1977 was a whirlwind year for Melissa Manchester. The singer-songwriter toured North America's arenas and amphitheaters that summer with Leo Sayer before launching a solo tour in the fall that attracted the attention of none other than Bob Dylan, who attended the Minneapolis date. Melissa played Carnegie Hall, appeared on network television specials, taped a memorable commercial with Ella Fitzgerald, and released her sixth studio album, Singin'. But that wasn't all. On October 30, 1977 at
Solid Gold Easy Action: New T. Rex Box Chronicles Marc Bolan's Work in 1972
1972 was a banner year for T. Rex's Marc Bolan. The glam rock pioneer was riding high thanks to the success of 1971's chart-topping Electric Warrior and its hit singles "Get It On" and "Jeepster," and would continue his streak of hits with The Slider (No. 4 in the U.K.) and two more No. 1s, "Metal Guru" and "Telegram Sam." Before the year was out, T. Rex would play in both the U.S. and U.K., appear regularly on the BBC, and star in the concert film Born to Boogie produced and directed by Ringo
Bandcamp Friday Picks, February 2022: Paul Andrews Goes the 'Distance' - Hurry Up and Listen
It's a new year, and Bandcamp Fridays are back! The beloved independent music service brings back their beloved mini-holiday today (February 4), and again on March 4, April 1 and May 6. On those days, they'll waive the fees they make off music they host - all the money will go directly to artists and labels. (And artists typically make more there than other platforms, just saying.) We've delighted in using The Second Disc to highlight some of our favorite catalogue and current acts on Bandcamp -
Release Round-Up: Week of February 4
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! B.J. Thomas, In Remembrance: Love Songs and Lost Treasures (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Real Gone Music remembers the late, great B.J. Thomas with this new collection of rare and previously unreleased material drawn from both Thomas' personal archives and the vaults of Reprise and Warner Bros. Records. In Remembrance: Love Songs and Lost Treasures features 18 tracks, 13 of which are making their debut here,
OUT TOMORROW: Real Gone Celebrates B.J. Thomas on "In Remembrance: Love Songs and Lost Treasures"
B.J. Thomas first reached the U.S. top 10 in 1966 with a heartfelt cover of his father's favorite Hank Williams song, the plaintive ballad "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." The Oklahoma-born, Texas-raised artist had his sights beyond just the country genre, however. His always authentic and altogether compelling voice was equally at home in the genres of pop, R&B, rock and roll, contemporary Christian, bossa nova, and gospel. He became a songwriter's singer, bringing to vivid life the music
Habit Worth Forming: Graham Parker Expansion Coming from Reactivated Iconoclassic Label
It's no rumor and there's no fooling: Graham Parker's first proper solo album is getting expanded on CD this April 1 from Iconoclassic Records. "I've always been striving to make a record that sounds beautiful," Parker told Musician about his first without backing band The Rumour. "I think Another Grey Area sounds beautiful. Everything is in the right place...the whole thing holds together." Coming off the critical success of 1980's The Up Escalator, Parker recruited polished rock producer
Love Is Here to Stay: Craft Reissues, Remasters Natalie Cole's "Unforgettable...with Love" for 30th Anniversary
Natalie Cole lost her father, Nat "King" Cole, when she was just fifteen years of age. But a little more than a quarter-century after his untimely passing, Natalie paid the ultimate tribute to Nat when her studio album Unforgettable...With Love celebrated his rich oeuvre. Anchored by a virtual duet with him of his classic "Unforgettable," the album was Natalie's first to embrace her legacy. The 1991 LP and duet went on to earn a collective seven Grammy Awards, reach No. 1 on the Billboard
Wicked As It Seems: Keith Richards Reissues "Main Offender" for 30th Anniversary
BMG is continuing its ongoing reissue series from Keith Richards' solo catalogue on March 18 with a 30th anniversary edition of the Rolling Stone's 1992 LP Main Offender. The reissue follows BMG's similar expansions of Richards' solo debut Talk Is Cheap and the X-Pensive Winos' concert album Live at the Hollywood Palladium, and will be available in the following formats: 2CD/3LP Super Deluxe Edition; 2CD Mediabook; 1CD Standard Edition; 1LP Black or Limited Edition Red Vinyl;
Keeping the Faith: Billy Joel's "Japanese Singles Collection" Arrives on 2 CDs and 1 DVD
Last weekend, Billy Joel played his first concert of 2022 at Hollywood, Florida's Hard Rock Hotel and Casino; he's scheduled to resume his long-running residency at New York City's Madison Square Garden on February 12 after a brief postponement due to the Omicron variant. The piano man is celebrating his 50th year as a solo artist with a variety of projects including the recent release of The Vinyl Collection Vol. 1 which reissued albums from his first decade. Over in Japan, the end of 2021
Release Round-Up: Week of January 28
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Various Artists, Summer of Soul (...or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised): Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Legacy Recordings delivers a soundtrack to Questlove's acclaimed 2021 documentary Summer of Soul, chronicling the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. Live recordings are featured from headliners including The 5th Dimension, Nina Simone, David Ruffin, Sly & The Family Stone,
That's Entertainment! U.K. Avid Label Reissues "Judy at Carnegie Hall" in February
In the pantheon of live albums, one title stands tall over 60 years after its initial release. Judy at Carnegie Hall powerfully captured the essence of the supernova that was Judy Garland. The lavish 2-LP set, issued on Capitol Records, preserved Garland's electrifying concert of Sunday, April 23, 1961. It spent 95 weeks on the Billboard chart, 13 of them at Number One. At the Grammy Awards, Judy handily picked up five of them including Album of the Year (the first by a female artist) and Best
Review: Frank Zappa, "200 Motels: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - 50th Anniversary Edition"
Frank Zappa called 200 Motels "a surrealistic documentary." Leonard Maltin described it as a "visual, aural assault disguised as a movie; completely berserk, freeform film...some of it ingenious, some funny, but not enough to maintain [an] entire film." Roger Ebert compared the surreal musical to the work of experimental composer Harry Partch before observing that it "assaults the mind with everything on hand...a full wall of sight-and-sound input." Zappa never wrote and directed another
Sit Down and Float: Cherry Red, Strawberry Collect Arrival's "Complete Recordings"
"They reached out and touched me as no other group has ever done," Dusty Springfield proclaimed in the original liner notes to the debut LP from Liverpool group Arrival. "They sing with joy, sadness, and wit, and as you listen, they'll reach out and touch you." Arrival touched U.K. listeners to the tune of two hit singles in 1970: a cover of Terry Reid's "Friends" (No. 8) and an original song entitled "I Will Survive" (No. 16). But that was it for Arrival's chart successes, and their two LPs
Total Conditioning: Two Howard Jones Remix Albums Reissued by Cherry Red
Cherry Red continues their ongoing excavation of the Howard Jones catalogue with a new set that collects two remix albums from the mid-'80s: one a special early part of his discography, and one a treasured rarity for Japanese collectors. The label will issue a 2CD set on March 18 featuring the contents of The 12" Album and 12"ers Vol. 2, which collected a plurality of mixes, some B-sides and the odd unique track from the Human's Lib and Dream Into Action albums. 1984's The 12" Album featured
Sacred Songs: New Anthology Highights the Solo Side of Daryl Hall
Daryl Hall would have every reason to rest on his laurels when not writing, recording, or touring with John Oates in the most successful pop-rock duo of all time. But the Pennsylvania native has always pursued other outlets for his outpouring of creativity. He's collaborated with artists from Robert Fripp to Diana Ross, released five acclaimed solo studio albums between 1980's Sacred Songs and 2011's Laughing Down Crying, and launched the hugely popular Live from Daryl's House series, in which
Release Round-Up: Week of January 21
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! John Williams and The Boston Pops, The Complete Philips Recordings (Decca) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Decca will celebrate John Williams' 90th by turning the clock back to 1980 when the famed composer-conductor took the baton from the legendary Arthur Fiedler to lead The Boston Pops Orchestra into a new era. John Williams and The Boston Pops: The Complete Philips Recordings boasts 21 CDs and 22 albums originally released on
The Sound of Liberation Hall: Label Announces Slate Through April Featuring Flamin' Groovies, The Troggs, Tony Hazzard, Kim Fowley, More
Since its formation in late 2020, the Liberation Hall label has delivered a wide variety of releases ranging from a Dr. Demento-curated collection of novelties to a campaign from the vaults of San Francisco indie label 415 Records. Now, the label has announced a bounty of upcoming releases scheduled between now and April. The eclectic slate encompasses reggae (Peter Tosh), blues (Chicago Blues Reunion), psychedelic and garage rock (The Moving Sidewalks, The Flamin' Groovies, Kim Fowley, The
Heartaches By The Number: Morello Reissues Four 1960s Waylon Jennings Albums on Two CDs
When Waylon Jennings passed away in 2002, he was rightfully hailed as one of country music's first true "Outlaws" alongside such artists and fellow Highwaymen as Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson. But Jennings paid his dues on the Nashville scene before "crossing over" to superstardom with such landmark records as Dreaming My Dreams (1975), Are You Ready for the Country (1976), Ol' Waylon (1977), and I've Always Been Crazy (1978). Cherry Red's country-focused Morello label has
Ballad of the Garment Trade: Stage Door Expands Streisand Debut "I Can Get It For You Wholesale"
Today, Harold Rome and Jerome Weidman's 1962 Broadway musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale is best-remembered as the debut of Barbra Streisand. The then-teenaged star portrayed secretary Yetta Tessye Marmelstein, best known as "Miss Marmelstein," and stopped the show nightly with the song of that name. "The evening's find is Barbra Streisand," wrote Howard Taubman in The New York Times, "a girl with an oafish expression, a loud, irascible voice, and an arpeggiated laugh. Miss Streisand is a
The Clouseau Museum: Quartet Collects Henry Mancini's Final Three "Pink Panther" Scores in New Box
Quartet Records closed out 2021 with an impressive slate of soundtracks from some of the most legendary names in film score history, including Henry Mancini, John Barry, Ennio Morricone, and Nino Rota. Today, we're spotlighting the 3-CD box dedicated to Mancini's final Pink Panther scores. The Pink Panther: The Final Chapters Collection gave full due to the final three scores composed by Henry Mancini in writer-director Blake Edwards' long-running series of comedies. The deluxe 3-CD
Tears Began to Fall: New Box Set Chronicles Frank Zappa and The Mothers' 1971 Fillmore East Shows, Final London Concert
In a masterstroke of understatement, Frank Zappa and The Mothers proclaimed themselves to be Just Another Band from L.A. on a 1972 album of the same title. Of course, The Mothers were never just another band, but this particular iteration - featuring former Turtles vocalists Flo and Eddie (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan) and bassist Jim Pons, drummer Aynsley Dunbar, keyboardist Don Preston, and multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood - was one of the most memorable of the band's existence. This
Release Round-Up: Week of January 14
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Elvis Costello and The Imposters, The Boy Named If (Capitol/EMI) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Elvis Costello and The Imposters are back with a new, rip-roaring rock album. The band previewed many of the songs on The Boy Named If during its last concert tour; if those tunes (including lead single "Magnificent Hurt") are any indication, this set returns Costello to his spiky roots. Available on CD, LP, cassette, digital platforms,
Ride Me, Easy Rider: Cherry Red, Esoteric Collect Vinegar Joe's "Island Recordings" Featuring Robert Palmer, Elkie Brooks
Today, Vinegar Joe is best remembered for launching the careers of Robert Palmer and Elkie Brooks. The band had risen from the ashes of a group called Dada intended by co-founder Pete Gage as "a combination of Mothers of Invention/Frank Zappa, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and The 5th Dimension. Power vocalists plus brass and crazy arrangements." But that heady brew was too much for Atlantic Records' Ahmet Ertegun who urged Dada to strip away the fusion elements and concentrate on blues and rock.
Soundtrack Watch: Varese, La-La Land, Intrada Kick Off 2022 with Killer Scores
The year has barely started, yet three beloved soundtrack reissue labels are bringing the heat to 2022's score reissue slate. Between a horror-packed box set from Varese Sarabande and a trio of expanded releases by James Horner, there's much cause for celebration. That is, if Varese doesn't kill you first! The label continues 25 years of superb scares with a new box set of soundtracks devoted to the horror franchise Scream. This zingy, gory picture, written by Kevin Williamson and directed
Review: David Bowie, "Brilliant Adventure [1992-2001]"
Putting on the black tie, cranking out the white noise... David Bowie wasn't one to look back. But when he announced Black Tie White Noise, many fans collectively breathed a sigh of relief. Might the "old" David Bowie be returning? The 1993 album was his first in six years, following three albums (two studio and one live) with his hard rock band, Tin Machine. It also reunited him with Nile Rodgers, producer of his all-time best-selling album Let's Dance, and with Ziggy Stardust-era
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