A rare weekend post to keep you up on two new Hip-o Select titles readied for order yesterday. One's a singles compilation for an R&B great, and the other is a two-for-one set from a noted reggae act. Get the specs (and two more Hip-o titles you might not know about) after the jump.
Reissue Theory: Celine Dion, "Falling Into You"
The Second Disc's Mother's Day Mania continues with a Reissue Theory look at Celine Dion's Falling Into You, the Canadian chanteuse's fourth English-language LP and one of her all-time best. Wait, what? For some, it is weird to label a Celine Dion record as good. Even more forgiving folks will come down hard on her for what some would consider her increasingly schmaltz output over the years (particularly after the inescapable "My Heart Will Go On" helped propel Titanic to an even wider
Back Tracks: Barry Manilow, Part 1 (1973-1984)
Where Barry Manilow is concerned, it's best to let the facts speak for themselves. A Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award winner, Manilow scored his first Billboard No. 1 album in 1977, his most recent in 2006. His string of hit singles extended from 1974's chart-topping "Mandy" to 1983's Top 20 "Read 'Em and Weep," with 38 songs hitting the Top 40. He's recorded over 25 studio albums and released countless more live discs, compilations and soundtracks, and regularly plays to sell-out houses after over
Friday Feature: "Dirty Dancing"
Dirty Dancing is one of those movies that, on paper, should be a massive dud. It's a painfully by-the-numbers tale - rich girl becomes emotionally, culturally and sexually liberated by a dashing stranger and the art of (you guessed it) dirty dancing - but it is one of those movies that will not disappear from the public eye. And frankly, it's not hard to see why. Yes, as a story, Dirty Dancing is nothing special. But the production is something to behold. It immortalized its two young leads,
The Sun Still Shines on T.V.
Talk about timing. With hours to go before a-ha played their first U.S. date in years, the band's official Web site revealed a delightful pair of track lists for the promised deluxe editions of Hunting High and Low and Scoundrel Days from Rhino. The sets should be ready to pre-order May 11, says the band's site, and will be in the hands of fans by June. Check out these stunning track lists and some more a-ha thoughts and treats after the jump.
Long Live Live Music
It's going to be kind of a slow day at The Second Disc, as your roving reporter has tickets to see a-ha play to a sold-out crowd in New York City. Their Ending on a High Note Tour has been a top draw for '80s pop fans, but it's also led to a lot of thought concerning concerts and what they mean to us - not just as a reissue fan, but as a lover of music in general. While The Second Disc may be a haven for all the expanded and remastered news and commentary you can shake your SACD player at, I
Review: Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim, "Sinatra/Jobim: The Complete Reprise Recordings"
"Tall and tan and young and handsome..." Those lyrics to Antonio Carlos Jobim's "The Boy from Ipanema" kicked off a bossa nova boom that saw virtually every noteworthy vocalist and jazz musician of the 1960s recording in the mellow Brazilian style. Frank Sinatra, though, was hardly one to follow a trend for hipness' sake. By 1967, the label he founded, Reprise, was turning its sights to Laurel Canyon and Haight-Ashbury, and the bossa craze was on the wane. Sinatra would, as always, record on his
Reissue Theory: Version Especial por Cinco de Mayo
Today is Cinco de Mayo, so The Second Disc is going to bring you two of the most unusual Spanish-oriented pop music endeavors in recent memory. These are two deluxe editions with very different sounds, but they're connected not only by record label group but their wacky reinterpretation for Spanish audiences. Viva la musica after the jump!
Helloooooooo, Baby!
It's odd that the work of Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr., known more commonly as The Big Bopper, doesn't get reissued nearly as much as one would think. The Big Bopper was, along with Buddy Holly and Richie Valens, one of the victims of the infamous Feb. 3, 1959 plane crash - "The Day the Music Died," as any rock fan can attest - but for some reason, Richardson gets short shrift. Buddy Holly got a fantastic box set last year from Hip-o Select and Valens got a similarly expansive box in 1998. Until
Recapturing the Magic
It was during a recent, animated conversation about back catalogue affairs that a stunning realization was made. Of all the major companies dealing in music and pop culture, there is one that has a surprisingly subdued place in the world of reissues. Were this company to change their mind about catalogue affairs and start utilizing their vast discography for more box sets and other special titles, it might be a step in revitalizing the whole reissue practice in general. I'm talking, of course,
News Round-Up: Steve Winwood, India.Arie and The Stooges
There's some new info to post about Revolutions: The Very Best of Steve Winwood, the upcoming four-disc Steve Winwood box that may or may not be as good as the last Winwood box. This comes from a comment by an admin on Winwood's official Web site. Also, note that the Amazon selling price is a not-terrible $39.98: All the material in this box set was transferred from the original analogue master tapes at 24-bit, 192k resolution in 2010 using the highest quality Prism A-D conversion. The albums
Reissue Theory: Martika
The recent realization that Cherry Pop has been remastering and expanding the Kim Wilde catalogue to considerable reaction (enough to warrant two waves of reissues, at least), it makes you wonder what other female pop acts might get the same treatment someday. If you're an '80s fan and you're wondering the same thing, there's little doubt that Martika is probably near the top of your list of must-haves. To many, Martika is at best a footnote in pop history. Her simple yet powerful "Toy
Review: "Batman - The Movie: Original Motion Picture Score"
It's somewhat ironic that a man so closely associated with the lush, timeless music of Frank Sinatra would find such great fame (or notoriety?) as a composer scoring one of the most over-the-top television series ever. Yet such was the case of Nelson Riddle, who as arranger and conductor was a chief sonic architect of Sinatra's unprecedented run of Capitol concept albums and beyond. His television credits included such groundbreaking programs as The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Naked City and Route
Friday Feature: "Commando"
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teSmRfAtDOU] As a forgiving film fan, I was appalled by the recent news that 20th Century Fox was planning on remaking Commando, the 1985 action flick that became Arnold Schwarzenegger's first star vehicle after The Terminator the previous year. Hollywood's fascination with remakes is too well-known, but surely someone could have drawn a line with Commando. The film has Schwarzenegger as - what else? - a one-man wrecking crew named John Matrix determined
Back Tracks: Poison
The way culture advances nowadays, it's not surprising to realize you've forgotten certain ways you might have thought or felt about a musician in particular. For instance, when singer Bret Michaels was rushed to the hospital last week after suffering a massive brain hemorrhage, I'm sure many people (especially younger ones with less perspective) immediately thought of Michael's career as a reality show star - he's currently on NBC's Celebrity Apprentice and has spent three years on the abysmal
Review: Carole King, "The Essential Carole King"
“Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.” “(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman.” “Up on the Roof.” “You’ve Got a Friend.” All of these songs have found a permanent home as part of The Great American Songbook, and all come from the pen of one Carole King. Her repertoire as both singer and songwriter is celebrated with this week’s release of Legacy’s The Essential Carole King (Ode/Epic/Legacy 88697 68257 2), the first set to focus on both aspects of King’s now 50-plus year career. Producers Lou
Boxed In
Reaction to the recently-released tracklist for John Mellencamp's On the Rural Route 7609 box set has been a bit mixed, and for good reason. It's hard to greet a four-disc box set full of album tracks and just over a dozen unreleased outtakes with a price tag of nearly $100. But it's becoming clear that there's a bigger issue here at stake than Mellencamp fans getting soaked. Friends, the entire concept of a box set is in a state of crisis. It's been a long two decades since compact disc box
Reissue Theory: System of a Down - "Toxicity"
Lots of coverage on The Second Disc deals with music that has stayed part of the collective consciousness for decades. But it's been stated before that fans and labels should always look into the recent past to find classics worth reissuing. Toxicity, the second LP by Armenian-American metal band System of a Down, is one of those records. Of all the five LPs SoaD released in their brief tenure before embarking on an indefinite hiatus, Toxicity hits the hardest. It's one of those
Soundtrack Miracles and More
A heads-up for two brand-new releases from indie soundtrack label Intrada. This week's batch is quite eclectic: first up is Laurence Rosenthal's score to the classic 1962 film version of The Miracle Worker, available for the first time on CD. This disc is sourced from Rosenthal's own first-generation mono 1/4" tapes and produced with full support from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film's distributor. This is a limited one at just 1,000 copies, so act fast. Intrada's other release turns to the small
R-O-C-K in the B-O-X
Awesome! After what feels like years, Island Records and Universal Music Enterprises have finalized a release date and track listing for On the Rural Route 7609, a career-spanning box set from John Mellencamp. Drawing from more than 30 years of recordings, this four-disc set features 15 previously unreleased recordings, liner notes by Rolling Stone veteran Anthony DeCurtis, Mellencamp's track-by-track annotations and 72 pages of notes and photos, all packaged in a book-style case. Hit the jump
Release Round-Up: Wilde and Grey Edition
We've got a few reissue notes (in case you missed them) to start off your week. First up, Cherry Pop is prepping another batch of Kim Wilde reissues. The label re-released Wilde's RAK-era LPs - Kim Wilde (1981), Select (1982) and Catch as Catch Can (1983) to a strong reaction from her fanbase, and are now prepping two-disc editions of Teases & Dares (1984) and Another Step (1986), Wilde's first two records for the MCA label. The latter is notable for being co-produced by Rod Temperton and
Back Tracks: Paul McCartney
Every now and then a catalogue-oriented story breaks into the mainstream. This week, we've had one of those moments: Paul McCartney is moving his back catalogue distribution to Concord Music Group from increasingly beleaguered EMI. Reissues will commence in August with a new pressing of Band on the Run, his high watermark with former band Wings. Of course, for someone of McCartney's caliber, this is not the first time his albums have been reissued. EMI did a massive remastering of 16
Friday Feature: "Licence to Kill"
Recent coverage of soundtracks on The Second Disc has been warmly received. To this end, we have added a the Friday Feature. Every Friday, you'll find some sort of article devoted to a soundtrack or film composer of merit. We hope you enjoy these trips through Hollywood's musical landscape! Our first Friday Feature deals with one of the oddest of the James Bond films. No, not Never Say Never Again (that's not really a Bond film, anyway). Licence to Kill was the second and final feature with
Review: Tom Lehrer, "The Tom Lehrer Collection"
The career of Tom Lehrer is an improbable one. A Harvard mathematics instructor by day and musical satirist by night, Lehrer was never particularly prolific. His entire output amounts to around 50 songs and a handful of albums which have been repackaged over the years. Most of his oeuvre was recorded between 1953 and 1965. Yet he was the recipient of a lavish 3-CD Rhino box set collecting most of his work in one place (The Remains of Tom Lehrer, Rhino R2 79831), and with that set now
Review: Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli, "Live at the London Palladium"
Leave it to Bob Dylan. In his 2004 memoir Chronicles Volume One, he writes about the experience of listening to Judy Garland: "A couple of times I dropped a coin right into the slot and played 'The Man That Got Away' by Judy Garland. The song always did something to me...listening to Judy was like listening to the girl next door." He writes of the song's composer, Harold Arlen: "In Harold's songs, I could hear rural blues and folk music...there was an emotional kinship there." He continues,
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