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
Review: The Rolling Stones' "Goats Head Soup 2020" Box Set Is Sure To Satisfy Your Hunger
Goats Head Soup: as far as Rolling Stones albums go, it's an outlier. It's not a "landmark album" in the same way as Sticky Fingers, it didn't defy expectations in the same way as Exile. It didn't herald a new sound like Beggars Banquet or Let It Bleed. Now, that's not to say it's not a great album, but it just feels...different. After the one-two-three-four punches of Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and the magnum opus Exile on Main Street, it makes sense that fans had long
Here Comes My Baby: Cherry Red Collects The Tremeloes' "Complete CBS Recordings"
When they signed to CBS Records in 1966, The Tremeloes were seeking a second act. Founded as a beat group in 1958, the Dagenham band fronted by Brian Poole scored numerous hits on the U.K. Singles Chart including covers of "Twist and Shout," "Candy Man," "I Want Candy," and "Do You Love Me," the latter of which reached No. 1. But when Poole left the group that bore his name in 1966, his bandmates found themselves at a crossroads. Yet they pressed onward, and a move from Decca to CBS yielded
Review: Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets "Live At The Roundhouse" Takes Audiences Back In Time
It's been said that music is the closest thing we have to time travel. Case in point: the new live album and concert film from Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets. Released today, September 18, Live At The Roundhouse captures the former Pink Floyd drummer and his supergroup of talented friends - guitarists Lee Harris and Gary Kemp, keyboardist Dom Beken, and longtime Floyd associate Guy Pratt on bass - as they tackle some of Pink Floyd's earliest deep cuts in the famed London venue. The 22-song
Watching The Wheels: Kenneth Womack's New Biography "John Lennon: 1980" Offers A Comprehensive Look At The Artist's Later Days
John Lennon has been in the news a lot lately, and with good reason. 2020 marks what would have been the musician's 80th birthday and, sadly, it's also the fortieth year since his death. But there's more to that final year of John's life than the tragic events of December 8, 1980. In his new biography, John Lennon: 1980 - The Last Days in the Life, Beatles expert Kenneth Womack tracks that period of creativity and reinvention, writing in a way that's simultaneously approachable yet
A Hundred Million Miracles: Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Flower Drum Song" Reissued on Vinyl, Hi-Rez Digital
Flower Drum Song occupies a unique position in the Rodgers and Hammerstein canon. The 1958 musical wasn't one of the duo's timeless hits (Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, The Sound of Music). Nor was it one of their three commercial misses (Allegro, Me and Juliet, Pipe Dream). Instead, when considering the R&H oeuvre, it resides somewhere in between. It played 600 performances, and yielded a successful London production, a couple of bona fide classic songs, a
Review: July, "The Complete Recordings" Traces Over 50 Years of the Beloved Psych-Rock Band
They might not be a household name, but July is a band you ought to know. The U.K. psych-rockers have garnered a cult following since the release of their self-titled 1968 record. Original mono copies sell for more than three grand online, but its not just the scarcity and desirability of the album that raises eyebrows; it's the high quality of the music. Though their singles may not have charted back in the day, the five-piece Ealing-based group is still considered by psych-rock enthusiasts
Review: The Doobie Brothers, "Quadio"
"What the people need is a way to make 'em smile/It ain't so hard to do if you know how," goes The Doobie Brothers' "Listen to the Music," the opening song (and lead single) off the San Jose, California band's sophomore album Toulouse Street. The Doobies knew how - and so does Quadio, the new, four-Blu-ray box set recently released by Warner Records and Rhino collecting the band's second through fifth albums in their original quadraphonic and stereo mixes. Quadio follows Chicago's box set of
Review: Andrew Gold, "Lonely Boy: The Asylum Years Anthology"
The Asylum Records discography of pop polymath Andrew Gold has been well-addressed in the CD era - first via international CD reissues, then individual expanded editions on the U.S. Collectors' Choice label, and an all-encompassing set in 2013 from the U.K.'s Edsel label. But one thing had eluded Gold: a bona fide box set. Cherry Red and Esoteric Recordings have delivered with Lonely Boy: The Asylum Years Anthology, a 6-CD/1-DVD compendium celebrating the late artist (1951-2011) with
Review: Neil Diamond, "Hot August Night" Concert Series on Vinyl
Diamonds are forever. And Neil is no exception. Almost 50 years ago, the singer-songwriter captured a Hot August Night at Los Angeles' Greek Theatre in front of a sold-out crowd. That electrifying 1972 double-platinum double album, in turn, inspired four sequels released between 1977 and 2018. Now, in September 2020, the Greek Theatre is dark as a result of COVID-19. But Capitol and UMe have just released those four sequel albums as newly-remastered 2-LP vinyl sets. Standard black vinyl
Review: Joe Jackson, "Body and Soul" [Hybrid SACD]
Joe Jackson was never much of a conformist. The singer-songwriter followed up his first two albums (which dovetailed with the new wave movement and also reflected a punk spirit) with two stylistic departures before embracing classic songcraft on 1982's watershed Night and Day. Basking in the success of the album and its singles "Steppin' Out" and "Breaking Us in Two," Jackson turned to film scoring with Mike's Murder, but most of his score was discarded in favor of one by John Barry. Where
This Is Soul: Ace Collects "The Soul of The Memphis Boys" with Elvis, Dusty, Box Tops, More
We've already filled you in on Ace's recent anthology collecting works by Philly soul maestro Thom Bell; now we're looking to the American South with another release! Way back in 2012, Ace Records collected the multifaceted sounds of Chips Moman and Don Crews' American Studios on Memphis Boys: The Story of American Studios. The 24-song tribute collection featured such visitors to Memphis as Dusty Springfield, Wilson Pickett, B.J. Thomas, and Solomon Burke as well as Elvis Presley, one of the
Review: Joel McNeely, 'Star Wars: Shadows Of The Empire'
For the 42 years Star Wars has been a pop cultural force, musical oddities have followed in the wake of its starship engines. Sure, legendary composer John Williams put an interstellar jazz number in the middle of his almost operatic score to the original 1977 film, but that didn't predict a chart-topping disco song, or Christmas albums, or quirky EDM, or various other ephemera in the ensuing decades. When Star Wars: Shadows Of The Empire was released in 1996, amid a major comeback for that
Cruisin' for Love: Cherry Red, RPM Collect The Complete Kursaal Flyers on "Little Does She Know"
The Kursaal Flyers - founded in Southend-on-Sea, some 40 miles or 64 kilometers east of central London and so named for the town's famous building which once housed part of a famous amusement park - made their biggest splash with the 1976 single "Little Does She Know," produced by Mike Batt in thunderous Phil Spector style. Cherry Red's RPM Records has recently chronicled the full Kursaal Flyers story as one of the imprint's final projects. Little Does She Know: The Complete Recordings has
Nobody Else: Cherry Red Revisits Nick Kamen Discography on "The Complete Collection"
"Wow, he's got a great face!" That was Madonna's first reaction to then-model, future pop star Nick Kamen. She recollected, "I never knew he could sing. And the next thing I know, Seymour Stein calls me up and says, 'would you be interested in writing a song for his album?' So he sent me a tape and the Levi's commercial and a demo video that he had done, and I said, 'Wow, this guy's got everything.'" Now, fans of Kamen can have everything, too, as Cherry Red has just released The Complete
Review: Paul McCartney, "Archive Collection: Flaming Pie" 2-CD and 5-CD/2-DVD Box Set Editions
Today sees the release of the latest in Paul McCartney's acclaimed Archive Collection series, Flaming Pie. Originally released in 1997, the album marked something of a comeback for McCartney, who was inspired by the spontaneous, more immediate recording techniques of The Beatles. Many heralded it as a sort of return to form upon its release, and now fans can judge for themselves with this illuminating deep dive into the Macca vaults. Like previous Archive Collection entries, Flaming Pie is
Happy Together: Demon Reissues Three Turtles Collections on Vinyl
Three years after the U.K.'s Demon Records released The Turtles' The Albums Collection - a six-LP vinyl set presenting the band's complete studio album discography - the label has added three more vinyl titles to their Turtles library: the period anthologies Golden Hits (1967) and More Golden Hits (1970) plus the 2017 compilation The Turtles '66. All three reflect the changing sound of the eternal group which both epitomized AM pop and gently sent it up. Golden Hits arrived at the midpoint
Review: Donna Summer, "A Hot Summer Night"
"This isn't just my show...this is your show!" Donna Summer exclaimed during "MacArthur Park," the opening song of her August 6, 1983 concert at Costa Mesa, California's Pacific Amphitheatre. Now, that memorable concert dubbed A Hot Summer Night truly can be yours, as Driven by the Music and Crimson Productions have debuted it on CD and DVD as well as on a separate vinyl release. A Hot Summer Night, part of Summer's Hard for the Money tour, was filmed in the wake of the She Works Hard for
Review: Micky Dolenz, "Live in Japan" [CD/DVD Edition]
Even today, the name Kodak is synonymous with photography. But in 1980 Japan, Kodak was synonymous with The Monkees. The venerable company had scored a popular commercial there with the group's recording of "Daydream Believer," leading to a fresh wave of Monkeemania. Word spread, and soon, Davy Jones and Peter Tork were touring the country as solo acts. Micky Dolenz was third to arrive, having comfortably reestablished himself as not only a stage star but a theatrical and television
Cherry Red, SoulMusic Release 'Anything You Want,' Three-Disc David Sanborn Salute
Whether you've heard his albums or not, chances are you've heard the music of David Sanborn. The alto saxophone great has played on classic records by Steely Dan, Paul Simon, Elton John, Billy Joel, James Taylor, David Bowie, and dozens of others. Now, Cherry Red's SoulMusic Records imprint has delivered a comprehensive survey of Sanborn's 20+ years for the Warner family of labels. Anything You Want: The Warner-Reprise-Elektra Years 1975-1996 draws on 17 of his albums as a leader and showcases
Pick Up The Pieces: Edsel Releases Multi-Disc Average White Band Anthology
In selecting a name, the Average White Band certainly was modest. Over a career spanning nearly 50 years, the Scottish band recorded thirteen studio albums and seven live sets; charted nine hits in the U.K. and U.S. and a further 15 songs on the U.S. R&B survey; scored a million-seller with "Pick Up the Pieces;" and had so many songs sampled that the group was ranked the fifteenth most sampled artist in history as of around a decade ago. The AWB is still active today under the auspices of
Review: Whitney Houston, "Whitney Houston: 35th Anniversary Edition"
Whitney Houston wasn't yet 22 years old when Arista Records released her self-titled debut album on Valentine's Day, 1985. Overseen by executive producer Clive Davis, Whitney Houston anticipated every style the singer would explore in her subsequent discography. 35 years later, nearly every song is a recognized classic and a cornerstone of the late singer's career. Vinyl Me, Please, in association with Legacy Recordings and Arista, has just revisited Whitney Houston in a beautiful new 2-LP box
With Every Beat of My Heart: Cherry Pop Reissues, Expands Laura Branigan's "Self Control"
Laura Branigan became an overnight sensation with the release of 1982's "Gloria." Her throbbing adaptation of Umberto Tozzi's Italian hit not only reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 (held from the top spot by Lionel Richie's "Truly") but spent 36 weeks on the chart, establishing a new record for a solo female artist. A dance party anthem for a post-disco age, "Gloria" helped propel the singer's debut album, Branigan, to top 40 status and a Gold sales certification. It set the stage for
Review: The Iron City Houserockers, "Have a Good Time But...Get Out Alive!" [40th Anniversary Edition]
With apologies to John Lennon, Joe Grushecky is a working-class hero. A special education teacher by day and musician by night, Grushecky has worked for decades in inner-city Pittsburgh to help children battling severe developmental, emotional, and physical disabilities. Determination, grit, and authenticity have long been among his trademarks as an artist. Now, Cleveland International Records has reissued his sophomore album, recorded with his band The Iron City Houserockers, in a 2-CD or 2-LP
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
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