When Harpers Bizarre made their debut on Warner Bros. Records in spring 1967, they joined an eclectic roster of pop stars (Petula Clark, The Association), folksingers (Chad Mitchell, Peter Paul and Mary), comedy titans (Bob Newhart, Allan Sherman), MOR artists (The Anita Kerr Singers, Rod McKuen), and one forward-thinking psychedelic rock band (Grateful Dead). The group defied easy categorization, and over the course of four albums merged pop, MOR, rock, and even dashes of folk and comic whimsy
Bad Side of the Moon: Cherry Red, Esoteric Reissue Toe Fat's Complete Rare Earth/EMI Recordings
Motown's Rare Earth imprint intended to bring the sound of rock to the home of The Supremes, The Miracles, Martha and The Vandellas, The Temptations, and Four Tops. The imprint was named after a white rock band from Detroit and its artists were both home-grown and licensed from other parties. In the latter category was Toe Fat, a U.K. psych-rock band built around the talents of Cliff Bennett, formerly of the beat group Cliff Bennett and The Rebel Rousers. Both of Toe Fat's albums - issued on
Wild Thing: Cherry Red Collects Complete Recordings of '70s Glam-Pop Band Fancy
The story of the band Fancy began with Chip Taylor's "Wild Thing." Captivated with Jimi Hendrix's fiery take on the classic popularized by The Troggs, producer Mike Hurst (The Springfields, Cat Stevens, Shakin' Stevens, Showaddywaddy) began to imagine the song as sung by a woman. He dialed up both the sex and the funk for a slower, breathier, and more salacious version of the pop-rock staple. Guitarist Ray Fenwick, bassist Mo Foster, drummer Henry Spinetti, keyboardist Alan Hawkshaw, and
Review: Elvis Costello and The Attractions, "Armed Forces: Super Deluxe Edition"
"Hey Clockface, keep those fingers on the dial," Elvis Costello implored on the jaunty, jazz-flavored title track of his 2020 album. "You said you'd be a friend to me, but time is just my enemy and it is hurting me so..." Despite his pleas, time has been rather good to Costello's artistry. Though initially branded an "angry young man" - and indeed, he channeled the punk zeitgeist early on with his fast and furious compositions - Costello has been able to travel wherever his muse takes him.
High Time: Cherry Red, Grapefruit Collects U.K. Band Byzantium on "Halfway Dreaming: Anthology 1969-75"
Byzantium was only active for a brief period at the tail end of the late 1960s and the first half of the 1970s, but the band is still well-remembered within the British underground rock scene. Now, the group's officially issued works (and more!) have been collected by Cherry Red's Grapefruit imprint on the new 5-CD set Halfway Dreaming: Anthology 1969-75. Byzantium emerged from the ashes of the band Ora, formed by students Robin Sylvester, Julian Diggle, and Jamie Rubinstein at University
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
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,"
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
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
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Legacy Looks Back at 1970 With Elvis Presley and Jimi Hendrix Archival Offerings
50 years ago, two of American music's greatest talents proved they were still venturing into new territories. Elvis Presley, some decade and a half after he first took the world by storm, was setting up shop in Nashville for a marathon session that saw him pulling from the new popular songbook and many songs written just for him. These sessions delivered several albums' worth of material and are now presented chronologically in a new box set, complete with exciting new mixes on From Elvis In
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Shania Twain, 'The Woman in Me (Diamond Edition)'
If there's one good thing we can pull from 2020's reissue slate, it's diversity. The end of the year's biggest box sets focused less on the typical classic-rock heavy-hitters and more on genres, eras and artists that typically don't get the red carpet treatment. It's a trend that would surely be nice to continue. The new "Diamond Edition" of Shania Twain's The Woman in Me (Mercury Nashville/UMe B0032601-02) checks off all three of those boxes, yet it's initially an odd sell. After all, isn't
Holiday Gift Guide Stax Spotlight: The Staple Singers' "Come Go with Me" and "The Gospel Truth: Complete Singles Collection"
UPDATED DECEMBER 2020: Earlier this year, Craft Recordings released The Staple Singers' Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection in vinyl and digital editions. The set compiled all of the famed gospel group's 1968-1974 albums for the Stax label plus a volume of rarities, non-LP single sides, and live recordings. Now, that box has come to CD as beautifully remastered from the original analog tapes by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl. Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection features the following
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Peter Tork, "Stranger Things Have Happened"
UPDATED DECEMBER 2020: 7a Records' announcement earlier this year of a deluxe remastered and expanded edition of Peter Tork's only solo album, 1994's Stranger Things Have Happened, marked a major milestone for the label. Over the years, 7a has already delivered a treasure trove of releases from Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, and Michael Nesmith on CD and vinyl, but with the inclusion of the late Tork, its roster of artists finally seems complete. The path to Stranger Things Have Happened was a
Holiday Gift Guide Review: The Replacements, "Pleased to Meet Me: Deluxe Edition"
The Replacements' Pleased to Meet Me marked the moment when Minneapolis met Memphis. For their second major label album, fifth overall, first without founding member Bob Stinson, and lone offering as a trio, the 'Mats called upon Jim Dickinson. The producer and Memphis mainstay entered the picture after abortive demo sessions in the band's hometown during which time Bob had been dismissed from the band, leaving Paul Westerberg to pick up the lead guitar duties, Tommy Stinson on bass, and Chris
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Tears for Fears, 'The Seeds of Love: Deluxe Edition'
Think back to your days listening to pop music in the '80s - say, for the sake of argument, 1985. Thriller's wrapped up its run of seven hit singles. Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. is in the middle of its own seven-hit stretch. Purple Rain made Prince a juggernaut - and Tears for Fears, the British duo behind the moody, electronic The Hurting (1983) have broken into the mainstream with the progressive psych-pop of 1985's Songs from the Big Chair, including back-to-back chart-toppers
Holiday Gift Guide Spotlight: Esoteric Reissues Classics by Barclay James Harvest, Be-Bop Deluxe
As our Holiday Gift Guide continues with a fourth and final look at Cherry Red's recent box set offerings, we wanted to bring to your attention two collections that would look great underneath the tree, whether for a prog-rock enthusiast in your life or for yourself (we won't tell!). First up: Barclay James Harvest's And Other Short Stories, recently reissued as a 2-CD/DVD set. The English prog rock outfit Barclay James Harvest had already made a name for themselves as part of Harvest
Holiday Gift Guide Review: U2. "All That You Can't Leave Behind: 20th Anniversary Edition"
Prepare to elevate your soul with this 20th anniversary box set edition of U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind. Twenty years into their career, U2 rang in the new millennium with a career-redefining recording that saw them return to the upper echelons of the Billboard charts, with Grammy nominations and worldwide hits to boot. With enduring instant classics like "Beautiful Day," "Walk On," "Elevation," and "Stuck in a Moment That You Can't Get Out Of," it's no wonder the album remains a
Holiday Gift Guide Spotlight: Cherry Red Box Set Bonanza - Rhinoceros, Jerry Jeff Walker, Fumble
Welcome to the third part of our Holiday Gift Guide Spotlight - Cherry Red Box Set Bonanza! Click here for Part One, featuring Evelyn "Champagne" King, and here for Part Two featuring Graham Bonnet! When one thinks of bands assembled by audition, The Monkees usually spring to mind. Davy, Micky, Peter, and Michael had been assembled by Screen Gems for the purposes of starring in a new television sitcom, and by sheer force of will became a "real" band making some of the era's most
Holiday Gift Guide Spotlight: Cherry Red Box Set Bonanza - Graham Bonnet's "Solo Albums 1974-1992"
Perhaps no label this holiday season has offered such a bonanza of box sets as Cherry Red. Yesterday, we looked at Evelyn "Champagne" King's The RCA Albums 1977-1985. Today, we're turning the spotlight onto Graham Bonnet's Solo Albums 1974-1982! Cherry Red's Hear No Evil (HNE) imprint has long been a home for archival releases from singer Graham Bonnet of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Alcatrazz, and The Michael Schenker Group. Now, HNE has brought together Bonnet's first four solo albums,
Holiday Gift Guide Spotlight: Cherry Red Box Set Bonanza - Evelyn "Champagne" King, "The RCA Albums 1977-1985"
Perhaps no label this holiday season has offered such a bonanza of box sets as Cherry Red. Today we kick off a three-part feature on five of these sets (any of which just might make the perfect stocking stuffer!) with a Holiday Gift Guide spotlight on Evelyn "Champagne" King's The RCA Albums 1977-1985. Bronx-born, Philadelphia-raised vocalist Evelyn "Champagne" King came from a showbiz family including her uncle Avon Long - perhaps best known as Sportin' Life in multiple productions of Porgy
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Kiki Dee, "The Fontana and Motown Years"
UPDATED DECEMBER 2020: Kiki Dee rocketed to worldwide stardom (no pun intended) on Elton John's Rocket Records in 1976, imploring "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" to John on the chart-topping duet. She had been recording for Rocket since 1973, scoring such U.K. hits as "Amoreuse" and "I've Got the Music in Me," the latter of which also went to the top 20 of the U.S. Hot 100, as well. Anyone familiar with Dee's Rocket recordings knows her to be a singer of both power and sensitivity, and last year,
Holiday Gift Guide Review: The Doors, "Morrison Hotel: 50th Anniversary Edition"
For The Doors, 1970 should have been a new beginning. Upon the February 1 release of the band's fifth album, Morrison Hotel, Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore were still recovering from the events of the prior year. On March 1, 1969, Morrison famously (or infamously?) exposed himself onstage in Coconut Grove, Florida. The Lizard King's "indecent exposure" led to the cancellation of over two dozen concerts and some radio stations' refusal to play The Doors' music.
Holiday Gift Guide Reviews: Cat Stevens, "Mona Bone Jakon" and "Tea for the Tillerman" 50th Anniversary Editions
1970 was a defining year for pop music, and few stars ascended to quite the same heights as Cat Stevens, whose Mona Bone Jakon and Tea For the Tillerman re-introduced the songwriter and singer to audiences. Gone are the production excesses of his late-'60s pop recordings. Here, Stevens' songs are stripped-down as he looks inward and embraces a soulful sound. Fifty years on, these two albums have been revisited by Yusuf through his aptly titled Cat-O-Log Records imprint, in coordination with
Holiday Gift Guide: Vinyl Me, Please - A Year in Review
Over the past few months you've probably heard us mention Vinyl Me Please. The subscription-based record club frequently partners with the major labels to create exclusive pressings from across genres. They also curate Records of the Month for subscribers - available in three tracks: Classics, Essentials, and Hip Hop - specially selected by their staff to spotlight albums of importance in pop, rock, soul, world music, jazz, and beyond. This year, the offerings ran the gamut from The Stooges,
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