May 12, 2012: Happy 84th birthday, Burt Bacharach! The living legend was recently the recipient, with longtime lyricist Hal David, of The Library of Congress' Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, bestowed upon the team by President Barack Obama. In celebration of the maestro's birthday and this great honor, we're republishing this special installment of Back Tracks, exploring Bacharach's solo career from 1965's Hit Maker! through 2008's Live at the Sydney Opera House! Age hasn’t slowed Burt
Back Tracks: Ronnie James Dio
The loss of Ronnie James Dio resounds greatly in the world of metal. The famed vocalist, best known for his time in Black Sabbath and his own eponymous band Dio, had a powerful voice that few in the hard rock spectrum could compete with. He was a prolific talent who left behind not only a lot of influences, but a lot of catalogue work from a half-century(!) of recording. That's right: Dio first got his start way back in 1957 as a bassist for The Vegas Kings, a teen-rock outfit that saw plenty
"Exile" News Round-Up
We close another week of reissue news with a trio of tidbits regarding next week's Exile on Main St. reissue from The Rolling Stones and UMe. First up, you may already know that Stones in Exile, a new documentary which will be excerpted on the DVD accompanying the super-deluxe Exile set (including the double-disc reissue, the album on vinyl and a collectible book), will be released in full on June 22. A bow to Pause & Play for the date notification. Second of all, message boards have been
Friday Feature: "Psycho"
It is one of the greatest motion picture scores of all time. A suspense classic that immortalized its composer and director for all time. Arguably the most influential in its style. And, half a century later, has never been properly released on any format, ever. Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film, was a stunner from the get-go - not only unlike any film at the time, but unlike any in The Master of Suspense's lengthy career. The film starts out simply: a conflicted young woman steals a hefty
Jackson 5 in Fine "Forum"
The Second Disc is pleased to pass along the long-awaited track list for Hip-o Select's upcoming Live @ The Forum by The Jackson 5. This two-disc set, to be released June 22 - almost a year to the day since Michael Jackson passed away - collects two previously unreleased shows recorded at the legendary Los Angeles venue: one taken from a week before the J5 scored their third consecutive No. 1 with their third single ("The Love You Save"), and another just days before Michael turned 14. The
If You've Been Seeking P.F. Sloan...
"I have been seeking P.F. Sloan/But no one knows where he has gone..." With those lyrics, Jimmy Webb immortalized the reclusive songwriter, admonishing listeners, "Don't sing this song, it belongs to P.F. Sloan." But when Webb wrote those words in 1971, Sloan had only been away from the music scene for three or four years; in fact, he was a quite prolific writer in the years between 1964 and 1967, often in collaboration with Steve Barri. Sloan, already an established writer of pure pop songs
Reissue Theory: Naked Eyes
Eighty-two years ago today, a Kansas City, Miss. couple named Bert and Irma Bacharach welcomed a son, Burt, into the world. In 1957, the young songwriter met a lyricist, Hal David, at a meeting in the Brill Building in New York City. The rest, as they say, was history, with some of the most enduring popular songs of century flowing from their pens. This is a difficult fact to grasp if you're a young person. Nowadays, people couldn't really care less who writes the songs that make the whole
Obligatory a-ha Post (Plus One for The Cure)
The a-ha deluxe editions are out exclusively on Rhino's Web site. Do it now! Okay, now that that's cleared up, another brief Rhino tidbit of '80s goodness. In a sign that The Cure's Disintegration is finally coming out in its deluxe, three-disc form (on June 3), Rhino's offering a special collectible to the first 500 pre-orders - a nine-track promo disc of choice cuts from the new set entitled 3x3x3. Cure fans are not going to want to pass this one up, so head here and get 'em while they're
Reissue Theory: "Stoney and Meatloaf"
This week sees the release of Hang Cool, Teddy Bear, the 11th studio offering from Meat Loaf. The outsized rock personality skyrocketed to fame with 1977's Bat Out of Hell, the theatrical rock opus penned by Jim Steinman and produced by Todd Rundgren. As Meat prepares to unleash his latest work (cheekily placing a roman numeral "IV" on the album's back cover, making it clear that he intends Hang Cool as another Steinman-less sequel to Bat), could there be a better time for a Reissue Theory-style
The Great Label Switch-Off
Last night, Vintage Vinyl News reported a story that could probably only happen in today's music industry: according to the Times of London, Queen is leaving their longtime label EMI for Universal later in the year. As of right now, a few details about the rumored switch remain unclear. For starters, the article never definitively says whether the band's voluminous back catalogue is moving with the members of Queen. Sure, they recorded one not-so-good LP with Paul Rodgers a year or two ago, but
A "Four Score" from Intrada
Get ready to run up a staircase with excitement: Intrada has announced the first-ever score release of Vince DiCola's Rocky IV. The fourth, perhaps most over-the-top sequel in the long-running franchise pitted Sylvester Stallone's heavyweight champ against a feared opponent from the Soviet Union. Like its predecessor, Rocky IV was buoyed by a handful of pop hits, including two Top 5 smashes for Survivor ("Burning Heart") and James Brown (the vaguely left-field "Living in America"). Often
More Reissues Cutting Through
A Flock of Seagulls aren't the only '80s act getting a reissue from Cherry Pop. The label is prepping May 24 reissues of the first two records by another one-hit-wonder-with-a-whole-lot-more, Cutting Crew. Though they're best known for "(I Just) Died in Your Arms," the band enjoyed two other Top 40 hits ("One for the Mockingbird" and "I've Been in Love Before," a Top 10 single) and a minorly-successful sophomore release in their day. Cherry Pop is releasing both of these records - Broadcast
Better Tending to the Flock
The U.K.-based reissue label Cherry Pop Records announced an upcoming reissue of Listen, the sophomore LP by seminal New Wave band A Flock of Seagulls, for a June 22 release. The set features the original album plus two remixes and three B-sides. Now, a lot of catalogue fans have taken issue with Cherry Pop reissues - some of their reissues (as is regrettably the case with other smaller labels) don't sound like they're even mastered from the original tapes, and the bonus track situations
Back Tracks: Barry Manilow, Part 2 (1985-2010)
Back Tracks left Barry Manilow in 1984 after the release of his first genre-specific album, the jazz-inflected 2:00 a.m. Paradise Café. We pick up with him shifting gears in an attempt to once again court the pop market. He’s left his longtime label, Arista, and signed a new deal with RCA. This union would be a short-lived one, producing just four albums: two sets of his greatest hits as sung in Spanish and Portuguese, and the following two discs... Manilow (RCA, 1985 - reissued Legacy,
Release Round Up: More from Hip-o
A rare weekend post to keep you up on two new Hip-o Select titles readied for order yesterday. One's a singles compilation for an R&B great, and the other is a two-for-one set from a noted reggae act. Get the specs (and two more Hip-o titles you might not know about) after the jump.
Reissue Theory: Celine Dion, "Falling Into You"
The Second Disc's Mother's Day Mania continues with a Reissue Theory look at Celine Dion's Falling Into You, the Canadian chanteuse's fourth English-language LP and one of her all-time best. Wait, what? For some, it is weird to label a Celine Dion record as good. Even more forgiving folks will come down hard on her for what some would consider her increasingly schmaltz output over the years (particularly after the inescapable "My Heart Will Go On" helped propel Titanic to an even wider
Back Tracks: Barry Manilow, Part 1 (1973-1984)
Where Barry Manilow is concerned, it's best to let the facts speak for themselves. A Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award winner, Manilow scored his first Billboard No. 1 album in 1977, his most recent in 2006. His string of hit singles extended from 1974's chart-topping "Mandy" to 1983's Top 20 "Read 'Em and Weep," with 38 songs hitting the Top 40. He's recorded over 25 studio albums and released countless more live discs, compilations and soundtracks, and regularly plays to sell-out houses after over
Friday Feature: "Dirty Dancing"
Dirty Dancing is one of those movies that, on paper, should be a massive dud. It's a painfully by-the-numbers tale - rich girl becomes emotionally, culturally and sexually liberated by a dashing stranger and the art of (you guessed it) dirty dancing - but it is one of those movies that will not disappear from the public eye. And frankly, it's not hard to see why. Yes, as a story, Dirty Dancing is nothing special. But the production is something to behold. It immortalized its two young leads,
The Sun Still Shines on T.V.
Talk about timing. With hours to go before a-ha played their first U.S. date in years, the band's official Web site revealed a delightful pair of track lists for the promised deluxe editions of Hunting High and Low and Scoundrel Days from Rhino. The sets should be ready to pre-order May 11, says the band's site, and will be in the hands of fans by June. Check out these stunning track lists and some more a-ha thoughts and treats after the jump.
Long Live Live Music
It's going to be kind of a slow day at The Second Disc, as your roving reporter has tickets to see a-ha play to a sold-out crowd in New York City. Their Ending on a High Note Tour has been a top draw for '80s pop fans, but it's also led to a lot of thought concerning concerts and what they mean to us - not just as a reissue fan, but as a lover of music in general. While The Second Disc may be a haven for all the expanded and remastered news and commentary you can shake your SACD player at, I
Review: Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim, "Sinatra/Jobim: The Complete Reprise Recordings"
"Tall and tan and young and handsome..." Those lyrics to Antonio Carlos Jobim's "The Boy from Ipanema" kicked off a bossa nova boom that saw virtually every noteworthy vocalist and jazz musician of the 1960s recording in the mellow Brazilian style. Frank Sinatra, though, was hardly one to follow a trend for hipness' sake. By 1967, the label he founded, Reprise, was turning its sights to Laurel Canyon and Haight-Ashbury, and the bossa craze was on the wane. Sinatra would, as always, record on his
Reissue Theory: Version Especial por Cinco de Mayo
Today is Cinco de Mayo, so The Second Disc is going to bring you two of the most unusual Spanish-oriented pop music endeavors in recent memory. These are two deluxe editions with very different sounds, but they're connected not only by record label group but their wacky reinterpretation for Spanish audiences. Viva la musica after the jump!
Helloooooooo, Baby!
It's odd that the work of Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr., known more commonly as The Big Bopper, doesn't get reissued nearly as much as one would think. The Big Bopper was, along with Buddy Holly and Richie Valens, one of the victims of the infamous Feb. 3, 1959 plane crash - "The Day the Music Died," as any rock fan can attest - but for some reason, Richardson gets short shrift. Buddy Holly got a fantastic box set last year from Hip-o Select and Valens got a similarly expansive box in 1998. Until
Recapturing the Magic
It was during a recent, animated conversation about back catalogue affairs that a stunning realization was made. Of all the major companies dealing in music and pop culture, there is one that has a surprisingly subdued place in the world of reissues. Were this company to change their mind about catalogue affairs and start utilizing their vast discography for more box sets and other special titles, it might be a step in revitalizing the whole reissue practice in general. I'm talking, of course,
Reissue Theory: Martika
The recent realization that Cherry Pop has been remastering and expanding the Kim Wilde catalogue to considerable reaction (enough to warrant two waves of reissues, at least), it makes you wonder what other female pop acts might get the same treatment someday. If you're an '80s fan and you're wondering the same thing, there's little doubt that Martika is probably near the top of your list of must-haves. To many, Martika is at best a footnote in pop history. Her simple yet powerful "Toy
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