Late in 2023, Demon Music Group revived its Disco Discharge series on the Edsel label. Two recent 2CD volumes, Disco Ladies and Disco Boogie, continue presenting the series in a deluxe, oversized seven-inch format. These titles, chockablock with disco deep cuts and hits alike, were originally issued on the Harmless label in 2009 and 2010, respectively, and have been tweaked (likely due to licensing restrictions) for this go-round. Disco Ladies offers a cross-section of the many women with
Disco Connection: Ace Releases Isaac Hayes' "Hot Buttered Singles Volume 2"
Last year, Ace released the first of a two-volume series collecting Isaac Hayes' single sides for the Stax label and his own Hot Buttered Soul imprint of ABC Records. As Hayes was known for his epic productions, the shorter single edits offered a very different listening experience than the full album tracks. Earlier this year, the second volume arrived, and though Hot Buttered Singles Volume 2: 1972-1976 chronicles a period in which Hayes had less crossover success, it's nonetheless filled
In Memoriam: Sly Stone (1943-2025)
"I am everyday people," boldly proclaimed Sly Stone on Sly and The Family Stone's 1968 chart-topping single. "I am no better and neither are you/We are the same, whatever we do/You love me, you hate me, you know me and then/You can't figure out the bag I'm in..." Using straightforward, direct language, a penchant for nonsense words that nonetheless carried weight (ooh-sha-sha, scooby-dooby-dooby, boom-laka-laka-laka), and the funkiest grooves ever to find their way to a vinyl platter, the
The Weekend Stream: June 7, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. This week brings posthumous recordings by Prince and Donna Summer, a new spin on Star Wars disco, and plenty of cast recordings leading into the Tony Awards this Sunday! And just a quick programming note: our Unplugged series is taking the week off, but will be back with some new and exciting Weekend Stream extra content very soon! Prince,
Release Round-Up: Week of June 6
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Dusty Springfield, Longing (Real Gone Music) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Real Gone Music premieres a lost album from Dusty Springfield: 1974's Longing. Produced by Brooks Arthur, the album features a number of singer-songwriter-oriented compositions including
Smile Happy: WAR's "Why Can't We Be Friends?" Deluxe Box Comes to CD
Following its release last week on vinyl for Record Store Day, the expanded 50th anniversary edition of WAR's seminal 1975 album Why Can't We Be Friends? is coming to CD and digital formats. On June 6, the 3CD box will arrive in stores via Rhino and Avenue Records. WAR's seventh album, Why Can't We Be Friends? found the large musical collective - Lonnie Jordan, Howard Scott, B.B. Dickerson, Harold Brown, Papa Dee Allen, Charles Miller, and Lee Oskar - continuing on its path blending funk,
Release Round-Up: Week of May 9
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Jackie DeShannon, Love Forever: Demo Recordings 1966-1968 (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Jackie DeShannon signed with Liberty Records and Metric Music in 1960 as a performer and songwriter. Her big break would come in 1964 when she would open for The Beatles on their first U.S. tour. The next year
Collected
Universal's overseas arm developed the Collected series as a line of compilations that would appeal to both casual and hardcore fans, combining an artist's biggest hits with harder-to-find material. (For instance, a 2017 volume on Huey Lewis and The News offered rare edits and 12" mixes, guest appearances and even a single track from the group's pre-News existence as American Express.) Now distributed through the Music on CD label, Collected is still going strong - as evidenced by a forthcoming
Oooh, This I Need: Adam Mattera Talks 'Dearly Beloved: A Prince Songbook'
Last year, The Second Disc had nothing but good things to say about Dearly Beloved: A Prince Songbook, Cherry Red's triple-disc tribute to the music of Prince. The set told a story of The Artist's massive impact on pop, rock and soul by way of songs he gave others to record and a galaxy of genre-bending covers. In a year of considerable challenges in Prince fandom, it was a veritable oasis in a desert. Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of speaking with Adam Mattera, the curator and
Record Store Day 2025: The Best of the Rest
Next Saturday, April 12, is certainly one of the most packed Record Store Days in recent memory. Since the list was announced, we drilled down on titles from Craft Recordings, Legacy Recordings, Rhino Records, Universal Music Group, Real Gone Music, Omnivore Recordings, BMG, Cooking Vinyl and Demon Music Group, as well as some notable titles that were getting later general releases on CD. Well, if you thought that was it, you're wrong! We pored and pored over the list and are here to share
Baby, You Give Me a Feeling: Robinsongs Collects Five Albums from Roy Ayers' Ubiquity
Last evening, TSD learned that jazz legend Roy Ayers had passed away at the age of 84. Prior to the sad news, we had completed and scheduled this news item on Cherry Red and Robinsongs' recent collection of five albums he recorded with the loose collective he called Ubiquity. We dedicate this piece to Roy Ayers and celebrate his enormous legacy. When vibraphonist-composer Roy Ayers moved to the Polydor label in 1970, he titled his debut album Ubiquity. In an interview quoted in the new
SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Legacy releases the soundtrack to the latest documentary by The Roots' drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, who picked up an Academy Award for his work on 2021's Summer of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) . This new companion album to this highly-anticipated look at the life and legacy of Sly Stone features 21 favorite hits and album cuts, about half of which are unreleased
The Weekend Stream: February 15, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts! We're taking it way back today with reissues and rarities by Peggy Lee, Brenda Lee, The Fleetwoods, and The Five Satins - plus more Luther Vandross rarities! Luther Vandross, Never Too Much: Greatest HIts (Epic/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon) Released late last year ahead of the new documentary on the late R&B legend, Luther Vandross' Never
Review: WAR, "Live in Japan 1974"
"The Japanese were nice, but really afraid of us," remembers WAR's producer-manager Jerry Goldstein in the liner notes to the band's new Live in Japan 1974. "That's how we came up with the 'Hey, why can't we be friends?' concept. In the dressing room that night, Lonnie was playing the keyboards and we started doing the song. No verses, just the 'why can't we be friends' part. We wrote it there, went back to the U.S., and in January [1975], we recorded it." The catchy plea "Why Can't We Be
Thankful N' Thoughtful: Legacy Releases Soundtrack to Sly Stone Documentary
A pleasant surprise available digitally today and on CD and 2LP in May is the soundtrack to an exciting new documentary about one of the great musical icons of the '60s: Sly Stone. SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) - the latest documentary by The Roots' drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, who picked up an Academy Award for his work on 2021's Summer of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) - has a new companion album that features 21 favorite hits and album cuts,
Release Round-Up: Week of February 7
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn for qualifying purchases. WAR, Live in Japan 1974 (Rhino/Avenue) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Rhino's ongoing refresh of the WAR catalogue continues with its first release of 2025: a set of previously unheard live material from the band's tour of Japan, more than half a century ago and
Not So Simple Songs: Ace Records Compiles Sly Stone Covers
A timely new collection will pay tribute to the work of Sly & The Family Stone through a diverse group of covers and rarely-heard singles written and produced by the group's iconic frontman for others. Everybody is a Star - The Sly Stone Songbook is the latest entry in Ace Records' Songwriter Series, chronicling some of the greatest modern songwriters of the last century. Naturally, the man born Sylvester Stewart is a prime candidate for such an overview. His mix of R&B, funk, pop and
Live in Japan 1974
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Rhino's ongoing refresh of the WAR catalogue continues with its first release of 2025: a set of previously unheard live material from the band's tour of Japan, more than half a century ago and featuring the band's classic line-up. Live in Japan 1974 is available worldwide as a 2CD or 2LP set. The concert includes 14 tracks (three less on the vinyl) culled from sets in Shizuoka, Tokyo, Osaka, and
The Complete CD Collection
Eric Burdon and WAR's The Complete CD Collection brings together the complete released output of the funk-soul band during the period in which it was fronted by ex-Animals vocalist Eric Burdon. The 4-CD set has three complete albums: Eric Burdon Declares "War," The Black-Man's Burdon, and archival compilation Love Is All Around. Bernie Grundman has remastered all albums. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Spill the Wine: Rhino Collects Eric Burdon and War on "The Complete CD Collection"
Earlier this year, we filled you in about WAR's upcoming release Live in Japan 1974, due February 7 from Rhino and Avenue Records. Now, the labels have announced another significant release in their upgrade of the WAR catalogue. On March 7, Eric Burdon and WAR: The Complete CD Collection arrives on four discs, bringing the 2022 Record Store Day-exclusive vinyl box set to the CD format. Eric Burdon, the former lead singer of The Animals, famously performed "San Franciscan Nights" with that
Ain't Nobody: Rufus' Final Albums Reissued in New Robinsongs Set
A forthcoming two-for-one set from Robinsongs will chronicle the last works of funk legends Rufus - including their powerful final bow with singer Chaka Khan. The label will release the 1983 studio album Seal in Red and live/studio hybrid Stompin' At The Savoy - Live as a 2CD set on March 14. The set will feature new liner notes by Lois Wilson of MOJO as well as three bonus tracks, including single versions of "Take It to the Top" and the smash hit "Ain't Nobody," as well as a rare remix of the
Rhino's 2025 Start Your Ear Off Right Campaign Features Fleetwood Mac, Ramones, Rush, More
We've already filled you in on details of Rhino's upcoming live release from WAR, but that's not all coming from the label. Rhino's annual Start Your Ear Off Right vinyl campaign has already commenced at independent retailers and select Barnes and Noble locations. This year's slate encompasses releases from Dream Theater, Ramones, Fleetwood Mac, ZZ Top, Grateful Dead, Rush, and others. Below, you'll find the complete list of SYEOR titles due this month, including those which arrived last
Southern Part of Japan: Archival Live Album from War Due Soon
Following some heavy-duty offerings from West Coast funk masters War, including an expansion of The World is a Ghetto and a box set of latter-day studio work for last year's Record Store Day Black Friday - Rhino kicks off 2025 with a release of previously unheard live material from the band's tour of Japan, more than half a century ago and featuring the band's classic line-up. Live in Japan 1974 will be available worldwide as a 2CD or 2LP set on February 5. The set includes 14 tracks (three
Holiday Gift Guide Review: 'Dearly Beloved: A Prince Celebration'
The holidays are a time of good cheer and gratitude, where we all (in theory) come together to share in a common joy. There has not been a lot of common joy if you're a Prince fan; we don't need to re-litigate it more than we did this summer, but it's worth noting that the quest to make intriguing, posthumous Prince projects under the current estate organization has maybe gotten worse than when we published our editorial. But there have been celebrations of The Purple One that honor his
The Definitive Collection
Formed by Richard "Rick" Thompson (guitar), Bill Risbrook (tenor saxophone), Carlos Ward (alto saxophone), Louis Risbrook (bass), Dennis Rowe (percussion), Terrell Wood (drums), and Barbara Joyce Lomas (vocals) in Brooklyn, New York, B.T. Express aligned themselves with producer Jeff Lane and the independent Roadshow Records before ending up on the Scepter label as it sought to reinvent itself following marquee artist Dionne Warwick's departure. Thanks to a Tom Moulton Mix, their catchy Scepter
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