When Carole King performed "Home Again" at Central Park's Great Lawn on May 26, 1973, the title held additional meaning. Though she was one of music's most famous New Yorkers, Carole's move to southern California inspired her transformation from Brill Building tunesmith to full-fledged solo singer-songwriter. Much as her songs such as "The Loco-Motion," "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" defined the sound of the 1960s, "It's Too Late," "You've Got a
Pride and Joy: Mercury Studios Preps Marvin Gaye's "Greatest Hits: Live in '76"
What's going on? I'll tell you what's going on. January 27 is the date for Universal imprint Mercury Studios' audio release of Marvin Gaye's Greatest Hits: Live in '76, a concert album featuring 23 songs on CD and 22 songs on single-LP vinyl. March 1976 saw the release of the Motown superstar's fourth solo studio album of the decade. I Want You built on the erotic themes and smoldering sound of its 1973 predecessor, Let's Get It On. Produced and co-written by Leon Ware, primarily teaming
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
The Year In Review: The 2022 Gold Bonus Disc Awards, From A to Z - Part One
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
Merry Discmas to All, and to All a...See You Next Year!
It remains wild to consider that The Second Disc is celebrating its 12th Christmas, and is about to celebrate its 13th anniversary in just a few weeks! I've never done anything that long on the Internet, except tell silly jokes and geek out about music. As always, I will do a little of both in our typical end-of-year shingle that we hang up before resting, recharging, listening to plenty of box sets and getting started on another year of catalogue music coverage. "Where are reissues today?"
In Memoriam: Thom Bell (1943-2022)
Yesterday, Philadelphia soul architect Thom Bell passed away at the age of 79, leaving an extraordinary legacy of music for such artists as The Delfonics, The Stylistics, The Spinners, Dionne Warwick, Johnny Mathis, Deniece Williams, and Elton John among his greatest and most enduring accomplishments. TSD's Joe Marchese got to know Thom in the last few years of his life, and shares his memories of, and an interview with, the legendary producer and songwriter. "Hello?" I picked up the
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Vince Guaraldi, 'A Charlie Brown Christmas (Super Deluxe Edition)'
If you've followed catalogue releases for long enough, you know some titles just do so well that you don't necessarily have to go out of your way to get people - especially new fans - to buy a new version of a classic album. Buyers - especially vinyl buyers - will always come of age and need copies of Rumours or Dark Side of the Moon in their libraries. It's this sort of thinking - perhaps a rebellion against the commercialism of reissue practices - that often gets us most interested not in the
Holiday Gift Guide Review: David Bowie, "Divine Symmetry: An Alternative Journey Through 'Hunky Dory'"
MAGNIFICENT OUTRAGE. The phrase is emblazoned on the slipcase of David Bowie's new box set Divine Symmetry (An Alternative Journey Through 'Hunky Dory'). It was derived from an ad - reprinted as the first image in the 100-page tome housing the set's four CDs and one Blu-ray Disc - which noted, "That's what they're saying about David Bowie." Happily, no one would accuse this latest Bowie archival dig of being an outrage, though magnificent comes closer. Much like its 2019 predecessor
Shock Your Mama: Cherry Pop Reissues, Expands Debbie Gibson's "Body Mind Soul"
Debbie Gibson began 1992 by stepping into the role of Eponine in Broadway's Les Miserables, inaugurating a stage career that's since encompassed three more Broadway shows and many more regionally and abroad. While appearing nightly at the Imperial, the singer-songwriter was still juggling the demands of a pop career. In June, three months after wrapping up her stint in Les Mis, Gibson was back in the studio. Her fourth and final album for Atlantic Records, Body Mind Soul was released in
Is This the Way to Amarillo? "Essential Tony Christie" Offers Hits, Rarities, and Unreleased Tracks
In 1972, Yorkshire-born Tony Christie took Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield's jaunty "(Is This the Way To) Amarillo" to the top of the pops throughout the world: No. 1 in Belgium and Germany, the top ten in Switzerland, The Netherlands, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia, and the top twenty in his native United Kingdom. Thirty-three years later, in 2005, the same recording was re-released to raise funds for the Comic Relief charity. Propelled by a music video featuring comedian Peter
She Ain't Down Yet: Stage Door Collects "Unsinkable Molly Brown" Demos and More on New 2-CD Deluxe Release
When Meredith Willson's The Music Man made its Broadway bow on December 19, 1957 at The Majestic Theatre (today the home of Phantom of the Opera), the composer-lyricist-librettist had already enjoyed a long and prolific career. Willson, born in Mason City, Iowa - the inspiration for The Music Man's River City - had played flute and piccolo in the orchestras of John Philip Sousa and Arturo Toscanini; became the musical director of NBC Radio in Hollywood; received Academy Award nominations for
The Weekend Stream: December 18, 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 usher you into the weekend. And we've got a lot to cover today, from a massive Pink Floyd copyright dump to a new Whitney Houston soundtrack and some underrated Motown gold. Pink Floyd, Live at Southampton Guildhall, UK, 23 January 1972 / Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 5 Feb 1972 / Live at the Rainbow Theatre, London, 17
Holiday Gift Guide Update: Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Marianne Faithfull, International Pop Overthrow, and Maureen Taylor Sings Michael Colby
The Second Disc is always updating our Holiday Gift Guide with items large and small that just might make the perfect stocking stuffer or present under the tree. In recent days, we've added entries for four very different releases that are all worth seeking out. Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Singles (BMG) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) This handsome new vinyl box collects a dozen seven-inch, two-sided singles culled from Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's U.K. and international
Release Round-Up: Week of December 16
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the week's most notable new titles! As next week will see very few releases, this will be our final Release Round-Up of 2022...regular daily coverage will continue, though! See you in the new year! Frank Zappa, Waka/Wazoo (Zappa/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / uDiscoverMusic.com / Zappa Online Store) UMe and Zappa Records are chronicling Frank Zappa's 1972 in a new 4CD/1BD box set. The original
Edsel Holiday Round-Up: Del Shannon, The Box Tops, Donna Summer
Today, we're taking a look at three recent releases from Demon Music Group's Edsel and Driven by the Music imprints! From the 1961 release of his first-ever single "Runaway," a chart-topper on both sides of the Atlantic, to the time of his death in 1990, Del Shannon was rock-and-roll royalty. Demon Music Group's Edsel label has been giving Shannon some long-overdue attention lately with a reissue of his final album, the posthumously-released Rock On! and with the announcement of an
Elusive Dreams: Morello Continues Tammy Wynette Reissue Series with 2-CD, 4-Album Set Chronicling the Late 1960s & Early 1970s
For the past few years, Cherry Red imprint Morello Records has been reissuing the Epic Records catalog of county legend Tammy Wynette on a series of twofers (or more). With its latest release, out now, Morello is taking a look at the late 1960s and early 1970s with a 2-CD set featuring the four albums The Ways To Love a Man, Tammy's Touch, My Elusive Dreams and Inspiration. By the time she moved to Nashville in 1966, 23-year old Virginia Wynette Pugh had already experienced a lot of living.
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
The Living Word: New Box Sets Chronicle Wattstax in Full, 50 Years On
One of the greatest music festivals of the '70s is getting celebrated with an exhaustive array of reissues in 2023: Wattstax, the multi-dimensional Los Angeles celebration of soul, funk, blues and gospel courtesy of Stax Records. A half-century after the premiere of a Golden Globe-nominated documentary on the star-studded 1972 event, Craft Recordings, custodian of the Stax catalogue, will release the most definitive looks at Wattstax, most recently addressed in a 3CD box set in 2003 that took
The Weekend Stream: December 10, 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 usher you into the weekend. This week, a Madonna rarity makes a splashy debut, the daughter of a soul legend sings with her dad on his holiday classic, and Roger Waters emerges from lockdown - plus remixes old and new, and a World Cup throwback you might not believe is real. Madonna, Gambler (Warner/Rhino) (iTunes /
Release Round-Up: Week of December 9
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COMCheap Trick, Live at The Whisky 1977 (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) This 4CD set compiles a quartet of Cheap Trick's complete, uncut shows recorded at the Whisky-a-Go-Go in Los Angeles in the summer of 1977. It's limited to just 2,000 copies and chronicles when Robin Zander, guitarist/songwriter Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom
Respectable: The Rolling Stones Release Star-Studded 50th Anniversary Show on "GRRR Live!"
Ten years ago, The Rolling Stones named their tour 50 & Counting which turned out not to be an exaggeration at all, considering The World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band is still going strong today even after weathering the loss of drummer Charlie Watts. On February 10, Mercury Studios will commemorate a special night on that tour with the release of GRRR Live!, a 24-song set recorded at Newark, New Jersey's Prudential Center on December 13 and 15, 2012. The concert will be released in a
Mo' Onions: Booker T. and The MG's "Green Onions" Returns in February
A little more than sixty years ago, Booker T. and The MG's tasty serving of "Green Onions" became one of the summer's biggest dishes. The largely improvised 12-bar blues entered the Billboard Hot 100 on August 11, 1962 and peaked at No. 3 the week ending September 29. It also made it all the way to the top of the R&B Singles Chart, peaking there on four non-consecutive weeks. On February 24, Rhino will reissue Booker T. and The MG's Green Onions album on both CD and translucent "green
Hey, Love: Vinyl Me, Please Celebrates Cadet Records Legacy on New Anthology Box Set
Following recent releases celebrating The Comedy Store, Ghetto Records, and the Philadelphia International label, the Vinyl Me, Please record club has announced the next title in its lavish Anthology series. The Story of Cadet Records, with eight albums spanning the halcyon era of 1968-1972, is available for pre-order now. Cadet Records emerged in 1965 as the successor to Argo Records, the jazz imprint of Chicago-based rhythm-and-blues label Chess Records. When brothers and co-founders
What a Surprise: Neil Sedaka Reissues His Four Elektra Albums on New 2-CD Set
Sedaka's Back was no understatement. Neil Sedaka's 1974 LP - in actuality, a compilation of tracks from his previous three albums issued only in the U.K. - yielded a No. 1 Pop and AC hit with the sparkling "Laughter in the Rain," earning the artist his first chart-topper since 1962. It also spun off another No. 1 AC with "The Immigrant," and a top ten AC/top thirty Pop hit with "That's When the Music Takes Me." That wasn't all; the album also contained the future standards "Solitaire" and
Just Being Herself: Dionne Warwick's Warner Bros. Recordings Collected on SoulMusic's "Sure Thing" Box
Between 1962 and 1971, Dionne Warwick put New York's Scepter Records on the map with over fifteen original albums and forty chart hits, more than twenty of which reached the top 40. Seven hit the top ten. Dionne earned her first two Grammy Awards during this period for "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" and "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" - just two of the timeless songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David which she brought to stunning life. In 1971, though, Warwick made the move to Burbank,
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