When you're around kids, you often find themselves saying what they'd do if they were in charge. There would be no school, no bedtime, unlimited pizza, that sort of thing. Once you grow up those visions look more fanciful, but sometimes that sentiment sticks with you, no matter how much you bury it. I know I feel that way with the catalogue scene. Every day, every song, every trip to the record store spins off a dozen ideas in my head that I can't wait to share with anyone who will listen. And
And Don't It Feel Good
Some news is coming through the pipeline that a good chunk of the Katrina and The Waves discography is being reissued in honor of the 25th anniversary of "Walking on Sunshine," their biggest U.S. hit and one of those inescapable summer anthems. There's a lot of confusion surrounding these reissues (more on that in a minute), but these look pretty interesting, especially because of the material that's being released themselves. You see, before the smash success of Katrina and the Waves, the
Reissue Theory: Terence Trent D'Arby - "Introducing the Hardline According To..."
For many, one of the most salient points of reissuing and compiling popular music is to help listeners rediscover lost gems that may have fallen into the cracks. Ordinarily, one would not consider a debut record that sold 12 million copies, spun off three Top 40 hits and won a Grammy a "lost gem." And yet, it seems that at least one record, 1987's Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby, has earned such a strange distinction. Terence Trent D'Arby has always been something of
On the Record
Much has been made about the communal nature of music by both those who create it and those who consume it. Millions of words, from Nick Hornby's High Fidelity to Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke," have been spelled out on the subject. Sometimes it takes time for us to grasp and appreciate their true meanings, but when we connect through song, it's usually a wonderful thing. This is usually the kind of thought that runs through my head as I walk into that beautiful, endangered ground they call a
El Sonido de la Joven América
I've been waiting for this one for a long time: Hip-O Select is releasing a new compilation of classic Motown songs in a whole new way. Motown Around the World: The Classic Singles compiles 38 songs from the label as recorded in other languages for international markets. The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops, The Velvelettes, Smokey Robinson and Edwin Starr sing the songs you know and love (plus a few folk ballads native to other countries) in Italian, Spanish, French and
(Slightly) Turning Back the Clock
Today, Legacy releases a double-disc edition of Supernatural, the massive comeback album Santana released in 1999. Perhaps more than any catalogue reissue I've ever followed, there's something positively mind-boggling about seeing an album that's only a decade old - even one that's a successful, good listen - get the deluxe treatment. You see, while I have been passionate about reissues for much of my music-collecting life, I'm firmly a part of the generation that went from watching Britney
Reissue Theory: INXS, "Kick"
Take a look at the above image. It might not look too familiar if you live in the U.S. and have a working knowledge of the INXS catalogue. The famed Australian rockers have a vast three-decade career to their credit, most of which has appeared on subsidiaries of Warner Music Group through the years (notably Atco and Atlantic). Elsewhere, though, it's another story: in Europe, Mercury/Phonogram, owned by Universal Music Group, gets the rights to the work of Michael Hutchence and
The Doves Cry Because The Vault's Not Open Yet
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eObzOkRXUZw] Music aggregator The Daily Swarm made a heck of a discovery today: seven YouTube videos of Prince rehearsing some of the hits, B-sides and rarities from the Purple Rain era in 1984. Given that Prince has famously come down on YouTube like a ton of bricks - threatening legal action against a mother who posted a video of her baby dancing to a few seconds of "Let's Go Crazy" - this definitely falls under the "get it while it's hot"
Back Tracks: The Knack
Rock fans have had some sad news to cope with today: Doug Fieger, the unmistakable lead singer for The Knack, died today after a lengthy battle with cancer. While The Knack may be seen by some as a semi-sleazy one-hit wonder (or two-hit, if you count "Good Girls Don't"), their brand of power pop was emblematic of everything the genre should be: fun, catchy and not the least bit serious. In honor of Fieger's band and their contributions to the pop-rock scene, here's a special look back at the
Too Much Information
There's a few weeks to go until Legacy Recordings and Experience Hendrix LLC reprint the Jimi Hendrix catalogue. March 9 will see CD/DVD versions of four classic Hendrix albums as well as a new unreleased compilation, Valleys of Neptune, on store shelves. In preparation for the reissue, I've been acquainting myself with the ridiculously deep catalogue Hendrix left in his 27 short years on this Earth. And if music research could make me curl up and whimper, I'd have my arms around my knees by
Back Tracks: Marvin Gaye
Our Valentine's Day weekend preparation continues with a look back at the reissue prospects of Marvin Gaye, one of the finest soul voices of the century (and, in my opinion, one of the most heartbreaking losses in popular music). It's quite interesting that Gaye's catalogue, split about 90/10 between labels (Motown and Columbia), has been well-serviced by both. Chalk it up to the fact that one of his biggest hits, "Sexual Healing," was released on the latter label in 1983. Take a look at the
Voices, Another Sound
EDIT: Those who'd like to read the press release, which also has a neat note on the packaging of the reissues, can do so here. ORIGINAL POST: Duranies like me can breathe a sigh of relief: following the news that an April 13 release date has been confirmed for the deluxe reissue of Duran side-project Arcadia's lone album So Red the Rose (1985), our friends at Slicing Up Eyeballs have confirmed that EMI will release the other planned deluxe sets for Duran Duran (1981) and Seven and the Ragged
The Runaways - "The Mercury Albums Anthology" Revealed
After announcing it a few weeks ago (and teasing all about it on Twitter today) Hip-O Select has started pre-orders for The Mercury Albums Anthology, a two-disc compilation of nearly all of the albums released by the proto-riot-grrl group that launched the careers of Joan Jett, Lita Ford and other female rock luminaries. The set itself looks pretty straightforward. The band's first four albums - The Runaways (1976), Queens of Noise (1977), Live in Japan (1977) and Waitin' for the Night (1977) -
Barry's B's
It may be winter outside (especially in my neck of the woods - I live in one of those places labeled as a "snowpocalypse" or "snowmageddon" in the news), but in my heart it's always spring. And why not? It's always a good time of year for catalogue music, whether you're listening to it, buying it or (oh you lucky ones) working on it. And Valentine's Day is just around the corner, making it a great time here at The Second Disc to pen a few features on some great romantic hitmakers. One of my
Grant Us an Extension
The other day I was talking about how us catalogue fans can sometimes end up wanting that one missing track to add to our collections. I used the 45 version of Billy Joel's "Sometimes a Fantasy," which runs well past the fade-out on the LP, as an example. Interestingly enough, I realized that the track also adhered to another concept I realized I'm enamored of concerning music in general. When I was a kid, I was always interested in the idea of a fade-out. You'd be listening to a song, getting
Reissue Theory: Madonna, "Like a Virgin"
For someone so obsessed with image, it's kind of unusual that Madonna has such an uneven back catalogue preservation behind her. In 2001, her first three albums - Madonna (1983), Like a Virgin (1984) and True Blue (1986) - were remastered with a pair of bonus tracks each (all 12" dance singles). Nothing from that point on, including her crowning achievement Like a Prayer (1989), has been given even a remastering. As for her hits, they can be found on one of a few compilations. There's The
Back Tracks: The Who
Were you left cold by The Who's straightforward, inoffensive performance at The Super Bowl last night? Did you hear will.i.am's pointless remix of "My Generation" and think about a time in which that song actually meant something? This installment of Back Tracks takes you through the deluxe editions of The Who's discography, so you can focus on the glory days and not Roger Daltrey's incredibly silly get-up. And take heart: The Who's back catalogue is probably one of UMe's grandest war horses.
Another Date Change: Bowie in April
Yet another move on the calendar: Decca/UMe's deluxe edition of David Bowie's first LP - that truly wacky effort on Deram Records - has been set for an April 6 release date, a month back from its intended March release. But those of you who can't wait long enough for the set - consisting of the original LP in mono and stereo as well as new mixes and BBC sessions not included on the collector's set The Deram Anthology from 1997 - note that Universal has already released the set in the U.K., so
Stayin' Alive
Those of you who were debating the merits of Mythology, the upcoming four-disc Bee Gees box set, now have a lot of time to decide to buy it. The box, originally slated for release last November before being pushed back to the spring, is now due on November 16, 2010. Update your calendars accordingly. The set is a retrospective look at the collective careers of the brothers Gibb, with one disc each devoted to Robin, Barry, Maurice and Andy Gibb. The track list (presented after the jump) features
The LP Stands for Lame Product
We catalogue enthusiasts are an odd bunch. The music industry at large is horrified about consumers not buying as much physical music as they used to - but a lot of reissue buyers, interested in the preservation of our collections and their sound quality, are still scouring record stores for purchases. Labels releasing new music have to recontextualize what constitutes "strong sales" now that albums rarely pass 250,000 copies in their first week - but our favorite reissues are lucky to have
News Roundup: Demos C'est Chic, Paying Up in a Land Down Under
Funk legend Nile Rodgers, a frequent user of Twitter, has spent the past few weeks talking about his ongoing process to locate and catalogue the many demo tapes he's found over the years. While a firm release plan has yet to be implemented, I'm getting the impression he's going to release some of them for free. So if you do that whole Twitter thing, follow him so you can get the scoop when it happens. (Of course I'll be posting when anything is released, too.) This isn't particularly
Reissue Theory: Ben Folds Five, "Ben Folds Five"
In Reissue Theory, The Second Disc researches and drafts a box set, compilation or reissue that would be worth pursuing by a label. Lots of catalogue enthusiasts are older folks, there's no getting around that. Those who grew up with great rock and roll and consumed it on compact discs as adults are probably the lion's share of people reading sites like this. But regardless of what you perceive the quality of more recent music to be, it needs to be looked after as well by catalogue
Reissue Theory: It's Time to Play the Music
The recent announcement of E1's Sesame Street Old School Volume 1 has got me excited, but for a slightly different reason. I am sentimental toward the Sesame Street Muppets (despite not having been much of a viewer as a child), but my favorite Muppets were always the ones in The Muppet Show - those loveable felt and fur actors singing pop standards, blowing things up and causing all sorts of mayhem. Perhaps more than any other youth-oriented entertaiment of the 1970s (aside from, say, School
Back Tracks: The Supremes
Introducing Back Tracks, a new feature where we take an upcoming release and introduce you to some of the other reissued works from the same group. Today, we start with The Supremes, whose first album, 1962's Meet The Supremes, is scheduled for reissue by Hip-O Select on May 18 (credit where it's due to MusicTAP for the date). The trio is much loved by Motown fans and staff alike. As such, Hip-O Select has dug lots of their treasures from the vault. Hit the jump to take a look at nine Supremes
Girl You Know It's True...Don't You?
A few days before the Grammys, USA Today ran a really intriguing piece on the only living person who can be described as an ex-Grammy winner. I refer, of course, to Fabrice Morvan, one-half of the dance-pop duo Milli Vanilli. Many hardcore music fans remember the story of Milli Vanilli, the critically-loathed commercial behemoths that scored five consecutive U.S. Top 5 hits and a Best New Arist Grammy before admitting later that year that they didn't sing a note on the record. The Grammy was