As three recent titles prove, Cherry Red’s RPM label leaves no stone unturned in its pursuit of rare pop music to issue on CD, living up to its credo “By Collectors – For Collectors.” Much like The Artwoods (also recently the subject of a compilation from RPM), The Bo Street Runners were among the exciting mod R&B revivalist bands that London had to offer in the mid-sixties. However, The Runners – like The Artwoods, The Action and so many others – never attained the top tier of commercial
Review: The Kinks, "Muswell Hillbillies: Legacy Edition"
Ted’s checking in today with a look at one of the finest reissues of the last quarter of 2014: the CD/DVD Legacy Edition of The Kinks’ Muswell Hillbillies! - JM For God’s sake…Wanna have a cuppa tea with The Kinks…?! It’s the dead of winter and what better way to warm up these days then to spend some quality time with Ray Davies and company’s take on Americana, glam rock, and a touch of vaudeville on their 1971 classic album, Muswell Hillbillies? Taking its name from The Kinks’ cosmopolitan
Something Good: Legacy Expands "The Sound of Music," Classic Soundtrack Also Comes to SACD and Vinyl
The hills are alive again! On March 10, Legacy Recordings will reissue RCA Victor’s chart-topping 1965 soundtrack to Rodgers and Hammerstein’s five-time Academy Award-winning The Sound of Music in a new 50th anniversary edition to coincide with the golden anniversary release on Blu-ray. Collectors will note that expanded CD reissues of the classic musical soundtrack starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer are as inevitable as raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens; editions have
Unbroken Chain: Rhino Celebrates 50 Years of Grateful Dead with New 2-CD Anthology
“What a long, strange trip it’s been,” asserted the Grateful Dead on 1970’s American Beauty. It’s doubtful that the band members could have imagined that the long, strange trip would still be continuing in 2015 – 45 years after “Truckin’” and 50 years after Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan and Bill Kreutzmann first came together. 50th anniversary plans have recently been revealed including a documentary from director Amir Bar-Lev and executive producer Martin Scorsese and
Magnificent! Esoteric Revisits The Moody Blues' Debut With Lavish 2-CD Expanded Edition
Fifty years ago this coming July, Decca released the modestly-titled The Magnificent Moodies, the first long-player from Birmingham band The Moody Blues. It would prove to be the only album release for the original quintet, but the Moodies – including founding member Graeme Edge – are still going strong today. The group’s landmark 50th has recently been marked by Cherry Red’s Esoteric Recordings imprint with the reissue of The Magnificent Moodies in a deluxe, 2-CD mini-box set format. The
Midnight Special: Folkways Celebrates Lead Belly With New Box Set
Happy Birthday to Huddie Ledbetter, a.k.a. "Lead Belly," born today in 1888! How many songwriters could say that their songs have been recorded by The Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra and Nirvana? Had he lived longer, Huddie William Ledbetter (1888-1949) could have. Ledbetter, known as Lead Belly, endured a difficult life – including various stays in jail – to introduce or adapt to the Great American Songbook tunes that are still well-known today such as “The Midnight Special,” “Goodnight, Irene,”
Review: Jellyfish, "Bellybutton" and "Spilt Milk" Deluxe Editions
Omnivore Recordings has come out swinging in 2015! With the long-anticipated deluxe reissues of Jellyfish’s two studio albums finally here, the label has set a high bar for sheer pop ecstasy. While the band is often tagged as “power pop” – which is not altogether inaccurate – these two 2-CD sets make a strong case that Jellyfish was so much more. In his liner notes for this deluxe revival of 1990 debut Bellybutton (OVCD-5), author Ken Sharp points out that “everyone from Queen to Henry
Release Round-Up: Week of January 20
Jellyfish, Bellybutton and Spilt Milk (Omnivore) Bellybutton: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Spilt Milk: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Here are the deluxe editions that fans of the cult '90s pop revivalists have been waiting for! A total of 51 bonus tracks are spread across these freshly-remastered reissues of Jellyfish's two studio albums. Look for Joe's review later today! Universal Togetherness Band, Universal Togetherness Band (Numero Group) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) The Numero
Ella, Satchmo, Aretha, Miles and The Merm Featured On Starbucks' "Fascinating Gershwin"
When The Library of Congress established a Prize for Popular Song in 2007, one name was affixed to it: Gershwin. With no disrespect to Messrs. Berlin, Porter, Rodgers and company, George and Ira’s surname is synonymous with the gold standard in American popular song. The recipients of the award to date – Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Carole King and Billy Joel – have all followed in the Gershwins’ footsteps of marrying smart, sophisticated and incisive
Souvenirs: Raven Compiles Best of Foghat, Four Albums from John Prine
The Raven Records label closed out its 2014 with a pair of double-CD sets reliving the seventies – one, a retrospective of Foghat’s first decade, and another, a complete collection of John Prine’s first four albums. Foghat’s Drivin’ Wheels: Best of 1972-1982 brings together 32 tracks from the FM radio titans, spanning the period of 1972-1982 and culled from ten studio and live albums. The blues-rock band was founded in Manchester, England in 1971 by three Savoy Brown expatriates –
Taken By Love: Numero Rediscovers Universal Togetherness Band's Funky Sounds
Numero Group – the top purveyors of obscure yet irresistible pop, rock, soul and beyond – kicks off 2015 with a January 20 release from Chicago’s Universal Togetherness Band. The self-titled release (Numero No. 057) will arrive on CD and vinyl, and as a digital download. The label has explained the story behind frontman Andre Gibson’s Universal Togetherness Band. Between 1979 and 1982 – a time of sweeping change for R&B, with lush disco ceding to lithe, electronic sounds – the group
Sunshine Special: Now Sounds Collects "The Best of The GoldeBriars"
Late in 1963, The GoldeBriars recorded “Sunshine Special,” the group’s adaptation of the traditional train song. Curt Boettcher – the male vocalist in the line-up and also its major creative leader – would later make sunshine a specialty; his shimmering California-pop productions for the likes of The Millennium, The Ballroom and Sagittarius have all gone on to attain cult status. There’s not much of that baroque psych-pop sound on Now Sounds’ Walkin’ Down the Line: The Best of The GoldeBriars
Varese Vintage Round-Up: Label Reissues Seals and Crofts, Danny Elfman, Bill Medley, More
Today, we’re spotlighting a number of reissues you might have missed from the Varese Sarabande label which arrived in the final weeks of 2014! The 1977 coming-of-age drama One on One starred young Robby Benson as high school basketball star Henry, who must overcome obstacles – both romantic and academic – to get through his freshman year of college. The score was provided by Charles Fox (“Happy Days,” “Ready to Take a Chance Again”) who also collaborated on a number of songs for the movie
Real Gone's March Slate Boasts Peggy Lee, Perry Como, Foghat, J. Geils Band - and Second Disc Records, Too!
We hope that nobody missed yesterday’s big news of The Second Disc’s partnership with Real Gone Music to create Second Disc Records, launching March 10 with a pair of releases from Johnny Mathis and Bob Crewe! But that’s not all that Real Gone has on tap for March release. With a total of eight titles ranging from psychedelia to standards, this may be one of the label’s most eclectic release batches yet! Real Gone is kicking off the month on March 3 with two iconic classic rock albums on
Second Disc Records Label Kicks Off in March with Johnny Mathis' "Complete Thom Bell Sessions," Bob Crewe's "Complete Elektra Recordings"
As The Second Disc enters its fifth year as your go-to destination for classic music news and reviews, we’re excited to share our biggest news yet: a partnership with one of our favorite labels, Real Gone Music, to create Second Disc Records! Since its founding in 2011, Real Gone has rescued music that might otherwise have languished in a dusty vault or relegated to digital download – music that lives up to the label’s name – in splendidly remastered and generously expanded editions. Real
Presenting The Second Disc: Remastered!
Welcome to The (New) Second Disc - or, as we prefer, The Second Disc: Remastered! On January 11, 2010, The Second Disc published its first post: a look back from Mike Duquette at the best reissues of 2009, featuring titles from Elvis Costello, The Beatles and Michael Jackson. The same day, our first true news item was posted, about Legacy Recordings’ acquisition of the Jimi Hendrix catalogue. On January 31 came our first review, of Whitney Houston: The Deluxe Anniversary Edition. On April 3,
Stage Door Revisits Anthony Newley's "Good Old Bad Old Days" With Previously Unreleased Demo Recordings
Stage Door Records is taking another dip into the archives of the late, beloved entertainer Anthony Newley with its first release of 2015: an entire disc of Newley’s previously unreleased recordings of his own score to the 1973 musical The Good Old Bad Old Days! The January 26 release, produced in conjunction with the Anthony Newley Society, features never-before-issued 20 recordings, almost all of which were made during the development of the musical co-written by Newley and his longtime
Release Round-Up: Week of January 13
The Legacy Collection - Fantasia Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Walt Disney Records) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) This 4-CD presentation of Walt Disney's animated masterwork features both the Leopold Stokowski and Irwin Kostal recordings of the complete score, plus bonus material, in a deluxe hardbound format. Johnny Winter, Remembrance - Volume One (Friday Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. ) Friday Music celebrates the late, great Johnny Winter with this new set licensed from
Seeing Is Believing: Deluxe Edition of Mike + The Mechanics' "Living Years" Coming Soon to U.S.
Way back in the fall of 2013, our very own Mike Duquette reported on the release of Mike + the Mechanics’ The Singles 1985-2014, a two-disc compendium for the band founded by Genesis’ Mike Rutherford. He teased, “This set has been pushed back to January 20, 2014…to better coincide with some more Mike + The Mechanics events in the coming year, including a U.K. tour in the winter of 2014, a forthcoming memoir from Rutherford and a planned reissue of Living Years for its 25th anniversary.”
The Cryan' Shames' "Sugar and Spice" Goes Mono In Now Sounds' Expanded Reissue
When the venerable Goddard Lieberson, President of Columbia Records, announced the ascendancy of Clive Davis to a veep position at the label in 1965, the promotion of the younger man heralded for a new sound at Columbia. Lieberson had made Columbia the leader in the fields of classical and Broadway cast recordings, and was looking to position the label at the vanguard of rock, too. A number of new signings followed. Among those acts signed to the industry leader was The Cryan’ Shames, favorites
Wonderful World of Disney: "The Legacy Collection: Fantasia" Coming Soon
When considering the history of Walt Disney Studios, Mickey Mouse is always front and center. Lovably scrappy Mickey became a breakout smash with 1928’s Steamboat Willie, setting the company on the path to becoming the all-encompassing entertainment conglomerate it is today. The character himself, however, has had several ups and downs over the years. One of these down periods was during the late 1930s when Walt Disney felt that Mickey wasn’t reaching the same heights of popularity he had
Return To The "Freedom Highway": Staple Singers Classic Is Reissued and Expanded
For almost 50 years, between 1948 and 1994, The Staple Singers stood at the crossroads of gospel and soul, preaching messages of peace and positivity through music. In April 1965, The Staples - "Pops," Mavis, Yvonne and Pervis - were joined by drummer Al Duncan and bassist Phil Upchurch at Chicago's New Nazareth Church to record the album that became Freedom Highway. The LP, originally released on Epic Records, recognized that year's historic civil rights marches from Montgomery to Selma,
Driving Through Kashmir: Led Zeppelin's "Physical Graffiti" Turns 40, Arrives In Deluxe Formats Next Month
The series of expanded and remastered reissues from Led Zeppelin is getting into the home stretch. Following the 2014 deluxe releases of the band’s first five albums, 1975’s Physical Graffiti – the band’s sixth of nine studio albums - will arrive in a variety of formats on February 24, 2015 – exactly forty years after the original album was first unveiled. The hotly-anticipated Physical Graffiti was released almost two years after Led Zeppelin’s last album, Houses of the Holy, and was also the
Reviews: Two From Omnivore - Big Star, "Live in Memphis" and Roger Taylor, "The Best"
Welcome to Part One of our two-part review round-up featuring some of Omnivore Recordings’ releases from late 2014! Just when one thinks the Big Star well has run dry, Omnivore Recordings surprises with a treat of the magnitude of Live in Memphis (OVCD-107). On October 29, 1994 at Memphis’ New Daisy Theatre, Big Star founding members Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens, were joined by Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of The Posies for an overflowing set of Big Star classics and covers in front of an
Johnny Mathis' "Magic" Conjured By Funky Town Grooves On New Reissues
Funky Town Grooves is kicking off January with some magic...some Mathis magic, to be precise. The label is tapping three albums from legendary vocalist Johnny Mathis for CD release, one of which will be making its debut in the format. On January 27, FTG will reissue 1978's You Light Up My Life and 1979's new-to-CD Mathis Magic on one two-for-one disc, while 1979's The Best Days of My Life will receive standalone release as an expanded edition. You Light Up My Life was the prolific artist's
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