With CHIC co-founder/co-producer/guitarist Nile Rodgers back in the musical spotlight where he belongs - his distinctive funk guitar anchors Daft Punk's chart-topping single "Get Lucky," the arguable song of the summer - Rhino's U.K. arm has done well to introduce another CHIC-oriented compilation to stores. Up All Night: The Greatest Hits (cheekily named after a lyric in "Get Lucky") is more than just a set of tracks by the immortal disco band. Sixteen of the album's 25 tracks are classics
Gene Pitney Is "Looking Through the Eyes of Love" On New RPM Two-Fers
After a long hiatus, Cherry Red's RPM label is continuing its series of reissues dedicated to the late Gene Pitney ("Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa," "Town Without Pity," "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance"). The singer's long out-of-print albums for Aaron Schroeder's Musicor label were reissued on CD in a series of two-fers by Sequel Records in the late 1990s, but upon their deletion from the catalogue, they began commanding high prices on the second-hand market. Since then, the Pitney
Julia Fordham Reissues Out from Under "Lock and Key" from Cherry Pop
Cherry Pop gets sophisticated once again with the expanded releases of two albums by Julia Fordham this month. The British singer-songwriter hit it big in the late '80s and early '90s for a clutch of smart pop tunes with immaculate production from the likes of Hugh Padgham and Peter Asher. Guitarist Dominic Miller, who'd played in World Party and would become the go-to guitarist for Sting in the 1990s and beyond, prominently lent his six-string talents to Fordham's records as well, which
Little Anthony and the Imperials Move to a "New Street"...In Philadelphia!
Paul Simon once said, "Little Anthony Gourdine has one of the purest voices to come out of the New York doo-wop scene. [The Imperials] will be remembered as great musicians from the streets of my hometown." Bob Dylan was also a fan: "The Beatles weren't rock and roll, nor were The Rolling Stones. Rock and roll ended with Little Anthony and the Imperials." But by 1973, the group was ready for a new direction, or a "new street," as it were. The group first worked with then-budding producer
Bohemian Like Them: Dandy Warhols Expand Third Album with Unreleased Bonus Disc
If you've yet to make your trip to the record store this week to pick up some new reissues, here's another new re-release coming your way to think over: Portland, Oregon-based rockers The Dandy Warhols have expanded their third album, Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia, for its 13th anniversary. The band's third album (and second for Capitol Records) was inarguably their commercial breakthrough. Thirteen Tales was buoyed by the success of the track "Bohemian Like You," which was prominently
If Everybody Had An Ocean: The Beach Boys' 6-CD Box Set "Made in California" Premieres 60 Previously Unreleased Tracks
On my way to sunny California, on my way to spend another sunny day… The sounds of summer will be in perfect harmony on August 27 when Capitol Records releases the Beach Boys’ long-awaited, retrospective box set Made in California. Word first came last summer of the 50th anniversary box, as the reunited group of Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks were winding down a phenomenally successful world tour. Since then, the Love/Johnston faction of the band has
The Bright Side of Life: Harry Nilsson's "Flash Harry" (Finally!) Comes To CD In Expanded Form
What should have been a new beginning became a rather inauspicious end to a remarkable career. Harry Nilsson's final studio album, 1980's amusingly-titled Flash Harry, was his first on the Mercury label. It followed a decade-plus stint at RCA and signaled a fresh start. But despite its starry array of musicians, and typically solid songwriting, the album produced by Stax guitar legend Steve Cropper with engineer Bruce Robb was withheld from release in North America. Flash Harry only was
Release Round-Up: Week of June 11
Paul McCartney and Wings, Rockshow (Eagle Rock) Macca's newly-restored live show may not be in the Wings Over America box, but that means you can buy it for that much less now. (DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.; BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) ZZ Top, The Complete Studio Albums 1970-1990 (Warner Bros./Rhino) So not only are you getting all of ZZ Top's London/Warner-era albums in one convenient box, but you're getting a fair amount of them in their original mixes for the first time ever on CD.
Southern Soul Rarities Compiled On Omnivore's "South Side of Soul Street"
One dictionary defines a "minaret" as "a lofty, often slender tower or turret attached to a mosque...from which the muezzin calls the people to prayer." So it's appropriate that the Minaret Records label was a beacon itself, inspiring soulful fervor in those who made the pilgrimage to its platters. Founded in Nashville in the early 1960s, it was purchased in 1966 by Finley Duncan. Three years later, the producer-entrepreneur founded the Playground Recording Studio in Valparaiso, Florida,
What Goes Up: Blood, Sweat & Tears' "Rare, Rarer & Rarest" Tracks Come To CD
What goes up must come down. So sang David Clayton-Thomas in the opening line of his Grammy-winning song "Spinning Wheel," which became a No. 2 Pop/No. 1 AC in 1969 for Blood, Sweat & Tears. And so went the fortunes of the jazz-rock band itself. The band's signature rock-with-horns style was soon eclipsed by that of Chicago (Transit Authority), who shared a producer in James William Guercio. But when BS&T was hot, few bands were hotter. Wounded Bird Records is revisiting the
Don't Walk On By: Dionne Warwick's "Unissued Warner Bros. Masters" Joins "The Complete Warner Bros. Singles" On CD
When Dionne Warwick signed on the dotted line with Warner Bros. Records, the possibilities must have seemed endless. The singer had embraced change, after all. A new decade was in its infancy. She had traded a feisty New York independent (Scepter) for a Burbank giant. She had even added an "e" to her surname on the advice of an astrologer. And although the exact amount wasn't disclosed, Warwick had reportedly signed the biggest deal ever for a female vocalist. What didn't change, at least
Review: A Trio from Townes Van Zandt
Steve Earle once famously wrote, “Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world,” adding for good measure, “and I’ll stand on Bob Dylan’s coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that.” Earle later backtracked on his statement, answering in the negative whether he really believed Van Zandt was Dylan’s superior. Van Zandt was also embarrassed by the fulsome praise (“I’ve met Bob Dylan’s bodyguards and if Steve thinks he can stand on Bob Dylan’s coffee table, he’s sadly mistaken!”) but
A Paramount Package: Three Vintage Franz Waxman Scores Premiere On New Release
Long before Andrew Lloyd Webber set Sunset Boulevard to music, Franz Waxman was Norma Desmond’s composer of choice, having created the score to the original Paramount picture. But Sunset wasn’t Waxman’s only Paramount film. Nor was it his only collaboration with legendary director and screenwriter Billy Wilder. Waxman’s scores for the studio are among his most renowned works – think of A Place in the Sun, Come Back, Little Sheba or Rear Window, to name three. The Kritzerland label, already
The Roots of Philadelphia International: BBR Reissues O'Jays, MFSB Classics
Though London, England is some 3,500 miles away from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States, the spirit of the City of Brotherly Love is alive and well thanks to Cherry Red’s Big Break Records label. Two more remarkable artifacts from Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff’s Philadelphia International empire have recently arrived from BBR, and though both titles have previously been available on CD, these new reissues are their best representations in the format yet. Fans who only know The
Throw Off Your Mental Chains: Howard Jones Releases Music Video Anthology
New Wave hitmaker Howard Jones did a fantastic job remastering his catalogue through his own Dtox label with the help of Rhino U.K., releasing three great waves of remastered albums from his years on WEA/Elektra over the past three years. Now, he's got one more package up his sleeve: a new anthology of music videos. The Video Collection will nicely collate not only all of Jones' videos from his MTV years (with all the audio newly remastered), but four recent videos, taken mostly from the
Ramblin' Men: Allman Brothers Band's "Brothers and Sisters" Goes Super Deluxe In June
Though it was The Allman Brothers Band’s fifth album, 1973’s Brothers and Sisters actually marked a rebirth. The tight-knit unit had weathered the tragic deaths of leader Duane Allman and Berry Oakley in 1971 and 1972, respectively. The 1972 double album Eat a Peach would be the last to feature Duane’s inimitable slide guitar, as he died during its recording. And Oakley perished as sessions for Brothers and Sisters were occurring. Yet the band soldiered on, and even flourished. The
Tell All The People: "The Best of Merry Clayton" Shines Spotlight on "Gimme Shelter" Singer
For Merry Clayton, fame was just a shot away. For she was a member of a very exclusive club of well-respected yet all-too-unheralded performers: background singers. Documentarian Morgan Neville’s new film 20 Feet from Stardom chronicles some of the great artists who have excelled in that capacity, including Clayton, Darlene Love, Lisa Fischer, Judith Hill, Claudia Lennear and Táta Vega. Many of music’s greatest background singers also had solo careers, though, and Legacy Recordings and Ode
She's Got The Beat: Belinda Carlisle's Deluxe 2-CD/1-DVD Reissues Due in August (UPDATED WITH TRACK LISTINGS)
The Tabu catalogue isn't the only major acquisition of late for the Demon Music Group. Back in March, Demon - home to labels including Edsel, Harmless and Music Club Deluxe - announced that a deal had been struck for much of the solo catalogue of onetime Go-Go Belinda Carlisle. Ooh, baby, do you know what that's worth? Demon picked up rights to four of Carlisle's studio albums, the rights to which had previously resided with Virgin (part of the former EMI). Demon's agreement covers the
Sandie Shaw Reissues Are At Your Feet from Salvo (UPDATED 6/3)
UPDATE (6/3): Available today, Salvo has expanded and reissued three more Sandie Shaw LPs. They are 1968's The Sandie Shaw Supplement, featuring covers of The Rolling Stones ("(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction") and Simon & Garfunkel ("Scarborough Fair"); the self-produced cult hit Reviewing the Situation (1969) and 1988's Hello Angel, her first LP for Rough Trade and featuring a heap of single-only material with labelmates and fans The Smiths. ORIGINAL POST (4/8/2013): British pop chanteuse
Release Round-Up: Week of June 4
Bob Dylan, Greatest Hits Volume 2 (SACD) (Audio Fidelity) A double hybrid SACD version of the classic Dylan compilation, mastered by Steve Hoffman. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Sandie Shaw, The Sandie Shaw Supplement / Reviewing the Situation / Hello Angel: Expanded Editions (Salvo) Sandie Shaw's late '60s and '80s material gets newly remastered and expanded. Smiths alive! (Click on the post above for a full breakdown and order links.) Ben Folds Five, Live (ImaVeePee/Sony Music) The power
What's It All About: Burt Bacharach Celebrated On PBS, Lost Song Included on "Dionne Warwick Sings Burt Bacharach"
The first voice you’ll hear on My Music: Burt Bacharach’s Best, now airing on PBS stations nationwide, is that of The Maestro himself. “What’s it all about, Alfie?,” he sings in his familiar, quavering tone, finding the fragility in the Hal David lyric that he calls his favorite. Then comes “What the World Needs Now is Love,” sung by its composer with an assist from that International Man of Mystery, Austin Powers (Mike Myers). It’s appropriate that the solo Bacharach introduces this
Review: Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, "Playlist: The Very Best Of"
When Bruce Springsteen gave the green light to officially release his 1973 recording of “The Fever” on 1999’s 18 Tracks, The Boss’ decision was rightfully greeted with acclaim. But many of us Jersey boys were in on a secret: Bruce wrote it, but “The Fever” belonged to Southside Johnny Lyon and his Asbury Jukes. Springsteen’s torrid evocation of a burning blue-collar romance, as produced by “Miami” Steve Van Zandt, was the centerpiece of the band’s 1976 Epic Records debut I Don’t Want to Go
It's a Family Affair: Sly and the Family Stone Want to Take You "Higher!" With New Career-Spanning Box Set
Epic Records and Legacy Recordings want you to have some hot fun in the summertime. On August 27, the labels will release the first-ever career-spanning box set dedicated to Sly and the Family Stone, as previewed on Record Store Day 2013. The box succinctly entitled Higher! wants to take you there. 77 tracks chronicle the period between 1964 and 1977, and 17 of those recordings are previously unissued. Sly Stone, born Sylvester Stewart in 1943, couldn’t hide his prodigious musical talents
The Art of Excellence: Tony Bennett's Columbia Catalogue Reissued On CD and Digital Formats
"My ambition has always been to create a hit catalogue rather than hit records," wrote Tony Bennett in 2011. Of course, the modest Mr. Bennett has managed to do both. He's charted successful singles and continues to chart albums, but has also crafted a catalogue distinguished by its sustained excellence. On the same day as the release of Bennett/Brubeck, the landmark 1962 concert performance of Tony Bennett and Dave Brubeck, Sony’s Legacy Recordings also made good on a couple of other
Review: Tabu Wave 2 - Alexander O'Neal, Cherrelle, Kathy Mathis and The S.O.S. Band
The earth has music for those who listen, proclaimed Clarence Avant's Tabu Records label. A major force in contemporary R&B from the late 1970s through the 1990s, Tabu followed in the footsteps of other black-owned, independent music empires as Berry Gordy's Motown and Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's Philadelphia International. While Tabu never achieved the same level of crossover success as those aforementioned labels, it indeed picked up the torch of "The Sound of Young America," and its
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 270
- 271
- 272
- 273
- 274
- …
- 364
- Next Page »