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