Priscilla: Queen of the Desert. Sister Act. Catch Me If You Can. Today’s Broadway is populated by adaptations of familiar movies; in 1961, such screen-to-stage transfers were rare. When they did occur, the authors usually changed the title of the film to signify that their musical version was, indeed, a new work. (Imagine producers today allowing authors to diverge from a famous property's title!) Such creative freedom resulted in some of the most inspired musicals in stage history, and one such
Roger Waters Reissues Coming in the U.K.
Roger Waters is bringing Pink Floyd's The Wall Live tour to Europe this spring, and to celebrate, Sony is reissuing a good amount of his work at an affordable price. On March 28, the compilation Flickering Flame: The Solo Years Volume I (2002) will be repressed. This set collected the best of Waters' solo material from 1983 to what was then the present, with two unreleased demos added to the mix. Unfortunately, this disc has a rather unsavory legacy, as it was released with a rather extreme
Marlena Shaw is "Acting Up" Again
Whether recording jazz, pop or funk, the soulful Marlena Shaw has made her mark. The first female vocalist signed to Blue Note Records, Shaw has had an impressive career with tenures not only at the venerable jazz imprint but also Chess' Cadet subsidiary, Columbia, Verve and Concord. Included in her outstanding discography are searing takes on Goffin and King's "Go Away, Little Girl" (as "Go Away, Little Boy"), Ashford and Simpson's "California Soul" and a discofied "Touch Me in the Morning."
This Was the Sea: Waterboys to Release Vintage Demos
Here's another something we can share that Slicing Up Eyeballs expertly bought to our attention: a collection of demos from Scottish rock group The Waterboys. Considered the early forbearers of the "Big Music" sound - a style that would become synonymous with the band's first three albums and would describe other bands like Big Country, The Alarm and Simple Minds - The Waterboys, led by Mike Scott, achieved some of their greatest success with This is the Sea in 1985. Bolstered by the popular
Goldsmith, Horner and "Crusoe" Coming from FSM
As previously reported, Film Score Monthly's two newest titles are the premiere releases of three great scores: an underrated sci-fi epic and two TV-movies with music from legendary film composers. Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) is exactly what it sounds like: the Daniel Defoe classic on the surface of Mars. Paul Mantee is the marooned astronaut and Victor Lundin is "Friday," the Martian slave laborer who escapes and befriends him. (Also appearing as Mantee's doomed co-pilot was a pre-Batman
Reissue Theory: Stevie Nicks Solo - and Beyond
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. With anticipation running high for a new album from Stevie Nicks in a few months, we bring you a special look back at her first two solo albums - which have never been expanded - and that one record she's on that fans have been anxiously waiting for an official CD release... This post is dedicated with love to Stephen Sears, a good friend of The Second Disc. Today is his
Short Takes: The Kinks are Koming Stateside, B.A.D. Reissues Planned, MBV Insanity, More Live Dead
Those upcoming deluxe reissues of the first three Kinks LPs in the U.K. this April are coming to American record stores too! They've been set for April 12, one week after the British release date. (Thanks to MusicTAP for the tip!) Buried at the bottom of a press release touting the forthcoming Big Audio Dynamite reunion tour - no doubt spurred on in part by last year's pretty great deluxe reissue of their first album - there's a mention that Legacy is working with B.A.D. on more Legacy Editions
Alice Cooper Readies Mega-Box Set
Only a day after being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Alice Cooper is prepping a massive collectible for fans: a four-CD/one-DVD/double-vinyl box set capturing the band's early shock rock years. There are only some preliminary details about Old School 1964-1974, but here's what we can tell you. It's going to feature, across its four CDs, demos, live takes, spoken-word material and vintage advertisements; demos from the School's Out and Muscle of Love sessions are specifically
Legacy Readies for Boy-Band Mania with "NKOTBSB" Compilation
For teenage girls of two different eras, the New Kids on the Block and the Backstreet Boys were the apex of pop music. Both of them were impossibly successful teen quintets created by astoundingly lucky impresarios who had or would soon strike gold with similar acts (NKOTB Svengali Maurice Starr also bought New Edition onto the pop music scene, while now-disgraced BSB producer Lou Pearlman would also make stars out of NSYNC). When both groups announced late last year that they were
Release Round-Up: Week of March 15
Queen, Queen / Queen II / Sheer Heart Attack / A Night at the Opera / A Day at the Races: Deluxe Editions (Island/UMe) Deluxe editions of the band's first five albums are out in the U.K., all remastered with bonus discs of rare or unreleased content. (They'll be out in the U.S. in May!) (Official site) Nick Lowe, Labour of Lust (Proper (U.K.)/Yep Roc (U.S.)) Lowe's New Wave classic, featuring the immortal "Cruel to Be Kind," is reissued on both sides of the Atlantic, featuring all the tracks
Rare Alfred Newman Score to "Counterfeit Traitor" Debuts from Kritzerland
It's not too great an exaggeration to state that without Alfred Newman, we probably wouldn't be discussing film music here at The Second Disc, or anywhere else. In a career spanning 40 years and some 200 films, Newman played an integral, early role in the art of composing original music for cinema. He was rewarded with a whopping 45 Academy Award nominations and nine wins, and even made music the family business. Brothers Lionel and Emil had impressive careers, while sons Thomas and David
Suede Catalogue Overhaul Coming This Summer
Back in September, we reported on a hits/B-sides compilation for legendary Britpop band Suede. Now, the recently-reunited band have announced a major catalogue expansion through U.K. label Demon/Edsel. In five weeks starting May 30, the label will release massive three-disc editions of each of the band's studio LPs, from 1993's self-titled debut to 2002's A New Morning. The sets will feature two CDs featuring the remastered original albums, the band's many non-LP B-sides and many unreleased
The SMiLE Saga: A Happy Ending Promised for Lost Beach Boys Masterwork
The story of The Beach Boys' 1967 SMiLE, often considered the greatest lost album of all time, has long been a story of heroes and villains. On February 3, the band's Al Jardine was a hero when he announced that SMiLE would finally be arriving in record stores everywhere later this year. The Second Disc duly passed this on before Jardine offered a bizarre quasi-retraction, likely at the behest of his record label, on February 14. Mastering engineer Steve Hoffman (who was worked with the Beach
Friday Feature: "The Graduate"
“Just one word…plastics.” With that one word, spoken to the disaffected Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) by an associate of his father’s, the audience viewing 1967’s film The Graduate, could both laugh and sneer along with Benjamin. After all, “plastics” stood for all that was superficial and fake in society. Mike Nichols, directing only his second feature film after a successful Broadway career, was anything but subtle as he masterfully threaded the film’s themes throughout every aspect of
More Imperial-Era Hollies Reissues Headed Your Way
It's Hollies-mania all over again! Back on February 15, we tipped you to a vinyl box set due April 19 collecting some of the Manchester quintet's toughest-to-find tracks. But it gets better. On the same date that Sundazed releases the Lost Recordings and Beat Rarities box, the label will also continue its vinyl LP reissue series for the band with brand-new releases of Beat Group! and Bus Stop. These 1966 albums for Imperial Records were, respectively, The Hollies' third and fourth American
La-La Land's Going "Mad" Next Week
Not too long ago, La-La Land Records announced it had only one title due out March 15. Now they've revealed what score they've unearthed - but it's something that's been reissued before. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) is one of the most madcap comedies ever released by Hollywood. Part road picture - groups of people working against each other to find a hidden stash of cash in California - and part Tinseltown epic (dozens of comedians and movie stars appear in the film, including Sid
Review: Simon and Garfunkel, "Bridge Over Troubled Water: 40th Anniversary Edition"
"What's the point of [making] this album?," an impossibly youthful Paul Simon asks in the 1969 television special Songs of America. "The world is crumbling." If Simon didn't know then why he was "just" recording an album despite all of the tumult around him, he almost certainly knows now. After all, he and partner Art Garfunkel have seen Bridge Over Troubled Water make it to 40 years (actually, 41!), and have even participated in the celebration. The duo have also seen the accompanying album and
Experience Hendrix/Legacy, Round 3
Mark your calendars, Hendrix fans: another batch of Experience Hendrix/Legacy reissues are coming your way. Next month, Legacy will reissue three more titles in the Hendrix catalogue. The first is South Saturn Delta, a 1997 outtakes compilation first released during Experience Hendrix's partnership with MCA. That set, which featured plenty of sought-after outtakes in a more official context, will be pressed onto compact disc as well as vinyl. Then there's a DVD reissue of Hendrix's January 1,
Review: Neil Diamond, "The Bang Years 1966-1968"
When it comes to Neil Diamond, I'm a believer. There's not a trace of doubt in my mind that Diamond burst onto the scene at the right time - not necessarily the night time, though I, too, thank the lord for it. No, Diamond made a big noise in the corridors of Bang Records in the period between 1966 and 1968, an era when the music business was experiencing change more rapidly than anyone could have predicted. And it was far from predictable that the somber and intense young man pictured on The
Paul Rutherford Says "Oh World" Once More
Since The Second Disc has started, we've seen some pretty neat catalogue projects tied to Frankie Goes to Hollywood, namely reissues of the band's original two LPs from ZTT/Salvo and a 12" remix compilation featuring rare tracks from the band. Cherry Pop has another FTGH-oriented catalogue project coming out in U.K. next week. Oh World was the first LP by Paul Rutherford, known as a backing vocalist and dancer with Frankie (and one of the two openly gay members of the band). In 1989, not long
Warner Classics Coming Back to Vinyl for Record Store Day
Warner Bros. Records issued a press release last week touting their forthcoming vinyl reissues for Record Store Day, and the results are pretty neat for catalogue enthusiasts. We already told you about the upcoming Flaming Lips vinyl box, and several other classic WB-oriented LPs are coming for the special event, too. Audiophile editions of Eric Clapton's Unplugged, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, Jimmy Eat World's Bleed American and the first two LPs by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers will be pressed
Review: Billy Joel, "Live at Shea Stadium" and "Last Play at Shea"
One of the biggest pitfalls as a music writer is reading something - usually a review - that spells out your thoughts so well that you have no idea where to go with your own piece. Popdose editor-in-chief Jeff Giles did that alarmingly well with his scathing assessment of Billy Joel's Live at Shea Stadium: The Concert (Columbia/Legacy 88697 85424-2, 2011), calling it "pungently shitty, the nadir of a relatively distinguished career, and the type of release that justifies the awful music business
Nektar's "A Tab in the Ocean" Released in Expanded Edition
"I wonder what would happen if a giant tab of acid was dropped into the sea?" asked a member of the progressive rock band Nektar some forty years ago, recalled Roye Albrighton, Nektar's guitarist and vocalist. Albrighton and his mates parlayed their curiosity into the group's acclaimed second album, appropriately titled A Tab in the Ocean. Philadelphia's ItsAboutMusic.com label has just reissued that recording in a deluxe two-CD set also containing a bonus "lost album," In the Beginning: The
Ike and Tina Turner! Phil Spector! "River Deep" Returns in April
Producer Phil Spector should have been sitting on top of the world in 1966, just one year after The Righteous Brothers continued their wave of success with “Just Once in My Life,” “Ebb Tide” and of course, “Unchained Melody.” He had recently signed Ike and Tina Turner to Philles, but the male half of that duo was of little consequence to him. In Tina Turner’s force-of-nature voice, Spector saw the latest and arguably most powerful vehicle for his increasingly majestic musical statements. When he
Friday Feature: "Fast Times at Ridgemont High"
More than 30 years ago, Dave Cameron walked through the halls of Clairemont High School in San Diego. He had a colorful collection of friends: a middle-class, business-oriented guy, his sexually naive sister, her sophisticated best friend, the jock and nerd duo that lusted after the girls and a colorful surfer dude. What none of them knew at the time was that Dave Cameron wasn't really a high school student. He was 22, and had already graduated high school seven years prior, at the age of 15. In
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