As the 1970s drew to a close, the world became well aware of the live concert power of Cheap Trick. The Rockford, Illinois quartet broke through in a big way thanks to their seminal At Budokan, recorded in Japan in 1978 and belatedly released stateside a year later, yielding a Top 10 hit in "I Want You to Want Me." The audience response on the record was undeniable - and still is in many ways - but there were lucky concertgoers who already knew thanks to some seminal American club gigs. As the
You'll Want It: Real Gone Announces Cheap Trick Rarities Set "Epic Archive Vol. 3" and Reissue of Nitro's "O.F.R."
Real Gone Music has announced its latest releases - due on April 26 - which celebrate rock of the '80s and '90s. First up is the 1989 album O.F.R. by the late-'80s hair metal group Nitro, which will appear on limited-edition red and yellow explosion vinyl. Real Gone will also release a CD edition of the third and final volume of Cheap Trick's vault-dive series with The Epic Archive, Vol. 3 (1984-1992). This follows the previously announced red vinyl edition for Record Store Day. Both titles will
Real Gone Music's Record Store Day Slate Includes Badfinger, Cheap Trick, More
Real Gone Music has announced its offerings for the 2019 Record Store Day celebration, taking place at your local brick-and-mortar shop Saturday, April 13, and they include a pair of rarities releases from two beloved bands, and a new-to-vinyl soundtrack. Check out all three titles below, with descriptions for each provided by the label! Badfinger, So Fine--The Warner Bros. Rarities (2-LP Red Vinyl Edition) (2,000 copies) Most folks point to Badfinger as the greatest power pop band of all
Locked Away: Keith Richards Premieres Unreleased Material on "Talk Is Cheap" 30th Anniversary
Keith Richards is set to have a busy year. He and The Rolling Stones recently announced a headlining slot at the 50th New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival as part of the band's U.S. No Filter Festival. Now, Keith and BMG have teamed up for a special look at his debut solo album, Talk Is Cheap, due out March 29. Originally released in 1988, Talk Is Cheap found Richards leading an impressive roster of musicians, including Ivan Neville, Bootsy Collins, Maceo Parker, The Memphis Horns, and even
Dream A Little Dream: Real Gone's Black Friday RSD Slate Includes The Mamas and the Papas, Cheap Trick and Roy Buchanan
Our continuing look at this year's Black Friday Record Store Day offering now brings us to Real Gone Music's three selections which will be available the day after Thanksgiving, November 23. You may purchase these at any participating independent record shop. (See the full list of shops here!) Roy Buchanan - Live at Town Hall 1974 Blues-rock guitarist Buchanan was famous for playing the Fender Telecaster with an effects-free technique and influencing many other musicians despite never
Another Little Piece Of My Heart: Unreleased Big Brother Demos Abound on 'Sex, Dope and Cheap Thrills'
Adorned with a Robert Crumb cover, Big Brother and The Holding Company's 1968 album Cheap Thrills marked the end of an era for the band. It was Big Brother's second and final album with lead singer Janis Joplin, whose incendiary talents were simply too big for any one band. Cheap Thrills, produced by John Simon, remains a touchstone for pulse-pounding blues-rock. Lead guitarist Sam Andrew, guitarist James Gurley, bassist Peter Albin, and drummer David Getz unleashed one of the most
Dancing the Night Away: Real Gone Collects Cheap Trick Rarities on "The Epic Archive Vol. 2"
Yesterday, we told you about Real Gone's upcoming reissue of The Quick's Mondo Deco. Today, we've got the news of another Real Gone project featuring a group with power-pop roots. This time it's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Cheap Trick with The Epic Archive Vol. 2 (1980-1983), due June 1. The Epic Archive is a 3-part series which debuted digitally in 2015, collecting rarities from across the band's Epic tenure from 1979 to 1992. Last year, Real Gone debuted the first volume on CD
Feelin' Good: Real Gone's Record Store Day 2017 Offerings Feature Cheap Trick and The Meters
We've been taking you through many of the releases to come for this year's 10th anniversary Record Store Day on April 22, and now it is time to turn our attention to the offerings from Real Gone Music who will be releasing two titles for the event. (Just click on the "Record Store Day" tag below to access all of this year's RSD coverage!) Both of these are limited edition vinyl versions of previous Real Gone CD favorites - and one has a very special "golden ticket" incentive! Cheap Trick -
This Is All Right: Real Gone's Late April Slate Includes Cheap Trick, Girl Groups and Marc Jonson
We recently told you about Real Gone Music's April line-up. Typically, the label only has one round of releases in a month, but in April, you'll getting more as the label just announced some more titles to come out later in the month following the April 7 releases from B.J. Thomas, David Allan Coe, Jack Kerouac, and others. (Read all about those here!) First up is a collection of rarities from one of the biggest bands of the 1970s and 1980s and recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees:
Donald Fagen Gives "Cheap XMas" Gift with Career-Spanning Digital Compilation
In preparation for Steely Dan singer Donald Fagen's fourth solo album, Sunken Condos, Reprise is releasing a compact digital compilation pairing the new album with the rest of Fagen's solo discography. Cheap XMas: Donald Fagen Complete is a digital box set featuring five discs worth of Fagen albums and non-LP material. The Nightfly (1982), Kamakiriad (1993) and Morph the Cat (2006), Fagen's jazzy "Nightfly Trilogy," will be included with the set, as well as the disc of non-LP material that
I Want You To Want Me: Cheap Trick "Complete Epic Albums" Box Offers Remastered Classics, U.S. CD Debuts
"ELO kiddies, ELO kiddies, whatcha gonna do when the lights start shining?" went the musical question in the first song on Cheap Trick's very first album. But one question, naturally, leads to another. Was the song title simply saying a British 'elo in a cheeky salute? Or was it alluding to ELO, a.k.a. Electric Light Orchestra, the orchestral rock outfit founded by Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood? Why the heck does the song sound more like Gary Glitter than those Brummies? And where did the boys
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
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
Soundtrack Watch: Intrada Heats Up 'Backdraft,' Kickstarts 'Abbott and Costello' Recording; La-La Land Expands 'Last Action Hero' and 'Heavy Metal'
Leave it to Intrada and La-La Land to cook up some appropriately blazing soundtrack reissues in recent weeks! Intrada has expanded an early classic by Hans Zimmer, bowed a selection of re-recordings of TV work by Jerry Goldsmith, and is prepping another re-recording project to crowdfund; meanwhile, La-La Land (in addition to releasing the only John Williams score to a Steven Spielberg film without a soundtrack) has expansions of works by Elmer Bernstein and Michael Kamen. Quite the selection of
Fortune and Glory: 'Indiana Jones' Scores Hit Vinyl, New Soundtrack Box Available
With the rights to the Indiana Jones series now part of The Walt Disney Company's portfolio, the Mouse House has planned several reissues of the five-film series' iconic scores on CD and vinyl. Harrison Ford took his last ride as the cinematic archaeologist last summer, in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the fourth and final sequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark. Regardless of audiences' opinion on those sequels, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg's collaboration is one of each filmmaker's
The Need for Speed: La-La Land Debuts Harold Faltermeyer's Score to 'Top Gun'
La-La Land Records continues its hot streak with an expanded score and soundtrack release of one of the biggest blockbusters of the '80s: Harold Faltermeyer's score to the 1986 action classic Top Gun. The 2CD set, limited to 5000 copies, features Faltermeyer's complete, electronic-infused score to Tony Scott's film about a squadron of Navy pilots training in an elite program colloquially known as - you guessed it - Top Gun. Tom Cruise stars as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a talented but reckless
A Second Disc Interview: Mixing It Up with John Luongo
John Luongo is a good liar. Well, maybe he's good at being tongue-in-cheek. "I'm bashful," he says at the start of our interview back in October. "You're gonna have to really drag these things outta me, 'cause I'm a little shy!" What follows is about 100 minutes of captivating stories and thoughtful, enthusiastic lessons from one of the most notable names in dance music. The Boston-born DJ and mix engineer made a name for himself transforming dozens of soul and pop tracks for disco 12"
The Second Disc's Guide to Black Friday Record Store Day 2023: Our Essential Picks
From all of us here at Second Disc HQ to all of you, we hope you've enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving in the company of beloved family and friends. Of course, from this day which conjures nostalgic and warm feelings comes a celebration of a different kind with this year's annual Black Friday Record Store Day event. In keeping with tradition, Mike, Randy, and Joe have once again selected some essential picks of the roughly 200 titles being released tomorrow at independent record stores
Craft Recordings Announces Record Store Day Black Friday Slate with Jazz, Soundtracks, Classic Soul, and More
It's that time of year again! With Record Store Day's annual Black Friday event happening in less than two months - on Friday, November 24 - news has started arriving of what titles to expect. Craft Recordings' eclectic slate features classic jazz, rare soundtracks, punk, soul, and more from an array of boldfaced names including Gil Evans, Chico Hamilton, Isaac Hayes, Melvin Van Peebles, Alan Silvestri, Carter Burwell, members of Earth Wind & Fire and Little Feat, and more. You'll find
They Don't Know: Massive Kirsty MacColl Box, Packed with Hits Unreleased Tracks, Due in October
For just over two decades, Kirsty MacColl was one of England's most uniquely talented female rock singer/songwriters. This fall, nearly a quarter century after her passing, a new box set will examine her career in-depth. See That Girl (1979-2000), coming October 27 from Universal Music Recordings in the U.K., is an 8CD set loaded with 161 singles, rarities, remixes, live cuts and duets - including 47 previously unreleased recordings. Produced in partnership with the singer's estate, the set
Is Your Love in Vain? Bob Dylan Expands Budokan Live Album for New Box Set
There was something about Midwestern-born rockers on the CBS Records roster making stops at the Nippon Budokan Hall in Japan. In 1979, Columbia issued not one but two live albums from the Tokyo venue, both simply titled At Budokan. While the one by Cheap Trick essentially made them stars in their home country, a double album of rearranged hits from Bob Dylan sharply polarized fans and critics. Now, on November 17, the Dylan camp is re-examining the artist's time in Japan with a brand-new box
This Is It: Sepia Salutes Late, Great Rose Marie on "Rose Marie Sings: The Complete Mercury Recordings and More"
The year was 1929. At the age of six, Rose Marie Mazzetta headlined a Warner Bros. Vitaphone short film entitled Baby Rose Marie: The Child Wonder. The star was already a showbiz veteran, having begun performing at the age of three; at five, she was offered a seven-year contract by the NBC radio network. Though Rose Marie would soon drop the "Baby," she would remain a wonder as, simply, "Rose Marie" for the entirety of her extraordinary career which ultimately spanned ten decades until her
The Weekend Stream: July 2, 2023
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there's plenty of great new/old music to float you into the weekend. This week brings an R.E.M. classic given new life by a hit TV show, another side of one of Motown's sultriest crooners, two Prince-related artists gone solo, dance grooves from Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul and an early version of one of the greatest epic film scores of the '50s. R.E.M., Strange
Wonderful Tonight(s): Eric Clapton Announces '24 Nights' Box Set
Like Cheap Trick and Budokan or The Allman Brothers Band and the Beacon Theatre, Eric Clapton has a kind of bond with London's Royal Albert Hall. He's played there more than 200 times in the last 60 years - more than any other artist - and condensed two runs of shows at the venue into the live album 24 Nights in 1991, the start of a critical and commercial renaissance for the guitar legend. On June 23, Rhino rolls out a series of products telling an even deeper story of the period that
Review: Bob Dylan, "Fragments - 'Time Out of Mind' Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol. 17"
The Oxford dictionary describes the phrase time out of mind as "a time in the past that was so long ago that people have no knowledge or memory of it." What was Bob Dylan getting at when he lifted the phrase for his 1997 Grammy Award-winning album? Critics and fans alike immediately seized on the notion of the record as some kind of dark farewell from an artist in the September of his years. Indeed, the album was filled with musings on lost love, mortality, hopelessness, and despair. But
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