Happy Friday! We’ve got some tidbits to tide you over till we return on Monday, with much, much more! If you’re eagerly awaiting that complete Smiths box set but are worried about the falling American dollar, worry no more! Thanks to fine folks at MusicTAP for the heads-up that Rhino will be releasing The Smiths – Complete in the U.S. on October 18! The American edition will be available in the same configurations as in the U.K.: a gigantic Limited Edition Super Deluxe Box set, a vinyl LP
Johnny Mathis, Alfred Newman and Basil Poledouris Coming Soon From La-La Land
Let’s hope all of you film score fans out there have been saving your pennies! On Monday, Kritzerland will unveil its latest classic soundtrack release (watch this very space for that news!) and the very next day, La-La Land continues the musical bonanza with two unique offerings. Jean Neguelsco's 1958 film A Certain Smile starred Rosanno Brazzi (South Pacific) and Joan Fontaine (Rebecca). Adding to the luster, the soundtrack to the 20th Century Fox drama about a middle-aged man’s affair with
Out Of Control: Light in the Attic Invites You To Axton's "Late Late Party"
Light in the Attic is having a party, and you’re invited! Fresh from the success of Our Lives Are Shaped by What We Love: Motown’s MoWest Story (review here), the label has announced another exciting anthology. You might not know Charles “Packy” Axton now, but chances are, you’ll want to get to know him. Born in Memphis, Tennessee into the Stax Records family (his mother Estelle Axton and her brother Jim Stewart founded the Stax label!), “Packy” picked up the saxophone at a young age and
More Garland: First Hand Reveals "The London Studio Recordings 1957-1964"
The British Film Institute describes Ronald Neame’s 1963 film I Could Go on Singing as a “made-to-measure portrait of a singer grappling with her many demons before a London Palladium concert.” With the singer in question portrayed by the incandescent Judy Garland in what would turn out to be her final film role, it’s only natural to wonder just how much of the film was art imitating life. Or was it the other way around? Garland herself had performed triumphantly on the famed London stage as
Weekend Straw Poll: One Box
It almost goes without saying, but that U2 box has been a real hot topic among friends at The Second Disc. This author has long held the belief that UMe's U2 reissues, starting with the 20th anniversary package for The Joshua Tree in 2007 have been among the best expanded sets released by a major label. The packaging is detailed, the mastering is pretty good (details uncovered on audiophile CD versions of the early albums are replicated on the reissues) and the bonus content is a potent mix of
Stax Remasters Continue with Thomas, Brown and The Dramatics (UPDATED 8/5 WITH TRACK LISTINGS)
While Berry Gordy was defining “The Sound of Young America” in Detroit, Jim Stewart, Estelle Axton and Al Bell were pioneering deep, gritty Southern soul in Memphis. To many, Motown and Stax were two sides of the same coin, both offering powerhouse R&B sounds that spoke directly to the country’s youth. Since acquiring Stax from Fantasy Records in 2004, Concord Music Group has relaunched Stax as an active concern with new artists and has introduced a number of healthy catalogue initiatives
Love Hurts, But This Nazareth Box Looks Painless
Madness isn't the only artist getting a career box set from Salvo Music this year. The U.K. label is affording the same treatment to Scottish rockers Nazareth. While the band had only fleeting chart success in either the U.K. or the U.S. (enjoying early success at home with Top 10 hits "Broken Down Angel" and "Bad Bad Boy," as well as high-charting tunes like their rocking takes on Joni Mitchell's "This Flight Tonight" and Tomorrow's "My White Bicycle," and having one brief Top 10 in the U.S.
FINAL UPDATE 8/4: "Phil Spector Presents the Philles Album Collection" and "Essential Phil Spector" Due From Legacy
Well, get a load of that! This is the photo I've been waiting for - and if you're reading this, chances are you've been waiting with bated breath, too! As of August 4, we have official confirmation that Legacy's Phil Spector Presents the Philles Album Collection is, indeed, coming on October 18, along with a two-disc retrospective as part of the label's long-running Essential series. Most purchasers of Legacy's first wave of Philles Records reissues last February took immediate notice of a
Crom Smiles Upon Intrada (But Not Surround Fans)
Fans of Basil Pouledoris' scores to Arnold Schwarzenegger's Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Conan the Destroyer (1984) had a reason to be excited when the Tadlow label recorded the City of Prague Philharmonic performing the complete score to each film (the first score has already been released, the second is forthcoming). The late composer had expressed disappointment with the original film recordings (particularly that of Destroyer), and his family participated in the release in full. Plus, with
Sit Down I Think It's Van Dyke Parks: Music Man's "Arrangements" Arrive on CD
Forgive the hyperbole, but there’s nobody quite like Van Dyke Parks. Composer, arranger, producer, singer, musician, actor, author, raconteur, Parks is one-of-a-kind. Known for his dazzling, sometimes oblique wordplay, and sheer musical invention, Parks has contributed production, arrangements and songs to an incredible number of renowned artists over the years, often blazing new trails while harnessing his vast knowledge of popular music. For the first time, the renaissance man's work as a
Queen Break Free, Go Deep on Third Wave of Reissues (UPDATED)
UPDATE: One unreleased track has been added to the reissue of The Miracle; in addition, the iTunes video content - much of it previously released - has been added to the post. Original Post: The U.K. is rushin' headlong into the last batch of Queen reissues (available September 5 everywhere but the U.S.), and now there are track lists for each bonus EP, included with these reissues of The Works (1984), A Kind of Magic (1986), The Miracle (1989), Innuendo (1991) and the posthumous Made in
Reissue Theory: Bruce Hornsby and The Range, "The Way It Is"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we look back at notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. Exactly 25 years ago today, a classic pop album was released, with a sound that was totally different from what was the norm at that time. Now, we look back at the debut of Bruce Hornsby, and why a deluxe version would be a good idea. There were plenty of great songs to top the Billboard charts in 1986, but only one had any sort of conscious reflection behind it. Only
A Salvo of Madness Coming in September
Many of the box sets announced this year have been pretty nuts, in some way, shape or form. But none have been quite as nutty as this one: a career-spanning box by those nutty boys in Madness. The long-running British ska band, whose large handful of U.K. hits like "Our House" and "One Step Beyond" have filled dance floors the world over, has had an exceptionally busy few years with their catalogue, offering nearly all their discography, from their early hits on Stiff Records to their late-'90s
En Garde! Hugo Friedhofer's "Casanova" Rediscovered
Composer Hugo Friedhofer picked up the 1947 Academy Award for his score to the William Wyler-directed The Best Years of Our Lives. All told, Friedhofer would rack up nine nominations for the coveted gold statuette. But despite this success, he didn’t work strictly within the major studio confines. The 1948 Eagle-Lion film Adventures of Casanova is a B-movie take on the legendary ladies’ man, but it boasts an A-movie score by Friedhofer. Following Intrada’s release of the composer’s score to
Special Weekend Post: Fourth-Quarter Straw Poll!
Here at Second Disc HQ, it's safe to say that catalogue music is still very much alive. After a week in which very little news was up for reporting, this week was a smorgasbord of box sets and vault titles. Add to that some really well-placed links to some of our posts, and we broke our all-time traffic record on Tuesday, followed by our second and third-highest traffic days on Wednesday and Thursday. It's clear to Joe and myself that The Second Disc must be doing something right in terms of
Reissue Theory: The Time, "All-Time Greatest"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. On the 30th anniversary of the first album by one of Prince's most notable associated acts, we picture a release that's never happened: a career-spanning compilation for The Time. Thirty years ago, a major musical milestone occurred: Prince started transforming from a freaky, funk-rock gem of the Minneapolis music scene into an all-consuming musical entity. The conduit
Reach Out For Them: New 2-CD Comps Coming In September For Dionne, Chicago
Following collections devoted to Foreigner, Christopher Cross, Otis Redding and Yes, the U.K.’s Music Club Deluxe label (a member of the Demon Music Group family) continues its exploration of the Warner Music Group catalogue with new compilations focusing on the long, diverse careers of Dionne Warwick and Chicago. Either of these esteemed acts would be solid candidates for our Greater Hits feature, in which we compare an artist’s “greatest hits” output. Both certainly have been the subjects of
ZTT News: Art of Noise Get Close (to the Reissue)
Another reissue in ZTT/Salvo's ongoing Element Series has been announced: the first full-length by The Art of Noise. Earlier this year, ZTT expanded the group's debut EP, Into Battle with The Art of Noise, adding a host of vault content meant for their first album but ultimately scrapped. This album - featuring contributions by all five of the original Art of Noise collective (Trevor Horn, Paul Morley, Anne Dudley, Gary Langan and J.J. Jeczalik) - reprises "Beat Box" and "Moments in Love" from
A Box Set for a Brand New Day: Sting Compiled on 3 CD/1 DVD Set
Twenty-six years ago, Sting firmly established himself as a solo artist away from The Police with the jazzy The Dream of the Blue Turtles. Yesterday, Universal announced the first-ever career-spanning box set for the iconic singer, entitled 25 Years. Okay, so music geeks aren't good at math. But what Universal did do a pretty decent job at was chronicling Sting's greatest moments over a wildly varied career - one that plumbed personal depths for great artistic effect in the late '80s and early
Another EMI Budget Box for Barclay James Harvest
One last new release that slipped through our fingers yesterday: a budget box from EMI U.K., collating five discs of material by Barclay James Harvest. Taking Some Time On: The Parlophone-Harvest Years 1968-1972 collects all of the band's first few albums - Barclay James Harvest (1970), Once Again (1971), Barclay James Harvest and Other Short Stories (1972) and Baby James Harvest (1972) - along with all the non-LP singles and B-sides at the time, BBC sessions and other outtakes. This includes
The Smiths Are Out of the Bag: Massive U.K. Box Planned
As we at The Second Disc HQ love to point out, Morrissey once set his scathing lyrical pen on record companies' propensity for reissues on The Smiths' "Paint a Vulgar Picture." Currently, he must be shitting bricks: Rhino U.K. is planning The Smiths - Complete, a box set compiling the influential band's entire discography, all newly remastered. Clever fans spotted the presence of the set on the label's site late last night (we have super-reader Dean H. to thank for hipping us to it), and our
What The World Needs Now Is Rockbeat Records
Billy Vera, Alberta Hunter and Jackie DeShannon may not have terribly much in common at first glance. But they're just a few of the artists coming your way thanks to Rockbeat Records. Yes, there's a new player in the catalogue field, and their slate of reissues proves that they're ready to make a big impression! Founded by Arny Schorr of S'more Entertainment and distributed by eOne, Rockbeat counts among its team an alumnus of Rhino Records. James Austin, the former Vice President of A&R
One Stop Shopping: "Complete Collections" Coming From Denver, Washington, Kansas and Shorter
No sooner did your catalogue correspondent pop a very old disc of John Denver's 1985 Dreamland Express into the CD player than the news arrived that Dreamland Express would be collected along with 23 (!) other Denver LPs in Legacy's new The Complete Albums Collection. But that's not all. Following the first wave of releases which arrived just over two months ago, the catalogue initiative continues! For the uninitiated, The Complete Album Collection box sets bring together an artist's entire
Impulse Buys Abound from UMe
Universal Music Group got off to a great start anthologizing the deep catalogue of Impulse! Records with a four-disc box set from Hip-o Select earlier this year. Today, that catalogue is revisited yet again, in the form of 28 albums from the jazz label's catalogue collected as two-on-one discs. The titles are pretty diverse, collecting sets from Duke Ellington, McCoy Tyner, Alice Coltrane, Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, Milt Jackson and others. You can order each of the titles on Amazon here and
Harrison and Shankar's "Concert For Bangladesh" Goes Digital
“It was such a unique thing. Everybody was so moved and touched. It had a special feeling apart from just a performance. Overnight everybody knew the name of Bangladesh all over the world.” So said Ravi Shankar about The Concert For Bangladesh, the 1971 performances he organized with George Harrison at New York’s Madison Square Garden that set the standard for all-star benefits to come. Monday, August 1, marks the 40th anniversary of The Concert, and in commemoration, Apple and EMI have
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