In a year that counts Tommy Mottola, Cissy Houston, Burt Bacharach and Paul Anka among the music biz icons who have published, or will publish, their memoirs, one such figure's autobiography has already made headlines: Clive Davis' The Soundtrack of My Life. The attorney-turned-music mogul took a no-holds-barred approach to chronicling his history, including his tenures at Columbia, Arista, J and the RCA Label Group. This should come as no surprise to anybody who's followed his illustrious and
Kicks Just Keep Gettin' Easier to Find: Raven Collects Five Paul Revere and the Raiders LPs on Two CDs
Though Paul Revere and the Raiders was a quintessentially American band, it’s the Australian label Raven Records that’s bringing the first Raiders-related release of 2013. The group’s first five Columbia Records albums, originally released between 1965 and 1967, are being compiled on two discs as Evolution to Revolution: 5 Classic Albums 1965-1967. Available on March 12, Evolution contains the entirety of Here They Come! (1965), Just like Us! (1965), Midnight Ride (1966), The Spirit of ‘67
Chasing Waterfalls: Cherry Pop Plans New Expansion of "Wendy and Lisa"
Exciting news for Prince enthusiasts: two of the Purple One's most beloved collaborators, Wendy and Lisa, are reissuing their 1987 debut album on Cherry Pop Records next month. If you were down with Prince and The Revolution as they exploded into international stardom with 1984's Purple Rain, you likely were drawn to the subplot of The Kid's band members, Wendy and Lisa, who clashed with their bandleader over his artistic meandering. At the film's climax, the group dominates Minneapolis' First
The "Lowdown" On Friday Music's Expanded Reissue of "Chicago III"
In his recently released memoir The Soundtrack of My Life, Clive Davis speaks rhapsodically about one band he signed to Columbia Records who went on “to be one of the best-selling bands of the seventies…[and] successful in every succeeding decade, selling millions of albums along the way.” The mogul added, “They’re still active, and every year their fans lobby relentlessly for them to be nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an honor the band very much deserves.” Davis
Put Your Hands to Heaven: An Interview with Reissue Producer Vinny Vero
Vinny Vero is everywhere. I don't mean this in just a literal sense - as of this posting, he's currently in Australia playing several DJ sets - but he's also had a multifaceted career in the music business, be it as a marketer, producer, remixer or writer. "This year is my 25th anniversary in the music business," he told The Second Disc with a laugh. "All of a sudden I feel very experienced!" Vero parlayed his passion for music into a plum gig as a research manager for prominent New York radio
Soundtrack Watch: Intrada Debuts Unreleased Goldsmith, Horner Scores, La-La Land Has "The Fury"
The past week has been a boon to fans of A-list composers of the Silver Age of film scoring. Intrada has unearthed two unreleased scores (one entirely unused) by two of the most beloved composers of recent memory, while La-La Land has put back into print one of the most underrated scores by another genius of the same vintage. James Horner had one of the best years of his career in 1989, scoring Field of Dreams and Glory that year and earning an Oscar and Golden Globe nod, respectively, for
Sweet As The Punch: "Along Comes" Songs of Tandyn Almer
If you don’t know the name of Tandyn Almer, you likely do know his Top 10 pop hit “Along Comes Mary,” so memorably recorded by The Association in 1966. And you just might know two of the songs on which he shared songwriting credit with a certain Brian Wilson, “Marcella” and “Sail On, Sailor.” But the only commercial release to have carried Almer’s name as artist has long been a 1970 Warner Bros. single, “Degeneration Gap” b/w “Snippin’ the Silver Chord.” The Sundazed label changes all that
This is the Time! Win a Copy of Billy Joel's "She's Got a Way: Love Songs"
WE HAVE A WINNER! Click the banner above to find out who won Billy Joel's She's Got a Way: Love Songs!
What Will the Neighbours Say? Girls Aloud Compile Studio Albums and Rarities for New Box
While American audiences might hear "reality TV-created band" and shudder under the weight of forgotten groups, in England (where the first rule of pop music is there are no rules), the biggest pop act of the new century was created before a rapt audience on the tube: Girls Aloud. And, off their recent flurry of activity surrounding the group's 10th anniversary (a recent compilation, 2012's Ten, and an ongoing U.K. tour to end a years-long hiatus), a deluxe career-spanning box set is planned for
Get Ready! Songs of "Motown: The Musical" Are Collected In Original Hit Versions
When Motown: The Musical opens at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on April 14, it will mark yet another career landmark for Berry Gordy, the songwriter-producer-entrepreneur who turned Detroit, Michigan into Hitsville, USA some fifty-five years ago. The musical, written by Gordy and directed by Charles Randolph-Wright, depicts the rise to prominence of the Sound of Young America, with Brandon Victor Dixon (The Color Purple, The Scottsboro Boys) starring as Gordy. He’s joined by a cast of
Release Round-Up: Week of February 26
Fanny, Fanny / Freddie King, The Complete King Federal Singles (2-CD Set) / Rod McKuen, Sold Out at Carnegie Hall (2-CD Deluxe Edition) / Rod McKuen, Listen to the Warm (Deluxe Edition) / Cat Mother and the All Night Newsboys, The Street Giveth...and the Street Taketh Away / The Hello People, Fusion / The Grateful Dead, Dick's Picks 25 - May 10, 1978 New Haven, CT / May 11, 1978 Springfield, MA (4-CD Set) (Real Gone Music) Much to enjoy from Real Gone today: four discs of live Dead, deluxe
Virtual Insanity: Jamiroquai to Expand First Three Albums
Another musical float in the "oh dear, are we all that old?" parade is passing by next month: the first three Jamiroquai albums are being expanded by Sony's U.K. arm in honor of the 20th anniversary of the band's debut, Emergency on Planet Earth. Led by singer Jay Kay, known equally for his high tenor as well as his outré selection of hats, Jamiroquai were one of the most prominent bands emblematic of the acid-jazz movement in early '90s England, fusing traditional funk and disco styles to
The True "Geisha": Classic Franz Waxman Soundtrack Arrives on CD
Kritzerland has a thing for Shirley MacLaine. The label has just announced its ninth release of a score from a film featuring the Academy Award-winning actress and current Downton Abbey star. Franz Waxman’s score to the 1962 Paramount film My Geisha is the latest to get the Kritzerland treatment. As the titular geisha in a madcap, disguise-filled romp, MacLaine starred opposite Yves Montand, Robert Cummings, and Edward G. Robinson. Norman Krasna (White Christmas, Let’s Make Love) brought his
Bread Winners: Early Songs of David Gates Compiled By Rare Rockin' Records
Long before "Make It With You," "Everything I Own" and "If" became soft-rock standards for his band Bread, David Gates had toiled behind the scenes as a songwriter, producer, arranger and musician on the Hollywood scene. He worked with everybody from The Monkees to Captain Beefheart before striking out with Robb Royer and James Griffin to form Bread. The band's debut album was released in 1969, featuring the original version of "It Don't Matter to Me." The song soon mattered quite a bit for
Reissue Theory: Duran Duran, "Duran Duran (The Wedding Album): 20th Anniversary Edition"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. Today, two decades after its release, we imagine an expanded edition of an album that sent an iconic '80s band flying into the new decade - and back toward the top of the charts. The bizarre narrative that seems to plague pop music is that, with each new decade, the trends of the last 10 years should be relegated to the past as soon as possible. The psychedelic sounds of
Review: Carmen McRae, "I Am Music"
“Life is just too much for me to bear…I guess nobody ever really cared…do you?” Carmen McRae poses that question some four minutes into “A Letter for Anna-Lee,” the Benard Ighner song that opens her 1975 Blue Note album I Am Music. It’s a startling moment of direct address in this sad tale of a man for whom “the business of the day won’t let me be,” adding that “this life’s not meant for me.” The song, its accompaniment led by Dave Grusin’s burbling electric piano, shifts from its
Take It Easy: Rhino Packages Eagles LPs for New CD Box
Rhino extends their "lots of albums on CD in one box set" trend to one of the biggest artists in their catalogue: the Eagles. The Studio Albums 1972-1979 will collect exactly that: just about the entirety of the band's discography (not counting any non-LP tracks, either live album, Eagles Live (1980) or Hell Freezes Over (1994), nor most recent studio album Long Road Out of Eden (2007)) on six CDs. As with previous such Rhino boxes, it's expected to have no different mastering than prior CD
Booker T. Jones Is Ageless and "Evergreen" On Expanded CD Reissue
With or without the legendary MGs, Booker T. Jones has always been an evergreen talent. And now, his 1974 Epic Records LP Evergreen has finally arrived on domestic CD in a generously expanded edition. Wounded Bird Records has just reissued Evergreen with six bonus tracks, four of which are making their first appearance anywhere. Keyboard/organ virtuoso Jones first rose to prominence with 1962’s “Green Onions,” still one of the most recognizable instrumental hits of all time. “Green Onions”
No April Fool: Real Gone Announces Packed Line-Up For Month with Grateful Dead, Whiting, Jans, Atkins, More
April is known for showers, so why shouldn’t Real Gone Music shower collectors with a big line-up encompassing not just some super-rare rock and soul, but also country, film soundtracks, pop vocals and even crossover classical? Nine releases, all due on April 2, run the gamut for this busy label. On the rock front, fans will likely snap up the first-time domestic CD release of the 1971 solo album by Memphis music legend Don Nix. Featuring the Muscle Shoals rhythm section, Living by the Days
Wu-Tang's RZA Compiles Classic Stax for "Shaolin Soul"
A new compilation of music from Stax Records is coming courtesy of a most interesting source: rapper/producer/actor/director RZA of The Wu-Tang Clan. The man born Robert Fitzgerald Diggs has rarely slowed down in the 20 years since Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) was released in the winter of 1993. Besides producing most of his group's early records and solo projects (including ODB's Return to the 36 Chambers, GZA's Liquid Swords, Method Man's Tical and Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...),
"Do Ya" Want More Reissues From Electric Light Orchestra and Jeff Lynne? Three Titles Set for April
April might as well be known as The Month of Electric Light Orchestra, as the group's pioneering frontman, producer, arranger and songwriter Jeff Lynne has announced three new catalogue projects due in the U.S. on April 23 and in the U.K. on April 22. We've updated our original post of October 5, 2012 with new information including full track listings and details on each of the three upcoming, bonus-packed releases! UPDATED ORIGINAL POST OF 10/5/12: The wait is over. Though Electric Light
An Apple A Day: Fifth Fab Volume of Apple Publishing Demos Arrives From RPM
Those were the days, my friend. In June 1967, The Beatles opened Apple Publishing in a one-room office on London’s Curzon Street, predating even the birth of Apple Records. Soon, the publishing concern moved to new quarters at 94 Baker Street, and later to 3 Savile Row. In that heady period when anything seemed possible, the Fab Four signed a multitude of talented young writers to Apple, many of them discovered by Terry Doran. Doran, a 27-year old Liverpool native who had previously owned an
Release Round-Up: Week of February 19
Herb Alpert, Fandango (Shout! Factory) Alpert's 1982 album, long unavailable on CD, is now back in print! (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Etta James, Etta is Betta Than Evah! + Bonus Tracks (Kent) Etta's final album for Chess Records, released in 1976, is expanded with 10 extra tracks from other Etta projects from the mid-'70s. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Fine Young Cannibals, Fine Young Cannibals: Deluxe Edition / The Raw & The Cooked: Deluxe Edition (Edsel) Both albums by the U.K. trio
Good "Dream": Dio's Fourth Album Gets Deluxe Reissue
Next month will see the release of yet another Dio deluxe reissue from Universal's U.K. arm. This time, it's Dream Evil, originally released in 1987. Dream Evil marked the start of a slightly different era for Ronnie James Dio's melodic metal band. Previous album Sacred Heart (1985) was the last to feature guitarist Vivian Campbell, who would join Whitesnake briefly before becoming a member of Def Leppard in 1992. In his place stepped Craig Goldy, former guitarist for L.A. metal band Rough
Yes! Audio Fidelity Rushes to SACD with Prog and Classic Vocalists, Plus: Elton, Scorpions Go for the Gold
The audiophile specialist label Audio Fidelity has a busy March ahead, kicking off a new series of SACD releases and continuing its long-running series of 24k Gold compact discs. On March 5, the team at AF is scheduled to return to the high-resolution SACD format with two new hybrid stereo SACDs (playable on all CD players). Yes’ 1972 album Close to the Edge was the fifth studio album from the progressive rock heroes. Jon Anderson (vocals), Steve Howe (guitar/vocals), Chris Squire
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