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…
Quadio Spotlight: Bette Midler, “The Divine Miss M” and Bread, “Baby I’m a Want-You”
Way back in Ye Olden Days of 2011, The Second Disc advocated for the release of the original quadraphonic mix of Bette Midler’s 1973 debut, The Divine Miss M. Well, lo these many years later, Rhino has granted our wish, and it’s been released on Blu-ray as part of the label’s still-growing Quadio series of four-channel reissues. In Craig Anderson’s stellar remaster, it’s happily as good as we remember it! The 4.0 mix by Atlantic Records veteran Tom Dowd, a legendary producer in his own right, is immersive from the get-go. The…
This Is It: Sepia Salutes Late, Great Rose Marie on “Rose Marie Sings: The Complete Mercury Recordings and More”
The year was 1929. At the age of six, Rose Marie Mazzetta headlined a Warner Bros. Vitaphone short film entitled Baby Rose Marie: The Child Wonder. The star was already a showbiz veteran, having begun performing at the age of three; at five, she was offered a seven-year contract by the NBC radio network. Though Rose Marie would soon drop the “Baby,” she would remain a wonder as, simply, “Rose Marie” for the entirety of her extraordinary career which ultimately spanned ten decades until her death at the age of 94 in…
Review: Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, “Working Our Way Back to You: The Ultimate Collection”
I Can’t Give You Anything But Love On Monday, June 26, Frankie Valli walked down the aisle in Las Vegas with his longtime girlfriend Jackie Jacobs. This October, he’ll take the stage at the city’s Westgate Resort and Casino to begin a yearlong residency at the hotel, during which time he’ll turn 90 years young. For more than 60 of those years, the artist born Francesco Stephen Castelluccio in Newark, New Jersey has been the lead vocalist of The Four Seasons, the group he co-founded on a handshake with songwriter-musician Bob Gaudio. …
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Release Round-Up: Week of May 6
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles out today including a very special pair from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music! Melissa Manchester, Live ’77 (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music) Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music proudly present the premiere release of Melissa Manchester’s Live ’77, recorded by Arista Records in October 1977 at Gainesville, Florida’s Great Southern Music Hall but unreleased until now! The 21 songs on Live ’77 – the singer-songwriter’s very first live album – include Manchester’s hits…
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Review: Aretha Franklin, “Aretha”
R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Otis Redding may have written the song, but Aretha Franklin owned it. The singer was only in her mid-20s when she left Columbia Records after five years and seven albums but she wasted no time in making music history when she signed with Atlantic Records in December 1966. By the middle of 1967, she’d had long-sought-after hits with “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)” and “Respect” and was proclaimed The Queen of Soul by a Chicago disk jockey. Some reports indicate the “crowning” as having happened in…
The Year In Review: The 2020 Gold Bonus Disc Awards, From A to Z
Happy 2021 and welcome to The Second Disc’s 11th Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! The past year has presented any number of unprecedented challenges. But music has filled a more important role than ever, providing solace, comfort, and escape in a time unlike any other. With that spirit in mind, The Second Disc once again wishes to recognize 2020’s cream of the catalogue music crop – those exemplary reissues and box sets big and small that proved to be truly outstanding for music lovers worldwide. Despite the many delays caused by COVID-19,…
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Illusions: Kim David Smith Channels Dietrich, Lenya, Minogue, and More on “Live at Joe’s Pub”
The decadent culture of Weimar Germany – itself inspired by the American Jazz Age – has long proved a fertile source of inspiration for artists everywhere. David Bowie, Bryan Ferry, Klaus Nomi, Ute Lemper, and Alan Cumming are just a few of the performers that have mined and reinvented the Weimar era in their music. Based on his new release Live at Joe’s Pub, cabaret vocalist Kim David Smith deserves to be added to that esteemed list. Captured in March 2019 at a midnight show in that intimate New York setting, Smith…
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Dreamsville: Andy Williams’ “Cadence Albums” Box Available Now from Edsel
Though born in the small town of Wall Lake, Iowa, Howard Andrew Williams always had his sight on the stars. From a young age, he sang with his older brothers Bob, Don, and Dick – first in church, then on local radio. While their father was a railroad worker, he encouraged his sons’ showbiz dreams as they “graduated” on the airwaves from Des Moines to Chicago to Cincinnati. It wasn’t long before word reached Hollywood of the brothers’ potential, and upon moving there in 1943, they were rewarded with an MGM movie…
She’s Got Rhythm: Linda Lavin Returns with New Studio Album
Every week between August 31, 1976 and March 19, 1985, Linda Lavin could be seen on CBS in the title role of the sitcom Alice. Lavin also sang the show’s memorable theme song, composed by David Shire with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and occasionally performed in character as Alice Hyatt. But Lavin’s inherent musicality was no surprise to those who followed her illustrious career on and off Broadway where she appeared in musicals including A Family Affair, It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane…It’s Superman, and The Mad Show. Now, after recent…
Colour My World: Petula Clark’s Complete 1974 Royal Albert Hall Concert Comes to CD
When you’re alone and life is making you lonely, you can always go downtown… When Petula Clark first sang those words by Tony Hatch back in 1964, it’s highly doubtful that she – or anybody else – could have predicted the COVID-19 crisis which we’re all currently experiencing. But the warm, inviting, and reassuring sentiment has never seemed more relevant than it does today. Thanks to the herculean efforts of the United Music Foundation, it’s now possible to travel with the timeless Ms. Clark not just downtown, but away from these social-distancing…
Review: Matt Monro, “Stranger in Paradise: The Lost New York Sessions”
After years of exhaustively mining the late singer’s catalogue for a series of definitive releases, the Matt Monro estate has turned up a new chest of buried treasure – and it’s a collection that’s both required listening for longtime fans and an ideal introduction for new ones. Stranger in Paradise: The Lost New York Sessions from Capitol Records/UMC takes listeners back to the Big Apple circa 1966 when the British singer joined with a quintet of jazz pros to record a different kind of album. The fruits of those sessions had never…
Dionne Warwick’s “Déjà Vu: The Arista Recordings” Box Out Today from Cherry Red, SoulMusic
UPDATED 2/28: Earlier this week, the popular competition show The Masked Singer unmasked The Mouse. But to anyone who’s ever listened to a radio over the past 50-plus years, there was no need for a reveal. It was obvious that, underneath the giant mouse head, was the voice of only one person: the inimitable Dionne Warwick. Over 40 years ago, Warwick left Warner Bros. Records and signed to Clive Davis’ Arista label to begin a new chapter in her remarkable career. Today, Cherry Red’s SoulMusic imprint released a sumptuous, 12-CD box celebrating…
The Importance of Your Love: Vince Hill Reflects on His “Legacy” with 1965-1974 Anthology
One of our favorite releases of 2017 was Cherry Red/Strike Force Entertainment’s two-fer of Edelweiss (1967) and Look Around (1971) from the big-voiced British pop crooner. While the set didn’t inaugurate the hoped-for series of reissues on CD (to date, at least), Hill followed it up with Legacy: My Hits and Rarities (1965-1974). We’ve caught up with this CD which is available exclusively through the singer’s webstore. It’s both a fine introduction to Hill’s oeuvre and a welcome reminder of why he’s one of Britain’s finest male singers. Legacy features 25 tracks,…
The Year in Review: The 2019 Gold Bonus Disc Awards, From A to Z
Happy 2020 and welcome to The Second Disc’s 10th Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! It’s time once again to recognize this year’s cream of the crop – those exemplary reissues and box sets big and small that proved to be truly outstanding products for music lovers worldwide. There was no shortage of great reissue titles in 2019; in fact, by our count, we covered over 700 releases in all! And after much deliberation, we’re excited to unveil our favorites. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill Top 10, however. To cover as much ground and…
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Holiday Gift Guide Review: Nat King Cole, “Hittin’ the Ramp: The Early Years (1936-1943)”
The first voice you hear on Resonance Records’ exhilarating new box set Nat King Cole – Hittin’ the Ramp: The Early Years (1936-1943) isn’t that of the famous artist. Rather, it’s his older brother and bassist Eddie Cole warbling teenaged Nat’s sprightly composition “Honey Hush.” Nat, of course, is the one tickling the ivories with confidence, grace, and an already sure sense of swing. Although he hadn’t yet formed his famous trio (and the lineup here credited as “Eddie Cole’s Solid Swingers” is larger with piano, bass, drums, alto sax, and tenor…
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Holiday Gift Guide Review: Margaret Whiting, “Let’s Fall in Love: The Lost Recordings Vol. 2”
Three years ago, Sepia Records and My Ideal Music celebrated the late, great Margaret Whiting with Dream: The Lost Recordings, a 2-CD collection of rare radio performances. Now, the long-awaited follow-up has arrived. Let’s Fall in Love: The Lost Recordings Vol. 2 has been worth the wait. Like the first volume, the recordings premiering on Let’s Fall in Love – a whopping 56 songs, complementing the 57 on Volume 1 – have been culled from The Barry Wood Show, a syndicated radio program for which over 100 complete shows happily still exist…
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Holiday Gift Guide Review: “A Voice of the Warm: The Life of Rod McKuen” by Barry Alfonso
“Come with me/What wonders we’ll find,” sings Rod McKuen to open his lilting waltz “Kaleidoscope” in his recognizable sandpaper voice. But the more revealing lyrics come later, when the poet-singer-songwriter asserts, “You’ll look in my eyes and see you.” Over a career spanning seven decades – but particularly during a purple patch in the late 1960s and early 1970s – McKuen’s loyal legion of fans saw themselves in his deceptively simple art. His empathetic words conveyed the beauty of everyday life, and his comforting pop melodies offered a balm for troubled times….
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Jewel, “Joy: A Holiday Collection” [Reissue]
In 1999, singer-songwriter Jewel teamed with veteran producer-arranger Arif Mardin (Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield) for Joy: A Holiday Collection, her first Christmas album and third overall studio LP. Within a month of its release, it received a platinum certification, and it continues to be a perennial during the holiday season. Now, Craft Recordings has reissued the gentle album originally released on Atlantic Records for its vinyl premiere, as newly mastered by George Horn and Anne-Marie Suenram at Fantasy Studios. Joy made no concessions to modernity (and very few to pop), a style…
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Review: Frank Sinatra, “My Way: 50th Anniversary Edition” and “Sings Alan and Marilyn Bergman”
The album was entitled My Way for the song by Paul Anka, Claude Francois, Gilles Thibault, and Jacques Revaux, but truth to tell, the moniker would have been fitting even without that famous anthem. For the ten songs on Frank Sinatra’s 1969 Reprise LP were indisputably sung as only one man could: swing – his way, pop – his way, rhythm and blues – his way. Capitol Records, Frank Sinatra Enterprises, and UMe have reissued My Way in a 50th anniversary expanded edition celebrating both the song and the album. Happily, if…
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Review: Chris Stamey and The ModRec Orchestra, “New Songs for the 20th Century”
Chris Stamey has taken many unpredictable paths in a long career, whether as a member of the dB’s, a solo artist, a producer, or a sideman. But his latest project might be his most unpredictable yet. New Songs for the 20th Century, credited to Stamey and the ModRec Orchestra and newly released by Omnivore Recordings, is a sprawling double-album love letter to traditional (read: pre-rock and roll) vocal pop with a heavy jazz emphasis. Written, arranged, mixed, and produced by Stamey, these mostly new compositions have been crafted “under the influence” of…
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When Will You Be Mine: Ace Releases Dion’s First Two Columbia Albums on CD
Dion DiMucci was just 20 years old but already a chart veteran when he went solo at the dawn of the 1960s. Enduring hits like “I Wonder Why” and “A Teenager in Love” had been recorded with his friends The Belmonts, but when Carlo Mastrangelo, Angelo D’Aleo, and Fred Milano wanted to emphasize doo-wop harmonies and Dion wanted to rock and roll, Dion and the Belmonts split. How would the Italian kid from the Bronx follow that amazing first act? The answer was “Runaround Sue,” the chart-topping record which established Dion as…
Swinging Doors: Grateful Dead, Emmylou, Dolly, Dino, More Celebrate “The Merle Haggard Songbook”
Along with Buck Owens – with whom he shared a musical history and a wife – Merle Haggard (1937-2016) defined The Bakersfield Sound of country music: authentic, raw, rooted in honky-tonks. But unlike the Texas-born and Arizona-raised Owens, Haggard was actually born in Bakersfield and raised just across the river from that California town. “Hag,” as he preferred to be known, rocketed to superstardom thanks to “Okie from Muskogee,” his controversial 1969 song that was either a scathing indictment of the younger generation or of the smalltown, heartland folk criticizing them. (Hag…
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Release Round-Up: The Second Disc’s 2019 Record Store Day Must-Haves
Looking for our usual Release Round-Up? Alas, there’s not much new in the way of catalogue music this Friday (and we’ve already filled you in on Billy Paul and Leon Russell!), but for a very good reason: tomorrow sees releases a-plenty as part of Record Store Day! Without further ado, welcome to our annual rundown of Must-Haves for this year’s RSD event! Once you’re through reading, let us know what you’re most looking forward to picking up tomorrow at your favorite local independent retailer! Our list features just a sampling of our…
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Review: Nat “King” Cole, “Ultimate Nat King Cole” and “International Nat King Cole” [UPDATED]
March 17, 2019 would have been Nat “King” Cole’s 100th birthday. While the man born Nathaniel Adams Coles only lived to the age of 45, he more than earned his royal moniker over his three decades of performing. He paved the way for African-American artists as the first black man to host a nationwide television variety show, and quietly but devotedly crusaded for civil rights. At the time of his death, at the height of Beatlemania, he was selling some seven million records a year. The Cole centennial has just been celebrated…
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