Once in a while, a great comedy comes around that makes an incredible impact on film, thanks to its quick wits, original ideas and great performances. In the 1980s, there were several great films that deftly blended comedy with science fiction and action film tropes - 1984's Ghostbusters and 1985's Back to the Future - that remain generational touchstones and modern-day classics of popular cinema. When children of the '80s say, "They don't make 'em like they used to," it's not hard to imagine
Amazon to Start Pressing Universal's Catalogue on Demand
Here's some interesting news from the too-rarely-reported business side of the catalogue world: Universal Music Group is going to start pressing out-of-print catalogue titles through Amazon's CreateSpace self-publishing and on-demand services. Similar to Warner and Collectors' Choice's Tartare program, the UMG/CreateSpace partnership will see the label licensing its out-of-print content to the online service's Disc on Demand program. Each copy of an album under this program is made direct to
More of Melba: Moore's Epic Debut Due from BBR
By 1978, Melba Moore had already established herself as a multifaceted musical force. After making her Broadway debut as Dionne ("White Boys") in the original Broadway company of Hair, she picked up a Tony Award in 1970 for her performance in Purlie, where she introduced the showstopping "I Got Love." In 1978, she was starring in New York opposite the legendary Eartha Kitt in Timbuktu! and ready to resume her solo recording career. With stints on the Mercury and Buddah labels behind her, she
Short Takes: Early Details on Reissues from Pearl Jam, Kate Bush
A new Rolling Stone article has revealed some details about the upcoming batch of catalogue titles from Pearl Jam. The forthcoming reissues of Vs. (1993) and Vitalogy (1994) will feature "previously unheard bonus tracks (including an alternate version of “Corduroy” and a guitar-and-organ version of “Betterman”), an entire 1994 Boston show and a cassette from their Monkeywrench radio series." The article is not clear, but it seems as though both albums and bonus material may be paired together,
Back Tracks: Aerosmith Part I - The Columbia Years
Aerosmith isn't dead, but it may as well be. Frontman Steven Tyler was preposterous in his first televised appearance as a judge on American Idol (though there was some very funny writing about the whole ordeal), and if you're like me, you wish Tyler had stepped away from such ridiculous duties and went on to perform with what many have called America's greatest rock and roll band - even if it sounded more like their recent, pop-oriented rock instead of their bluesy, pre-metal days. To
Kinks Reissues Get Klearer
The other day we'd mentioned that The Kinks' first three U.K. albums were being expanded across the pond. Amazon's U.K. pages had track listings for the double-disc sets, but there wasn't much in the way of annotations. If a song popped up twice, was it an alternate mix? A live version? A demo? We didn't know, so we didn't say much. Now, U.K. site Spin CDs has put up track listings for Kinks, Kinda Kinks and The Kink Kontroversy, and while there's still a small bit of speculation to be had, the
Massive Live Dead Box Coming in Fall
Do you love The Grateful Dead? I mean really love-with-capital-letters-bold-italicized-and-underlined LOVE The Grateful Dead? Well, there's a massive box set coming your way to help you express that love. In its newest issue, Rolling Stone reports a box is coming from Rhino that will chronicle The Dead's European tour of 1972 in its entirety, all from original 16-track recordings. It's going to be 60 discs of 22 shows, in their entirety, unedited and bursting at the seams with liner notes and
Reissue Theory: Sammy Davis, Jr., Compiled: "Sammy in the Seventies"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, here we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. Today, we look at a beloved American icon and one of the least anthologized periods of his lengthy career. There may be no figure in American popular culture more maligned in death than Sammy Davis, Jr. The image of the diminutive entertainer, clad in open shirts and bell-bottoms, wearing beads and gold chains, and with an ever-present cigarette dangling
Zombies LPs to Be Revived As Double-Disc Sets
Repertoire Records is releasing double-disc editions of the original two albums by The Zombies. The British group, acclaimed for such singles as "She's Not There" and "Time of the Season," only cut two albums in the late '60s - Begin Here for Decca and Odessy and Oracle for CBS - before splitting up. But there was plenty of material to be had; there were quite a few non-LP singles and a host of material for a third, never-released album. This work has been anthologized before - perhaps most
La La Land Goes Live with First Releases of 2011
La La Land Records' first titles of 2011 were promised earlier this month, and they're now available to order. Two television shows, the '60s war program The Rat Patrol and the late '80s Western The Young Riders, are being presented in premiere releases (1,200 units each), alongside a straight, unlimited reissue of the original soundtrack to Solaris (2002) with improved sound quality. It's a smaller-scale start, but La La Land also recently promised they're again appearing at this year's San
Back Tracks: Queen, Part II
We continue our coverage of Queen's previous reissues - in anticipation of the band's forthcoming remasters on new U.K. home Island Records - with a look at Queen during most of the '80s, where they went increasingly pop-friendly before returning to their rock roots in the 1990s, losing their iconic frontman and becoming anthologized in nearly a dozen or so compilations. The show must go on, after the jump.
From "Walter Mitty" to "Inner City": Masterworks Broadway Reissues Due
Sony’s Masterworks Broadway division continues its dig through the vaults of the Columbia and RCA Records labels with three new titles, to be released as CD-Rs exclusively through Arkiv Music or as digital downloads. Today, January 18, sees the reissue of Originals – Musical Comedy 1909-1935, an RCA compilation dating from 1968. This collection remains one of the best ever to anthologize the sound of musical comedy in its earliest days, and is a “Who’s Who” of that golden era. The vaudeville
Release Round-Up: Week of January 18
The Jayhawks, Hollywood Town Hall: Expanded Edition / Tomorrow the Green Grass: Legacy Edition (Columbia/Legacy) After months of waiting, alt-country fans get expanded versions of two Jayhawks LPs, including a deluxe set of Tomorrow the Green Grass with a host of previously unreleased demos. (Official site) Pearl Jam, Live on Ten Legs (Monkeywrench) The first volley in the iconic band's PJ20 campaign honoring their 20th anniversary is a self-released chronicle of their live tours from 2003 to
Reissue Theory: Stevie Wonder, "Hotter Than July"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, here we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. With today being a national holiday in honor of an iconic civil rights leader, we take a look at an album with a song written to make that holiday a reality. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FchMuPQOBwA] Today is a day off for many people in the United States, in observation of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the great civil rights
Short Takes: 40s Aplenty, Kinks Konfusion, QotSA Date Change and Big Star Reissue Due
The magic numbers for reissues this year looks to be 40: we have no less than three different 40th anniversary sets with release dates in March. We've already mentioned the CD/DVD edition Bridge Over Troubled Water (1971) on that date. And the same day will see the release of the promised new deluxe editions of Derek and The Dominos' Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (a remaster, a double-disc deluxe edition, a double vinyl edition, and a 4 CD/2 LP/1 DVD super deluxe box). And Amazon is
Soundgarden Go Vintage to Release First-Ever Live Album
Recently-reunited grunge rockers Soundgarden did well with last year's Telephantasm compilation, which shipped platinum thanks to being included with every copy of the latest Guitar Hero game. Now, the band is going back to the vaults to release their first live album. Live on I-5 consists of 17 performances taken from the band's final tour, in support of 1996's Down on the Upside. (True to its name, all the performances were taken from venues along the West Coast, near the band's native
Be Their Baby: Legacy Preps Releases for Crystals, Ronettes and Darlene Love (UPDATED 1/17)
When Sony announced in September 2009 that rights had been acquired from EMI Music Publishing to reissue Phil Spector's Philles catalogue after years of neglect from the ABKCO label, great anticipation was in the air. A major campaign was planned by Sony's Legacy division with projects in development including "Artist's Playlists, Best-of collections, and first-ever releases of Philles studio rarities - as well as facsimile reproductions of original singles and albums," but since that heady
Fit for a Queen: Legacy Planning Massive Aretha Box
As if news of Aretha Franklin's improved health wasn't good news enough, Columbia and Legacy have told the Associated Press that there's going to be a massive box set of her works for the label coming this spring. Take a Look: Aretha Franklin Complete on Columbia is going to be a 12-disc set - 11 CDs and a DVD - chronicling this oft-overlooked early phase of the Queen of Soul's career. Franklin signed to the label in 1960 at the young age of 18, and spent several years releasing albums and
"Elvis is Back" is Back
Elvis Presley's Elvis is Back!, it was previously reported, will be released as a Legacy Edition on March 1. We now have a track list to go with that title. The two-disc set will combine Elvis is Back!, Presley's 1960 LP and the first the King recorded after returning from the Army, with Something for Everyone, an album from the following year. Each will be expanded with relevant non-LP single sides, some of which rank highly in Elvis' discography ("Are You Lonesome Tonight?," "It's Now or
In Case You Missed It: Slayer on Vinyl
Oddly, Slayer's The Vinyl Conflict box, which came out in November, sort of flew under The Second Disc's radar. But today, we have a very special reason to make sure that doesn't happen again. This 11-LP box features all of the iconic metal band's albums for Def Jam (yes, this was toward the end of Rick Rubin's tenure with his label) and American Recordings (the label Rubin subsequently created), from 1983's Reign in Blood to 2009's World Painted Blood. All are remastered and pressed on
Jack Johnson's "Brushfire Fairytales" to Be Remastered
Singer-songwriter Jack Johnson's first album is slated for remastering and reissue this spring. Brushfire Fairytales was the Hawaiian musician/surfer/environmentalist's first release, on the label Enjoy Records in 2001. Enjoy - now known as Everloving - licensed the album to Universal, Johnson's home since then, with the stipulation that the master tape return to their possession after 10 years. With that time now passed, Everloving has enlisted Bernie Grundman to remaster the record for
Friday Feature: "Casino Royale" (1967, 2006)
"The dry riffle of the cards and the soft whirr of the roulette wheel, the sharp call of the croupiers and the feverish mutter of a crowded casino hide the thick voice at Bond's ear which says, 'I will count up to ten.'" So read the blurb on the jacket of the original printing of Ian Fleming's 1953 novel Casino Royale, which introduced Agent 007 to the world. Fleming's novel set the tone for those that followed, introducing the "Bond girl" (Vesper Lynd), the larger-than-life villain (Le Chiffre,
FSM Fetches Classic Canine Scores
Film Score Monthly's first release of 2011 is a whopper: five discs' worth of dog-related film scores, anchored mostly around the lovable star Lassie. Created by writer Eric Knight in a short story that was expanded into a 1940 novel, Lassie was a loyal collie who treks across Depression-era Yorkshire, England to reunite with his young owner. The film spawned several sequels and spin-offs, most notably a long-running American television show that ran from 1954 to 1973. The dog is one of only
Back Tracks: Queen, Part I
This week's remaster and reissue of Queen's first two greatest hits LPs in the U.K. (on new home Island Records) is the start of what promises to be a massive reissue campaign for the band's 40th anniversary. The band's first five LPs are slated to be expanded and released in March, with additional batches to follow through 2011. Of course, this isn't the first time the Queen catalogue has been rolled out on CD. While British audiences got straight CD transfers throughout the late '80s,
Lowe's "Labour" Not Lost: Reissue Due in March
Nick Lowe never was lacking in confidence. The former Brinsley Schwarz bassist/vocalist had already defined pub-rock as a member of that band, and did much the same for the burgeoning punk movement as producer of Elvis Costello’s first albums. Now he was in the forefront of the so-called “new wave” vanguard, and Lowe realized there was little he couldn’t do. Armed with hubris but with tongue firmly planted in cheek, he named his 1978 Radar Records (U.K.) debut Jesus of Cool. Its artwork depicted
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