This week's remaster and reissue of Queen's first two greatest hits LPs in the U.K. (on new home Island Records) is the start of what promises to be a massive reissue campaign for the band's 40th anniversary. The band's first five LPs are slated to be expanded and released in March, with additional batches to follow through 2011. Of course, this isn't the first time the Queen catalogue has been rolled out on CD. While British audiences got straight CD transfers throughout the late '80s,
Lowe's "Labour" Not Lost: Reissue Due in March
Nick Lowe never was lacking in confidence. The former Brinsley Schwarz bassist/vocalist had already defined pub-rock as a member of that band, and did much the same for the burgeoning punk movement as producer of Elvis Costello’s first albums. Now he was in the forefront of the so-called “new wave” vanguard, and Lowe realized there was little he couldn’t do. Armed with hubris but with tongue firmly planted in cheek, he named his 1978 Radar Records (U.K.) debut Jesus of Cool. Its artwork depicted
Reissue Theory: Sting, Compiled (UPDATED 1/12)
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, here we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. Today's installment concerns a former Police man and his lack of decent compilations over the past few decades. There's something disconcerting when an artist gets to the point where they're comfortable enough to do whatever they want, but that "whatever they want" just doesn't count toward reissues, box sets or the like. One such example I've been
Back Tracks, In Memoriam: Margaret Whiting (1924-2011)
In 1997, a musical revue came and went at Broadway's Royale Theatre. The revue, Dream, was a mostly unexceptional journey through the music and lyrics of the legendary Johnny Mercer. Why the "mostly," then? Dream had one very exceptional living link to Mercer, and that was the resplendent Margaret Whiting, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 86 in Englewood, New Jersey. When Mercer (along with Buddy DeSylva and Glenn Wallichs) started Capitol Records in 1942, one of the first artists he
One is Not the Loneliest Number
Exactly one year ago today, The Second Disc uploaded its first post, an assessment of the best reissues of the prior year. It was taken from my personal Facebook page, which I'd been posting thoughts on music and pop culture here and there for some time. I was a college graduate working in a part-time job I was not particularly fond of, in dire need of something to fill time. After some deliberating over what a blog about reissues and box sets - my favorite kind of music - should be called
Getz Set for New Box from Hip-o Select
Hip-o Select kicks off 2011 with a new set of early works by Stan Getz. Quintets: The Clef & Norgran Albums is three discs of Getz in his first recordings for Verve founder Norman Granz's earliest labels. Five 10" LPs are represented here, alongside some single and EP tracks and three previously unreleased alternate takes. If you can believe it, the set marks the CD debut of much of this material as well. Order the set from the label now and have a look at the track lists after the jump.
Smokey Robinson, Live from Cracker Barrel
Great music often turns up in the darnedest places. In addition to eating a hearty meal and browsing a selection of rustic tchotchkes at your local Cracker Barrel, you now can pick up a new CD by none other than Motown legend and the man Bob Dylan once called "America's greatest living poet," Smokey Robinson. Cracker Barrel has long carried a selection of exclusive music; new CDs have been offered from artists like Dolly Parton (who provided Cracker Barrel with an expanded edition of her 2008
Intrada Sets Watch to "48 Hrs.," Makes "Great Escape"
Intrada's first releases of the new year are two big name scores sure to please a few generations' worth of film music fans. First up is the world premiere release of James Horner's score to 48 Hrs., the 1982 buddy cop comedy starring Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in one of his first major motion picture roles. This disc features Horner's complete score (one of his earliest successes of the '80s), plus three tracks by The Busboys (including end credits tune "The Boys Are Back in Town") and one
Fela! In a Box!
Fans of Nigerian musical maverick Fela Kuti have something to celebrate: a whole bunch of Fela-related reissues are coming in the next few weeks from Knitting Factory Records. The blog Altered States reports that a multi-LP vinyl box set will street on February 1. Consisting of six of Fela's albums - 1975's Everything Scatter and Expensive Shit, 1977's Fear Not for Man and Sorrow Tears and Blood, Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense (1986) and Beasts of No Nation (1989) - in reproductions of their
Dave Grusin's "Dry White Season" Revisited
With a cast including Donald Sutherland, Susan Sarandon and Marlon Brando in one of his final film triumphs, 1989's A Dry White Season had the potential to be an instant classic. Yet despite this star-studded assemblage, strong reviews and an impressive pedigree (it was based on Andre Brinks' powerful novel which was banned in South Africa for challenging apartheid), audiences stayed away, and A Dry White Season vanished from theatres. Still, Brando was recognized with a Best Supporting Actor
"Stop" the Presses! Classic Hollies on the Way
Before discovering his golden vocal blend with David Crosby and Stephen Stills, Graham Nash made sweet music with Allan Clarke as a member of The Hollies. With a core lineup of Nash, Clarke, Tony Hicks and Bobby Elliott (with bassist Eric Haydock replaced by Bernie Calvert in 1966), The Hollies possessed arguably the finest harmonies of any British Invasion act, and the band was finally rewarded with a coveted spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. Like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones
Legacy Promises Cash Rewards
Details have been released for that forthcoming set of "bootlegs" from Johnny Cash through Columbia/Legacy. From Memphis to Hollywood: Bootleg Vol. 2 is a hefty double-disc set chronicling the earliest years of Cash's career. One disc includes a radio broadcast from 1955, a dozen or so unreleased demos and rare tracks from Cash's Sun Records sessions. Another disc includes rare single sides, some of which are getting their first domestic release on CD. The track list and press release are
Short Takes: Weekend Round-Up
A few small notes that trickled out of the pipeline on Friday: Pearl Jam have confirmed that there are more reissues forthcoming from their extensive discography, to commemorate their 20th anniversary. The Seattle rockers, who reissued landmark debut Ten (1991) as a Legacy Edition in 2009 and will release a live anthology, Live on Ten Legs, later this month, are planning similar deluxe sets for Vs. (1993) and Vitalogy (1994) later this year. A documentary directed by Cameron Crowe is also
And the Nominees Are...
The Grammys are happening! On February 13! As usual - well, at least since the 1990s - there will be a CD compiling the highest-profile nominees. It now has a track list and cover art. It's a pretty solid cross-section of the best-known artists, songs and nominations. Of course, there are some hilarious questions to ask about the track list. Why are nine of these songs from 2009? (That's probably due to eligibility requirements.) Did we really need to put the censored version of Cee-Lo's catchy
Friday Feature: "TRON"
One of the most-talked about film scores on the market right now is the score to TRON: Legacy, composed by French electronic act Daft Punk. Everything about it is delightfully unconventional: it's a score for a Disney blockbuster - a sequel to a cult classic released nearly 30 years ago - composed by two killer musicians best known for making fresh music through technological, not organic means. But the hybrid electronic/orchestral score is a knockout, arguably a serious Oscar contender and one
Ain't That a Kick in the Head? Rat Pack Comp to Feature Unreleased Sinatra Track
The three core members of the superstar collective known as "The Rat Pack" - Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. - have had their share of catalogue reissues and box sets, more than all the riches in Las Vegas. But together, there have only been a few compilations, thanks to the necessary wrangling between labels (Sinatra's Rat Pack era material was captured between Capitol and his own Reprise label; both of which saw releases from Martin and Davis). The last such release was
In Case You Missed It: Good Charlotte, Compiled
Feeling old and/or nostalgic? Pop-punk outfit Good Charlotte have a greatest-hits compilation due out in the U.K. on January 31 - and it already came out in Australia back in November. Good Charlotte - led primarily by twin brothers Joel and Benji Madden - were one of many bands in the early 2000s that played really cleanly-produced, semi-angsty, occasionally-dance oriented punk for the Hot Topic set. The brothers Madden were also known for dating a bevy of young beauties including Paris
Reissue Theory: Haircut One Hundred, "Pelican West"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. Today, a semi-obscure '80s band is dusted off - particularly their harder-to-find extended remixes. Really, this is all Jeff Giles' fault. The Popdose editor-in-chief tweeted a link that '80s one-hit wonder (at least in the U.S.) Haircut One Hundred are reuniting later this month to play their 1982 debut LP Pelican West in its entirety at London's
Come and Get Them: Upcoming Releases Due from DeShannon, Nelson and More
Britain's Ace family of labels is kicking off 2011 in a big way! Mike filled you in Tuesday about Kent's upcoming I'll Do Anything: The Doris Troy Anthology 1960-1996, and today we turn the spotlight on three more releases due in the U.K. on January 31. Jackie DeShannon remains one of the most beloved voices of the 1960s. DeShannon not only broke barriers as a rare female songwriter in an era when it simply wasn't common, but she was equally comfortable in front of the microphone as a
Big Country's Moscow Show to Be Reissued
Not exactly sure of the exact origins of this set, but exciting news either way: Slicing Up Eyeballs reports a reissue of Big Country's famed 1988 Moscow show on CD and DVD. The Scottish rockers were one of the first acts from the West to play the U.S.S.R., and this set - first released on the band's Track Record label in 2009 and getting a wider release now - captures that show at the Palace of Sports in September of 1988, as the band promoted their newest LP, Peace in Our Time (1988). The
The Show That Never Ends: ELP Catalogue Moving Abroad with New Compilation
One of the big music business stories today is that Pink Floyd ended their disputes with EMI and signed a new deal to keep their catalogue with the beleaguered label. However, another '70s rock group - the prog-rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer - recently jumped from one label to another, and the first fruits of their new partnership are about to be released. ELP inked a worldwide deal with Sony in March - having initially signed with Island/Manticore in the U.K. and Cotillion/Atlantic in
Gold Reissues Coming Soon for Collins, Taylor, Wonder
Audiophile specialist label Audio Fidelity has announced its initial trio of 24K Gold CD reissues for 2011, and it is comprised of three familiar names, all of whom have previously had titles reissued on the label: Phil Collins, James Taylor and Stevie Wonder. Already having tackled the gold CD of Collins' 1981 solo debut Face Value, Steve Hoffman returns to remaster the artist's 1985 breakthrough, No Jacket Required. Spawning four U.S. Top 10 singles, No Jacket Required was the former
Release Round-Up: Week of January 4
Another short schedule for the first week of 2011. Various Artists, Icon (UMe) As detailed in this post, a variety of releases in Universal's budget compilation series are released today. Unlike previous batches, though, they're either fairly comprehensive or feature some neat rarities here and there. Ella Fitzgerald, Twelve Nights in Hollywood Vol. 1 & 2 / Vol. 3 & 4 (Verve) A pair of double-disc live sets first released as a full box set by Hip-o Select in 2009. (Vol. 1 & 2 at
Three Santana Remasters Coming from Friday Music
Carlos Santana won the adulation of a new generation with the pop crossover album Supernatural in 1999 - then promptly lost it by making a bunch of increasingly flabby and self-indulgent records. Friday Music takes us to a simpler time - the early 1980s - with three forthcoming Santana remasters. The Swing of Delight (1980), Zebop! (1981) and Shangó are being remastered and reissued on January 25. (Friday Music lists them as 30th anniversary editions, which is of course only technically true
Cherry Red Preps Joe Cocker Reissue, Kiki Dee Compilation
Some more goodies are coming out of the Universal vaults from the Cherry Red label group. The T-Bird label is reissuing Joe Cocker's Sheffield Steel from 1982. Like most Joe Cocker records, the iconic singer lays down great versions of rock and soul covers (written by luminaries including Randy Newman, Jimmy Webb and Steve Winwood). Unlike most Joe Cocker records, Sheffield Steel is heavy on reggae, with instrumental contribution from Sly and Robbie and guest vocals from Jimmy Cliff and Robert
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