Happy 4th of July! Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we take a look back at notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. In 1969, a Broadway musical about a most unlikely subject became the toast of New York. Three years later, a movie mogul in the twilight of his years shepherded it to the big screen, and while the film has lived on, its soundtrack album has all but disappeared. Today's Reissue Theory, pulled from The Second Disc archives, imagines a
Review: Two By Richard Rodgers, "On Your Toes" (1952) and "Carousel" (1955)
June is busting out all over, and so is the music of Richard Rodgers. Then again, the work of the composer (1902-1979) is always busting out all over. Even in 2010, Rodgers had the third most-covered song of the year, according to ASCAP. The song was "My Funny Valentine," with lyrics by Lorenz Hart, and it was written in 1937, proving that Richard Rodgers' music is, indeed, timeless. Masterworks Broadway, drawing from Sony Music Entertainment's Columbia and RCA Victor vaults, has been a leading
Review: Chicago, "Live in '75"
When they took the stage at Largo, Maryland’s Capital Centre in June, 1975, nostalgia was foremost on the minds of the members of Chicago. Early in the set so immaculately preserved by Rhino on the new Live in ’75 (Rhino Handmade RHM2 526436, 2011), comments are made from the stage with a great deal of surprise: “[Here’s] another blast from the past!” “Nostalgia is in nowadays.” “We would like to be nostalgic.” Would the Robert Lamm, Walter Parazaider, Lee Loughnane and James Pankow of 1975
"I Just Wanna Ask a Question": Harry Weinger on the "What's Going On" Box Set
For most music producers, there's a kind of strangeness to working on multiple reissues of the same classic album over time. Not so for Harry Weinger, vice-president of A&R at Universal Music Enterprises and, as one of UMe's resident Motown gurus, the producer of several deluxe editions of Marvin Gaye's classic LPs, including What's Going On. "You learn between anniversaries," Weinger said. "And luckily, I was there for both of them." When What's Going On became one of Universal's first in
Back Tracks, In Memoriam: The Musical Legacy of Arthur Laurents
The late Arthur Laurents wrote many of the most beloved musicals and films in entertainment history including West Side Story, Gypsy, The Way We Were and Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope. He passed away on May 5, but today’s special Back Tracks celebrates this great writer’s legacy in music. “If you have a good strong finish, they’ll forgive anything!” So implores stage mother Madame Rose to her daughter Louise, the future Gypsy Rose Lee, in the 1959 musical Gypsy. Rose’s bon mot was one of many
More Intrada Obscurities Arrive
This week's soundtrack reissues from Intrada are an underrated '70s soundtrack album making its CD debut and the premiere of a '50s World War II score. First up, the score to Sleuth, a 1972 film adaptation of the Tony-winning play by Anthony Shaffer. The British playwright adapted his own work for the screen, and All About Eve director Joseph L. Mankiewicz was at the helm, with a stellar cast anchored by Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine, both of whom were nominated for Oscars for their
Robinson Is "Smokin'" On 1978 Live Set Due from Hip-o Select
The Supremes aren't the only Motown act getting a little bit of reissue love today from Hip-o Select! William “Smokey” Robinson has lived up to his nickname in a staggering seven decades now, setting the charts ablaze with particular frequency in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. So it was with a deep catalogue already behind him – and yet more hits ahead of him – that Robinson recorded the double live album Smokin’, which arrived in stores in October 1978. Back in January, The Second Disc
No Gloomy "Sunday" with Complete Les Baxter Debut
Les Baxter sure gets around. The past year has seen reissues of the maestro's scores from a number of labels including Intrada, La-La Land and Kritzerland, and the latter ups the ante today with the release of the exotica master's score to 1960's infamous Black Sunday (La Maschera del Demonio, or The Mask of Satan). Mario Bava's Italian horror classic stars Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Arturo Dominici and Ivo Garrani in the tale of a vampire/witch put to death by her brother who is reborn
Rhino Knows What Time It Is: Chicago "Live in '75" Coming from Handmade (UPDATED 4/11)
UPDATE 4/11: The link just before the jump takes you directly to the order page for this set. Original post: Billboard has certified them as the second-most successful American rock band in music history, only following The Beach Boys. The RIAA places them handily in the Top Ten of all-time album sales from an American group. So it's fair to say that Chicago is still perhaps the most successful American rock band to have been wholly ignored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band has
Rhino Resurrects "L.A. Woman" This Fall
It was hard not to worry about Rhino for awhile. Since the new year kicked off, things have been eerily quiet from the venerable label and catalogue arm of Warner Music Group (currently prepping for a major reorganization). Outside of the largesse of the Europe '72 box set from The Grateful Dead and a few soundtrack selections, all was quiet. Now, one of Warner's most enduring catalogue artists looks to be getting another reissue: hot off the presses, Rhino's announced a 40th anniversary
Review: "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World: Original MGM Motion Picture Soundtrack"
Close your eyes for a moment and pretend you're on Jeopardy! The answer: "This 1963 widescreen epic opened Hollywood's Cinerama Dome." The question: "What is It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World?" Raise your hand if you got it right! Yes, Mad World, as we'll abbreviate it for expediency's sake, is this author's epic film to end all epic films (sorry, Ben-Hur!) and certainly one of the only Hollywood epic comedies! While the designation "all-star" has been applied before and since, perhaps no film
La-La Land's Going "Mad" Next Week
Not too long ago, La-La Land Records announced it had only one title due out March 15. Now they've revealed what score they've unearthed - but it's something that's been reissued before. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) is one of the most madcap comedies ever released by Hollywood. Part road picture - groups of people working against each other to find a hidden stash of cash in California - and part Tinseltown epic (dozens of comedians and movie stars appear in the film, including Sid
Review: Simon and Garfunkel, "Bridge Over Troubled Water: 40th Anniversary Edition"
"What's the point of [making] this album?," an impossibly youthful Paul Simon asks in the 1969 television special Songs of America. "The world is crumbling." If Simon didn't know then why he was "just" recording an album despite all of the tumult around him, he almost certainly knows now. After all, he and partner Art Garfunkel have seen Bridge Over Troubled Water make it to 40 years (actually, 41!), and have even participated in the celebration. The duo have also seen the accompanying album and
Intrada Premieres Scores for "Flying Machines," "Wrongfully Accused"
Intrada's first releases for March involve two premiere score releases from two very different eras - a roadshow flick from the '60s and an action satire from the late '90s. First up is Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, a 1965 ensemble comedy from England starring luminaries including Benny Hill, Terry-Thomas and Red Skelton. Ron Goodwin's light, poppy theme went on to have some success as a pop single, although the resultant album was an odd one, featuring music and dialogue in
Angel Air Revisits a Series of Tommy James Classics
Shondells frontman Tommy James has been fairly well-represented on CD, with reissues from both Collectors' Choice and Collectables compiling most of his classic oeuvre. Now, the U.K.'s Angel Air label takes its turn filling in more gaps in James' catalogue with a trio of reissues. First up are a pair of two-fers, In Touch (1976) with Midnight Rider (1977), and Three Times in Love (1980) with Hi-Fi (1990), followed by an expanded edition of A Night in...Big City: An Audio Movie (1995). In
Presidents' Day Special Feature: Stan Freberg, "The United States of America"
Here's one for Watson: "This actor, comedian, voice artist, singer, songwriter and advertising guru coined the name 'Grammy' for the annual awards bestowed by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS)." The correct answer? "Who is Stan Freberg?" To list Freberg's credits in the fields of cinema, radio, television, animation and music would take up the entirety of this column, but readers unfamiliar with those accomplishments are advised to stop reading now, order a copy of
Judy, Judy, Judy: Garland's "Carnegie Hall" Original LP Arrives on CD in 2012
Of the 3,165 audience members at Carnegie Hall on the evening of Sunday, April 23, 1961, just how many of them realized that they were witnessing musical history when Judy Garland took the stage? While most probably came to that realization by evening's end, surely all 3,165 knew by the time Capitol released its recording. Judy at Carnegie Hall remains one of the most acclaimed, beloved albums of all time, live or otherwise. Capturing Garland at her artistic peak, the lavish double-LP spent 95
The Second Disc Interview #4: Talking Soundtracks with MV Gerhard of La La Land Records
The wide berth of reissues, box sets and compilations across major and independent labels the world over, means some releases can fall through the cracks at times. At The Second Disc, it was always an early mission to make sure the labels handling catalogue soundtrack reissues did not suffer this fate. Intrada, Film Score Monthly, Kritzerland, Varese Sarabande - all are essentials for the catalogue music fan with a taste for soundtracks, and their work is hard to ignore. La La Land Records,
Friday Feature: "Almost Famous"
Thank you, Cameron Crowe. You had me at "hello." You cost me plenty, but my record collection has long been grateful for the education! The integration of popular song and cinema has been around as long as the talking film itself, since the day Al Jolson prefaced his performance of "Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goodbye)" with the epochal dialogue "Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain't heard nothin' yet!" These lines from 1927's The Jazz Singer, the first feature-length "talkie" in which
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
Review: Michael Jackson, "Michael"
Last winter, with Michael Jackson's sudden passing not even five months in the past, Motown and Universal Music Enterprises released I Want You Back! Unreleased Masters, a ten-track compilation that was certainly the first in a long salvo of cash-in, vault-clearing titles in honor of the King of Pop (it was wisely marketed as commemorating the 40th anniversary of the J5's first single, which was true enough). Surprisingly, after a great but ill-timed box set collecting Jackson's solo albums and
Friday Feature: "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol"
This special holiday-themed Friday Feature originally appeared in December 2010, but we've rescued it from The Second Disc Archives to share it with you! It is dedicated to the memory of Leslie Nielsen, who could count Mr. Magoo as just one of many of his indelible film creations, as well as to the gone-but-not-forgotten Jim Backus, Morey Amsterdam, Jack Cassidy and Paul Frees. Before Rudolph, Frosty and Charlie Brown ruled the television airwaves each December, there was the nearsighted Mr.
Review: The Monkees, "Head: Deluxe Edition"
Once upon a time, the undisputed king of the box set was Rhino Records. The label gave us a brain in a box, an old phonograph to house the masterworks of Ray Charles, a crate of eight tracks to take us back to a more soulful time, and a hatbox filled with the most effervescent girl group sounds possible, just to name a few. (Shag carpets, coffee beans and a carrying case for 45s figured prominently in a few other such packages.) Of late, these lavish sets haven't appeared with great frequency; I
Intrada Readies "Patton," "Gator" for Battle
Two fan favorite titles were announced by Intrada last night: a newly-expanded soundtrack for the classic film Patton (1970) and a reissue of the score to the cult classic Gator (1976). Film fans remember Patton for George C. Scott's famed portrayal of the controversial American general during World War II. (Scott won an Oscar for the role - and became the first person to refuse an Oscar.) Score fans remember it as yet another triumph for Jerry Goldsmith, who provided an innovative score
FSM Readies "Dr. T," Warner Bros. Two-Fer
Film Score Monthly, one of the best sources for soundtrack reissues and info in the pre-Internet age, has had a lot of weird press lately. FSM founder Lukas Kendall had an oddly overstated reaction when discovering that this year's Star Trek: The Next Generation box set had been uploaded onto a torrent site. (It was easily the Internet at its worst on both sides - FSM posters might have overreacted at what was already a callous, disgusting act on the part of the pirates, leading to little