The Second Disc is continuing its celebration of 2015's finest with today's column by Ted Frank! Stop, do not pass GO and do not collect 200 dollars if you haven't already read our Sixth Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards summation of the year's greatest releases. Here, Ted presents his very own, alternative year in review with titles new and old! I make records ... I really don't want to be about singles or anything. -Adele, The Tonight Show In recent years, the download/stream-heavy music
The Year in Review - The 2015 Gold Bonus Disc Awards, From A to Z
Happy New Year, and welcome to The Second Disc's Sixth Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! As with every year's awards, our goals are simple: to recognize as many of the year's most essential reissues and catalogue titles as possible, and to celebrate as many of those labels, producers and artists who make these releases happen in an increasingly-challenging retail landscape. The labels you'll read about below have, by and large, bucked the trends to prove that there's still a demand for physical
Three Cheers and Dammit, C'est La Vie: Elaine Paige Celebrates 50 Years on "I'm Still Here"
Each evening from the first preview on August 7, 2011 to the closing performance on January 22, 2012, audiences at Broadway's Marquis Theatre were treated to the sight of one of the First Ladies of the London stage making a rare appearance across the Atlantic belting one of Stephen Sondheim's most famous songs. The show was Follies, the star was Elaine Paige, and the song was "I'm Still Here." Now, that anthem of showbiz survival provides the title for the superstar actress-singer's new live
WE HAVE OUR WINNERS! ROD McKUEN "REFLECTIONS" SECOND DISCMAS GIVEAWAY!
CONGRATULATIONS! The following 15 entrants have won a copy of Varese Vintage's brand-new Rod McKuen anthology, Reflections: The Greatest Songs of Rod McKuen, on CD! If you entered our contest via Facebook and your name is on the list below, please drop us a line at theseconddisc-at-gmail-dot-com or a Private Message on Facebook with your name and mailing address! If you entered via email, you don't have to do anything - your CD will be in the mail soon! Watch this space soon for more
Lose That Long Face: "Judy Garland Sings Harold Arlen" Premieres New-to-CD Tracks, Unearths Lost Recording
Whether imploring those around her to "Get Happy" or dreaming of a place "Over the Rainbow," Judy Garland gave some of the most immortal performances of her career (and indeed, of the whole of popular music as well as film) with the songs of Harold Arlen. In Arlen's sophisticated yet blues-based melodies, Garland found the perfect expressions in which to bare her soul, alternately with vulnerability, tenderness, desperation and joy. Now, JSP Records, the label which has recently released such
A SECOND DISCMAS GIVEAWAY: Rod McKuen's REFLECTIONS From Varese Vintage!
Varese Vintage recently celebrated a singular career when the label released Reflections -The Greatest Songs of Rod McKuen. This definitive overview of McKuen's work as a singer-songwriter features 24 of his most famous compositions including "If You Go Away," "Jean," "Seasons in the Sun," "A Man Alone" and "Love's Been Good to Me." I was proud to pen the liner notes for this collection, and now, Varese and I would like to give you a chance to WIN THIS NEW RELEASE! Though a self-professed
Real Gone Celebrates Christmas With The Soulful Strings, John Gary, Four Seasons
Real Gone Music is this year's source for classic Christmas reissues - including two from our own Second Disc Records imprint! Here, we're taking a look at three more titles from the label's Christmas feast! At first glance, The Soulful Strings might appear to be just another of those ubiquitous sixties instrumental studio outfits, delivering MOR versions of the day's popular hits. Yet, a closer look at Cadet Records' Soulful Strings - and most of its brethren, truth be told - reveals some
Release Round-Up: Week of December 4
Well, this is it - the final big release week of the year! While next week will see releases slow to a trickle, this week is packed with exciting box sets and much more! Bruce Springsteen, The Ties That Bind: The River Collection (Columbia) 4-CD/3-DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada 4-CD/2-BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada This 4-CD/3-DVD or 4-CD/2-BD set celebrating The Boss' seminal album The River features a treasure trove of previously unreleased material across its 53 audio tracks
THE SECOND DISC'S 2015 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE IS HERE!
We wouldn't want you to be left out in the cold for Cyber Monday, so we're proud to present our annual Holiday Gift Guide featuring nearly 75 essential selections for the music enthusiast in your life! We've filled the guide with box sets (such as the popular Bob Dylan title to your left!), archival releases and holiday music favorites. So Just click here to access this year's picks! You'll notice that the Gift Guide is in the same easy-to-use format as our Release Calendar, so you can
Review: Frank Sinatra, "A Voice on Air: 1935-1955"
Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings' new box set Frank Sinatra: A Voice on Air (88875 09971 2) begins, appropriately enough, with the jarring sound of an old-time radio tuning in. The shrill noise quickly segues to the first of nearly 100 performances on four CDs - 19-year old Frank Sinatra, one-fourth of The Hoboken Four, singing the perky "S-H-I-N-E" on WHN Radio's The Major Bowes Amateur Hour. Here, then, is the future Chairman of the Board - before he sang for swingin' lovers, before he
It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas: Legacy Adds Amazon Exclusive 3-CD Set to "Classic Christmas Album" Series
With Thanksgiving this Thursday and Black Friday the day after, the Christmas season is officially upon us (if it hasn't already arrived a couple of weeks ago!). There have been several Christmas reissues we've talked about so far this season, including the four new entries in Legacy's Classic Christmas Album series. And now we've got information on a fifth entry for this year: the simply-titled Classic Christmas Album. And we're also happy to say that this Amazon exclusive, 3-CD, 42-song
Release Round-Up: Week of November 20
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up which continues this autumn's tradition of having each week packed with box sets from heavy hitters - in this case, The Rolling Stones, The Velvet Underground, The Who, Queen, Grateful Dead, Frank Sinatra, and they're still not all! Plus: CD and vinyl reissues, anthologies, and much more! The Beach Boys, Beach Boys' Party: Uncovered and Unplugged (Capitol) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) The first disc of this 2-CD, 81-track set features the
Release Round-Up: Week of November 13
It may be Friday the 13th, but today's choice releases are hardly scary, with box sets, archival releases, new music from veteran artists, and much, much more! Aretha Franklin, The Atlantic Albums Collection (Atlantic/Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) This 19-CD box set brings together 16 of the Queen of Soul's Atlantic albums as previously released on CD including the deluxe 2-CD Live at Fillmore East, the 2-CD Rare & Unreleased Recordings From The Golden Reign Of The Queen Of
His Way: Sinatra Documentary Comes To DVD and BD, Retirement Concert Included In Box Set
Frank Sinatra fans (and who isn't?) already have November 20 marked on their calendars as the release date of A Voice on Air (1935-1955), Columbia/Legacy's new 4-CD box set collecting the future Chairman of the Board's rare radio performances. Now, Eagle Rock Entertainment has announced the same date for the arrival on Blu-ray and DVD of Frank Sinatra: All or Nothing At All, director Alex Gibney's acclaimed four-hour Sinatra documentary. The film, which originally aired earlier this year on
Release Round-Up: Week of November 6
This week's Release Round-Up brings the year's most eagerly-anticipated box set, a stunning new collection from the Fab Four, a Christmas feast including two titles from Second Disc Records, and more! Bob Dylan, The Bootleg Series: Volume 12 - The Cutting Edge (Columbia/Legacy) The Best of the Cutting Edge 2-CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. The Best of the Cutting Edge 3-LP Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. The Cutting Edge 6-CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. The Cutting Edge: Collector's
Second Disc Records' Christmas Slate Arrives TOMORROW with Lynn Anderson and Jim Nabors!
Though Santa Claus hasn't yet officially kicked off the Christmas season in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, many signs of the season are already here! Mr. Claus is holding court at the mall, radio stations have started their holiday playlists, and Christmas trees are for sale with 49 days left until the big day. We're certainly ready for Christmas here at Second Disc HQ, as this Friday, we're celebrating the first-ever holiday releases on our Second Disc Records label! We're proud to join
Luck Be A Lady: Cherry Red's él Label Reissues The Kirby Stone Four's "Guys and Dolls," Ron Goodwin, More
Cherry Red's él label continues to deliver an array of some of the most eclectic sounds of the pre-Beatles era with a recent pair of reissues. The Kirby Stone Four's Guys and Dolls (Like Today) reinvented Frank Loesser's classic 1950 Broadway score for 1962 in the group's "Go Sound" style fusing jazz, swing, tight harmony vocals and even a dash of freewheeling rock-and-roll spirit. It's been paired on one CD with the quartet's Laugh Along with the Kirby Stone Four at the Playboy Club and
Destination Hawaii: New Box Set Takes Listeners To "Hulaland"
Though it didn't become the 50th United State of America until 1959, the Aloha State of Hawaii had long held an enchanting spell over mainland dwellers. Tiki culture rose to prominence in the 1930s; the decade saw the opening of the first Polynesian-themed tiki bar and restaurant, Don the Beachcomber, in 1934. By the end of the thirties, flights to Hawaii had begun, making the lush and beautiful land of sun and surf more widely accessible. The Polynesian craze hit full swing in the 1950s, and
A Man Alone: Varese Collects "The Greatest Songs of Rod McKuen" In November
On November 13, Varese Vintage will celebrate a singular career when the label releases Reflections - The Greatest Songs of Rod McKuen. This definitive overview of McKuen's work as a singer-songwriter features 24 of his most famous compositions including "If You Go Away," "Jean," "Seasons in the Sun," "A Man Alone" and "Love's Been Good to Me." Though a self-professed loner who often wrote of isolation and solitude, McKuen had an extraordinary ability in music, poetry and prose to
Real Gone "Goes Crazy" With December Releases From The Dictators, Nat King Cole, King Curtis, More
Real Gone Music has just announced its December release slate, and the label is closing out 2015 with as dizzyingly eclectic a line-up as ever - from the proto-punk clamor of The Dictators to the velvet vocals of Nat "King" Cole. Real Gone previews its December 4 offerings on Record Store Day - Black Friday, November 27, with a special 10" EP from The Dictators featuring previously unreleased tracks unavailable anywhere else! Then, the following week comes an expanded edition of the band's The
Release Round-Up: Week of October 9
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up highlighted by the first course of a Christmas feast, plus a trio of deluxe box sets, new albums from veteran artists, and more! The Three Suns, A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas / George Melachrino and His Orchestra, Christmas Joy / John Gary, The John Gary Christmas Album / The Soulful Strings, The Magic of Christmas (Real Gone Music) The Three Suns: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. George Melachrino: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. John Gary: Amazon U.S. /
Straighten Up and Fly Right: Universal Creates Nat King Cole's "Musical Autobiography" On New Box Set
Over 50 years ago, on February 15, 1965, the world lost Nat "King" Cole at the age of 45. But in a career sadly cut short by lung cancer, Cole left an indelible legacy in the worlds of jazz and popular vocals. That immense legacy is being celebrated this fall by Universal Music with the release tomorrow, October 9, of His Musical Autobiography, a 10-CD/2-DVD retrospective box set featuring 262 tracks spanning the period of 1939 to 1965. Cole's familiar classics, both solo and with his King
Croydon Municipal Pops More "Popcorn," Revisits "Troxy Music" On Recent Compilations
Croydon Municipal, an imprint of Cherry Red Group, has recently continued two of its popular series with the releases of Troxy Music 2 and Popcorn Exotica. Like the first volume of Troxy Music, this edition is subtitled Fifties and Sixties Film Themes; this time around, it's Screen 2. Compiler Bob Stanley and compiler/annotator Martin Green set out the collection's ethos in the liner notes, explaining how both Hollywood and Great Britain fought against the onslaught of television: "Hollywood
Release Round-Up: Week of October 2
Welcome to our new Release Round-Up! Paul McCartney, The Paul McCartney Archive Collection: Tug of War (MPL/Concord) The Paul McCartney Archive Collection continues with 1982's Tug of War, featuring "Ebony and Ivory" and "Here Today." The release is available in various formats: 3-CD/1-DVD Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2-CD Special Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2-LP Vinyl Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Check out our full feature for information on what
Perfectly Frank: "A Voice On Air" Box Set Collects Rare, Unreleased Sinatra Recordings
The Sinatra centennial celebration is picking up steam this fall with the release of a new 4-CD box set from Legacy Recordings. On November 20, the label will release Frank Sinatra: A Voice on Air (1935-1955), the first comprehensive, fully authorized collection of Sinatra's historic radio performances. Over 100 tracks have been meticulously restored from the original recording masters for what's being billed as "unprecedented high fidelity sound." A Voice on Air captures Sinatra during the
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