From now until Monday, The Second Disc will be bringing out some features and opinions on Monday's upcoming Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions. Let's start with a column that ultimately addresses what a mixed blessing the Hall can be. Few music-oriented entities draw so much criticism and debate as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In its 25-year history, it has inducted 165 artists into its ranks (with another five to be inducted on Monday), spurring decades-long debates about which of them
Genius + Soul + Reissue = Lots of Jazz
The previously-reported reissue of Ray Charles' Genius + Soul = Jazz has finally been given a track list by its distributor, Concord Records. Not much in the way of previously unreleased content (one vault cut), but this two-disc set will pull four Ray LPs back into print. The package, due April 6, will feature Genius + Soul = Jazz as well as My Kind of Jazz (1970), Jazz Number II (1973) and My Kind of Jazz Part III (1975). (My Kind of Jazz was paired up with Genius + Soul = Jazz for a Rhino
Reissue Theory: Various Artists, "Miami Vice"
Two days of nice weather in a row - especially after the kind of winter the northeast U.S. has had - will make you think of warmer climates really quickly. Music always seems to go well with higher temperatures (i.e.: barbecues, school dances, anything The Beach Boys sang about) - and one of the best pop cultural examples of this idea would be Miami Vice. The genesis behind the 1980s police show is the stuff of legend; NBC exec Brandon Tartikoff allegedly penned a memo that simply said "MTV
News Round-Up: Today's the Day to Kiss the Sky
Unless you've been living under a rock this year, you know that today's the day Experience Hendrix LLC partners with Legacy to release a new batch of Jimi Hendrix products (CD/DVD versions of Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold as Love, Electric Ladyland and First Rays of the New Rising Sun as well as the new Valleys of Neptune rarities set). For those of you who are into such a thing, Valleys comes with two extra tracks at Target stores. (Disclosure: the author works for Target but would not in
Judas Priest Re-Forging "British Steel"
Legacy Recordings announced details for a new Legacy Edition of Judas Priest's 1980 classic British Steel. This LP - their second with producer Tom Allom - was destined to become a heavy metal classic from the get-go, earning Priest their first U.S. Top 40 record and paving the way for a loud, in-your-face but streamlined metal sound that would be deployed to full effect by bands like Metallica and Anthrax in the coming years. As for the vault material, the audio offerings are nothing new -
Back Tracks: James Horner
As this post is being written, the Oscars have wrapped up. Exciting, right? Of course not. The Oscars are perhaps as ridiculous as the Grammys, and usually don't have a heck of a lot to offer fans of any music in general. Perhaps this year was a bit of an exception - it was very exciting to see Michael Giacchino score his first Oscar for the excellent score to Up - but for someone raised on ultra-thematic scores such as John Williams' work for Star Wars, Jaws and others, there's usually not much
Order in the Court
The artist-specific compilation almost seems like a useless gesture in the digital age. Now that anyone can buy a song for around a dollar, there's seemingly no need to buy a CD full of singles for more than pocket change. That's simply not true, though; such discs represent more than just songs everyone loves. It's ideally the chronicle of hard-earned success within a lengthy body of work. It's sometimes a chance to visit a catalogue unified by certain musical or lyrical themes. And for
Reissue Theory: Robert Palmer - "Riptide"
It's no secret that I'm a huge Duran Duran fan (these upcoming reissues are seriously a thing of beauty). But I also credit them with opening me up to a whole lot of other acts. Had I not started listening to them in middle school, I would not have been drawn to other synth/New Wave bands, CHIC, Madonna, David Bowie or Robert Palmer. Palmer in particular was quite the performer. His Duran connections were smallish - he was the lead vocalist for DD side-project The Power Station - but he was a
Rarities Editions: Half of a Good Idea?
A few weeks before I started this blog, I kept seeing pre-order links for a bunch of catalogue titles from Universal Music Enterprises under the banner of "Rarities Edition." By the time the first batch of them came out in January, I had found out that the sets were essentially the bonus discs from some of UMe's unmistakable Deluxe Edition titles, priced to entice those collectors who wanted those bonus cuts on disc without purchasing (or re-purchasing) a more expensive set. Now at first blush,
Release Round-Up: From Chicago to the White House
Rhino Handmade has announced its latest title, the first-ever true quadraphonic release of The Chicago Transit Authority, the 1969 debut LP by Chicago. Featuring hits like "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" and "Questions 67 and 68," this DVD release includes the entire album presented in four discrete channels of sound. Order it here and have a go at a demo of "quadio" over here. A couple of soundtrack tidbits coming up. First up, new releases from La La Land Records have been
That's Why They've Done It Again (UPDATED 3/4)
A break from the usual weekend radio silence to report on a very exciting story over at Slicing Up Eyeballs: EMI's Dutch Web site has added reissues of Duran Duran's Notorious and Big Thing to their catalogue schedule. Both titles have a release date of June 7, and will ostensibly serve as companion pieces to the great, recent deluxe editions of the Duran discography (Rio and a vintage live show, Hammersmith '82, were released last fall, and 2 CD/1 DVD versions of Duran Duran, Seven and the
There They Go Again
Thanks to the ICE boards (where I'd read this a bit ago but foolishly forgot to post here) for pointing out the upcoming release of Callin' All, an enormous 4-disc box set from indie-pop favorites The La's. Despite recording only one LP and a handful of singles in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band has earned cult immortality thanks to the irresistible "There She Goes." Their other material is pretty neat too, and even though they've had their share of reissues and repackagings over the
The Paradox
If you're an avid follower of the music business at large, you know the common narrative that defines the industry: once, record labels signed great talents and earned lots of money and influence off the back of that art. Gradually, that art became secondary to business and excess, and as labels became absorbed into bigger corporations and followed trends instead of setting them, music fans got increasingly put off by the product. By the time rapid technological advances changed the way we
Reissue Theory: The Family, "The Family"
Tuesday was the 20th - count it! - anniversary of I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, the polarizing breakthrough LP by Sinead O'Connor. There's a fascinating write-up about the record and its aftermath over at Popdose that really shows off what an intriguing figure O'Connor was at the time. It certainly says something that an album with one Top 40 hit (her only one) sold over 7 million copies in its day. Clearly something was up here. I completely forgot that the record was given a double-disc
Did You (Ever) Hear?
It greatly pleases me that The Second Disc has attracted an interested readership. It's a pleasure that there are many out there interested in how the industry behaves and evolves. And as a writer and enthusiast with such devotion to the niche, it's just exciting to connect with like-minded individuals. To that end, I pose something of a catalogue-oriented challenge to you. In all my years collecting and listening to pop music, I have only come across the following track once. The complete lack
Reissue Theory: The Art of Noise, "In Visible Silence"
The Art of Noise usually gets lumped into that U.K. '80s esoterica category that a lot of their early labelmates on ZTT (Frankie Goes to Hollywood, 808 State, The Buggles and so on) seem to be in. Their sound was hip, catchy and weird, they say, and maybe a bit too much so for their own good. This is kind of funny, particularly because it's kind of wrong. The Art of Noise were indeed hip, catchy and weird. Their early work on ZTT, like the sample-heavy "Close (To the Edit)" and "Beat Box," set
News Roundup: However Far Away, Banshees Banished and Intrada Releases
A pair of sour notes from our friends over at Slicing Up Eyeballs. First, a source from Universal Music Group tells Cure fan site Chain of Flowers that the planned triple-disc reissue of Disintegration has been delayed a third time. The set - which features the original LP, a disc of demos and outtakes and an expanded version of the live album Entreat - was originally slated for a Feb. 16 release before being pushed back to April 6. In the U.S., where distribution is being dealt with by Rhino
Good Enough for Me
The soundtrack community can take another "holy grail" off the list today. Varese Sarabande has announced their newest Soundtrack Club title to be the premiere release of Dave Grusin's score to The Goonies. The Steven Spielberg-produced comedy about a group of misfits who find a pirate treasure map has been a cult classic ever since its release in 1985. Grusin's score was grandiose, adventurous and sweet as needed, and was a highlight of the film. But the original LP release, on Epic Records,
Reissue Theory: Novelty Edition
One of the potential hazards of being a music collector is that sometimes, if you're feeling adventurous, you spring for an all-too-dangerous impulse buy. I'm guilty of this all the time, especially when the music in question is cheap. Put me within 25 yards of a garage sale or a cutout bin at a supermarket and I'm probably going to walk away having bought at least one disc. Sometimes this strategy works out in my favor: a random purchase of Squeeze's Singles 45 and Under from my local ShopRite
Stones Material Coming Out of "Exile"
NME reported today that The Rolling Stones have set a May 17 (that would be the 18th for us Americans) release date for a new deluxe edition of Exile on Main St. The 1972 double album, which confused critics upon release but is now seen as a Stones classic, will be released in a few formats: a single-disc reissue, a double-disc version with ten unreleased tracks and a deluxe box with both CDs, a vinyl copy, a new half-hour documentary on DVD and a 50-page collector's book. What the NME report
Back Tracks: Tears for Fears
Not many people dig music from the 1980s. To a degree, I understand why. Sandwiched between the monstrous artistry of album-oriented rock bands of the '70s and the mainstream-busting advances of grunge and rap in the '90s, most of the music of the '80s was characterized by an emphasis on image (i.e.: MTV) and artifice (why hire a drummer when you can buy a Linn LM-1?). But a good song - whether it's a hit or not - will transcend its labels and packaging and hopefully turn into something you'll
Release Round-Up: In Case You Missed Them
Here are a couple of catalogue release tidbits, one that I'm certain is fairly new and a few stragglers I've neglected to mention thus far: Rhino has started taking pre-orders for The Prague Sessions, a new Peter, Paul and Mary compilation. The set features previously unreleased live versions of the folk group's best-known songs, backed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Should be an interesting new way to hear these songs. On March 23, Eagle Records is releasing Live at Knebworth, a
Rumor Mill: More Def Leppard Reissues Coming?
Tonight I was given an interesting tip from a friend, Kevin Alba of Metal Asylum, concerning a potential next wave of reissues from Def Leppard. According to the story (scroll down a bit more than halfway to read), Japan is getting SHM-CD remasters of the band's first two albums, On Through the Night (1980) and High and Dry (1981). Now of course this kind of stuff happens all the time, but what makes it interesting is that both sets are supposed to feature bonus discs with as-yet-unannounced
Reissue Theory: Was (Not Was), "What Up Dog?"
I've got to be the only twentysomething I know that's this excited over Pick of the Litter 1980-2010, the new compilation by pop-funk band Was (Not Was). Quirky aficionados may know them for left-field, late-'80s hits like "Walk the Dinosaur" and "Spy in the House of Love." Others may know them as the band that put producers Don Was and David Was on the map (they would, either separately or together, work on such albums as Cosmic Thing by The B-52's, Nick of Time by Bonnie Raitt and Bob Dylan's
Monoliths
I've been listening to Pet Sounds a lot lately. Maybe it's the dreary weather; whenever I put on some Beach Boys things feel a bit sunnier. But it's a heck of a record (as I'm sure most of you know) - one of those rarified few that's hard to chop down entirely. It's also fascinating that it's one on a rather short list of pop albums that have supported its own box set. The sprawling The Pet Sounds Sessions, released in 1997, chronicles the process of the album through alternate mixes, outtakes,