Welcome to today’s Weekend Wround-Up: The Diva Edition! Nobody – no, nobody! – is going to rain on Barbra Streisand’s parade. Columbia Records, the singer’s home since 1963, has announced that Streisand will remain with the label that guided her to stardom. Speculation had arisen some months back that the singer might decamp for a new artistic residence, but those rumors have now officially been set to rest. "From the day [legendary Columbia President] Goddard Lieberson signed me almost 50
Review: Tony Bennett, "Isn't It Romantic?"
Isn’t it romantic? The titular phrase from a song by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart could apply to much of Tony Bennett’s musical career, now in roughly its 65th year. It’s also the title of a new compilation aimed at the casual Bennett fan from Concord Music Group. Isn’t It Romantic? (CRE-33463-02) repackages 15 prime cuts from the singer’s work at his own short-lived Improv label, with a smattering of tracks from a Fantasy Records LP thrown in for good measure. Though Bennett’s artistic
Talk Talk to Be Reissued on CD and Vinyl
If you've found yourself wanting to hip yourself to British rockers Talk Talk, EMI is giving you a chance to do so this spring, when they will release straight reissues of most of the band's output. Known primarily as a trio consisting of singer Mark Hollis, bassist Paul Webb and drummer Lee Harris (though featuring keyboardist Simon Brenner from 1981 to 1983 and unofficial fourth member/keyboardist/producer/songwriter Tim Friese-Greene afterward), Talk Talk started as a band in the New
From Motown to the Bay Area! The Apollas' "Absolutely Right!" and Eddie Holland's "It Moves Me: The Complete Recordings 1958-1964" Available Now
Are you thinking you should take a chance on Ace Records’ supremely soulful duo of releases from The Apollas and Eddie Holland? If so…you’re absolutely right! For The Apollas’ Absolutely Right: The Complete Tiger, Loma and Warner Bros. Recordings (Kent CDKEND 365, 2012) and Holland’s It Moves Me: The Complete Recordings 1958-1964 (Ace CDTOP2 1331, 2012) both belong on the shelf of any serious fan of classic soul and R&B. If you haven’t heard of The Apollas, you’re forgiven. This Bay Area
Hooked
As the above image shows, it's finally true: La-La Land Records is releasing an expanded edition of John Williams' stirring score to Steven Spielberg's 1991 adventure film Hook, a modern updating of the Peter Pan mythology, on March 27. In my excitement last night, I sent an e-mail to the LLL staff thanking them for putting this release together; Joe rather brilliantly suggested that the letter would find a good audience among our dear readers, who no doubt know the feeling of excitement when
Groovy Kind of Reissue: Bear Family Expands Early Mindbenders Album
By the time Eric, Rick, Wayne, Bob was released by Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders in 1965, the band was essentially a defunct unit. Wayne Fontana (the former Glyn Geoffrey Ellis) had dreamed of solo stardom from the start, and he wasn’t shy about those aspirations. Eric Stewart, later of Hotlegs and 10cc, recalled in 1994 that Fontana “just walked off stage [during an October 1965 show] one night. I remember he said, ‘It’s all yours.’ And we actually carried on and did the regular show
Welcome Back, My Friends: ELP Licenses Catalogue to Razor & Tie for New Expansions, Compilation
Legendary prog-rock supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer have signed a new deal with Razor & Tie Records to distribute their catalogue, kicking things off with a new compilation. One of the early supergroups in rock history, comprised of keyboardist Keith Emerson of The Nice, King Crimson bassist Greg Lake on guitar and vocals and drummer Greg Palmer of Atomic Rooster, ELP were a defining force in progressive rock music, melding traditional rock statements with jazz and classically-inspired
And Here's To You, Art Garfunkel: "The Singer" Anthology Coming From Legacy
UPDATE (2/21): A representative from Legacy has confirmed that this title is currently "on hold." Stay tuned for more information as it develops. When the singer’s gone, let the song go on… How lucky we are that Arthur Garfunkel is still very much with us. Jimmy Webb wrote those words for the unlikely rock star, a former architecture student endowed with a purity of tone and the ability to pierce the heart. Garfunkel, of course, was the yin to Paul Simon’s yang, the Tom to his Jerry. And so,
Review: Judy Garland, "The Historic Concert Remastered"
The applause started even before Mort Lindsey lifted his baton to conduct the Overture. By the time Judy Garland took the stage at Carnegie Hall on April 23, 1961 for "When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles with You)," it didn't seem too far-fetched that the whole world was smiling, even beyond the corner of New York's 57th Street and 7th Avenue. Such was the power of Judy Garland. Only the greatest of live albums, in any genre, can translate the grip of a performer on his audience. Judy at
Read 'Em and Weep: Motörhead Plan Collector's Mega-Box in the U.K. (UPDATED 2/21)
Add another name to the super-deluxe-box set pile in 2012: Motörhead. London's biggest badasses, through Sanctuary Records in the U.K., are prepping a 16-disc collector's set - one that's heavy on artifice, if not necessarily revelatory in terms of content. The Complete Early Years features CDs of all the band's major releases from 1977 to 1984, from their iconic albums (Motörhead (1977), Overkill (1979), Bomber (1979), Ace of Spades (1980), the live No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith (1981), Iron
Shout! Factory Brings Out The Dead on 14-Disc DVD Box
Last year, one of the single most monumental box sets in town was The Grateful Dead's Europe '72: The Complete Recordings, more than 60 discs chronicling one of the band's most notable tours in full. This spring, Shout! Factory will release their own ambitious box set that chronicles a good chunk of Dead history in video form. All the Years Combine: The DVD Collection is a 14-disc set that collects more than a dozen vintage Grateful Dead films and concerts from 1977 to 1991, with loads of bonus
The Art of the 12-Inch, Part Deux: Unheard Paul McCartney Collaboration Included Among ZTT Treasures
What do you do? No one else can dance like you! So what's all the fuss? There ain't nobody that spies like us! It’s not often that we get the opportunity to write about Paul McCartney, forever fab, and Art of Noise, pioneering British synth-pop duo, in the same sentence. But Salvo Records and ZTT are giving us just that chance with this week's U.K. release of The Art of the 12-Inch, Volume Two. Okay, it’s not that much of a stretch, as Art of Noise’s Anne Dudley contributed synthesizer to
Release Round-Up: Week of February 21
Various Artists, ZTT: The Art of the 12": Volume Two (ZTT/Salvo) A double-disc set of rare and unreleased dance mixes of vinyl classics, with a few rarities thrown in for good measure - and, as our post later today will explain, at least one Beatle! Simple Minds, Simple Minds x5 (EMI) The first five Simple Minds LPs - all pre-The Breakfast Club - expanded with vintage B-sides and remixes. Gilbert O'Sullivan, Back to Front: Expanded Edition (Union Square Music/Salvo) Gilbert's 1972
Presidents Day Special Reissue Theory: Walt Disney World's "The Hall of Presidents"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable album and the reissues they could someday see. Today's special holiday entry pays tribute to the 40th anniversary of a classic LP and beloved theme park attraction. Welcome to the Hall of Presidents! "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty
Welcome to New York: Kid Creole Side Project Rediscovered by Hot Shot Records
In the early-to-mid-1980s, August Darnell was one of the more esoteric dance music makers in the industry, touring with a comical, colorful, big band and Latin-inspired combo as Kid Creole and The Coconuts. The group was, somewhat improbably, a briefly successful outfit, earning three U.K. Top 10 hits in 1982, appearing on Saturday Night Live and collaborating with everyone from Barry Manilow to Prince. But Creole was far from the only musical shapeshifting personality that Darnell had invented
Elvis Costello is Stealing Our Job (UPDATED 2/17)
UPDATE 2/17: Hey, remember this whole uproar? The CD, DVD and CD/DVD editions of this pseudo-nightmarish box can now be pre-ordered on their own, with a release date of April 3. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxardpBReQc] Original post (11/29/2011): Man, Elvis Costello is a pretty awesome guy. He's had a pretty good handle on his own already-solid back catalogue, giving it a good solid two run-throughs (unfortunately, two out of three, which still ain't bad, as they say). His revival
Goin' For High Coin: Harpers Bizarre's "Anything Goes" Returns in Expanded Mono Edition
In olden days, a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking! Now heaven knows, anything goes...Good authors, too, who once knew better words now only use four-letter words writing prose! Anything goes! When Cole Porter wrote "Anything Goes" in 1934, could he have had any idea that his commentary would prove just as relevant more than thirty years later, and indeed, even today? In 1967, three years after the esteemed songsmith's passing, the members of Harpers Bizarre unleashed
Hooked on a Feeling: Real Gone Readies Complete B.J. Thomas, Frankie Avalon, The Tubes, a "Rock Messiah" and More
Raindrops might be falling on your head, but there’s one thing I know: the March slate of releases from Real Gone Music will assuredly keep those blues at bay! Featuring both returning favorites from the old Collectors’ Choice label as well as artists and recordings new to the Real Gone family, there’s something for everyone! Joining B.J. Thomas’ The Complete Scepter Singles on March 27 will be Frankie Avalon’s Muscle Beach Party: The United Artists Sessions, The Tubes’ Young & Rich/Now,
Cowboy in Sweden: Light in the Attic Preps Lee Hazlewood Retrospective, Plus Rare Stax Recordings of Wendy Rene Collected
Though he had many chapters in his career, there was only one Barton Lee Hazlewood. The man who famously taught Nancy Sinatra to “sing like a 16-year old who goes out with 45-year old truckers” also played a pivotal role in the career of Duane Eddy and produced hits by Dean Martin, Dino (Martin), Desi (Arnaz, Jr.) and Billy (Hinsche), and the Chairman of the Board himself. But Hazlewood continued to create works of both eccentricity and beauty long after he departed Reprise Records in the
Viva Morrissey! U.K. Singer's First Album and Single Gets Reissued
Inifintely brilliant, often fickle rock icon Morrissey is reissuing one of his most beloved albums this spring - but it's another one of those situations where fans are going to want to hold on to their old copies, too. Semi-official fansite True to You posted a news release today for a reissue of Viva Hate, Morrissey's debut solo album from 1988. Released just six months after the breakup of The Smiths and featuring longtime Smiths engineer/producer Stephen Street, Viva Hate was a
Soundtrack Spotlight: Intrada Uncovers Trolls, La-La Land Goes Ape
It's one of those rare weeks when more than one soundtrack reissue label puts out titles within days of each other, so there are four new and expanded sets to enjoy. Intrada has released two scores on CD for the first time. The first, Gil Melle's score to 1980's Borderline, is noted for its blend of traditional orchestral arrangements and mixing along with free-form, jazz-based music that took advantage of the full field of stereo sound. The film, a fictionalized account of U.S. border guards
Hits, in a Lifetime: Legacy Preps Compilation for Irish Folk Band Clannad
Everyone's going to feel a little Irish on St. Patrick's Day, but this year catalogue enthusiasts have a title to give them a little edge in terms of the country's music: The Essential Clannad, a double-disc set from Irish folk band Clannad. A family-based quintet, ormed in Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal (their name is shortened from "An Clann as Dobhair," or "the family from 'Dore") Clannad remain unique in that they are one of the most successful, natively Irish bands in Europe, often singing
Our Memories of Elvis: Presley Classics Expanded by Follow That Dream Label in March
Following December’s release of expanded editions of Elvis Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas, Promised Land and Elvis is Back!, the limited-edition Follow That Dream label has announced another trio of vintage Presley titles due in March. The On Stage: February, 1970 album (previously twinned with In Person by RCA and Legacy) will be a 2-disc, 7-inch digipak set with a 12-page booklet. In addition to the original album sequence, it will present all of RCA's recordings from three of the
Release Round-Up: Week of February 14
Barry White, Let the Music Play: Expanded Edition (Hip-o Select/Mercury) What's Valentine's Day without a little satin soul? Numerous bonus tracks abound on a new pressing of this underrated gem of an album. Captain Beefheart, Bat Chain Puller (Zappa) The original, intended edition of the Captain's lost album. Cotton Mather, Kontiki: Deluxe Edition (The Star Apple Kingdom) An underrated work of '90s power-pop, expanded with a bonus disc of rarities and unreleased materials that was funded
Back Tracks: Whitney Houston
Music was in both the bloodline and the spirit of Whitney Elizabeth Houston (1963-2012). The native of Newark, New Jersey called Cissy Houston of The Sweet Inspirations her mom, while Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick were her beloved cousins. Aretha Franklin was a close family friend and honorary aunt. Following in her mother's footsteps, she began performing at Newark's New Hope Baptist Church, singing in the gospel choir as a featured soloist, and began to make inroads in the music
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