The never-ending supply of ABBA reissues, expansions and other catalogue ephemera - which was just added to by the release of a new compilation in Europe, rendering our Back Tracks post on the matter even further obsolete - is going to get even bigger with an impending expanded release of the group's self-titled LP this winter. […]
Continue Reading
Hip-O Select's latest release is quite literally "so inviting, so exciting": The Supremes' 1966 LP I Hear a Symphony is the latest in the girl group's discography to get the deluxe treatment. The year before, Motown founder Berry Gordy was shocked by the soft chart placement of his Supremes' latest effort, "Nothing But Heartaches." The single […]
Continue Reading
Chain, chain, chain…chain of fools… Don’t be cruel…to a heart that’s true… Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees…people say we monkey around… Those three songs are still among the most recognizable in rock and soul, yet they barely scratch the surface of the songwriting careers of Don Covay, Otis Blackwell and the team of Tommy Boyce […]
Continue Reading
Well, they say the sky's the limit and to me, that's really true...But, my friend, you have seen nothing! Just wait 'til I get through... Those words would likely have sounded like pure hubris had they emerged from any singer other than Michael Jackson. He threw the gauntlet down not just to his fellow musicians, […]
Continue Reading
Box set season is totally in full swing this week! Are you ready? Michael Jackson, Bad 25 (Epic/Legacy) The King of Pop's legendary 1987 album gets the deluxe treatment in a number of formats. The standard edition includes the remastered album and a 13-track bonus disc featuring rare and unreleased outtakes and new remixes. (That version is […]
Continue Reading1976’s Can’t Hide Love, recently reissued by Big Break Records, wasn’t jazz singer Carmen McRae’s first venture into contemporary territory. Like so many other interpretive vocalists who had begun their careers in a pre-Beatles world, McRae found herself adopting an “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” credo towards the increasingly prevalent rock genre, which […]
Continue Reading
Though Jim Morrison died more than 41 years ago, the fire of The Doors continues to burn bright. The past year, once christened The Year of the Doors, has brought a number of projects to light, such as the DVDs, CDs and LPs pertaining to the 40th anniversary of the seminal L.A. Woman album, and […]
Continue Reading
On February 11, 2011, Barbra Streisand joined some illustrious company, including Bono, Brian Wilson, Aretha Franklin and her “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” duet partner, Neil Diamond. That was the evening Streisand was recognized as the MusiCares Person of the Year, following in the footsteps of those above-named artists. Streisand was a natural candidate for […]
Continue Reading
Believe it or not, Christmas is just around the corner…and Barry Manilow is teaming with Legacy Recordings for the festivities. The pop superstar has recorded three very different holiday albums between 1990 and 2007, and all three can be sampled on his Classic Christmas Album, due in stores on October 2, part of Legacy's all-new […]
Continue Reading
The Super Deluxe stakes continue to be raised with the announcement of two more mega-boxes due before 2012 is out: (greatly!) expanded editions of King Crimson’s 1973 Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, and Jethro Tull’s 1972 Thick as a Brick. Both albums were the fifth studio effort of their respective bands, both are landmarks of the […]
Continue Reading