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Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

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Art Taylor, Bill Quateman, Courtney Barnett, David Bowie, Def Leppard, Donald Byrd, John Coltrane, Midnight Oil, Panic! At the Disco, Reba McEntire, Red Garland, Scorpions, Snail Mail, Squeeze, Sugar

Release Round-Up: Week of January 23

January 23, 2026 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. The Power Station, The Power Station DLX (Parlophone/Rhino) 4CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Rhino is expanding the self-titled debut from The Power Station into a 4CD box set. The Power Station DLX includes the remastered album (featuring the hits “Some Like It Hot” and a cover of T. Rex’s “Get It On (Bang a Gong)”) alongside three discs of bonus material, including unreleased “raw instrumental” versions,…

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Formats:

CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Folk, Pop, Rock

Tags:

Andrew Lloyd Webber, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Lucinda Williams, Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman, Squeeze, The Power Station, Van Morrison, Warren Zevon

The Weekend Stream: January 17, 2025

January 17, 2026 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. New music from country and soul icons and a reissue of a big pop album for its 25th anniversary kick things off, plus some appealing odds and ends from other corners of the music world. Al Green, To Love Somebody (Fat Possum) (Apple / Amazon) The Hi Priest of Memphis soul issues his first bundle of tracks since 2008’s full-length Lay It Down, all of which are covers and…

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Cast Recordings, Country, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

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Al Green, Dolly Parton, Ghost, Gloria Onitiri, Jennifer Lopez, Jim Reeves, Lainey Wilson, Miley Cyrus, Nick Miller, Queen Latifah

Release Round-Up: Week of January 16

January 16, 2026 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Various Artists, NOW Yearbook: Vault ’82 (NOW Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The U.K.’s NOW line continues with another Vault installment spotlight hits of 1982 including The Who’s “Athena,” Elton John’s “Empty Garden,” Neil Diamond’s “Heartlight,” Billy Joel’s “Allentown,” Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City,” and much more from a cross-section of artists and genres. Out today in the U.K.; available next Friday in North America….

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Formats:

CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock

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Andrew Lloyd Webber, Gene Pitney, Miyosh, Rachel Zegler, Richard Marx, Rick Nelson, Rod Stewart, The Crystals, The James Hunter Six, Tim Rice, Van Morrison, Various Artists

A Second Disc Interview: Andrew Sandoval on “The Kinks – All Day and All of the Night: The Day-by-Day Story Pt. 1 – 1940-1971”

January 15, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 6 Comments

Here at Second Disc HQ, we’re longtime fans of writer-producer-musician-historian Andrew Sandoval. In addition to his groundbreaking work with The Monkees catalogue – including, most recently, helming the Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. box set and penning the liner notes for the singles collection The As, The Bs, and The Monkees – Andrew has curated reissues from artists including The Everly Brothers, The Band, Love, Bee Gees, Van Morrison, and The Kinks. Andrew’s longtime association with the latter band has led to a new release coming soon from his boutique publishing house,…

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Interviews, News

Formats:

Books

Genres:

Classic Rock, Pop, Rock

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Andrew Sandoval, Doug Hinman, The Kinks

In Memoriam: Bob Weir (1947-2026)

January 12, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 3 Comments

Some folks look for answers/Others look for fights/Some folks up in treetops/Just look to see the sights I can tell your future/Look what’s in your hand/But I can’t stop for nothing/I’m just playing in the band… – Mickey Hart, Robert Hunter, and Bob Weir, “Playing in the Band” On Saturday evening, New York’s Empire State Building was lit up with the colors of tie-dye. The tribute marked the passing at the age of 78 of Bob Weir, the co-founder of Grateful Dead whose music both epitomized and transcended the counterculture in which…

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Features, News

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Classic Rock, Rock

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Bob Weir, Grateful Dead

The Weekend Stream: January 10, 2026

January 10, 2026 by Mike Duquette | 4 Comments

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts! We’ve got some new music from old pop favorites, a few Record Store Day Black Friday releases, and a pop icon and a big rock band moving their catalogues from one label to another. It’s a lot to keep up with, but we’ve got your back! Bruno Mars, “I Just Might” (Atlantic) (Apple / Amazon) Though Bruno Mars has hardly been absent from the pop charts recently – earning…

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Classic Rock, Disco/Dance, Pop, Rock

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Bobby Lee Springfield, Bruno Mars, Chris Difford, Crazy Horse, David Byrne, David Coverdale, Lester Young, Lynn Ahrens, Madonna, Neil Young, Olivia Rodrigo, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Robyn, Sabrina Carpenter, Stephen Flaherty, The Flaming Lips, Tiffany, Whitesnake

Release Round-Up: Week of January 9

January 9, 2026 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Welcome to our first Release Round-Up of 2026, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. The Doobie Brothers, The Captain & Me: Audiophile Edition (Warner/Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Rhino’s Audiophile Edition of The Doobie Brothers’ smash 1973 album featuring “Long Train Runnin’” and “China Grove” includes four unique mixes: the original quadraphonic mix (previously available on the Doobies’ Quadio box set), surround guru Elliot Scheiner’s 5.1 mix originally released in 2001, a new Dolby Atmos mix, and the original album mix…

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Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, SACD, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Classical/Opera, Everything Else, Pop, Rock, Soundtracks

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Fanny, Jennifer Lopez, Joan Sutherland, John Kander and Fred Ebb, Luciano Pavarotti, Morton Feldman, The Doobie Brothers, Van Halen

The Weekend Stream: January 3, 2026

January 3, 2026 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Welcome back, from holiday break, to 2026’s first edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts! We’re starting in rare form with news of a surprise new album from one of England’s most beloved rock musicians, plus some tantalizing rare and unreleased ’60s and ’70s pop treats. There’s a lot to love here – and we can’t wait for you to listen! Peter Gabriel, “Been Undone” (Dark-Side Mix) (Real World) (Apple / Amazon) The iconic British singer/songwriter’s long-gestating i/o was finally…

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Classic Rock, Country, Everything Else, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock

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Guy Thomas, Mike Post, Motörhead, Porter Wagoner, Reunion, Rita Jean Bodine, Sweet Pete

Another Merry Discmas to All from The Second Disc!

December 24, 2025 by The Second Disc | 16 Comments

No one – not even your friends at TSD HQ! – can predict the arc of music reissues. When we launched The Second Disc nearly 16 years ago, the business was in a place of surprising highs and lows. The Beatles’ albums had been remastered for the first time ever – but it seemed that stalwarts like Rhino Records were enduring hardships. Vinyl was a niche concern, streaming even more so, and who knew where the CD would end up? (And that doesn’t even account for personal growth immaterial of the music…

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Features, News

Formats:

Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, DVD, DVD-Audio, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Comedy, Country, Disco/Dance, Electronic, Everything Else, Folk, Funk, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

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Holiday Gift Guide Review: Bob Dylan, “The Bootleg Series Vol. 18: Through the Open Window”

December 22, 2025 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments

Bob Dylan met Columbia Records’ John Hammond on September 14, 1961 at the apartment of folksinger Richard Farina and his then-wife Carolyn Hester. Dylan had been invited to Carolyn’s rehearsal session as a harmonica player. Hammond later told the story of being so impressed with the young man from Hibbing, Minnesota that he decided to sign him on the spot. A subsequent audition took place, and when Dylan – then dazzling audiences at Gerde’s Folk City on a bill shared with The Greenbriar Boys – showed up for Hester’s Columbia session on…

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Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Folk

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Bob Dylan, Carolyn Hester, Dave Van Ronk, Harry Belafonte, Jim Kweskin, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Peter Paul and Mary

The Weekend Stream: December 20, 2025

December 20, 2025 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Welcome to 2025’s final edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. We’re wrapping up the month with a wicked good time: hip-hop instrumentals, unearthed ’70s rock and country, and a whole lot of zydeco! Wicked: For Good – The Soundtrack (Sing-Along) / For Good EP (Republic/Verve) Sing-Along: Apple / Amazon For Good: Apple / Amazon With the second part of Universal’s big-budget adaptation of the long-running Broadway musical adapted from author Gregory Maguire’s alternative take on The Wizard of…

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Cast Recordings, Country, Jazz, Pop, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock, Soundtracks

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Ariana Grande, Clifton Chenier, Cynthia Erivo, Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson, Mac Davis, Neil Diamond, Redbone, The Alan Parsons Project, The National, The Notorious B.I.G.

Holiday Gift Guide Review: Frank Sinatra, “Long Ago, Far Away (1943-1951)”

December 18, 2025 by Joe Marchese | 6 Comments

This week, the a cappella vocal group Pentatonix notched its first-ever number one on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. More remarkably, the song was first recorded in 1937, written by a composer-lyricist who died in 1989, and features a vocalist who passed away in 1998. The song is “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” the songwriter is Irving Berlin, and the duet partner is, of course, Frank Sinatra. With this achievement, Sinatra returned to the top of the AC chart for the first time since September 30, 1967, when “The…

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Holiday Gift Guide, News, Reviews

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CD, Vinyl

Genres:

Popular Standards/Vocal

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Dorothy Kirsten, Eileen Barton, Frank Sinatra, June Hutton

Holiday Gift Guide Review: Eternity’s Children, “Eternity’s Children” and “Timeless”

December 16, 2025 by Joe Marchese | 3 Comments

As temperatures drop and winter approaches, a little sunshine is always welcome…and High Moon Records has delivered with a pair of reissues from the cult-favorite pop band known as Eternity’s Children. The label behind Sly and The Family Stone’s The First Family: Live at Winchester Cathedral 1967 and the expanded edition of Lotti Golden’s Motor-Cycle has returned 1968’s Eternity’s Children and 1969’s Timeless to vinyl for the first time since their original releases. By the time the Mississippi band arrived on Capitol Records’ Tower imprint for their debut LP, the ranks had…

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Clarence White, Eternity's Children, Gary Paxton, Gene Parsons

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Vinyl

Genres:

Pop

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The Weekend Stream: December 13, 2025

December 13, 2025 by The Second Disc | 5 Comments

Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. There’s even more holiday gifts today: new takes on a film music legend, a decade-spanning dance mash-up, more centennial celebrations for a Rat Pack icon, plus some deep country and modern rock treasures. Cécilia Tsan, Sara Andon & Simone Pedroni, John Williams Reimagined: Home Alone (Warner Classics/Erato/Parlophone) (Apple / Amazon) In 2024, soundtrack reissue producer Robert Townson assembled cellist Tsan, flautist Andon and pianist Pedroni for a most intriguing…

The Weekend Stream: December 5, 2025

December 5, 2025 by Mike Duquette | 2 Comments

Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. You’ve been good so far this Christmas season, so we’re giving you this present a day early – with new tracks from Guns N’ Roses, live tracks from The Hooters and one of our favorite bands for Bandcamp Friday! The Hooters, 45 Alive – Keswick Live in Concert (self-released) (Apple / Amazon) Philly band The Hooters – perhaps best known for the melodica-augmented 1985 hit “And We Danced” among its…

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Classic Rock, Comedy, Country, Disco/Dance, Holiday, Jazz, Latin, Pop, Rock, Soundtracks

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Aerosmith, Charles Fox, Frank Wess, Grateful Dead, Guns N' Roses, Kenny Burrell, Kylie Minogue, Mal Waldron, No Jersey, O.A.R., Olivia Newton-John, Puddles Pity Party, Squeeze, Thad Jones, The Hooters, Theory of a Deadman

Release Round-Up: Week of December 5

December 5, 2025 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles out today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Judy Collins, The ’60s Singles (Second Disc/Real Gone) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music Judy Blue Eyes Vinyl LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music Judy Collins’ The ’60s Singles brings together, for the first time, the remarkable array of 45s on which the singer’s discography was built. With songs by Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Randy Newman, Sandy Denny, Eric Andersen, and Joni Mitchell – including the international smash “Both…

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Features, Holiday Gift Guide

Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Folk, Funk, Holiday, Jazz, Latin, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rock, Soundtracks

In Memoriam: Steve Cropper (1941-2025)

December 4, 2025 by Mike Duquette | 2 Comments

It’s a sad fact that so much of America’s musical infrastructure – the men and women whose session work powered thousands of pop chart hits and significant recordings – exists in near-obscurity. Consider The Funk Brothers, that collective of R&B musicians in Detroit who powered nearly every Motown session in the label’s golden age. Fans and collectors still sift through the vagaries of paperwork and memory to determine who lent their instruments to which song; the unofficial group’s members would be credited by name at the insistence of Marvin Gaye on his…

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Features

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

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Albert King, Bob Dylan, Booker T. Jones, Booker T. and the MG's, Brian May, Eddie Floyd, Neil Young, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Steve Cropper, The Blues Brothers, Wilson Pickett

THE SECOND DISC’S 2025 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE IS HERE!

December 1, 2025 by The Second Disc | 3 Comments

Well, today is Cyber Monday, which means one thing at Second Disc HQ: it’s time to launch our annual Holiday Gift Guide, featuring (more than) a few of our favorite things for the music enthusiast in your life. Sure, we might not have included raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but we’ve filled the guide with over 50 essential selections: sprawling box sets and deluxe vinyl editions, as well as noteworthy releases on CD from favorite artists that just might make great stocking stuffers. So just click here or visit the handy red…

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Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Classical/Opera, Country, Disco/Dance, Folk, Funk, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

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Holiday Gift Guide Review: Prince and The Revolution, ‘Around the World in a Day (Deluxe Expanded Edition)’

December 1, 2025 by Mike Duquette | 3 Comments

In theory, the posthumous care and handling of an esteemed discography with the deep potential for archival excavation like Prince’s would be an easy if daunting task. When the pop icon died unexpectedly in 2016 with no will and considerable assets to settle, the art of memorializing him through reissues moved with almost shocking precision: solid expansions of several of his best-loved ’80s albums, a handful of notable archival one-offs, and the reinstatement of his digital and physical catalogue of the ’90s and ’00s back into print. After the estate settled in…

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Formats:

CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

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Prince

The Weekend Stream: November 29, 2025

November 29, 2025 by Mike Duquette | 1 Comment

Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. Our Black Friday bonanza offers the return of Let’s Active, a new Stranger Things mini-mixtape, an unlikely team-up between two recent Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, and one Record Store Day title that dropped yesterday. Plus, a tribute to a Minneapolis legend who was always on Time. Let’s Active, Afoot / Cypress / Big Plans for Everybody / Every Dog Has His Day (I.R.S./Capitol) Afoot: Apple / Amazon Cypress: Apple / Amazon Big Plans: Apple…

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Country, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock, Soundtracks

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Bill Quateman, Carrie Underwood, Dizzy Gillespie, Eminem, Isaac Hayes, Jack White, Kyle Mooney, Let's Active, Michael Jackson, Mitch Easter, Mongo Santamaria, The Psychedelic Furs, The Time, The xx, Tiffany, Yello

Release Round-Up: Week of November 28

November 28, 2025 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! With Record Store Day’s Black Friday event taking place today, the slate is usually a small one…not so this year, though, thanks to Rhino’s CD releases of numerous RSD titles. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Neil Young, Tonight’s the Night 50 (Reprise/NYA) 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Greedy Hand Store 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Greedy Hand Store Clear Vinyl: Greedy Hand Store Neil Young’s sixth album, released in 1975 but mostly recorded two years earlier, was the closer to his “Ditch Trilogy.”…

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Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Country, Disco/Dance, Pop, Rock

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Alice Cooper, Bobby Darin, Dwight Yoakam, Eric Burdon, Fleetwood Mac, Jonathan Groff, Love, Madonna, Neil Young, The Doors, The English Beat, The Flaming Lips, War

Holiday Gift Guide Review: The Beatles, “Anthology Collection”

November 26, 2025 by Joe Marchese | 3 Comments

1995: Bill Clinton was President of the U.S., John Major was Prime Minister of the U.K., phones weren’t yet smart, Braveheart won Best Picture, the O.J. trial was on everyone’s mind, Jerry Garcia died, and the biggest songs of the year were Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” (U.S.) and Robson and Jerome’s “Unchained Melody/White Cliffs of Dover” (U.K.). In November, the band that changed pop music forever launched its first major archival project at a time when such vault deep dives weren’t yet (so) commonplace. The Beatles Anthology was a true multimedia venture, encompassing…

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Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Pop

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George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, The Beatles

A Second Disc Interview: Let’s Revisit Let’s Active with Mitch Easter

November 25, 2025 by Mike Duquette | 2 Comments

“Making records is a really good idea,” Mitch Easter says, partway through a chat with The Second Disc. He’s, of course, absolutely correct, and he would know. The Winston-Salem, North Carolina native founded the seminal Drive-In Studio in 1980, collaborating as a producer and engineer with a host of notable alternative rock acts including R.E.M., Game Theory, Pylon and others; since 2000, he’s run Fidelitorium Recordings in nearby Kernersville. But Easter is more than a whiz behind the boards. In the 1980s, he founded and fronted the jangle-pop group Let’s Active. Their…

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Interviews

Formats:

Let's Active, Mitch Easter

Genres:

Rock

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The Weekend Stream: November 22, 2025

November 22, 2025 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. A real grab bag for you before the Thanksgiving holiday: cut songs from Broadway comedies, rarities from a ’60s soul/rock legend, an inexplicably remastered charity single, rare 12″ mixes and remastered jazz. Have a listen, won’t you?? Various Artists, Monty Python’s Spamalot (Original Broadway Cast Recording/20th Anniversary Edition) (Decca Broadway) (Apple / Amazon) Something to (always) look on the bright side of life over: a new reissue of the music…

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