of the amazing Real Gone Music label, from a Bobby Darin anthology that
Rock You All Around the World: Judas Priest Expands "Turbo" With Previously Unreleased Concert
Judas Priest is revisiting its tenth album, 1986's Turbo, in a turbo-charged 30th anniversary edition coming on February 3, 2017 from Legacy Recordings. The original, remastered album will be expanded with two additional discs of bonus material on this upcoming reissue, and the album will also be available sans bonus tracks in a new 150-gram vinyl pressing. Turbo marked a crucial step in the evolution of the band. It began life as one-half of a planned double album entitled Twin Turbos,
Holiday Gift Guide Review: John Coltrane, "The Atlantic Years in Mono"
John Coltrane's tenure at Atlantic Records was a short one - from January 1959 to May 1961 - yielding just four albums in that period, and then another four through mid-1966. One year later, the saxophone great was gone; in the years since, Atlantic continued to mine his recordings for the label including on two posthumously-issued LPs from 1970 and 1975. Of Trane's original albums for Atlantic, most were first experienced in mono, and it's those releases that form the basis of Rhino's recent
Doin' It: Cherry Red Reissues, Expands Three Fusion Classics From Herbie Hancock
Cherry Red's Robinsongs imprint recently paired Herbie Hancock's 1978 and 1979 albums Sunlight and Feets Don't Fail Me Now on one 2-CD set. Now, Robinsongs has looked back to bring three original Hancock albums for Columbia Records together as one 2-CD package: 1974's Thrust, 1975's Man-Child, and 1976's Secrets. All three of these albums were Jazz No. 1 records; these reissues sweeten the deal by adding rare single versions to the track line-ups. Thrust was the American follow-up to
Teenage Revolution: Cherry Red Collects Glam Rock From Hello
Hello! Cherry Red's 7Ts imprint has recently released a new box set for the teenage glam rockers Hello. At 4 CDs and 74 songs, The Albums boasts the group's 1976 debut Keeps Us Off the Streets, the Japan-only Shine On Silver Light album, 1978's farewell Hello Again, and a disc's worth of rare and previously unreleased cuts. The first and third albums were previously issued separately in expanded editions by 7Ts. The quartet of Keith Marshall, Bob Bradbury, Jeff Allen, and Vic Faulkner
Jeff Larson Returns To "Heart of the Valley" On New Reissue
When singer-songwriter Jeff Larson premiered his album Heart of the Valley in 2009, the album was rightly lauded as an immaculately produced collection of laid-back, polished pop. It conjured a time when rich emotions and real instruments ruled pop radio. Today, it's just as relevant, as proven by a newly-expanded reissue on Japan's Vivid Sound label (VSCD 3944, 2016). The artist indicates in his new liner notes that "the concept for Heart of the Valley was loosely based on the Nilsson Sings
And Now...The Anita Kerr Orchestra and Singers Celebrated On New Box Set
Earlier this year, Cherry Red's él imprint collected Anita Kerr and Rod McKuen's classic "mood music" trilogy The Sea/The Earth/The Sky in one compact box set. Now, él has turned its attention to another set of engaging albums from the vast Anita Kerr discography. The Five Classic Warner Brothers Albums 1966-1968 brings together The Anita Kerr Orchestra's 1966 And Now...The Anita Kerr Orchestra! and The Anita Kerr Singers' four subsequent Warner LPs in one package. Memphis native Anita
Release Round-Up: Week of December 16
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Kinks, The Mono Collection (Sanctuary/BMG) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The Kinks' The Mono Collection brings together eight of the band's classic albums in their original U.K. Pye Records mono editions on ten LPs, all pressed on 180-gram vinyl. The set includes 1967's Live at Kelvin Hall and 1970's original 2-LP collection The Kinks (otherwise known as The Black Album. A hardcover 48-page book including never-before-seen
Paul McCartney Sets Archive Release of "Flowers in the Dirt" For March, Includes Elvis Costello Demos
Last August, Paul McCartney announced his return to The Beatles' longtime home of Capitol Records, bringing all of his solo works beginning with 1970's McCartney into the fold of the Universal Music Group-owned label. Today, the long-awaited multi-format Archive Collection release of 1989's Flowers in the Dirt has been announced for March 24, 2017 via MPL/Capitol/UMe. Highlighted by four collaborations with Declan MacManus, a.k.a. Elvis Costello, Flowers in the Dirt featured productions by
Now Sounds Reissues Paul Revere and The Raiders' "Spirit of '67" In Mono/Stereo Edition
Last year, Now Sounds brought Paul Revere and the Raiders' 1967 Revolution! to CD in a deluxe, expanded mono/stereo edition. Now, the Cherry Red imprint has turned the clock back to 1966 just in time to deliver a 50th anniversary edition of that album's immediate predecessor, The Spirit of '67. This sparkling remastered reissue does full justice to the LP which marked the final collective work of the classic band line-up of Paul Revere, Mark Lindsay, Phil "Fang" Volk, Drake "The Kid" Levin and
Holiday Gift Guide Review: A Vinyl Christmas From Presley, Cash and More
As the vinyl revolution continues, it's no surprise that numerous classic Christmas albums have been reissued in the format, while newer holiday recordings have gotten the 33-1/3 treatment as well. Legacy Recordings, rather than continuing its Classic Christmas Album series in CD form this year, has brought a number of titles to vinyl including new collections from Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, and a Classic Christmas volume dedicated to the big band sound. Of course, Elvis Presley has been
WE HAVE OUR WINNERS! "CITY HEAT" SOUNDTRACK GIVEAWAY!
Congratulations!! The following 10 entrants have won a copy of Varese Vintage's brand-new CD reissue of the City Heat soundtrack on CD! If you entered our contest via Facebook and your name is on the list below, please drop us a line at theseconddisc-at-gmail-dot-com or a Private Message on Facebook with your name and mailing address! If you entered via email, you don't have to do anything - your CD will be in the mail soon! Watch this space soon for more exciting giveaways! Our winners
BREAKING! Second Disc Records Brings All-Star "Fish That Saved Pittsburgh" To CD in February!
Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records are tipping off 2017 with a slam dunk release! On February 3, we will be bringing Thom Bell's soulful, all-star soundtrack to The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh - featuring The Spinners, The Four Tops, Loretta Lynn, Phyllis Hyman and more - to CD for the very first time in a newly expanded, remastered edition! The 1979 cult favorite film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh featured an all-star team from the worlds of basketball and Hollywood - Julius "Dr. J"
Release Round-Up: Week of December 9
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Randy Newman, The Randy Newman Songbook (Nonesuch) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The Randy Newman Songbook box set marks the first-ever combined release of all three of the legendary songwriter's piano-and-voice Songbook albums (including the new Vol. 3) recorded in 2003 and 2010 with producers Mitchell Froom and Lenny Waronker. All songs have been resequenced as one cohesive, thematically-linked listening experience spread over 4
Acting Naturally: Omnivore Collects Buck Owens' Capitol Singles, Anthologizes Don Rich
Buck Owens changed the face of country music, and all he had to do was "Act Naturally." With his back-to-basics, honky-tonk approach, Alvis Edgar Owens defined the Bakersfield Sound, an antidote to the slick, guitar-and-choir-laden style coming out of Nashville in the 1960s. Omnivore Recordings, the label home of a number of stellar Owens-related projects, is about to issue a definitive 2-CD collection from his prime era - The Complete Capitol Singles 1957-1966 - as well as a compilation
This Is It: SoulMusic Collects Melba Moore, Ramsey Lewis, George Duke On New Anthologies
SoulMusic Records, in association with Cherry Red, has recently launched a series of new 2-CD anthologies designed to give a comprehensive look at one period of an artist's career. The initial group of releases is dedicated to three artists whose talents span multiple genres - Melba Moore, George Duke, and Ramsey Lewis. Melba Moore's Standing Right Here: the Anthology - The Buddah and Epic Years devotes one disc to each one of those labels. Moore's first major-label contract was actually
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Frank Sinatra, "World on a String"
Leave it to Noel Coward to sum it all up. In his introduction to Frank Sinatra's June 14, 1958 performance at the Sporting Club in Monte Carlo, the famous British playwright-actor-songwriter-raconteur observed of his American friend's on-screen performances, "I've never yet known him to strike a false note." As Coward undoubtedly knew, the same was true of Sinatra's musical recordings, sung with the emotional honesty and unvarnished directness of a great actor and communicator. From his
WIN! WIN! WIN! Varese Reissues "City Heat" with Al Jarreau, Irene Cara, Eloise Laws, Joe Williams
In recent months, the fine folks at Varese Vintage have been on a roll with a number of soundtrack releases including Foul Play, Roots, The Champ, The Electric Horseman, and most recently for Record Store Day Black Friday, Harry Nilsson's Popeye and Charles Fox and Bob Crewe's Barbarella. Now, the label has just reissued for the first time on CD the soundtrack to the 1984 crime drama City Heat, featuring music by Lennie Niehaus and performances by Al Jarreau, Eloise Laws, Irene Cara, Joe
Release Round-Up: Week of December 2
Welcome to December, and this week's Release Round-Up! The Rolling Stones, Blue and Lonesome (Interscope) Standard Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Rolling Stones return with their first studio album since 2005's A Bigger Bang. Recorded over just three days in London, Blue and Lonesome returns the legendary band to its blues roots. Available on CD, LP
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Margaret Whiting, "Dream: The Lost Recordings"
Margaret Whiting was a singer's singer. Possessed of a clarion vocal instrument capable of both great exultation and deep longing, a performance by Whiting guaranteed a path to the heart of a song. It's no wonder that Johnny Mercer, a songwriter of no small stature, made sure that the 18-year old songbird was one of the first artists signed to his fledgling Capitol Records label. Mercer had known Whiting since her childhood as the daughter of his collaborator, composer Richard Whiting, and
You Know How Good It Is: BBR Expands Vincent Montana's "Goody Goody" For CD
It's that time of year again when radio stations everywhere turn to the sounds of the holiday season. One of the tunes always in frequent rotation is a bit of light swing from The Salsoul Orchestra's 1976 disco classic Christmas Jollies: "Merry Christmas, All." The voice of that perennial belongs to Denise Montana, daughter of its composer-arranger-conductor, the late, great MFSB vibraphonist and Salsoul Orchestra leader Vince Montana. Now, another project uniting Vince and Denise Montana has
Colour My World: Steven Wilson Remix of "Chicago II" Due in January
The second album by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legends Chicago is coming back to CD in a newly remixed edition. On January 27, Rhino will issue Chicago II: Steven Wilson Remix, featuring an all-new stereo mix of Chicago's classic 1970 double album from the producer-engineer behind acclaimed remixes for progressive bands such as Yes, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. The creativity and innovation of the band formerly known as Chicago Transit Authority surged more
A Groovy Kind of Love: Ace Collects Classical-Inspired Pop Songs on "Classical Gassers"
Classical music has long been a source of inspiration for pop. Just ask Barry Manilow ("Could It Be Magic"), Eric Carmen ("All By Myself," "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again"), Billy Joel ("This Night"), or Walter Murphy ("A Fifth of Beethoven"). Ace Records has recently collected 24 of these classical "crossovers" on the aptly-titled Classical Gassers: Pop Gems Inspired by the Great Composers. These tracks date between 1960 and 1971 and feature such hitmaking artists as Lesley Gore, Jay and the
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