In a career spanning six decades, vibraphonist and composer Roy Ayers has pushed the boundaries of jazz, transitioning from bop to soul-jazz, funk and acid jazz. Three classic albums from the “Godfather of Neo-Soul” have recently been reissued by Australia’s Raven Records label with a handful of bonus selections, as well. The 2-CD set Searching for Sunshine: 1973-1980 collects Ayers’ Polydor albums You Send Me (1978), Fever (1979) and No Stranger to Love (1979) and then dips into other areas of his catalogue to present eight bonus selections dating between 1973 and…
Skin It Back: John Mellencamp’s Early Works Revisited on New Anthology
Heartland rocker John Mellencamp recently announced the Dancing Words tour, a summer trek through America in July and August that’ll focus on hits he’s not played in a while to audiences in outdoor amphitheaters. A few months before that, Cherry Red’s Lemon imprint will issue an exciting new compilation that takes things back to the beginning of Mellencamp’s career – under a different name, and with some enticing unreleased material. American Dream (The Mainman Recordings 1976-1977), coming April 3, is a 2CD set that’ll feature both albums he recorded for the MCA-distributed Mainman…
Dying to Meet You: Judas Priest’s Debut Revisited with Definitive Remix
It took 50 years, but Judas Priest have finally perfected the way they want their debut to sound. The British metal icons will reissue 1974’s Rocka Rolla on November 22 – one of the first truly sanctioned releases of the first album by the group – with a brand-new remix from the original multi-track tapes by producer Tom Allom. “I’m just thrilled,” frontman Rob Halford said in a statement. “Tom Allom is giving us a second chance here with the way that a lot of the elements were lost in Rocka Rolla. And it’s…
Can’t Be Touched: Early Years of Elliott Smith’s Heatmiser Revisited on New Collection
To take the late Elliott Smith’s solo work at face value, he was known for dark, introspective songwriting that influenced a generation of indie musicians. But his early work in the band Heatmiser tells another side of the story – and this fall, 20 years after his tragic passing, Third Man Records will revisit the band’s work with a collection of rare and unreleased material. The Music of Heatmiser, available on CD or 2LP October 6, is named for the self-released cassette the group – singer/guitarists Smith and Neal Gust, drummer Tony…
For The First Time: Real Gone’s February Slate Includes Grateful Dead, Soul Searchers, Harem Scarem, and “One Fine Day” Soundtrack
Real Gone’s line-up for February features music from the 1970s and 1990s, representing genres from funk to classic rock. Available today are vinyl reissues for The Soul Searchers’ second album, Salt of the Earth, the One Fine Day soundtrack, and a CD reissue of Grateful Dead’s Road Trips Vol.1 No.1: Fall ’79. Coming out in two weeks, on February 17, is a vinyl reissue of the debut album from Canadian band Harem Scarem. Washington, D.C.-based group The Soul Searchers formed in the early 1970s and were signed to the small Sussex label…
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Monday at the Movies: Mancini, Williams, Newman and Jones Revisited, Plus Disney Expands “Cinderella” in “Lost Chords” Series
It’s not quite time yet for the long goodbye to new announcements for 2012, but for Quartet Records, it is time for The Long Goodbye. John Williams’ score to Robert Altman’s 1973 film leads off another group of essential new buys for soundtrack fans and collectors. Quartet is pairing The Long Goodbye with a late-period Henry Mancini classic, the score to Blake Edwards’ 1988 comedy-western Sunset. But that’s not all. Kritzerland has a true “wow” release with a gloriously restored stereo premiere soundtrack to Alfred Newman’s score for the 1951 epic David…
Dave Grusin’s “Dry White Season” Revisited
With a cast including Donald Sutherland, Susan Sarandon and Marlon Brando in one of his final film triumphs, 1989’s A Dry White Season had the potential to be an instant classic. Yet despite this star-studded assemblage, strong reviews and an impressive pedigree (it was based on Andre Brinks’ powerful novel which was banned in South Africa for challenging apartheid), audiences stayed away, and A Dry White Season vanished from theatres. Still, Brando was recognized with a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Academy Awards, and the film gained a following over the…
Review: The Beach Boys, “We Gotta Groove: The Brother Studio Years” Part 1 – “15 Big Ones,” “The Beach Boys Love You”
What I remember is “Brian’s Back” was a campaign for a record company, but it was far more than that for all the rest of us. – Mike Love, February 12, 2026 At the recent Grammy Museum event celebrating the release of The Beach Boys’ latest box set, the 3CD/3LP We Gotta Groove: The Brother Studio Years, a visibly emotional Mike Love recounted the media frenzy that surrounded Brian Wilson’s so-called comeback. The Beach Boys’ onetime leader and creative visionary had largely retreated from the producer’s chair after the shelved SMiLE sessions;…
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The Story Behind The Album: The New Christy Minstrels’ ‘In Person: Expanded Edition’
Last Friday, Legacy Recordings unveiled a special treat for fans of The New Christy Minstrels, the bestselling, Grammy-winning large folk ensemble. The sparkling, new digital edition of 1962’s In Person (Apple / Amazon) expands the Christies’ second album with seven bonus tracks including previously unreleased performances from the legendary Troubadour stage. As no physical release is planned for the expansion of In Person, some listeners and longtime fans may fear that they’re missing out on crucial context. Team TSD has you covered! Folk historian/reissue producer/curator Tom Pickles has generously shared his previously unpublished liner…
Do You Believe in Magic? Cherry Red Collects The Lovin’ Spoonful’s Complete 1960s Recordings on “What a Day for a Daydream”
New York native John Sebastian fused pop and folk when he joined with Zal Yanovsky, Steve Boone and Joe Butler as The Lovin’ Spoonful. Over an eighteen-month period beginning in the summer of 1965, the band notched seven consecutive top ten hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 including two which reached No. 2 (“Daydream” and “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind” and one which hit the top spot (“Summer in the City”). Though the original group’s time together was short-lived, the music has lived on, and a lineup…
The Dave Clark Five
October 23, 2026
