Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable albums and the reissues they may someday see. Today's installment looks back at the mighty career of the late Marvin Hamlisch and how his best songs might be compiled into a truly "Essential" release. On Tuesday morning, August 7, news broke that composer Marvin Hamlisch had unexpectedly died the day before, at the age of 68. The worlds of music, theatre and film were all shocked, as Hamlisch's latest musical, The
Party Time: Andrew W.K.'s Wild Debut to Be Expanded for 10th Anniversary
If you were paying attention to alternative rock in the early 2000s, the name "Andrew W.K." likely stirs up a boatload of emotions. Was he a fun-loving, hard-living, one man party machine? Was he a corporate construction? Was he a darker type of fraud, as suggested by producer "Steev Mike" (link NSFW and relatively nuts) who may actually just be W.K. playing a prank on his delightfully bewildered audience? Whatever the case may be, Andrew W.K. is celebrating the recent 10th anniversary of his
He'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony): RPM Reissues Famed Songwriter Roger Cook's "Study"
Even if you don't know the name of Roger Cook, chances are you do know his songs: "You've Got Your Troubles," "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing," "My Baby Loves Lovin'," "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress," just to name a few. But like so many of his contemporaries, the songwriter harbored aspirations of a solo career, too. This wasn't so far-fetched; as half of the duo David and Jonathan (with Roger Greenaway, co-writer of all those aforementioned songs), Cook was already a bona fide
A Budget Box Fit for a King or Queen (UPDATED)
UPDATE (8/8 - 3:21 p.m.): Rats! Eagle-eyed reader Jason Michael points out that the Amazon U.K. listing now offers for you to "sign up to learn when this title will be available." When it comes back, here's hoping the price is as good as it was! Original post: Here's an incredibly interesting deal from Sony's U.K. budget arm: a rather thorough box set celebrating classic albums from merry old England! It's been a good year for queen and country. There was the Silver Jubilee in spring. This
Turn You "Inside Out": Omnivore to Premiere "Athens, GA" Soundtrack on CD
They called it "the Liverpool of the South," and for good reason. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Athens, GA became an overnight hotbed for some of the quirkiest rock and roll music in the country. The creation of local hangout The 40 Watt Club, a bustling scene of professionals who were as much fans as they were musicians and some huge would-be world conquerors and local heroes like The B-52's, Pylon, Love Tractor and R.E.M. all made the Athens scene a killer destination alongside the
The Baja Marimbas Get a "New Deal" with "Lazy Days" and "Junior High School"
There’s been a lot of talk around these parts about A&M Records’ 50th anniversary celebration, and why not? The label founded by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss virtually defined the sound of AM radio in the 1960s before embracing cutting-edge new wave , rock and R&B sounds in the ensuing decades. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. When one thinks of the A&M Sound, however, those bright and breezy sixties pop songs just might be the defining style. With the phenomenal success of
The Man on Lincoln's Nose: Intrada Expands Hitchcock Classic on CD
What's that sound? Is that...a plane buzzing low overhead? Not this time: it's the sound of Bernard Herrmann's classic score to Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, the benefactor of a beautiful new expansion by Intrada! The 1959 thriller, written by Ernest Lehman as "the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures," stars Cary Grant as an ad exec entangled in an incredible espionage plot, full of misdirection, mistaken identity, beauty (courtesy of Eva Marie Saint as the femme fatale), a
In Memoriam: Marvin Hamlisch (1944-2012)
I only met Marvin Hamlisch once. It was late in September 2010, on the campus of Los Angeles' UCLA, where the esteemed composer had been working on a revised production of his 1979 musical They're Playing Our Song. He and I were both on our cell phones in the lobby a few minutes before the show was about to start. As if by serendipity, we hung up at the same time. As we both were headed back into the auditorium, I couldn't resist the opportunity to extend my hand to one of the men whose
"Used Cars" (The Music) for Sale at La-La Land!
La-La Land's latest catalogue title, released last week, is a pleasant surprise: the premiere release of the score to the cult-classic comedy Used Cars. The 1980 picture, starring Kurt Russell as an unscrupulous salesman willing to go to any lengths to shut down his competition, was a particular surprise for anyone familiar with the talent behind the production. It was the second film to be directed by Robert Zemeckis, and was written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale and produced by Steven Spielberg.
Review: Booker T. & The M.G.s, "Green Onions: 50th Anniversary Edition"
Stax Records and Concord Music Group have brought the cool to this hot summer. Music simply doesn't come much cooler than the hip Green Onions, from Booker T. & the M.G.s. The landmark album is being celebrated for its fiftieth anniversary in an expanded edition (STX-33960-02, 2012) as part of the ongoing Stax Remasters series that last delivered a new edition of Albert King's I'll Play the Blues for You. The main attraction is doubtless the title song, a favorite of the Blues Brothers
Light in the Attic Gets Funky in the Country with Bobby Darin, Mac Davis, Link Wray, Bobbie Gentry and More
What the hell is "Country Funk," you ask? That's the question being posed by Light in the Attic on its new compilation, titled (what else?) Country Funk: 1969-1975. The label goes on to answer, in part, of the "inherently defiant genre": "the style encompasses the elation of gospel with the sexual thrust of the blues, country hoedown harmony with inner city grit. It is alternately playful and melancholic, slow jammin' and booty shakin'. It is both studio slick and barroom raw." Well,
Review: "Follies: Original 1971 Broadway Cast Recording" (Remixed and Remastered Edition)
Though the former showgirls and stage-door Johnnies of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman’s Follies reunited in the 1971 musical for “one last look at where it all began,” it’s been rather difficult for those under the musical’s spell to take one last look (or listen, as it were) at the original production of Follies. Those who saw it routinely recall it as the grandest of all musicals; those who didn’t have had to make do with still photographs, grainy YouTube footage, talk show appearances,
United Together: Aretha Franklin, Cheryl Lynn Among Latest From BBR
Without a doubt, Cherry Red’s Big Break Records label has been one of the most hospitable to the legendary divas of soul, and two recent releases just further underline that fact. Having previously reissued deluxe editions of Aretha Franklin’s 1982’s Jump to It and 1983’s Get It Right, both produced by Luther Vandross, the label has turned the clock backward to 1980 for the Queen’s Arista Records debut, simply titled Aretha. It’s recently been joined by Cheryl Lynn’s 1982 Columbia LP Instant
Another Bite of the Apple: Lon and Derrek Van Eaton's "Brother" with George Harrison and Ringo Starr, Reissued and Reviewed
RPM Records is taking a bite out of the Apple. Apple Records, that is. All has been quiet on the Apple front since EMI's 2010 reissue campaign offered remastered and expanded albums from Badfinger, Mary Hopkin, James Taylor and others. But the Come and Get It compilation, released in conjunction with the album reissue program, brought to CD a number of tantalizing tracks from lesser-known lights on the Apple roster. Among those artists were Lon and Derrek Van Eaton, New Jersey natives whose
Gold Legion Expands Titles by Laura Branigan, Grace Jones
The Gold Legion label has two expanded titles coming from a pair of disco and dance legends this fall. Expect remastered and expanded editions of the late, great Laura Branigan's Branigan (1982) and Self Control (1984) albums, as well as reissues of Inside Story (1986) and Bulletproof Heart (1989) from Grace Jones, this September. Branigan, the big-voiced New Yorker with a four-octave range, burst onto the scene in 1982 with the release of Branigan, a solid offering of dance-rock bolstered by
Surf's Up! "Surf Age Nuggets" Box Coming from RockBeat, Plus: Billy Gibbons, Dickie Goodman and a Visit to Southfork!
RockBeat Records is back! The label, founded by by Arny Schorr of S’more Entertainment and employing James Austin in the same capacity in which he served at Rhino Records (Vice President of A&R), has already delivered music from an eclectic roster of artists including Jackie DeShannon, Glen Campbell and Todd Rundgren. The RockBeat team has just announced four new projects that are every bit as stylistically diverse as one might expect from the label: a box set of surf music classics,
Henry Mancini's "Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation" Reissued with Premiere of George Duning's "Dear Brigitte"
The legendary American actor James “Jimmy” Stewart (1908-1997) could boast of career highlights in virtually every genre of cinema, from comedies to dramas, westerns to thrillers. Two of Stewart’s brightest comic moments are being recalled on a new two-for-one soundtrack release from the fine folks at Kritzerland. Henry Mancini’s score to 20th Century Fox’s Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, from 1962, has been paired with George Duning’s score to the same studio’s Dear Brigitte (1965) for the
Happy Together: "Sunset Strip to Haight-Ashbury" Features Jefferson Airplane, Mamas and the Papas, Turtles, Love and More
John and Michy were gettin' kind of itchy/Just to leave the folk music behind/Zal and Denny workin' for a penny /Tryin' to get a fish on the line.. Those lyrics from The Mamas and the Papas’ 1967 “Creeque Alley” begin to tell the story of the famous band, and it’s one of eighteen tracks on a new compilation aiming to tell a bigger story: that of “The California Scene in the 1960s.” Yes, this story has been told more comprehensively elsewhere; see two of our favorite box sets dedicated to San
House That Used To Be: Old 97's "Too Far To Care" Remastered and Expanded by Omnivore
Though 1997's Too Far to Care was actually the third album from Texan band Old 97's, it was an album of firsts. The major label debut of Rhett Miller and his musical cohorts, Too Far to Care placed the band at the vanguard of alt-country. It combined the muscularity of rock and the songcraft of pop with the traditional country sound on which the band had earned an Elektra Records contract, and led to performances in front of Lollapalooza crowds. In celebration of the album's 15th anniversary,
MC Squared = A Lost Sixties Treasure Unearthed By Now Sounds
Though Albert Einstein popularized a rather different equation, Now Sounds has revealed to us that Michael Crowley + Michael Clough + Linda Carey + Randy Sterling + Jim Keltner = MC Squared. The group released four singles on Reprise Records in the heady days of 1967 and 1968, the first of which was sandwiched between releases by Dino’s daughter Deana Martin and South African vocalist Miriam Makeba! Throughout MC Squared’s tenure at Reprise, the band was in good company; 1968’s “Smilin’” b/w
Get Pissed, Destroy: Contents of Sex Pistols' "Bollocks" Box Unveiled
You can argue whether or not punk is dead until you're blue in the face - but you can't deny catalogue music is on the ropes, as the recently-announced details of a super deluxe edition of Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols, arguably the primo example of the punk genre. Not long ago, we noticed that Never Mind The Bollocks - that incendiary album that seemed to threaten to upend social order in England, with sneering single "God Save the Queen" released in step with the royal
Tomorrow Never Knows: The Beatles Offer Rock-Themed Digital LP
Although albums like Rock ‘n’ Roll Music (1976), Love Songs (1977) and Reel Music (1982) have all yet to be released in any CD or digital format, Apple and EMI are reviving the spirit of those LP compilations with a new release available exclusively as an “iTunes LP.” Tomorrow Never Knows, subtitled File Under “Rock,” collects fourteen of The Beatles’ heaviest tracks including the psychedelic title track from 1966’s Revolver. Somewhat surprisingly, some harder-edged hits have been eschewed;
Who Knows What Evil Lurks In The Hearts of Men? Only "The Shadow" Knows! Soundtrack Features Goldsmith Score, Steinman Song
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Indeed, only The Shadow knows. And who knows the way to the hearts of film buffs everywhere? Certainly Intrada knows! The soundtrack specialist label has just announced its two latest limited editions: a deluxe double-CD expansion of the 1994 film The Shadow including Jerry Goldsmith’s complete score as well as the original Arista LP with songs by Jim Steinman (Bat Out of Hell), plus Craig Safan’s discarded score to Wolfen, the 1981 horror
"Sugar Man" Revealed: Legacy, Light in the Attic Team to Rediscover Lost Folk Hero Rodriguez
The story of Rodriguez may not be a famous one (yet!), but it’s so big that it takes not one, but two, of our favorite labels to bring it to life! Legacy Recordings and Light in the Attic have teamed up to release the soundtrack to Malik Bendjelloul’s film Searching for Sugar Man about a “lost” singer-songwriter who made a big, and unusual, impact. The adjective "remarkable" may be overused, but it certainly applies to the life and career of Rodriguez. The film, distributed by Sony Pictures
The DJ That Rocked: "Singles Collection" Compiles Best of Tony Blackburn
Richard Curtis’ 2009 film The Boat That Rocked paid affectionate homage to the pirate radio stations of the 1960s, but real-life pirate DJ Tony Blackburn said that “we didn’t have the fun that they obviously had in the film.” Rose-colored glasses or not, Curtis’ film dramatized the period when offshore radio stations challenged the rigid formatting of the BBC. Blackburn was just 21 in 1964 when he first set sail on Radio Caroline. He jumped ship two years later for Radio London, and survived
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