Back Tracks: The Jam
The Jam were easily one of the best things to come from the U.K. punk-rock scene. This is an unusual consideration, given that nothing about the band really screamed punk-rock. The members of The Jam were polished in appearance and musical experience, and they were clearly influenced by American rock and R&B acts from Motown, Stax and Atlantic. They were as mod as one could get without joining the cast of Quadrophenia. But their sound had an edge that bands like The Clash and The Sex Pistols would share, making for a deft…
Let’s Hope You Didn’t Buy a-ha’s “25” Just Yet
Because the compilation released almost everywhere but the U.S. is getting expanded a bit more, as a CD/DVD edition with the first-ever compilation of the band’s videos. If you’re a big a-ha fan – and let’s face it: if you are, there’s at least a 75% chance of you getting 25 in the first place – you’ll want to wait until this version is released October 4. And please excuse the grumbling, but catalogue fans are this close, it seems, to abandoning the purchase of reissues and box sets from U.S.-based stores,…
Britpop Statesmen Suede to Release a Best-of Compilation
After a band makes its return to the public eye, say, after a long hiatus or break-up, the best way to remind the public of what they were capable of is through a compilation of some sort. Suede, the influential Britpop band, looks to do just that with the release of The Best of Suede. From their self-titled release in 1993, Suede were considered to be the act that got rock music back in the good graces of both British critics and the British public. With bands like Blur and Radiohead about…
Pet Shop Boys See Opportunity in Compilation
There’s a bit of a misnomer in the title. The Pet Shop Boys’ classic “Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)” is one of a few singles not on their forthcoming compilation Ultimate Pet Shop Boys. Such a long and prolific career sometimes leads to an occasional omission in a compilation, but this new set has some things to keep PSB fans satisfied, even as they scratch their heads and wonder why some tunes are missing. This new set compiles 19 singles together, from monster hit “West End Girls” – a U.K. and…
Short Takes: Legacy’s First Paul Simon Release, James Taylor Goes Gold, and Spector Set Due
With the fall officially underway, we’re now in the busiest time of the year for the music biz, and as this week hits its halfway point, we’re here to offer a few announcements you might have missed. Audio Fidelity offers on November 2 a 24K Gold CD version of James Taylor’s seminal 1972 album originally released on Warner Bros. Records, One Man Dog. Remastered by audio guru Steve Hoffman, One Man Dog has among its highlights the now-standard “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight.” One Man Dog joins future Audio Fidelity releases of…
The La La Land Slate Expands (UPDATED 9/21)
You’ve got to love La La Land Records not only for the scope of their soundtrack reissues – titles released this year included expansions of Eraser, the 1966 and 1989 film versions of Batman, Innerspace, Independence Day and the debut CD release of the Caddyshack LP – but their openness in discussing what’s on the horizon. Label head M.V. Gerhard maintains an active presence on his label’s own message board and the boards for fellow label/publication Film Score Monthly, and discusses upcoming releases as much as he can without relying too much…
Reissue Theory: Carl Douglas, “Kung Fu Fighter”
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. This installment concerns a hard-hitting novelty single that’s still kicking after more than a quarter-century. Twenty-six years ago today, the top song in the United Kingdom was one of the most hilariously stereotypical songs of the 1970s, a funky little number called “Kung Fu Fighting.” Rarely has anyone mimed some clumsy karate moves without thinking of that scratchy guitar, that nine-note “Oriental Riff” and the singer who exalted those…
Mamma Mia! ABBA Reissuing “Gold” Compilation
For the ABBA fan who just can’t get enough and has to have it all – and judging by the amount of quality reissues for a band that’s been defunct for decades, there are a lot of such fans out there – here’s something else to add to your collection. ABBA will reissue bestselling compilation ABBA Gold on November 29 with a DVD featuring previously unreleased material. With sales of over 28 million copies worldwide, ABBA Gold has been one of the highest watermarks of the Swedish pop hitmakers’ success since its…
Is the Time A-Changin’ for Release of Mono Dylan on Vinyl?
The Bob Dylan section of Examiner.com reports “from a trusted source” that the vinyl edition of Dylan’s forthcoming The Original Mono Recordings will be pushed back to December 7. Not sure who the source is, but Amazon’s listing also has that December date. (The CD versions are still on track for October 19.) In other Dylan news, those who were waiting for confirmation on the promised Brandeis show as an Amazon exclusive now have their proof. Those who pre-order either The Witmark Demos 1962-1964 (The Bootleg Series Vol. 9) or The Original…
Jesus and Mary Chain Compilation Coming Next Week
Add another rock band to the late-in-the-year compilation pile: influential Scottish noise-pop band The Jesus and Mary Chain will release a two-disc compilation of tunes in the U.K. on September 27. The Jesus and Mary Chain, formed around a pair of brothers (Jim and William Reid), took the messy, noisy ethos of The Velvet Underground and The Sex Pistols and made it interesting for the U.K. indie scene. Bands like The Pixies, My Bloody Valentine and Dinosaur Jr. owe them some sort of a sonic debt, and while The JAMC never had much…
Vintage Soundtracks, Live Concert Coming from Varese
Varese Sarabande Records has revealed the latest titles in their long-running Soundtrack CD Club. This batch includes some of the most lauded composers in film history (Goldsmith, Newman, Conti) and a rare treat in the form of a film music concert on CD and DVD. First up is another never-before-released score from Jerry Goldsmith. 1963’s A Gathering of Eagles was a thrilling military drama starring Kevin McCarthy and Rock Hudson as an Army general and colonel struggling to maintain order in their units during peacetime. Released the same year Goldsmith received his…
The Irresistible Tammi Terrell, Compiled
To the non-believers and newcomers, Tammi Terrell isn’t more than a footnote in the story of Motown. Her name sits beside Marvin Gaye’s on a few iconic singles – “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “You’re All I Need to Get By” and “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” to name three – but that’s it, right? Wrong, says Hip-o Select’s new Terrell anthology Come On and See Me: The Complete Solo Recordings. On her own, Terrell recorded just one full long-playing record for Motown, but it was released after several years of hard work…
S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y! Rollermania Strikes Again in October
S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y! For many readers, that chant will undoubtedly conjure up images of a group of tartan-clad Scotsmen, whose catchy, hook-filled 45s led hordes of screaming teenagers and teenyboppers to the dance floor (alongside adults with discerning taste in irresistible pop music, of course!). The history of The Bay City Rollers is being celebrated by the fine folks of the U.K.’s Salvo Records with the October 4 release of a deluxe four-disc anthology they’ve quite accurately called Rollermania (Salvo SBX451). The enterprising label has already given us similar career-spanning box sets for bands as diverse…
Come and Get It, In One Shot: The Apple Box Set Announced
After months during which EMI kept us all guessing, official specs were finally released for the Apple Records reissue campaign, and The Second Disc duly reported that information back on August 5. As with most projects related to The Beatles and/or Apple Corps, however, there were as many questions as answers, even after the “final” information had been posted on the official Apple website. For one thing, why downloads? Fans were sharply divided as to how they felt about the practice of offering additional bonus tracks for many of the albums as…
Polled as Love
We kick off the weekend with a poll for you, dear readers: with the myriad of options coming up for Experience Hendrix/Legacy’s upcoming Jimi Hendrix box set, West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology, which one do you think you’ll be picking up? Have fun voting! [polldaddy poll=3777262]
Don’t Look Now, There’s a Monkey on Your Back: “Faith” Reissue Delayed
In what may be the most potent anti-drug message for catalogue fans, George Michael’s reissue of Faith has been postponed. The singer, recently jailed for eight weeks for driving under the influence of drugs, was to have seen his solo album – a landmark of ’80s pop – reissued in several configurations on September 28. A Legacy spokesperson says the release has been delayed to next year. Stay tuned for more info as it develops.
Friday Feature: “Twister”
When you feel down – regardless of your gender – you probably have some sort of ritual that gets you through your funk. This has become almost a cliche among the fairer sex; almost too easily conjured is the image of girls watching The Notebook while wearing comfortable sweatpants and eating some Haagen-Dazs ice-cream for comfort. I can at least empathize with the film aspect of that cliche, although my “comfort film” involves Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt and a nightmarish load of property damage. That’s right – for some reason, Twister (1996)…
A Little Bit o’ Soul: A Busy Fall from Big Break and Superbird
Funky Town Grooves announced quite a lineup of soul classics to hit shelves this fall, as reported yesterday by The Second Disc, and we’re happy to follow up with news of the latest exciting releases coming from two Cherry Red labels across the pond, Big Break Records and Superbird. First up, Big Break (BBR) delves further into the Philadelphia International (PIR) catalogue, dormant here in the United States but also being mined concurrently by the U.K.’s Edsel label. September 20 sees the release of Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes’ 1973 LP…
…And These ARE the Contents of the CHIC Box Set
Hot off the presses, folks. Thanks to super-reader RoyalScam for the tip back in this post. Hit the jump for some good times!
Reissue Theory: Linkin Park, “Hybrid Theory”
This week, rock band Linkin Park released their fourth studio album, A Thousand Suns. The results are, sad to say, not pretty; since 2007’s Minutes to Midnight, the California rap-metal band has become more of an angsty Depeche Mode-lite with U2 aspirations and a guaranteed spot on every soundtrack to a Transformers film. Maybe it’s the middle school nostalgia talking, but they were something else when they first burst onto the scene a decade ago. Chester Bennington, the throaty lead singer, was more of a secret weapon, balancing his angry choruses with…
Funky Town Grooves Digs Up Treasure from Brick, Full Force and More
Here’s a look at the upcoming slate from the R&B reissuers at Funky Town Grooves. September 30 will see three new titles added to the label’s discography. First, there’s a two-fer from jazz-funk hitmakers Brick, best known for 1976’s “Dazz,” a U.S. Top 5 hit. This set will put the band’s last two albums for Bang Records – Summer Heat (1981), which included the band’s last big hit, the Top 10 R&B single “Sweat (Till You Get Wet),” and After 5 (1982) – onto one remastered CD. Next up, we have the…
A Very Strange Circle is Completed: New John Spencer Blues Explosion Reissues from Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory concludes its exhaustive series of reissues with a pair of expansive editions of Orange (1994) and Acme (1998). The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion became one of the most unusual alt-rock bands of the ’90s because they were bizarrely unique. In a review of their 2010 compilation Dirty Shirt Rock N’ Roll: The First Ten Years (which kicked off this whole reissue campaign), Pitchfork called their music “highly crafted and gloriously messy, heavily conceptual but still visceral, serious while also being funny.” If that isn’t bizarre but effective praise, I’m not sure…
Three from the Hard Rock Archives
As if there weren’t enough catalogue options on everyone’s plates, here come three more hard-rock reissues – one from Jethro Tull and two from Rainbow. EMI/Capitol is releasing a deluxe edition of Jethro Tull’s sophomore LP Stand Up (1969). The first album of JT’s in which Ian Anderson had total control over the musical direction was thus a departure from the band’s bluesy debut, This Was, opting instead for more of a folk sound. This set will be an expanded three-disc set with a bonus live show at Carnegie Hall presented on…
Take That! Robbie Williams to Be Compiled Once More (UPDATED 9/16)
Virgin has released the cover art for a new compilation by Robbie Williams, the consummate U.K. pop star. The two-disc set, In and Out of Consciousness: The Greatest Hits 1990-2010, the final entry on Williams’ longtime contract with EMI, will compile 39 tracks from throughout his long career, including two brand new ones: “Shame” and “Heart and I,” both co-written by Gary Barlow, who was a member with Williams in the British boy band sensation Take That. (Williams will follow this release, it’s recently been announced, by re-joining Take That for a…
Cherry Pop Goes Au Naturel
Here’s a few fun upcoming reissues from our friends at Cherry Pop: an expanded reissue of an ’80s R&B novelty classic and two reissues from British vocalist Nick Heyward. Released in 1986, Frantic Romantic was the sophomore LP for singer-dancer Jermaine Stewart. The Soul Train dancer had already had his first single, “The Word is Out” (co-written with Culture Club’s Mikey Craig), just miss Billboard‘s Top 40, but Frantic yielded the chaste dance anthem “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off,” which reached the Top 5, becoming his biggest hit. Though…