It is with the greatest pride that The Second Disc presents its first-ever interview, bringing you closer to the catalogue music world we all love so much. Our first interviewee is one of the most notable names from the world of reissues. Harry Weinger, vice-president of A&R for Universal Music Enterprises, has been part of the music business for more than 30 years, writing for publications like Rolling Stone, Vibe, Billboard and Cashbox before becoming a staff writer for PolyGram's
News Round-Up: Dead on Vinyl, Closer to Elvis, Deluxe Duran Rearranged and More
The Grateful Dead is releasing a five-LP box set containing reissues of the band's first five studio albums for Warner Bros. records. Collectors will want to take note that this box will include the original mixes of Anthem of the Sun and Aoxomoxoa, which have not been released since the original LPs came out. The set is due on September 21; pre-orders placed now get a bonus reproductions of a 7" single and a vintage promo poster. While we await tomorrow's pre-order date for a crazy-enormous
Breaking News: More "Promises" Kept from Kritzerland
We catalogue music enthusiasts just can't get enough. Near-universal acclaim greeted Kritzerland on its re-release of the original cast album of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's Promises, Promises, including from your humble correspondent. Yet many of those cheers were quickly followed in the fan community by: "Now, when are you going to release the London Cast Recording?" The long-lost United Artists LP was recorded in 1969 with the stars of the production at the Prince of Wales Theatre: Tony
Of Panthers and Baby Elephants: "The Essential Henry Mancini" Coming Soon
Henry Mancini’s film score work has been anthologized numerous times, and the latest such release is due August 24 from Legacy as part of their ongoing The Essential… series. The Essential Henry Mancini is a 2-disc overview containing 36 tracks, dating between 1958 and 1983. During that time, Mancini was one of Hollywood’s most prolific composers, creating memorable themes for the big and little screens alike. Mancini’s longterm collaboration with Blake Edwards ranks with the Danny Elfman/Tim
British Invasion, Redux: New Sets Due from The Searchers and Petula Clark
While the original British Invasion is now just a few years south of 50, its music continues to endure. The Second Disc is pleased to report on a trio of new releases coming our way from two of the U.K.’s seminal artists, The Searchers and Petula Clark. One of the best and most successful bands to come out of Liverpool, The Searchers may have toiled in the shadow of that other band from Liverpool, but hits like “Sugar and Spice,” “Pins and Needles” and “When You Walk in the Room” remain some of
Back Tracks: Burton and Elfman
It turns out the reissue of Batman wasn't the only Danny Elfman-related catalogue news at this year's San Diego Comic-Con: Elfman shared at a panel discussion that Warner Bros. is planning a box set devoted to the composer's longtime collaboration with director Tim Burton. It's not much of a surprise that such a set would happen. Burton and Elfman's collaboration is one of the strongest director-composer bonds in Hollywood. And while neither men are collaborating with the kind of urgently great
EXCLUSIVE: Inside Hip-O Select's Vault
Here's a fantastic justification for the lack of posting today: The Second Disc has recently been preparing some interviews with some interesting characters within the reissue world. One of the interviews was conducted today with none other than Harry Weinger, vice-president of A&R for Universal Music Enterprises and gatekeeper of the catalogues for great soul labels and artists from Motown to James Brown. The full interview will be yours to read on Monday, but for now The Second Disc
Friday Feature: "Reality Bites"
There are plenty of moviegoers in any given week who look at the films playing at their local theatre, shake their head and conclude that Hollywood is no longer making movies for "them." One only wonders how the winter of 1994 was for that crowd when Reality Bites was released. One of the most explicitly Generation X movies ever created, Reality Bites follows the trials and tribulations of a group of twentysomethings in 1990s Houston. There's Leilaina (Wynona Ryder), a college valedictorian
Back Tracks: The Apple Tree, Part II - The Beatles, Sort Of
What has it been, two weeks since The Second Disc promised a continuation of our Back Tracks series regarding the Apple Records discography? Regardless of the gap, it's time to continue our look back. Part 1 covered all the previous reissues of the records that are to be reissued in October. Part 2 will cover all the Apple releases that involve The Beatles; by this, we mean anything that had a Beatle involved by name.* (For the sake of clarity, we're not including anything actually by The
Feed Your Head: Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, Live!
The San Francisco Bay Area music scene of the 1960s was certainly one of the most fertile at that time or any other; groups of such prodigious invention as The Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Quicksilver Messenger Service all thrived and found a national audience. With apologies to The Dead, though, the longest and strangest trip of all may have been taken by the Bay Area's own Jefferson Airplane. Drawing on blues, rock, folk, jazz and psychedelia, the Airplane carved out a niche
More Score to Adore
With no shortage of catalogue film score news and announcements in the past week, The Second Disc adds to that with two releases from Intrada and a few rumblings about La La Land. First, the releases: Lalo Schifrin's score to the newspaper drama The Mean Season and George Delerue's fanciful score to the Glenn Close comedy Maxie, both released in 1985, are getting their first-ever releases as part of Intrada's Special Collection. Both albums feature a new sequencing experiment for the label: big
Romantic Hamlisch Coming Soon from Kritzerland
This is shaping up to be an exciting week for classic soundtrack fans. Hot on the heels of Film Score Monthly’s announcement of a Bronislau Kaper collection, Kritzerland unveiled its latest release Monday morning: Marvin Hamlisch’s score to the 1983 film Romantic Comedy. Hamlisch is too often underrated in the film scoring department, although can you really call someone underrated who has amassed three Academy Awards, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, four Grammy Awards, a Tony Award and
Don't Do Me Like What?
A quick heads-up from our friends at Pause & Play: Amazon has put up a listing for a deluxe edition of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers' Damn the Torpedoes to be released by Geffen and Universal Music Enterprises. There's no info other than a release date (October 12), but hopefully there'll be some good vault material present. Damn the Torpedoes was The Heartbreakers' first LP for MCA, following the sale of Shelter Records to the label. It featured the band's first Top 10 hit, "Don't Do Me
Reissue Theory: Cheap Trick, Squeeze Do-Overs
Today's installment of Reissue Theory is going to tread over familiar ground, in honor of two bands who turned out some great live sets last night at New Jersey's State Theater: Cheap Trick and Squeeze. Though both bands have their share of hardcore fanatics, they didn't seem to be as vocal last night - at least one person was heard musing after the show that neither band catered to the greatest-hits crowd (Cheap Trick's set mixed most of the favorite early tracks with new material - the band
News Round-Up: New Stage and Screen Releases from Kaper, Loesser and More
There's rarely such a thing as a Monday matinee, but that won't keep The Second Disc from ushering in the week with news of a quintet of reissues from our friends at Film Score Monthly and Sepia Records. These exciting releases are sure to please devotees of both soundtracks and cast albums. Film Score Monthly kicks things off with their new release of BUtterfield 8: Bronislau Kaper at M-G-M, Volume 1 (FSM 1309). Kaper rarely seems to be afforded the acclaim given to many of his contemporaries,
Nothing More, Nothing Less - Only Love
That's the feeling with which Hip-o Select presents its latest title: a look at some of the last, still-great years of jazz legend Louis Armstrong. The new two-disc set, Hello, Louis! The Hit Years 1963-1969, compiles some of Satchmo's best-known and best-loved works, including the chart-topping show tune "Hello Dolly!" (which booted The Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love" from the top slot), the endearing "What a Wonderful World" and the gorgeous "We Have All the Time in the World," the theme to the
The First-Ever Second Disc Ticket Giveaway Extravaganza!
It is with extreme pleasure that The Second Disc presents its first-ever giveaway, courtesy of Sony's RED Distribution. It's a slight deviation from the usual catalogue-oriented affairs, but your humble correspondent couldn't resist the opportunity to bring you, the reader, some neat (and free!) stuff. The artist in question is Chris Shiflett, currently the lead guitarist for The Foo Fighters and also known for his work with Me First and The Gimme Gimmes, Jackson United, Viva Death and,
Friday Feature: "Ghostbusters"
For whatever cosmic reason, 1984 was a huge cosmic intersection for pop music and film. Prince exploded into the national consciousness with Purple Rain, Kenny Loggins continued his run as America's go-to soundtrack guy with his contributions to Footloose. Stevie Wonder called The Woman in Red to say he loved her, Harold Faltermeyer helped make Eddie Murphy a superstar with "Axel F." from Beverly Hills Cop. Even Phil Collins had a soundtrack hit, against all odds. And then there was
How Crowded is EMI's House?
A fun little tidbit from release date king Pause & Play, himself a diligent arts journalist who just recently got to interview the members of Crowded House (their new album, Intriguer, was released this week). At the suggestion of some cheeky catalogue music blogger, P&P asked the members of the band if there were ever any plans to expand the band's catalogue on CD. (The Crowded House discography is relatively free of B-sides, compared to some of their contemporaries, but demos and
Reissue Theory: Nik Kershaw
It's not hard to see why Nik Kershaw was considered a teen idol in the 1980s, but it is hard to understand why this was the case after listening to his music. The British guitarist released several great albums of atmospheric yet accessible guitar pop-rock, but it seemed a bit heavier than the usual teen idol fare of generations past or future. Kershaw's best-known output don't deal with typical teen fare. His biggest singles, "Wouldn't It Be Good," "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" and "The
"Batman," "Krull" to Be Expanded by La-La Land
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AdEHOta-Uc] La-La Land Records has announced its next batch of catalogue soundtrack reissues - and they're two big names to fans of '80s action/fantasy films. Danny Elfman's iconic score to the 1989 film version of Batman and James Horner's music from Krull (1983) are getting lavish expanded releases for the month of July. Batman, part of La-La Land's Expanded Archival Collection series, will feature, for the first time ever, the full score as
Back Tracks: Rupert Holmes
“If you like pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain”…Come on, you know how it goes, sing along…“If you’re not into yoga, if you have half a brain…” So goes the song that got Rupert Holmes into the record books as singer/songwriter of the last No. 1 hit of the 1970s and the first of the 1980s. While it may be the most famous song penned by the idiosyncratic artist/composer/producer (and collaborator of artists ranging from Streisand to Sparks!), it’s merely the tip of the iceberg for Rupert
Does EMI Stand for "Every Mastering Insignificant"?
Immense praise to Slicing Up Eyeballs for bringing this story to our attention: EMI have released a statement regarding the mastering of the last two entries in the ongoing Duran Duran remaster series. And it ain't pretty. If you've been following this story at all, through ICE or Amazon or even our own review of the first album, here's how it goes: the new reissues of Duran Duran (1981) and Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983), while stuffed with some great bonus content, suffer thanks to
Live Aid at 25
It was 25 years ago today that two massive, historic concerts were organized for African famine relief. Live Aid, performed in London's Wembley Arena and Philadelphia's JFK Stadium on July 13, 1985, was one of those rare overblown rock success stories - dozens of superstars and members of rock royalty coming together not at the behest of a politician or a natural disaster, but simply because it seemed the right thing to do. It raised millions for charity, it provided a massive plug for the
Back Tracks: R.E.M. - The I.R.S. Years
Today, the 25th anniversary reissue of R.E.M.'s Fables of the Reconstruction hits stores. Athens, Georgia's favorite rock band has spent the past five years or so establishing their place in the pop-rock firmament: since 2006, the band's early recordings for I.R.S. Records - a six-year span between 1982 and 1987 - have been the center of much catalogue attention from EMI and Universal (each has a piece of the I.R.S. catalogue). The four members of the band - vocalist Michael Stipe, guitarist
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