Though Whitney Houston has been gone for more than five years, her life and music remain as resonant as ever. She’s been in the spotlight as a major figure in the new film Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives as well as the subject of the controversial documentary Whitney: Can I Be Me. One of her most successful endeavors, the film The Bodyguard, is now playing around the world as a stage musical, and currently touring the United States with Whitney’s onetime duet partner Deborah Cox stepping into her shoes. Now,…
Wondrous World: Rhino Releases ‘Harry Potter’ Vinyl Box Set
Rhino Records is inviting vinyl fans on a musical trip to Hogwarts, with a box set of soundtracks from the Harry Potter film series. J.K. Rowling’s series of children’s novels about an orphaned boy who discovers his magical powers–and, naturally, recruits his fellow magical friends to an all-out battle of good versus evil–has become a major cultural force since the release of debut book Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone in 1997. The original seven books, released over the following decade, have sold over 500 million copies and spun off theme park…
Release Round-Up: Week of October 6
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Carol Burnett, Carol Burnett Sings: Expanded Edition (Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Real Gone celebrates the 50th anniversary of The Carol Burnett Show with the comedy legend’s third solo album and first for RCA Victor. A tie-in to the groundbreaking variety show, Carol Burnett Sings features four songs performed on early episodes: “Georgy Girl,” “Enter Laughing,” “I Believed It All” and “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” Another tune “Nobody,” was performed by Burnett during an appearance on the earlier program Carol…
Contagion: Original Soundtrack Album (Limited Red and Yellow “Biohazard” Vinyl Edition)
Real Gone brings Cliff Martinez’s score to the 2011 thriller to vinyl. The score was originally released on CD-R back in 2011 and has never appeared on vinyl before. Real Gone’s edition is limited to 1,200 copies and comes in Gold and Red “Biohazard” vinyl.
Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track – Deluxe Edition
2-CD/2-LP/1-BD Box Set: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2-CD Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Saturday Night Fever is 40 years old, and Capitol and UMe are marking the occasion with a new box set. In this 2-CD/2-LP/1-BD presentation, you’ll find the original remastered album on CD and double LP as well as the film on Blu-ray (presented here in a recently restored 40th anniversary cut overseen by director John Badham and packed with extras from previous DVD releases including director’s commentary and deleted scenes). Audio…
Diamonds [Various Formats]
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Elton John looks back on his extraordinary career with a new retrospective, available in 1-CD 2-CD, 3-CD, and 2-LP formats. Whew!
Your Songs: Elton John Plans New “Diamonds” Collection
Five decades ago, an aspiring singer/songwriter named Reginald Dwight, frontman for a band named Bluesology, answered an ad in the New Musical Express placed by an A&R man for Liberty Records. At the ensuing meeting, Dwight was given a stack of lyrics written by someone who’d answered the same ad: an up and coming lyricist named Bernie Taupin. Dwight wrote a melody to Taupin’s lyrics, placed the ensuing song in the post–and thus started a partnership that continues to this day, with scores of chart-topping albums and beloved singles coming from Dwight–who,…
Reach The Stars and Fly A Fantasy: Cherry Red Expands “The NeverEnding Story” Soundtrack
“A Boy Who Needs a Friend Finds a World That Needs A Hero.” So proclaimed the tagline to the 1984 fantasy film The NeverEnding Story. The film became a hit that year and featured a title song which also climbed the charts. Cherry Red imprint Strike Force Entertainment has recently released an expanded reissue of the film’s soundtrack. The movie, based upon the 1979 German fantasy novel by Michael Ende, tells the tale of ten-year old Bastion Balthazar Bux who begins to read a book chronicling the adventures of Atreyu as he…
Release Round-Up: Week of September 29
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! David Bowie, A New Career in a New Town (1977-1982) (Parlophone) 11CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K. 13LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K. The third release in Parlophone’s series of chronological box sets dedicated to the music of David Bowie, A New Career in a New Town (1977-1982) closes the book on the legendary artist’s RCA career. It follows 2015’s Five Years (1969-1973) and 2016’s Who Can I Be Now? (1974-1976), offering material from five major studio and live albums: Low (1977), “Heroes” (1977), Stage (1978), Lodger (1979) and Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980). Low, “Heroes” and Lodger are, of course, referred to as the “Berlin”…
Making a List and Checking It Twice: Real Gone’s Christmas Offerings Revealed, Including Percy Faith, Fred Waring and Robert Shaw
We’ve already told you about the three Christmas offerings coming from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music this year from The Supremes, The Ames Brothers and Connie Smith. Now here’s the rest of Real Gone’s superlative slate of yuletide releases…and one more non-holiday reissue, all due on November 3! First up is an expanded edition of the classic Music of Christmas from Percy Faith and His Orchestra. This was actually the second album to bear this title from the prolific conductor. The first arrived in mono in 1954 on Columbia. That…
Stayin’ Alive: ‘Saturday Night Fever’ Soundtrack Gets Super Deluxe Treatment
Get ready to strut into record stores–Saturday Night Fever‘s immortal soundtrack is being reissued as a super deluxe set alongside the film itself. Based on a New York Magazine article that was later found to be fabricated, Saturday Night Fever ironically solidified the image of disco in popular culture. John Travolta’s rough-edged but sympathetic Tony Manero–a Brooklyn bum working in a hardware store by day and tearing up the floor of the 2001 Odyssey by night–established the young TV actor as a bona fide movie star and charming symbol of the ’70s….
Cherry Red’s El Label Celebrates Miles Davis, Bill Evans On Two Collections
Cherry Red’s El label has recently turned its attention to two late titans of jazz for a pair of releases. The Cinema of Miles Davis and The Quiet Passion of Bill Evans: Collaborations, Trios and Guest Sessions both focus on the artists’ early periods in which they were pushing the envelope and shattering preconceived notions of bop. The Cinema of Miles Davis captures the trumpeter between 1954 and 1961 on a variety of performances either written for films or used in films. Representing the former is Davis’ 1958 score to Ascenseur pour…
EXCLUSIVE Track List: ‘E.T.’ Comes Home On La-La Land’s New 2CD Soundtrack
Thirty-six years ago, principal photography began on Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. It’s incredibly fitting, then, that The Second Disc can exclusively share details on La-La Land Records’ definitive new expansion of John Williams’ timeless, award-winning score to the film, prepared in honor of the film’s 35th anniversary. “He is afraid. He is totally alone. He is 3,000,000 light years from home.” So announced the first posters for E.T., Spielberg’s seventh feature film. The timeless tale of a mysterious alien creature found and protected by a lonely 10-year-old boy was part…
Soundtrack Round-Up: Action, Suspense, Horror Classics from Silvestri, Donaggio and More
Intrada, La-La Land and Lakeshore Records have some delightful soundtrack titles available or forthcoming right now, including rediscovered musical works for some major blockbusters of the ’80s and ’90s. Last week, Intrada reissued Pino Donaggio’s score to Body Double, Brian De Palma’s erotically-charged thriller about a claustrophobic actor mixed up in a nightmarish murder mystery. Craig Wassen and Melanie Griffith star, De Palma co-writes, produces and directs; and Donaggio marks his fourth collaboration with the director after composing scores to Carrie (1976), Home Movies (1979), Dressed to Kill (1980) and Blow Out…
Popeye: Deluxe Edition
Varese Sarabande celebrates Harry Nilsson’s score to Robert Altman’s quirky live-action musical Popeye with a remarkable 2-CD deluxe edition of the original soundtrack. This 2-CD deluxe edition will not only feature all of Nilsson’s memorable songs as performed by the perfectly-cast likes of Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall, and Paul Dooley, but will also debut Thomas Pierson’s instrumental score on CD, and an entire disc of previously unreleased demos performed by Nilsson!
Back From the Grave and Ready To Party: Real Gone’s October Releases Celebrate Halloween with ‘Cujo,’ Zacherle, ‘Return of the Living Dead’ and More
Real Gone has already announced one title for October: an expanded edition of Carol Burnett Sings. Now they are going in a completely different direction with titles to get listeners in the Halloween spirit, due on October 6. Things kick off with a limited vinyl reissue of the soundtrack to 1985’s The Return of the Living Dead. Return‘s history and legacy is a little complicated. George A. Romero and John Russo wrote 1968’s classic Night of the Living Dead. After its release, the two parted ways, with Russo retaining the rights…
UPDATE 8/22: Harry Nilsson’s “Popeye” Soundtrack, Complete with Demos, To Be Released In September
ORIGINAL POST OF MAY 8: UPDATED AUGUST 22: Well, blow me down! Varese Sarabande will be bringing the soundtrack to composer-lyricist Harry Nilsson and director Robert Altman’s loopy film musical version of Popeye to compact disc in an authorized edition for the very first time on September 29 – but that’s not all. This 2-CD deluxe edition will not only feature all of Nilsson’s memorable songs as performed by the perfectly-cast likes of Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall, and Paul Dooley, but will also debut Thomas Pierson’s instrumental score on CD, and an…
Everybody Sing! JSP Records Collects Four Discs of Judy Garland’s “Classic Duets” on New Box Set
Throughout her illustrious, if tragically curtailed, career, Judy Garland raised her voice in song with some of the greatest artists of all time, including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Al Jolson, Gene Kelly, Kay Thompson, and many more. Last Friday, August 4, a new 4-CD set arrived from the U.K.’s JSP Records celebrating Garland’s greatest vocal collaborations with these performers and many others. Judy Garland: Classic Duets features 109 tracks over 4 CDs, including 15 tracks never before issued on CD. This collection follows on the heels of the recent release…
Release Round-Up: Week of August 4
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! The Legacy Collection: Robin Hood (Walt Disney Records) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.) Disney’s Legacy Collection returns with a first-ever complete soundtrack release for the 1973 animated classic Robin Hood. Disc 1 of this 2-CD set includes the original songs and score from the film (28 tracks overall), penned by writers including Roger Miller, George Bruns, Floyd Huddleston, and Johnny Mercer. Disc 2 spotlights 13 tracks of bonus material including previously unreleased demos and the entirety of Louis Prima’s Let’s Hear It for Robin Hood…
Hard-Hitting “Sweet Sweetback” Returns To Vinyl For Stax 60th Campaign
Upon its release in 1971, there was nothing quite like Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song. The low- budget, independently-made film – written, directed, edited, composed by and starring Melvin Van Peebles, and rated X “by an all-white jury” as its tagline proclaimed, ushered in the blaxploitation genre in shocking and often graphic fashion. Prior to the film’s release, the multi-hyphenate Van Peebles realized that the best way to spread the word about his groundbreaking work was via music. And so, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song: An Opera – A Film of Melvin Van Peebles…
Get Happy! Judy Garland’s “Soundtracks” Offers 48 Classic Songs On Two CDs
Clang, clang, clang went the trolley once again, as Mint Audio Records has today announced its newest release – a 2-CD collection celebrating the soundtrack performances of the legendary Judy Garland. Soundtracks features 48 original Garland recordings recorded between 1929 and 1961, including four outtakes. These include many of her most beloved cinematic songs, as well as some surprises, including: “(Dear Mr. Gable) You Made Me Love You” (The Broadway Melody of 1938) “Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart” (Listen, Darling) “Over The Rainbow” (The Wizard of Oz) “Danny Boy” (Little…
The Thrill of the Hunt: Real Gone’s September Slate Begins with “Predator” on Vinyl Plus Duane Eddy RCA Singles and Grateful Dead
While we are now in the height of the summer heat, Real Gone is looking ahead to the fall. The label has announced the first part of its release slate for September of this year and it is another eclectic mix of titles. First up is a title from the artist most people consider to be the greatest rock-instrumentalist of all time: Duane Eddy. Guitar Star: The Complete RCA Singles A’s and B’s collects all 22 single sides Eddy recorded for RCA Victor in the early to mid-1960s on CD, and is…
Disney’s Legacy Collection Swings Back to Life with “Robin Hood” (UPDATED 7/18)
UPDATE (7/18/2017): Attendees of last weekend’s D23 Expo at Anaheim got the opportunity to purchase Robin Hood: The Legacy Collection ahead of its August 4 release date! It includes not only the complete songs and score by George Bruns, Roger Miller, Johnny Mercer and others, but five unreleased demos and a complete 1974 album of Robin Hood songs and new material sung by jazz legend Louis Prima, the voice of King Louie in Disney’s 1967 feature The Jungle Book! Full track list and pre-order links are below! ORIGINAL POST (5/23/2017): Golly, what…
Adventure On Earth: “E.T.” Soundtrack Album Remastered In New Blu-ray Box
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is celebrating the 35th anniversary of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial this fall–and fans of the Oscar-winning original soundtrack are in for an unexpected treat tastier than a bag of Reese’s Pieces. Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece (and the author’s unquestionable favorite film) will be released in several new packages on September 12, including a bow on the 4K Ultra HD format and a new deluxe gift set. Included in that set is a soundtrack release, which The Second Disc has confirmed is the original soundtrack album from 1982, newly remastered for…
























