The recent announcement of E1's Sesame Street Old School Volume 1 has got me excited, but for a slightly different reason. I am sentimental toward the Sesame Street Muppets (despite not having been much of a viewer as a child), but my favorite Muppets were always the ones in The Muppet Show - those loveable felt and fur actors singing pop standards, blowing things up and causing all sorts of mayhem. Perhaps more than any other youth-oriented entertaiment of the 1970s (aside from, say, School
Back Tracks: The Supremes
Introducing Back Tracks, a new feature where we take an upcoming release and introduce you to some of the other reissued works from the same group. Today, we start with The Supremes, whose first album, 1962's Meet The Supremes, is scheduled for reissue by Hip-O Select on May 18 (credit where it's due to MusicTAP for the date). The trio is much loved by Motown fans and staff alike. As such, Hip-O Select has dug lots of their treasures from the vault. Hit the jump to take a look at nine Supremes
Reissue Theory: a-ha, "Hunting High and Low"
Here's a new feature I'm really excited about on The Second Disc. I'm calling it Reissue Theory (which was very nearly the title of this blog). Herein, I plot out what I think would be excellent plans to expand great catalogue titles. Using the best research skills I can muster, I'll try to put together the perfect playlist for that sorely missing deluxe title. First up is Hunting High and Low, the debut album by pop legends a-ha. Though their chart-topping "Take on Me" was the biggest
Arcadia's "So Red the Rose" Fumbling Toward a Release Date
(UPDATE 10:40 a.m.) Duran Duran's representative Katy Krassner responded with lightning speed to the inquiry about the press release: "There is no set release date...we will update the site when there is one. This was just EMI's updated press materials on the release." So while fans have to wait a bit for the scoop, know that it'll be here soon enough. Thanks to Katy for her response! Duran Duran fans who've spent years fighting to defend the worthiness of the New Wave quintet enjoyed something
News Roundup: ZTT and All That
Awhile back there'd been talk of classic label ZTT - the label that gave us Art of Noise, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Propaganda - reissuing some of its classics with unreleased material from the vaults. Now it seems the first pieces of that plan are coming to fruition! ZTT have recently announced The Element Series, currently comprised of six releases by ZTT artists and associated acts. After the jump, have a go at the titles, track lists and all that.
This is It (Part 2)
Now that I've gotten all my gripes out about the This is It soundtrack, I'm more than happy to pen some thoughts on the actual film, now out on DVD and Blu-Ray from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. For years after Michael Jackson rose from a nasty string of legal troubles in 2004, I had been ruminating on what could become of one of my favorite pop entertainers. His rumored forays back into the recording studio always left me cold; why would he collaborate with will.i.am or Akon when he had
I Am Spartacus
Film score fans have had a lot to sing about in the past year or so. Thanks to the Herculean efforts of independent soundtrack labels, a lot of highly sought-after soundtracks that major labels would never think to release have been put on disc to the delight of fans everywhere. The Intrada label recently scored an enormous coup by releasing Alan Silvestri's complete score to Back to the Future, La La Land Records recently pressed limited editions of James Newton Howard's music for the film
Conan Addendum
I found this funny enough to warrant its own post: I spent the weekend debunking some rumors about the presence of the original master of The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" on one of the last episodes of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. What I almost completely overlooked was another back catalogue-oriented news story that sprung up from the last episode. Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, drummer for The Roots (a great R&B group in their own right and the house band for Late
Industry Primer: Conan Seeks Satisfaction Elsewhere, or The Bugatti Veyron Mouse That Roared
Light years away from the world of back catalogue music projects, the entertainment press has been abuzz with the recent furor over the late night talk show lineup on NBC. This past Friday, Conan O'Brien exited The Tonight Show after a too-brief seven-month tenure, leaving Jay Leno able to leave his low-rated primetime show and take back control of the show he agreed to cede to O'Brien almost six years ago. One of the delights during the whole mess was seeing O'Brien - in my opinion, one of the
They Were the World
In the near-25 years since Live Aid made music history on two continents, it's safe to argue that charity rock music has never quite been the same. (Of course, others -Morrissey, for instance - have never liked charity rock from the outset.) But critics, audiences and especially performers have changed since those fateful concerts. Nowadays, the efforts seem a bit more forced, whether they're high-profile (Live 8, Live Earth), or relatively obscure (Band Aid II, Band Aid 20, Hear 'N Aid). As a
News Roundup: Whitney Houston, Release Date Roundup, Costello-palooza
Excited for Legacy's deluxe reissue of Whitney Houston's debut album (out next Tuesday)? Vevo's got an EPK up for your viewing pleasure. View it here. A big reissue has yet another date change: Rhino's deluxe edition of Disintegration by The Cure has been moved from March 16 to April 6. Here's the link. Indie label group Beggar's Banquet has got some neat new titles planned on their Beggar's Archive imprint. Pixies fans are particularly going to be enthused. Check it here. MusicTAP has added
Lennon Reissues to Shine On in October?
The latest bit of reissue news around the water cooler is that John Lennon's catalog, owned by EMI, is set to get the deluxe treatment this year, likely timed around what would have been his 70th birthday on Oct. 9. It seems like a great time for EMI to do so; The Plastic Ono Band recently announced a gig in Brooklyn next month. Plus there's been a lot of hoopla over The Beatles' catalogue lately. Perhaps you've noticed. The bummer note thus far is I can't get much of a confirmation on any
Argybargy Redux? (UPDATED)
The always-excellent Matt Rowe at MusicTAP posts news, reviews and insightful commentary three times a week on his site, and today's post got me pretty excited, because it says A&M is planning a reissue of Squeeze's 1980 album, Argybargy. If you know Squeeze for their few stateside radio hits ("Tempted," "Black Coffee in Bed," "Pulling Mussels (from the Shell)"), this is probably the album to dive into. With singles such as "Pulling Mussels" and "Another Nail in My Heart" or concert
Looking Forward, Looking Back: 2010 Reissue Preview
We're less than two weeks into a new year and a new decade, but 2010 is already shaping up to be a great year for back catalogue enthusiasts. What follows is a round-up of the best and brightest reissues already slated for the new year. An obligatory note on release dates: they're as always set to change. I base my reports on the excellent work at Pause & Play, the best resource for any music release dates you might be looking for. Hit the jump for some news on catalog titles by Elvis
In With the Old: 2009 in Reissues
Good evening and welcome to The Second Disc! Assuming you've taken a look at the page where I've explained this blog, I'd like to present a list of some of the best catalogue titles released to the public during the past year. This year was just as full of complaints about the demise of the music industry as ever (I guess part of this can be blamed on the general economic malaise gripping us all), but this really seemed to be a great year for reissues and box sets of all sorts. Two notes before