A new beginning - Donna Summer was certainly ready for one when she signed as the first artist on David Geffen's upstart record label in 1980. She had clashed and litigated with her longtime home of Casablanca Records over her artistic direction, and on a personal level had become a born-again Christian. Her first album for Geffen would build on her success at Casablanca but confidently introduce a new Donna Summer, as well. The Wanderer, her eighth studio album, became a top 20 success in
Not Far Down to Paradise: Christopher Cross Collects "The Complete Works" on 13-CD/1-LP Box Set
Forty years ago, Christopher Cross set sail on a musical journey that has continued unabated to the present day. His self-titled debut was released in the waning days of December 1979, spinning off three smash hit singles in 1980 ("Ride Like the Wind," the Pop No. 1 "Sailing," and AC chart-topper "Never Be the Same") and netting a whopping five Grammy Awards. Cross became the first artist in the awards' history to pick up Record, Album, and Song of the Year along with Best New Artist. While
Magical Mystery Tour: Little Steven's Liverpool Show Captured on "Macca to Mecca!" and Expanded "Soulfire Live!"
For most of us, 2021 can't come soon enough. Little Steven Van Zandt is doing his part by injecting some Soulfire into the new year with a pair of releases due January 29. On that date, Wicked Cool Records and UMe will release Macca to Mecca!, a live-in-Liverpool set, as a CD/DVD combo pack. On the same date, Little Steven will also deliver an expanded edition of 2018's Soulfire Live! CD set which adds the audio of Macca to Mecca! as its fourth disc. In fall of 2017, Van Zandt and his band
Release Round-Up: Week of December 4
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Cat Stevens, Mona Bone Jakon: 50th Anniversary Edition (A&M/UMe) 4-CD/Blu-ray/LP/12″ Box: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2-CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Cat Stevens, a.k.a. Yusuf, revisits 1970's Mona Bone Jakon with a new, 50th anniversary edition available in a host of formats. The 4-CD/Blu-ray/LP 50th anniversary
Holiday Gift Guide Review: The Free Design, "Butterflies Are Free: The Original Recordings 1967-72"
"Sorry - only one group like this to a generation," renowned engineer-producer Phil Ramone wrote on the back cover of The Free Design's 1968 sophomore album You Could Be Born Again. After over 50 years, The Free Design are still a singular group, difficult to pigeonhole. Their gentle, even childlike style has frequently landed them in the sunshine pop genre, but that match was never quite right: not only were they from New York, but their sound lacked the brightness and even brashness that
Snowblind: Black Sabbath's "Vol. 4" Goes Super Deluxe in February with Unreleased Studio, Live Material
Ozzy Osbourne hasn't been far from the news lately, appearing on the cover of GQ, sharing details of his ongoing struggle with Parkinson's disease, releasing the new album Ordinary Man, and appearing on various television projects. On February 12, 2021, however, Rhino will be looking back with Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward for a 4-CD or 5-LP celebration of their classic 1972 album: Black Sabbath Vol. 4. Now a platinum seller, Vol. 4 was the band's first self-produced LP
I Told You I Was Trouble: Two Amy Winehouse Box Sets Coming to CD, LP
This Friday, two new box sets will celebrate the legacy of the late Amy Winehouse across vinyl and CD. 12 x 7: The Singles Collection and The Collection (both currently available in the U.K.) will respectively collect all of the late British singer's A- and B-sides on 12 pieces of vinyl and her three studio albums on CD alongside a live concert and remix collection previously unreleased in the format. (A 2015 vinyl variant of the album-focused The Collection included those same studio and live
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Lou Reed, "New York" [Deluxe Edition]
"I'll take Manhattan in a garbage bag with Latin written on it that says "It's hard to give a shit these days..." Indeed, Lou Reed always gave off the vibe of someone who didn't give a shit - and moreover, someone who didn't take any shit. But beneath that hip veneer was an artist who cared deeply, and had the talents to express himself and his keenly-felt beliefs in song. He was ready for a new start in 1988 when he began recording his first album for Sire Records after his second stint at
THE SECOND DISC'S 2020 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE IS HERE!
Another Cyber Monday is here, which means one thing at Second Disc HQ: it's time to launch our annual Holiday Gift Guide, featuring 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 more than 50 essential selections: box sets (such as the amazing Elton John title to your right!) as well as archival releases and Christmas music favorites that just might make great
So Nice: The Lennon Sisters Return This Weekend to Public Television, Issue New Christmas, Broadway, and Standards Collections on CD
65 years ago this coming Christmas Eve, The Lawrence Welk Show welcomed a winsome young quartet for their very first television appearance. The story goes that the host's teenaged son brought Dianne, Peggy, Kathy, and Janet Lennon home to sing for him; their shimmering vocal harmonies won the elder Welk over and he quickly booked them to appear on his show. The response was so tremendous that The Lennon Sisters continued to appear every Saturday night with the "wunnerful, wunnerful" host until
Call Any Vegetable: Soundtrack to "Zappa" Documentary Includes Classics, Rarities, Unreleased Tracks, and Original Score
Today sees the streaming release of the documentary film Zappa from director (and Bill in the Bill & Ted series of films) Alex Winter. Taking into account the many sides of the late, iconoclastic artist - from musician to activist, from boundary-breaking rock-and-roller to innovative composer - the movie has already received widespread acclaim. Fully authorized by the Zappa Family Trust, Winter's portrait of the artist incorporates rare archival footage alongside interviews with key family
Release Round-Up: Week of November 27
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! To our U.S. readers, we hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and to our readers around the world, we hope you're staying safe and enjoying a lot of great music in these most challenging of times. Cee Lo Green, Cee Lo's Magic Moment (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Our friends at Real Gone Music have a Christmas-green color vinyl edition of Cee Lo's Magic Moment, the 2012 holiday album by neo-soul icon Cee Lo
Skating on Thin Ice: Cherry Red, Esoteric Reissue Procol Harum's "Something Magic" in Expanded Edition
Procol Harum titled their 1977 album Something Magic, and indeed, magic was what the English band hoped for when they headed to Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida to record it. Now, Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint has revisited Something Magic as a 2-CD expanded edition with three bonus tracks and a BBC Radio One concert. After Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, producers of 1975's Procol's Ninth, were unavailable to reteam with the band, Procol turned to Criteria and in-house
The Most Wonderful Time: New Andy Williams Special Premieres, "The Ultimate Collection" and More Released
Over the past weeks, radio stations across America have been changing to holiday formats. There's a good chance that if you spin the radio dial, you'll end up on the voice of Andy Williams. The late singer's 1963 favorite "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" has become an unofficial anthem of the Christmas season, and last year reached an all-time peak of No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 - an all the more impressive feat considering his first appearance on the chart was in 1956. Williams'
Review: Pink Floyd, "Delicate Sound of Thunder"
Welcome to The Second Disc's first Holiday Gift Guide Review of the season! Between now and Christmas, we'll be spotlighting various titles that just might make ideal holiday gifts for the music lovers in your life. Watch this space for the upcoming launch of the full Holiday Gift Guide! Flying hospital beds, laser-eyed pigs, and fire. No, it's not a sci-fi flick, it's Pink Floyd. Long known for their spectacular blending of stage displays, props, and music, the band kicked it up a notch
'60s ROCK, POP AND SOUL: New Treasury Collection DVD Set Offers Over 100 Favorites
Earlier this year, The Second Disc shared news of Rock, Pop and Doo Wop, a 7-DVD collection from Treasury Collection and executive producer-director TJ Lubinsky. Now, with the holidays upon us, a new set featuring dozens of classic hit-makers has just been released: '60s Rock, Pop and Soul. This 4-DVD package has been culled from two decades of Lubinsky's historic television concerts, with 130 hit songs from a "Who's Who" of legendary performers including Frankie Valli ("Can't Take My Eyes
Playing in the Band: Real Gone Music Announces "Blue Oyster Cult Live '83" CD and Grateful Dead "Road Trips" Reissues
If you're like us at The Second Disc, you're probably yearning for the day that live music is allowed again. Plans have shifted and events have been postponed in these past eight months of lockdown, but one thing remains the same: the thrill of a concert. Real Gone Music is allowing listeners to go back in time with two exciting live albums due January 8, 2021. There's a set from Blue Oyster Cult recorded in 1983 (previously announced as a Record Store Day Black Friday vinyl release, now coming
Review: "Rock and Roll School For Girls" Celebrates New Wave Pioneers The Catholic Girls
A lost album, an unexpected resurgence, and a new, lovingly crafted compilation that reveals all their talents. Class is in session, and today's subject: The Catholic Girls. In the beginning of the '80s, The Catholic Girls cemented a place in rock history as one of the first all-female rock bands to land a major record deal. Comprised of principal songwriter Gail Petersen on guitar and vocals, Roxy Andersen on lead guitar, Joanne Holland on bass, and Doreen Holmes on drums, The Catholic
A SECOND DISC INTERVIEW: All I Need In Just A Song - Dave Mason Reflects on 50 Years With "Alone Together Again"
Magic was in the air in 1970 and it certainly reached Los Angeles' Sunset Sound, where Dave Mason, along with an array of new friends and some of the top session musicians around, recorded Alone Together. Though only 24 years old, Mason had plenty of experience under his belt. The multi-instrumentalist made a name for himself as part of Traffic, penning some of their best crossover material ("Hole in My Shoe," "Feelin' Alright?"). He also participated in sessions with The Rolling Stones
Release Round-Up: Week of November 20
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Live in Maui (Experience Hendrix/Legacy) 2CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Experience Hendrix and Legacy Recordings have a brand-new collection that celebrates The Jimi Hendrix Experience's near-mythic performances on Maui, Hawaii in 1970. Live In Maui brings together audio and video with a new feature-length documentary called Music,
Hell on Earth: Omnivore Readies Richard Hell's "Destiny Street Complete" For January
In 1977, Richard Hell and The Voidoids set the punk world ablaze with their debut album, Blank Generation. Hell had already been a part of both Television and Johnny Thunder's first Heartbreakers lineup, and Blank Generation proved that he was more than ready to strike out with his own band. Hell didn't record a follow-up until 1981, however. When that sophomore album, Destiny Street, was released in 1982, the artist was dissatisfied: "The final mix was a morass of trebly multi-guitar
Gettin' Together: Cherry Red, Grapefruit Collect Tommy James and The Shondells' Roulette Recordings
Ohio-born, Michigan-raised rocker Tommy James fronted some of the 1960s' most indelible hits, including "I Think We're Alone Now," "Mony Mony," "Crystal Blue Persuasion," "Sweet Cherry Wine," and the chart-topping "Hanky Panky" and "Crimson and Clover." Combining garage rock attitude with pop polish, Tommy James and The Shondells' recordings are still beloved staples of oldies radio today. Now, all of those hits and more are returning to CD in a new 6-disc box set from Cherry Red's Grapefruit
We'll Be Together: Sting Preps New Duets Collection
While known as a singular performer - even his stage name is one word - Sting's next album is a collection of (mostly) previously released collaborations with other artists. But don't expect Duets to be a simple compilation of hits: only three of these tracks are from the former Police frontman's studio albums (four, if you count deluxe editions). Everything else is from Sting's guest appearances on albums by others and the occasional soundtrack appearance. Highlights include his 1999 hit
Toasts of the Town: Stage Door Reissues, Expands David Heneker's "Jorrocks" Musical on CD
Composer-lyricist David Heneker (1906-2001) remains best known today for his joyful score to the 1963 West End musical Half a Sixpence which transferred to Broadway in 1965, yielded a 1967 film version, and inspired a 2016 London revival. But Heneker wrote numerous other musicals with equally tuneful scores including Charlie Girl (1965), Phil the Fluter (1969), and Jorrocks (1966). Now, the latter is coming to CD from Stage Door Records with an expanded release of its 1966 London Studio Cast
UPDATE: General Retail Edition, Repressed Deluxe Edition of "Neil Young Archives, Volume 2: 1972-1976" Confirmed for March 5
UPDATE 11/12/2020: It's been a long time since Neil Young released his last Archives box set. In the intervening 11 years since Neil released Archives, Volume 1: 1963-1972, fans have endlessly speculated what might be on Volume 2 - or if it might happen at all. As our readers probably know by now, Neil Young Archives, Volume 2: 1972-1976 is a go, with a limited-edition box set arriving next Friday, November 20. A digital edition will also be available on Neil Young Archives and all major digital
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