It's going to be kind of a slow day at The Second Disc, as your roving reporter has tickets to see a-ha play to a sold-out crowd in New York City. Their Ending on a High Note Tour has been a top draw for '80s pop fans, but it's also led to a lot of thought concerning concerts and what they mean to us - not just as a reissue fan, but as a lover of music in general. While The Second Disc may be a haven for all the expanded and remastered news and commentary you can shake your SACD player at, I
Review: Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim, "Sinatra/Jobim: The Complete Reprise Recordings"
"Tall and tan and young and handsome..." Those lyrics to Antonio Carlos Jobim's "The Boy from Ipanema" kicked off a bossa nova boom that saw virtually every noteworthy vocalist and jazz musician of the 1960s recording in the mellow Brazilian style. Frank Sinatra, though, was hardly one to follow a trend for hipness' sake. By 1967, the label he founded, Reprise, was turning its sights to Laurel Canyon and Haight-Ashbury, and the bossa craze was on the wane. Sinatra would, as always, record on his
Helloooooooo, Baby!
It's odd that the work of Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr., known more commonly as The Big Bopper, doesn't get reissued nearly as much as one would think. The Big Bopper was, along with Buddy Holly and Richie Valens, one of the victims of the infamous Feb. 3, 1959 plane crash - "The Day the Music Died," as any rock fan can attest - but for some reason, Richardson gets short shrift. Buddy Holly got a fantastic box set last year from Hip-o Select and Valens got a similarly expansive box in 1998. Until
Recapturing the Magic
It was during a recent, animated conversation about back catalogue affairs that a stunning realization was made. Of all the major companies dealing in music and pop culture, there is one that has a surprisingly subdued place in the world of reissues. Were this company to change their mind about catalogue affairs and start utilizing their vast discography for more box sets and other special titles, it might be a step in revitalizing the whole reissue practice in general. I'm talking, of course,
News Round-Up: Steve Winwood, India.Arie and The Stooges
There's some new info to post about Revolutions: The Very Best of Steve Winwood, the upcoming four-disc Steve Winwood box that may or may not be as good as the last Winwood box. This comes from a comment by an admin on Winwood's official Web site. Also, note that the Amazon selling price is a not-terrible $39.98: All the material in this box set was transferred from the original analogue master tapes at 24-bit, 192k resolution in 2010 using the highest quality Prism A-D conversion. The albums
Reissue Theory: Martika
The recent realization that Cherry Pop has been remastering and expanding the Kim Wilde catalogue to considerable reaction (enough to warrant two waves of reissues, at least), it makes you wonder what other female pop acts might get the same treatment someday. If you're an '80s fan and you're wondering the same thing, there's little doubt that Martika is probably near the top of your list of must-haves. To many, Martika is at best a footnote in pop history. Her simple yet powerful "Toy
Back Tracks: Poison
The way culture advances nowadays, it's not surprising to realize you've forgotten certain ways you might have thought or felt about a musician in particular. For instance, when singer Bret Michaels was rushed to the hospital last week after suffering a massive brain hemorrhage, I'm sure many people (especially younger ones with less perspective) immediately thought of Michael's career as a reality show star - he's currently on NBC's Celebrity Apprentice and has spent three years on the abysmal
Review: Carole King, "The Essential Carole King"
“Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.” “(You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman.” “Up on the Roof.” “You’ve Got a Friend.” All of these songs have found a permanent home as part of The Great American Songbook, and all come from the pen of one Carole King. Her repertoire as both singer and songwriter is celebrated with this week’s release of Legacy’s The Essential Carole King (Ode/Epic/Legacy 88697 68257 2), the first set to focus on both aspects of King’s now 50-plus year career. Producers Lou
Back Tracks: Paul McCartney
Every now and then a catalogue-oriented story breaks into the mainstream. This week, we've had one of those moments: Paul McCartney is moving his back catalogue distribution to Concord Music Group from increasingly beleaguered EMI. Reissues will commence in August with a new pressing of Band on the Run, his high watermark with former band Wings. Of course, for someone of McCartney's caliber, this is not the first time his albums have been reissued. EMI did a massive remastering of 16
Friday Feature: "Licence to Kill"
Recent coverage of soundtracks on The Second Disc has been warmly received. To this end, we have added a the Friday Feature. Every Friday, you'll find some sort of article devoted to a soundtrack or film composer of merit. We hope you enjoy these trips through Hollywood's musical landscape! Our first Friday Feature deals with one of the oddest of the James Bond films. No, not Never Say Never Again (that's not really a Bond film, anyway). Licence to Kill was the second and final feature with
Review: Tom Lehrer, "The Tom Lehrer Collection"
The career of Tom Lehrer is an improbable one. A Harvard mathematics instructor by day and musical satirist by night, Lehrer was never particularly prolific. His entire output amounts to around 50 songs and a handful of albums which have been repackaged over the years. Most of his oeuvre was recorded between 1953 and 1965. Yet he was the recipient of a lavish 3-CD Rhino box set collecting most of his work in one place (The Remains of Tom Lehrer, Rhino R2 79831), and with that set now
Reissue Theory: Sting, "The Dream of the Blue Turtles"
The latest issue of Rolling Stone had a cover feature about the "State of Rock: 40 Reasons to Get Excited About Music" (a cover which featured terrible pop-rap group The Black Eyed Peas, so the list was slightly less than 40). As debatable as the list might be, one item on the list was actually somewhat intriguing - up and coming band I Blame Coco, led by Coco Sumner, daughter of the irrepressible Sting. Coco is not the first Sting spawn with musical tendencies - his oldest son, Joe, fronts the
Not Quite What You Need
It might be seen as unfair to criticize the catalogue-oriented decisions of INXS. Since losing lead singer Michael Hutchence in 1997, they've tried hard to find their way - finding a new singer through a reality show, recording an album with him, prepping a new album with a rotating stable of lead singers and so on. Rhino, the label that controls their back catalogue in the U.S., has released a lot of compilations in the interim as well, plus a few reissues of their late '80s/early '90s work
La La Land Blows Up White House, Catches a Wave
Wow! Commenter ~Rupe was some sort of a prophet today when he discussed the need for soundtrack labels to repress certain out-of-print soundtracks. The second of La La Land Record's soundtrack releases today (after David Arnold's complete score to the 1996 blockbuster Independence Day) fulfills that need in spades: the label is releasing a brand-new pressing of John Williams' score to the 1972 disaster classic The Poseidon Adventure. Williams gained early mainstream recognition as the musician
Reissue Theory: Shania Twain, "Come On Over"
Behind every devoted catalogue fan is a long-suffering but good-natured band of friends who smile politely and listen to us jaw on about liner notes, bonus tracks and the like. Those readers with partners or spouses are probably grinning right now, and so am I. Today is the birthday of a special someone (in a hat tip to MusicTAP, I'll call her Miss Disc) and in a show of geeky affection I have put together a Reissue Theory for one of her favorite records, which is thankfully one that could
News Roundup: Unreleased Motown and More Coming From Ace
I’ve often described Ace Records as the “British Rhino.” If Rhino pioneered the concept of the deluxe reissue in America – containing bonus tracks, in-depth liner notes and unique packaging – Ace keeps the original Rhino tradition alive across the pond. Virtually every month, Ace and its family of labels releases a handful of titles (both album reissues and compilations) to make collectors’ mouths water. The batch arriving in the UK on April 26 and on our shores throughout May is no
Say Hey, It's Record Store Day
If today is April 17 (which it likely is) and you're reading this post and not going to your local indie record store, then stop reading and go! Today is indeed Record Store Day, a celebration of one of the best things music has to offer us - great places to find great music. As someone who works in a store that sells music (but is the antithesis of an indie store), I can comfortably say that there's nothing better than going to a real record store and coming home with a bag full of good tunes.
Review: Two by Mancini
Henry Mancini would have gone down in film history had he only composed the instantly recognizable “Pink Panther Theme,” or supplied the melody to Johnny Mercer’s wistful lyric “Moon River.” But those accomplishments are mere tips of the iceberg for the man who scored over 80 films and recorded over 90 albums, garnering 20 Grammys and 4 Oscars along the way. Hardly a year goes by without a CD reissue of one of his classic scores, and 2010 is no exception, with 2 very different works given new
EXCLUSIVE: More Info on the Bon Jovi Reissues
It is with great pleasure that The Second Disc can divulge a few more details on the forthcoming Bon Jovi reissues due on May 11 from Island Records and Universal Music Enterprises. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time any of this information is coming out - something of an exclusive! Some of these details are more on the technical side, but anyone wondering for more Bon Jovi tidbits (including how much of the promised live content is unreleased) will be in for a nice surprise.
The Chairman from Ipanema
Frank Sinatra. Antonio Carlos Jobim. Two great musical tastes that taste great together. Ol' Blue Eyes brought his inimitable voice to the smooth bossa nova compositions of Jobim in 1967 with the LP Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim, in which the two teamed up on Jobim's best tracks ("The Girl from Ipanema," "How Insensitive") and some great standards as well (Berlin's "Change Partners," Porter's "I Concentrate on You"). Four years later, another Sinatra-Jobim session yielded one
Something to Shout About
A few new titles coming our way from Shout! Factory. The label perhaps best known for being born of Rhino ex-pats - ex-pats who got one of the best live concert films ever out on DVD for the first time - have announced reissues of two very different titles that will please rock fans out there. First up, Concrete Blonde - the seminal Los Angeles alt-rockers of the late '80s and early '90s - had previously announced a reunion tour to commemorate the 20th anniversary of their most famous LP
Back Tracks: Cheap Trick
In reading about Cheap Trick on Web sites like the All Music Guide, one keeps finding aspects of the band's work described as "perverse." That's a weird way of defining it - not in the sexual sense, mind you, but as a means of describing how unusual they are - but I guess it fits well enough, for a number of reasons. In the Rockford, Ill.-based band are, visually, one of the most arresting bands ever; vocalist Robin Zander and basist Tom Petersson look like your typical gorgeous rockers, while
Reissue Theory: Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Blood Sugar Sex Magik"
The fearful question reissue enthusiasts have to ask - particularly those who might have a hand in putting them out for public consumption - is: when is the reissue wave going to crash? I don't pose the question in terms of when people will stop paying money for physical media, because I don't think that's a particularly relevant problem right now. As long as fans keep buying enough reissued CDs now and future generations take a moment to ponder the merits of sound quality, this isn't an issue.
Hot Fudge Sundae!
Their repertoire was pretty standard for the late 1960s: a Lennon/McCartney tune here, a Bacharach and David song there, a Motown cover for good measure, even "The Windmills of Your Mind." But similarities ended there between Vanilla Fudge and their MOR-covering contemporaries. Over the course of five albums for the Atco label, the Fudge brought a psychedelic touch to the gestating sound of so-called "heavy rock" with blues-drenched, extended takes on familiar songs. Shadow Morton, famed
Tommy and Gina Redux
If you're from New Jersey, chances are you are (or know someone who is) a Bon Jovi fan. They were perhaps the best of the big-haired arena-rockers in the late '80s and '90s, and still know how to pack 'em in to this day. And now, it looks like they're reaching the rarified ranks of solid catalogue artists, thanks to a pretty wide series of reissues from Island and Universal Music Enterprises. Amazon is listing reissues of ten Bon Jovi albums - everything from 1984's self-titled debut to 2007's