The Second Disc is thrilled to welcome Charles Donovan for a very special guest post. In addition to being one of the finest music journalists working today, Charles has curated some of our favorite releases in recent years including Rupert Holmes' Songs That Sound Like Movies: The Complete Epic Recordings, Pamela Polland's Pamela Polland/Have You Heard the One About the Gas Station Attendant?, and Maxayn's Reloaded: The Complete Recordings 1972-1974. Today, Charles brings his knowledge,
Release Round-Up: Week of January 28
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Various Artists, Summer of Soul (...or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised): Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Legacy Recordings delivers a soundtrack to Questlove's acclaimed 2021 documentary Summer of Soul, chronicling the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. Live recordings are featured from headliners including The 5th Dimension, Nina Simone, David Ruffin, Sly & The Family Stone,
Back to Where You Once Belonged: The Beatles Premiere Complete, Official Rooftop Concert Audio Tonight
The Beatles' Get Back on Disney+ was the streaming event of 2021, but the celebration of all things Fab hasn't slowed down in the new year. The expansive three-part series from director Peter Jackson arrives on DVD and Blu-ray on February 8; then, on March 18, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens a new exhibit, The Beatles: Get Back to Let It Be. This immersive complement to Jackson's documentary will run at the Cleveland museum until March 2023. But before the home video release and the
That's Entertainment! U.K. Avid Label Reissues "Judy at Carnegie Hall" in February
In the pantheon of live albums, one title stands tall over 60 years after its initial release. Judy at Carnegie Hall powerfully captured the essence of the supernova that was Judy Garland. The lavish 2-LP set, issued on Capitol Records, preserved Garland's electrifying concert of Sunday, April 23, 1961. It spent 95 weeks on the Billboard chart, 13 of them at Number One. At the Grammy Awards, Judy handily picked up five of them including Album of the Year (the first by a female artist) and Best
Review: Frank Zappa, "200 Motels: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - 50th Anniversary Edition"
Frank Zappa called 200 Motels "a surrealistic documentary." Leonard Maltin described it as a "visual, aural assault disguised as a movie; completely berserk, freeform film...some of it ingenious, some funny, but not enough to maintain [an] entire film." Roger Ebert compared the surreal musical to the work of experimental composer Harry Partch before observing that it "assaults the mind with everything on hand...a full wall of sight-and-sound input." Zappa never wrote and directed another
Sit Down and Float: Cherry Red, Strawberry Collect Arrival's "Complete Recordings"
"They reached out and touched me as no other group has ever done," Dusty Springfield proclaimed in the original liner notes to the debut LP from Liverpool group Arrival. "They sing with joy, sadness, and wit, and as you listen, they'll reach out and touch you." Arrival touched U.K. listeners to the tune of two hit singles in 1970: a cover of Terry Reid's "Friends" (No. 8) and an original song entitled "I Will Survive" (No. 16). But that was it for Arrival's chart successes, and their two LPs
Total Conditioning: Two Howard Jones Remix Albums Reissued by Cherry Red
Cherry Red continues their ongoing excavation of the Howard Jones catalogue with a new set that collects two remix albums from the mid-'80s: one a special early part of his discography, and one a treasured rarity for Japanese collectors. The label will issue a 2CD set on March 18 featuring the contents of The 12" Album and 12"ers Vol. 2, which collected a plurality of mixes, some B-sides and the odd unique track from the Human's Lib and Dream Into Action albums. 1984's The 12" Album featured
Sacred Songs: New Anthology Highights the Solo Side of Daryl Hall
Daryl Hall would have every reason to rest on his laurels when not writing, recording, or touring with John Oates in the most successful pop-rock duo of all time. But the Pennsylvania native has always pursued other outlets for his outpouring of creativity. He's collaborated with artists from Robert Fripp to Diana Ross, released five acclaimed solo studio albums between 1980's Sacred Songs and 2011's Laughing Down Crying, and launched the hugely popular Live from Daryl's House series, in which
The Weekend Stream: January 22, 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! A quick week brings us a great latter-day Hall & Oates track, a classic Lil Wayne mixtape, unreleased gems from The Art of Noise and more. Daryl Hall & John Oates, "Romeo is Bleeding" (U-Watch/BMG Rights Management (U.K.)) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify) It's been 50 years since the world's bestselling duo
In Memoriam: Meat Loaf (1947-2022)
For Meat Loaf, going all the way was just a start. The larger-than-life superstar brought passion and power to everything he recorded, fiercely commanding epic songs that would have easily devoured lesser performers. Earlier this morning, it was reported that Meat Loaf passed away at the age of 74. Born Marvin Lee Aday in Texas in 1947, Meat Loaf would be in his teens before he would come to be known as his famous stage name. Though he gave several accounts over the years as to how he came
Release Round-Up: Week of January 21
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! John Williams and The Boston Pops, The Complete Philips Recordings (Decca) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Decca will celebrate John Williams' 90th by turning the clock back to 1980 when the famed composer-conductor took the baton from the legendary Arthur Fiedler to lead The Boston Pops Orchestra into a new era. John Williams and The Boston Pops: The Complete Philips Recordings boasts 21 CDs and 22 albums originally released on
The Sound of Liberation Hall: Label Announces Slate Through April Featuring Flamin' Groovies, The Troggs, Tony Hazzard, Kim Fowley, More
Since its formation in late 2020, the Liberation Hall label has delivered a wide variety of releases ranging from a Dr. Demento-curated collection of novelties to a campaign from the vaults of San Francisco indie label 415 Records. Now, the label has announced a bounty of upcoming releases scheduled between now and April. The eclectic slate encompasses reggae (Peter Tosh), blues (Chicago Blues Reunion), psychedelic and garage rock (The Moving Sidewalks, The Flamin' Groovies, Kim Fowley, The
Heartaches By The Number: Morello Reissues Four 1960s Waylon Jennings Albums on Two CDs
When Waylon Jennings passed away in 2002, he was rightfully hailed as one of country music's first true "Outlaws" alongside such artists and fellow Highwaymen as Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson. But Jennings paid his dues on the Nashville scene before "crossing over" to superstardom with such landmark records as Dreaming My Dreams (1975), Are You Ready for the Country (1976), Ol' Waylon (1977), and I've Always Been Crazy (1978). Cherry Red's country-focused Morello label has
Ballad of the Garment Trade: Stage Door Expands Streisand Debut "I Can Get It For You Wholesale"
Today, Harold Rome and Jerome Weidman's 1962 Broadway musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale is best-remembered as the debut of Barbra Streisand. The then-teenaged star portrayed secretary Yetta Tessye Marmelstein, best known as "Miss Marmelstein," and stopped the show nightly with the song of that name. "The evening's find is Barbra Streisand," wrote Howard Taubman in The New York Times, "a girl with an oafish expression, a loud, irascible voice, and an arpeggiated laugh. Miss Streisand is a
The Clouseau Museum: Quartet Collects Henry Mancini's Final Three "Pink Panther" Scores in New Box
Quartet Records closed out 2021 with an impressive slate of soundtracks from some of the most legendary names in film score history, including Henry Mancini, John Barry, Ennio Morricone, and Nino Rota. Today, we're spotlighting the 3-CD box dedicated to Mancini's final Pink Panther scores. The Pink Panther: The Final Chapters Collection gave full due to the final three scores composed by Henry Mancini in writer-director Blake Edwards' long-running series of comedies. The deluxe 3-CD
I Loved You The First Time I Saw You: Run Out Groove Reissues, Expands Randy Newman's "Good Old Boys"
Randy Newman turned the notion of the singer-songwriter as a "confessional" troubadour on its ear. If his songs were confessions, they most often were confessions of characters whose initials were not R.N.; while his songs were certainly personal, they touched less on his own life than on the lives of others, all exquisitely rendered with sharp observation and scathing wit. Newman's songwriting reached a new level of maturity with 1972's gorgeous Sail Away, offering a host of disparate gems
The Weekend Stream: January 15, 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 early works by John Denver, TV works by Jan Hammer and Giorgio Moroder, live stuff from Tegan and Sara and a real throwback of a compilation album. Denver, Boise & Johnson / The Mitchell Trio, Leaving on a Jet Plane: John Denver (Warner Records) (Amazon / Spotify) John Denver's career
Tears Began to Fall: New Box Set Chronicles Frank Zappa and The Mothers' 1971 Fillmore East Shows, Final London Concert
In a masterstroke of understatement, Frank Zappa and The Mothers proclaimed themselves to be Just Another Band from L.A. on a 1972 album of the same title. Of course, The Mothers were never just another band, but this particular iteration - featuring former Turtles vocalists Flo and Eddie (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan) and bassist Jim Pons, drummer Aynsley Dunbar, keyboardist Don Preston, and multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood - was one of the most memorable of the band's existence. This
Release Round-Up: Week of January 14
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Elvis Costello and The Imposters, The Boy Named If (Capitol/EMI) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Elvis Costello and The Imposters are back with a new, rip-roaring rock album. The band previewed many of the songs on The Boy Named If during its last concert tour; if those tunes (including lead single "Magnificent Hurt") are any indication, this set returns Costello to his spiky roots. Available on CD, LP, cassette, digital platforms,
In Memoriam: Ronnie Spector (1943-2022)
Whoa-oh, a-whoa-oh-oh-oh! Of all the great examples of rock and roll onomatopoeia, perhaps none was as sweet, alluring, and powerful as the cry with which Ronnie Spector opened "Baby, I Love You." The second single by The Ronettes on Philles Records - the first was the epochal "Be My Baby" - "Baby, I Love You" exuded youthful romance: uninhibited, unequivocal, and positively steamy! Fronting the trio she had formed with her sister Estelle Bennett and cousin Nedra Talley, Ronnie Spector
Ride Me, Easy Rider: Cherry Red, Esoteric Collect Vinegar Joe's "Island Recordings" Featuring Robert Palmer, Elkie Brooks
Today, Vinegar Joe is best remembered for launching the careers of Robert Palmer and Elkie Brooks. The band had risen from the ashes of a group called Dada intended by co-founder Pete Gage as "a combination of Mothers of Invention/Frank Zappa, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and The 5th Dimension. Power vocalists plus brass and crazy arrangements." But that heady brew was too much for Atlantic Records' Ahmet Ertegun who urged Dada to strip away the fusion elements and concentrate on blues and rock.
Soundtrack Watch: Varese, La-La Land, Intrada Kick Off 2022 with Killer Scores
The year has barely started, yet three beloved soundtrack reissue labels are bringing the heat to 2022's score reissue slate. Between a horror-packed box set from Varese Sarabande and a trio of expanded releases by James Horner, there's much cause for celebration. That is, if Varese doesn't kill you first! The label continues 25 years of superb scares with a new box set of soundtracks devoted to the horror franchise Scream. This zingy, gory picture, written by Kevin Williamson and directed
Review: David Bowie, "Brilliant Adventure [1992-2001]"
Putting on the black tie, cranking out the white noise... David Bowie wasn't one to look back. But when he announced Black Tie White Noise, many fans collectively breathed a sigh of relief. Might the "old" David Bowie be returning? The 1993 album was his first in six years, following three albums (two studio and one live) with his hard rock band, Tin Machine. It also reunited him with Nile Rodgers, producer of his all-time best-selling album Let's Dance, and with Ziggy Stardust-era
The Weekend Stream: January 8, 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! Our first release weekend of 2022 features heavy hitters, from legends of pop, rock, jazz and...space disco? David Bowie, Shadow Man (Parlophone) (Amazon / Spotify) David Bowie would have turned 75 today, and fans are celebrating over the new release Toy:Box, an official and expanded version of his "lost" 2001
My Cup Runneth Over: Kritzerland Reissues More from Ben Bagley, "I Do! I Do!" Cast Album, and "Alfred the Great" Soundtrack
Kritzerland has announced its first slate of releases for 2022. Leading off the trio is the latest volume in the label's long-running reissue series from Ben Bagley's Painted Smiles Records. Harold Arlen and Vernon Duke Revisited Vol. 2, first released in 1980 and expanded in 1991, celebrated the two composers' oeuvres with a typically eclectic Bagley cast including jazz singer Blossom Dearie; stage and screen stars Sandy Duncan, Helen Gallagher, Dolores Gray, and Tammy Grimes; and
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