Thanks to everyone's favorite all-consuming pop star Lady Gaga, this week's releases actually start a day earlier. Think of it as like being in England! New Kids on the Block/Backstreet Boys, NKOTBSB (Columbia/Jive/Legacy) Imagine a greatest hits EP for each band, augmented with three bonus tracks featuring all nine boy band members working together like some sort of insane, teenybopper Voltron. (Official site) The Monkees, The Monkees Present: Expanded Edition / Changes: Expanded
Who Loves Them? Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons Mix Hits, Rarities On New U.K. Comp
Could anyone have expected the resurgence of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons that occurred in 2005 when the musical Jersey Boys opened at the Virginia Theatre on Broadway? Suddenly, Valli’s profile was higher than it had been at any time since the mid-1970s, and today he continues to reap the rewards of the musical’s exposure in multiple cities in America, Canada, England and Australia. Collector’s Choice launched a comprehensive album reissue program in 2007 which was the best such
"The Berlin Affair" Arrives From "Carrie" Composer Donaggio
In a rare Friday announcement, Kritzerland this morning unveiled its latest soundtrack reissue/restoration. From Pino Donaggio, the renowned composer of Carrie and Dressed to Kill, comes the score to 1985's The Berlin Affair in its first-ever CD release. Liliana Cavani's film was based on Junichiro Tanazaki's novel The Buddhist Cross and dealt with its controversial themes head-on. In 1938 Berlin, Louise, the wife of a young Nazi, enters into a romantic relationship with artist Mitsuko
"I Just Wanna Ask a Question": Harry Weinger on the "What's Going On" Box Set
For most music producers, there's a kind of strangeness to working on multiple reissues of the same classic album over time. Not so for Harry Weinger, vice-president of A&R at Universal Music Enterprises and, as one of UMe's resident Motown gurus, the producer of several deluxe editions of Marvin Gaye's classic LPs, including What's Going On. "You learn between anniversaries," Weinger said. "And luckily, I was there for both of them." When What's Going On became one of Universal's first in
What the Franke? Friday Music Prepares for a Knockout
If you're a voracious reader of pop liner notes, there's a good chance you might have come across the name Franke Previte. If not, you're about to have a chance to reconnect with the man and his music. Previte was the lead singer of Franke & The Knockouts, a New Jersey band whose best-known song, "Sweetheart," went to No. 10 in 1981. Of course, like so many other bands, they're probably best known for what they did after splitting up; the band's second drummer, Tico Torres, went on to sit
Foot Foot, Reissued: The Shaggs' "Philosophy of the World" Is Back!
Raise your hand if you’re a fan of The Shaggs. We know you’re out there. Frank Zappa called the band “better than The Beatles.” Kurt Cobain admired them as unwitting founders of the DIY/alternative movement. The New York Times proclaimed The Shaggs’ 1969 Philosophy of the World “maybe the best worst rock album ever made.” Lester Bangs called them an “anti-power trio,” while Rolling Stone chimed in that The Shaggs most resemble “lobotomized Trapp Family singers.” What to make of Dot, Betty
Joy Division, New Order United for the First Time on New Comp (UPDATED 5/18)
UPDATE (5/18): Rhino has released the unreleased track "Hellbent" for your streaming pleasure! Listen to it here. Original post: Can you believe, in this crazy world of music catalogue titles, that nobody's ever thought to do this before? Rhino's U.K. arm is releasing Total: From Joy Division to New Order next month, marking the first time a commercial compilation collates the best of both bands. (A 2001 New Order promo compilation tacked a few Joy Division songs on the end of its running
Alicia's "A Minor" Expansion Has a Track List
The 10th anniversary reissues of Alicia Keys' Songs in A Minor now have track lists with some tantalizing unreleased material - but how much you get, as is so often the case, depends on which version you buy. As previously reported, the singer/songwriter/pianist's Grammy-winning debut LP is being expanded across several formats for its 10th anniversary. A "deluxe edition" will feature a bonus EP of rare and unreleased songs, including two previously unheard demos. A long-boxed "collector's
Where Are All The "Magic Colors": Lesley Gore's Lost Album Arrives on CD
Lesley Gore epitomized the sound of American pop in the early-to-mid 1960s with hits like "It's My Party" and its answer/follow-up, "Judy's Turn to Cry." For my money, there may never have been a greater one-two punch in pop than that pair, produced by Quincy Jones and arranged by Claus Ogerman. But where was the teen pop queen by the Summer of Love? The U.K.'s Ace label answers that question with the June release of Magic Colors: The Lost Album with Bonus Tracks 1967-1969, unearthing a lost
Before Blondie and Talking Heads: Now Sounds Presents The Original "New Wave"
Blame it on the bossa nova. It was at a Westwood record store that Reid King first heard Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “One Note Samba,” performed by the great Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida and the Modern Jazz Quartet. In no time at all, King found inspiration in the tricky chords of the bossa nova. He mastered them and went on to write his own songs, often in collaboration with one-time child actor Thom Andriola, who performed under the stage name of Tommy André. By 1966, King and
Release Round-Up: Week of May 17
Queen, Queen / Queen II / Sheer Heart Attack / A Night at the Opera / A Day at the Races: Deluxe Editions (Hollywood) No, you're not seeing double. The first batch of 40th anniversary Queen expanded editions, available in the U.K. since March, make their stateside debuts. There's an Amazon-exclusive box with all of them included, too. Dear readers: any big box retailers carrying these? The only one I imagine that is would be Best Buy. (Official site) The Go-Go's, Beauty and the Beat: 30th
Ring-a-Ding Ding! 1961 Sinatra Debut For Reprise Is Remastered and Expanded
Shortly before Christmas 1960, Frank Sinatra entered the studio to record the tracks that would yield Ring-A-Ding Ding!, his inaugural release on the record label he founded, Reprise. As the company’s slogan went, Reprise albums were meant “to play and play again,” and boy, did Sinatra live up to his word! Ring-A-Ding Ding! is still one of the singer’s most beloved albums some fifty years after its March 1961 release, and Concord Records is marking the occasion on June 7 with a remastered
Cash, Perkins, Lewis and...The Chipmunks? Ace Revisits 1958 On "The London American Label"
After a terrifically eclectic volume dedicated to the hits, misses and everything in between of 1963, Ace’s London American Label turns the clock back to the early days of rock and roll via the pioneering British imprint. The London American Label: 1958, the sixth volume of the series, similarly offers something for everyone. Unlike so many other British labels mining this period thanks to public domain law, Ace licenses each and every track from the current copyright owners and remasters them
Welcome to the "City of Fear": Intrada Unearths Early Goldsmith
Intrada's newest release batch has only one catalogue score (the other is a symphonic piece by Arthur Rubenstein) but it's a keeper: it's the earliest film work of legendary composer Jerry Goldsmith currently on CD. City of Fear, a 1959 thriller about an escaped convict who believes himself to be in possession of a canister of heroin - but in fact has something much more dangerous - was only one of the first half-dozen credits for the young Goldsmith, and only his second film score after a host
Review: Jimi Hendrix, "South Saturn Delta" and "Band of Gypsys: Live at the Fillmore East"
When Jimi Hendrix wrote the lyrics, "Well, she's walking through the clouds, with a circus mind that's running 'round?," is it possible that he was writing about himself? Hendrix isn't generally considered part of the school of autobiographical singer/songwriters, and appreciation of his lyrical and melodic craft usually takes a backseat to his dazzling virtuosity as a musician. So while "Little Wing" isn't precisely about Hendrix, the vivid lyrical imagery of a dreamer with a "circus mind"
Caught in the Spotlight: Three More Thin Lizzy Reissues Due in U.K.
Now that the Thin Lizzy catalogue has begun being properly serviced by Universal in the U.K., it's exciting to report on three more deluxe reissues of some of the band's albums in June. The band's Bad Reputation (1977), Black Rose: A Rock Legend (1979) and Chinatown (1980) will be expanded as two-disc sets with rare and unreleased B-sides, demos, BBC sessions and more. Each set has a U.K. release date of June 27. Check out order links and track lists after the jump. Thanks to super reader
The Weekend Wround-Up: Twisted Sister, Mayfield Updates and More
Curt Smith, vocalist/bassist for Tears for Fears, is set to reissue one of his earlier solo projects this summer. Mayfield (1998) was Smith's second album, recorded under the same name as the record (Curt is Mayfield - get it?). It'll feature a new track, a new recording of the song "Trees." Smith talks about the album and other projects in this interview with social networking site Flavors. Demon Music Group's Harmless imprint is releasing another compilation of rare grooves mixed by one Tom
La-La Land May Report Third Bat Sighting
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGytaGTK7j8] It started, as these things so often do, with a question on composer Elliot Goldenthal's Facebook page: "What's the score?" Just a fan making simple conversation about the composer's music, past, present and future. The answer was a shocker: Goldenthal's camp confirmed that La-La Land Records was following up their great releases of the complete scores to Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), each composed by Danny Elfman, with
Queen Update: U.S. Release Dates and Digital Videos
Here's some more news about the ongoing waves of expanded reissues by Queen - namely, when the next batch will come out in America and a note on digital extras. Next week, U.S. fans will have their chance to buy the first five Queen 40th anniversary remasters - Queen, Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races - without paying import prices. And now, the next batch (News of the World, Jazz, The Game, Flash Gordon and Hot Space) have a domestic release date from
Review: Derek and the Dominos, "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs: 40th Anniversary Edition"
Size isn’t everything. Though Universal’s new super-deluxe box set of Derek and the Dominos’ Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (Polydor/Universal 0600753314326) is about as hefty as these packages come, the best of the box set could fit into a standard jewel case. The 40th anniversary collection includes (drum roll, please) 4 CDs, an audio DVD (though not DVD-Audio – more on that later), 2 LPs, a 48-page hardcover book, an art print, badges, pop-up artwork and a scratch-plate sticker. But
It's the Summer of "SMiLE"!
We've got a pair of dueling release dates for you regarding the long-awaited release of The Beach Boys' legendary lost SMiLE set. Depending on what you've read, the sets - a two-disc "best of" from the sessions as well as a four-disc box set with a double-vinyl LP set, two vinyl singles and a hardbound book - will be released either July 12 or August 9. It seems that the source for both dates is a report from Direct Current Music, which has been duly picked up by several sources, including our
In Case You Missed It: "The Essential Korn" is Peachy
Here's a compilation that came out this past week that we neglected to mention: a new Essential title from Legacy, covering the work of nu-metal group Korn. The Bakersfield, California rockers were one of the hottest acts on the rock scene in the 1990s, turning out dark, angsty songs that fused melodic guitar solos and hip-hop-influenced beats. Though the band is still together, they've endured some personnel changes over the years - guitarist Brian "Head" Welch famously left the band in 2006
Greater Hits, Volume I: The Sweetest Sade Set
The Second Disc has always meant to be a source of decently-reported news and discussion on the goings-on of the music catalogue world, as well as a resource to the new fan on what catalogue product is out there. With that in mind, today introduces a new feature that looks at one of the most common catalogue items: the greatest hits collection. It's perhaps been outmoded by the ability to pick and choose tracks to download online, but when you're a new fan of an artist, the compilation is
It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's a "Smallville" Score Compilation
This Friday is a momentous occasion for fans of Superman: after a decade on the air, the television drama Smallville - which focuses on a teenaged Clark Kent's transition into adulthood, bringing him closer to his destiny as the Man of Steel - will complete its run with an extended series finale that will likely finally see actor Tom Welling wearing the blue tights and red cape (even if for a brief moment). Though some have certainly reacted with bemused shock that Smallville is still on the
What's New, Pussycat? Classic Burt Bacharach and Lalo Schifrin Soundtracks Reissued
Burt Bacharach turns 83 today on May 12, 2011, and we've got some news to celebrate! "Pussycat, pussycat, I love you..." Chances are you can sing along to the hip-swiveling melody of those lyrics, sung by Tom Jones and written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the 1965 film comedy What's New Pussycat?. But raise your hand now if you remember the sequel! Five years after the success of the original film, United Artists released Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You, a half-sequel, half-remake moving
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