I Can't Give You Anything But Love On Monday, June 26, Frankie Valli walked down the aisle in Las Vegas with his longtime girlfriend Jackie Jacobs. This October, he'll take the stage at the city's Westgate Resort and Casino to begin a yearlong residency at the hotel, during which time he'll turn 90 years young. For more than 60 of those years, the artist born Francesco Stephen Castelluccio in Newark, New Jersey has been the lead vocalist of The Four Seasons, the group he co-founded on a
One More Love Song: Dark Horse Reissues Leon Russell's "Signature Songs"
Dark Horse Records has announced the first release resulting from its new deal with the estate of the late Leon Russell. On March 17, Dark Horse will reissue Russell's 2001 Signature Songs on which he revisited his most classic compositions in stark piano-and-voice renditions. The upcoming reissue (which sports new cover art) will premiere the album on vinyl, and will also arrive on CD and in digital formats. With Signature Songs, originally released on his own Leon Russell Records label,
Just My Salvation: Vinyl Me, Please Collects Best of Stax's Gospel Truth in New Box Set
When Memphis' Stax Records launched its Gospel Truth imprint in 1972, its mission was simple: to "carry the message of today's gospel to the people on the street." The label's Al Bell worked closely with in-house radio guru/producer/songwriter Dave Clark and staffer Mary Peak Paterson to afford Gospel Truth the same level of promotion as Stax's secular releases, and accessibility was the byword. Bell paired traditional gospel talents with young artists well-versed in rock, funk, blues, and
Something's Gonna Happen: Marshall Crenshaw's Expanded Debut Coming Back to CD
After coming back into circulation last year courtesy of a new label home and a Record Store Day reissue, CD fans can rejoice at the news that Yep Roc's new expanded edition of Marshall Crenshaw's self-titled debut will get a wider release on disc on February 17. Back in September, Yep Roc announced a double LP expanded edition of Crenshaw's hook-filled debut album for Record Store Day Black Friday. In addition to the classic album, featuring the Top 40 hit "Someday, Someway" and a host of
The Year In Review: The 2022 Gold Bonus Disc Awards, From A to Z - Part Two
Happy 2023! Welcome, friends, to The Second Disc's 13th Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! A lot has happened in the last twelve months, but as we look to a new year with optimism and a hopeful spirit, we recognize the many roles music has played in our lives. With that spirit in mind, The Second Disc wishes to recognize 2022's cream of the catalogue music crop - those exemplary reissues and box sets, big and small, that proved to be truly outstanding for music lovers worldwide. Despite the
Holiday Gift Guide Review: The Beach Boys, "Sail on Sailor: 1972"
I need a whole lot of sunshine to keep my sundial advancing... Who were The Beach Boys? Hawthorne, California's favorite sons might have been asking themselves that very question in 1972. Their creative leader was withdrawing further into himself and musical tastes were changing: where did that leave them? This period of adjustment was first chronicled on last year's superlative Feel Flows: The Sunflower and Surf's Up Sessions 1969-1971 box set. The story begun on that collection
Rockin' Around in NYC (and Beyond): Yep Roc to Celebrate 40 Years of Marshall Crenshaw's Debut
Tonight, Marshall Crenshaw takes his 40 Years in Showbiz! Tour to Manhattan's City Winery. (It's a show you can watch from the comfort of your home - hopefully my head won't be in the way!) Just as exciting as seeing this living power-pop legend celebrate his fourth decade of performing: some of his long-out-of-print classic albums are coming back into circulation courtesy of a new label home. Earlier this month, Yep Roc announced a double LP expanded edition of Crenshaw's hook-filled debut
If You Build It They Will Come: Real Gone's August Vinyl Releases Include "Field of Dreams," "Serendipity," Tintern Abbey, and Andy Bey
Real Gone Music has another packed slate coming out this Friday, August 5. In addition to the Second Disc Records/RGM release of Michael Nesmith's Different Drum: The Lost RCA Victor Recordings as a 2-LP set, Real Gone is releasing another six vinyl titles. Here is a look at four of them, ranging from British psychedelia to jazz to soundtracks. We'll have Part Two tomorrow! First up is a vinyl anthology from British psych group Tintern Abbey. During their existence back in the late 1960s,
Grapefruit's "Heroes and Villains" Collects L.A. Sounds of 1965-1968 From The Beach Boys, Mamas and Papas, Monkees, Zappa, More
Though Heroes and Villains is the title of Grapefruit's new 3-CD anthology chronicling The Sound of Los Angeles 1965-68, that famous Beach Boys song isn't among its 90 selections. Not that Brian Wilson and co. are absent; the compilation instead presents another SMiLE tune, "Do You Like Worms (Roll Plymouth Rock)" as part of its portrait of a place and time in music history when it truly seemed anything was possible. U.K.-based compiler David Wells persuasively makes the case here that L.A.
The Weekend Stream: July 16, 2022
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing weekly review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there's plenty of great new/old music to discover! This week features deep cut jazz, country and soul, plus some remixes of an '80s classic and a new, surprise comedic pop track by one of Hollywood's favorite funnymen. Kitty Wells, Kitty Wells' Country Hit Parade / Lonely Street / After Dark / Dust on the Bible (Decca/MCA Nashville/UMG) Hit Parade: iTunes /
These New Changing Times: Cherry Red, Morello Reissue Another Trio from Waylon Jennings
Following the release earlier this year of Waylon Jennings' first four RCA Victor albums on one 2-CD set, Cherry Red's Morello imprint has returned to the outlaw country legend's early milieu with a trilogy of albums from 1969-1970 on another 2-CD collection: Waylon (1970), Just to Satisfy You (1969), and the collaboration Country-Folk with The Kimberlys (1969). This three-for-one release picks up where one of Morello's previous collections from the prolific singer - including Love of the
UPDATE - Glory of Love: Cherry Pop's Expansive Peter Cetera Box Arrives
UPDATED 3/1/22: As one of the seven members of Chicago as featured on their 1969 debut album Chicago Transit Authority, bassist-singer Peter Cetera's soaring tenor became an integral component of the band's sound on such hits as "25 or 6 to 4," "Feelin' Stronger Every Day," "Just You 'n' Me," and "(I've Been) Searching So Long." When his own composition "If You Leave Me Now" became Chicago's first-ever No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 - not to mention in international territories such as Canada,
Sentimental Journeys: Real Gone Music Celebrates Doris Day Centennial with Two New Releases
"That kid is a real hot singer!" Cincinnati bandleader Barney Rapp was quick to recognize young Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff. The leader of the New Englanders urged the young vocalist to change her name, taking his cue from the song with which she left him smitten: "Day After Day." She became Doris Day, and the rest is history. On April 1, Real Gone Music celebrates the centennial year of the timeless artist, actress, and passionate animal rights advocate who died in 2019 at the age of 97 with
Ace Records Round-Up: Spotlight on Petula Clark, Norman Whitfield, and "More Motown Girls"
The soundtrack of director Edgar Wright's recent film Last Night in Soho features two interpretations of Tony Hatch's classic pop hit "Downtown" performed by star Anya Taylor-Joy: one perky and uptempo, one haunting and downbeat. But the Soho soundtrack isn't the only way to hear "Downtown" as you likely haven't heard it before. The irresistible ode to that place where you can "forget all your troubles, forget all your cares" can be heard in Italian as sung by its originator, Petula Clark, as
Sweets for My Sweet: Cherry Red, SoulMusic Collect The Sweet Inspirations' Atlantic Recordings on "Let It Be Me"
In its 1960s heyday, Atlantic Records was the destination for deeply-felt soul. Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Solomon Burke, and Wilson Pickett were just a handful of the artists there who defined the sound of soul music. Lesser-known but no less significant were The Sweet Inspirations. Today, the vocal quartet might be best-remembered as Elvis Presley's preferred onstage backup group, but The King was just one of a staggering number of artists they supported - including the
Grapefruit Records Spotlight: Complete Collections Arrive from The Sorrows, Fire, and Tintern Abbey
Today, we're spotlighting three recent "Complete" collections from Cherry Red's Grapefruit imprint. "We played punk before punk was invented!" That quote by vocalist Don Fardon of The Sorrows opens up Grapefruit's new 4-CD set Pink Purple Yellow and Red: The Complete Sorrows. The R&B band formed in Coventry in 1963 and became a fixture on the mod scene; later, they were retroactively branded "freakbeat" for their aggressive and edgy style of R&B and rock and roll. Fardon, lead
Release Round-Up: Week of August 13
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Various Artists, Rip It Up: The Best of Specialty Records (Craft Recordings) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Craft Recordings' 75th anniversary campaign for groundbreaking R&B label Specialty Records kicks off with Rip It Up: The Best of Specialty Records on CD, LP, and digital platforms. The 18 tracks on Rip It Up spotlight the incendiary R&B and, later, rock-and-roll that
You Know How to Love Me: A Closer Look at Phyllis Hyman's "Old Friend: The Deluxe Collection 1976-1998"
UPDATED AUGUST 2021: "Phyllis sat right in my class. I can still see the pigtails." In a 2016 interview with The Second Disc, Thom Bell shared his earliest memories of the late Phyllis Hyman (1949-1995). The songwriter-arranger-conductor-producer would cross paths numerous times over the years with his childhood friend: first via Phyllis' hit recordings of his "Betcha By Golly Wow" and "Loving You - Losing You," and later, his own productions and songs for her. "She was a lonely individual,"
Happy To Be Here: Ellen Foley Returns with "Fighting Words"
Ellen Foley is back with a vengeance. The singer-actress who shared the microphone with Meat Loaf on Bat Out of Hell's immortal "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" has one of the smallest yet choicest discographies in rock: just three albums between 1979 and 1983 on which she was joined by such collaborators as Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson, Vini Poncia, and The Clash's Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon, and Joe Strummer; and a 2013 "comeback" LP. But Foley was hardly ever away. She flourished
Sing a Happy Song: Omnivore Brings Nine Buck Owens Albums to CD, First Three Out Tomorrow
Hello happiness, goodbye loneliness! Over the past dozen years, Omnivore Recordings celebrated Buck Owens on a variety of releases, from a multi-volume series dedicated to the Bakersfield country hero's complete Capitol singles to rare live material, a Buck Sings Eagles EP, a Christmas collection, and even a coloring book. Now, Omnivore is answering fans' wishes and returning nine of his classic Capitol albums to print for the first-time ever on standalone CD. The series, to roll out in three
What's The Buzz? "Jesus Christ Superstar" Returning For 50th Anniversary In Various Formats Including 3-CD Box Set
"Nothing could convince me that any show that has sold two and one-half million copies of its album before the opening night is anything like all bad," wrote The New York Times' Clive Barnes on October 13, 1971 upon the New York debut of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar. Indeed, the original Jesus Christ Superstar album was a sensation long before it ever hit Broadway's Mark Hellinger Theatre. A true hybrid of rock and theater, it was introduced as a record but
Release Round-Up: Week of July 16
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Tina Turner, Foreign Affair [Various Formats] (Parlophone/Rhino) 4CD/1DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Official Store (white variant) Rhino and Parlophone revisit Tina Turner's 1989 album featuring "The Best" in a variety of formats including a 4CD/DVD Super Deluxe Edition and 2CD and 2LP Deluxe Editions. The Super Deluxe Edition
Betcha by Golly Wow: Cherry Red, SoulMusic Collect Phyllis Hyman's Albums Discography In New Box Set
"Phyllis sat right in my class. I can still see the pigtails." In a 2016 interview with The Second Disc, Thom Bell shared his earliest memories of the late Phyllis Hyman (1949-1995). The songwriter-arranger-conductor-producer would cross paths numerous times over the years with his childhood friend: first via Phyllis' hit recordings of his "Betcha By Golly Wow" and "Loving You - Losing You," and later, his own productions and songs for her. "She was a lonely individual," observed Thom,
Bad Side of the Moon: Cherry Red, Esoteric Reissue Toe Fat's Complete Rare Earth/EMI Recordings
Motown's Rare Earth imprint intended to bring the sound of rock to the home of The Supremes, The Miracles, Martha and The Vandellas, The Temptations, and Four Tops. The imprint was named after a white rock band from Detroit and its artists were both home-grown and licensed from other parties. In the latter category was Toe Fat, a U.K. psych-rock band built around the talents of Cliff Bennett, formerly of the beat group Cliff Bennett and The Rebel Rousers. Both of Toe Fat's albums - issued on
Release Round-Up: Week of February 12
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Band, Stage Fright: 50th Anniversary Edition [Various Formats] (Capitol/UMe) 2CD/1BD/1LP/1-7″ single: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD (CD 1 & 2 of box set): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP (Remixed Album Only): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Band slightly belatedly revisits 1970's Stage Fright for its 50th anniversary in a variety of editions anchored by Bob Clearmountain's stereo and
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