INXS' Kick is a favorite around The Second Disc parts. We envisioned another deluxe reissue (after two on both sides of the Atlantic) in one of our first Reissue Theory posts, and its slinky, perfectly-crafted blend of pop, R&B and hard rock - combined with a host of non-LP material - makes it a perfect candidate for the growing trend of super-deluxe box sets. So when such a set was first reported and then recently confirmed, you can imagine our excitement at bringing on the news to you. So
Review: Sam Phillips, "Martinis & Bikinis"
To call the career of Sam Phillips a varied one is a colossal understatement. The singer and songwriter born Leslie Ann Phillips has played a mute terrorist opposite Bruce Willis, placed several singles in the contemporary Christian Top 10, and today can be found scoring the exploits of a headstrong dancer and her imperious mother-in-law on ABC Family’s drama Bunheads. Though Phillips has hardly slowed down in the intervening years, fans still hold close the creative period she shared with
The Feeling Is Right: Kent Offers Expanded Etta James LP, Clarence Carter Singles Collection
When Argo Records crowned Etta James The Queen of Soul on the cover of a 1964 LP, Aretha Franklin hadn't yet staked claim to that title. Revisiting that album today, Etta's status as royalty still seems unassailable. Thankfully, we have that opportunity thanks to Kent Records via its new expansion of Queen of Soul with fourteen bonus tracks added to the original LP's ten songs. Plus, Kent has delivered a new release from one of the undisputed kings of soul: Clarence Carter. The Fame Singles
Back to "Barcelona": Queen Frontman's Final Solo Disc Gets Super Deluxe Treatment
"I'm moving into opera now. Forget rock and roll." With those words, Queen frontman Freddie Mercury moved in on what may be the most grandiose phase in a long career full of theatrics. In 1987, with Queen not yet knowing they would have played their final live show one year before, the band's whimsical frontman ventured into uncharted waters with Barcelona, an operatic rock album featuring a talented soprano whose voice he idolized, and put one of the final great flourishes on a career (and a
Wonderful! Wonderful! Johnny Mathis' Long-Lost Mercury Catalogue Comes to CD from Real Gone Music
Johnny Mathis’ association with Columbia Records began in 1956, which makes it one of the longest relationships between artist and label in popular music. But it’s often overlooked that Mathis departed Columbia for a brief period at rival Mercury Records, right as some young upstarts from across the pond were changing the face of music forever. (Keep in mind that Mathis himself wasn’t even 30 when he made the shift!) During a prolific three years (1963-1966) at Mercury, Mathis recorded eleven
Some Kind of a Summer: Real Gone Offers David Cassidy, Gary Lewis, Grateful Dead, Johnny Mathis In August
Real Gone Music is looking ahead to August, and it's going to be one hot summer! The label has just announced new titles from all around the pop/rock spectrum: Gary Lewis and the Playboys, David Cassidy, The Grateful Dead and Johnny Mathis! Gary Lewis and the Playboys' Complete Liberty Singles first arrived in 2009 from the late Collectors' Choice Music label, with 45 tracks on 2 CDs. This anthology definitely proved that there was much more to the group than just "This Diamond Ring,"
Be Their Guest: "Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives" Digital Album Offers Souvenir of New Exhibition
57 years ago today, on July 17, 1955, The Happiest Place on Earth became a reality when Disneyland opened its doors in Anaheim, California! What better day to take a virtual trip to the Walt Disney Archives? Touted as “the largest Disney archives exhibit in the world,” Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives officially opened on July 5 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California. At over 12,000 square feet, the exhibition boasts 500+ artifacts from every area
"HELP MEEEEE!" "The Fly" Is Back! Horror Classic Joins Crime Drama "Wallander" On CD
Take a look over to your right…if you’re anything like me, it might be hard to suppress a smile at the fearsome Fly! Yes, horror pictures have changed quite a bit since 1958, and even since The Fly was remade in 1986 with Jeff Goldblum as the eponymous bug-man. But for thrills and chills, it’s hard to beat the original Fly: “Once it was human…even as you and I!” Kritzerland is revisiting the fifties classic along with its sequel, Return of the Fly (1959), on a new two-for-one CD, and is also
Heaven In Her Eyes: BBR Reissues Two From Deniece Williams
The curriculum vitae of Deniece Williams can boast some of the most esteemed names in popular music: Maurice White, Charles Stepney, David Foster, Thom Bell and George Duke, just to name a few. All of those gentlemen produced albums for, or with, Williams, whose career has been the subject of a series of deluxe reissues from Big Break Records. Earlier this year, BBR (part of the Cherry Red group of labels) added Williams' 1976 debut This is Niecy to its previous four titles from the artist:
From "Sassy" to "The Matriarch of the Blues" and Beyond: PopMarket Offers New Complete Box Sets in August
Though it may be summer vacation for many of us, the folks at Sony's PopMarket have been too busy to take much of a rest! They'll be releasing three more Complete Albums boxes from a triumvirate of artists who blurred the lines between jazz, R&B, pop and rock. Box sets for The Brecker Brothers, Etta James and Sarah Vaughan will arrive at general retail as well as at PopMarket.com on August 28. Though most genres have been benefitted from the comprehensive Complete Albums series, jazz fans
Brother Love Returns: Neil Diamond's "Hot August Night" Celebrates 40 Years With Newly-Expanded Reissue
"The stage, she is the God-damnedest woman you ever saw." So said Neil Diamond on the occasion of his first Hot August Night, nearly forty years ago at Los Angeles' Greek Theatre. It was likely that the leaves were, indeed, hanging down, and the grass on the ground smelling...sweet. Diamond is caught in an odd pose on the album's cover, deep in a moment. He's in a beaded denim suit predating his famous glitter shirts, his long mane of hair wind-blown. The harsh red lighting suggests the
Review: B.J. Thomas, "The Complete Scepter Singles"
What sweeter words are there to a catalogue music enthusiast than "Complete Singles"? Thanks to the herculean efforts of the Real Gone Music team, three more artists now can boast of such a collection. And while we'll soon turn our attention to The Electric Prunes and Timi Yuro, today the spotlight is on a man for whom raindrops might keep falling...but nothing's worrying him: B.J. Thomas. Perhaps the most overdue of these sets is Real Gone's delayed, but worth-the-wait collection of B.J.
Hey, Mr. Producer: A Second Disc Interview! Talking Remastered, Remixed Edition of Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" with Bruce Kimmel
Hats off, here it comes: the Kritzerland label is unveiling a new edition of the Original Broadway Cast Recording of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman’s Follies, but the Broadway babies and girls upstairs will likely have never sounded better. Following similar releases for Promises, Promises and Sugar, Kritzerland has completely remixed and remastered Capitol Records’ 1971 Follies, affording listeners the opportunity to hear a Sondheim masterwork anew. The label began accepting pre-orders
Review: Jimi Hendrix, "Jimi Plays Berkeley" and "Live at Berkeley"
When Jimi Hendrix asked from the stage of the Berkeley Community Theatre on May 30, 1970 that his audience of approximately 3,500 patrons “forget about yesterday or tomorrow…this is our own little world tonight,” he wasn’t making such a request idly. Just outside the walls of the intimate theatre, fans were trying to crash the gates, scale the walls and even gain entry via the roof. For many, the pure, unfiltered and raw music created by Hendrix and his Experience was much-needed escapism, as
Shadow of the Bat: Dark Knight Joins Myriad of Superheroes for La-La Land's Comic-Con Soundtrack Lineup
This evening, Preview Night kicks off 2012's Comic-Con International: San Diego, or as most of us know it, just Comic-Con! As the years have passed since the very first event in 1970, Comic-Con has broadened its scope from the world of comic books to every possible corner of pop culture, including music. A number of our friends have set up shop in San Diego, including La-La Land Records at Booth 429 and Shout! Factory at Booth 3849! Mike's checking in with a report on some of the special
Bourbon Street Parade: New Orleans' Preservation Hall Jazz Band Celebrated In New Box Set
726 St. Peter Street in New Orleans, Louisiana doesn’t look like much. But beyond its weathered, nondescript exterior, the venerable building named Preservation Hall has hosted some of the finest and most exciting music to ever emerge from the storied French Quarter. Many musicians have spread the gospel of New Orleans music as the Preservation Hall Jazz Band for 50 years, and the anniversary isn’t going unnoticed. Legacy Recordings has just announced The Preservation Hall 50th Anniversary
Review: The Beat, "I Just Can't Stop It," "Wha'ppen?" and "Special Beat Service" Expanded Editions
When the members of The Beat had the opportunity to create their own record label, the six-piece unit (“Ranking” Roger Charlery on vocals and toasting, Dave Wakeling on vocals and guitar, Andy Cox on guitar, Everett Morton on drums, David Steele on bass and Lionel Augustus Martin a.k.a. Saxa on – what else? – saxophone!) chose “Go Feet Records” as its moniker. Now, roughly 32 years after the band’s first album was released, it will still have your feet going in wild and unexpected directions.
Release Round-Up: Week of July 10
Bananarama, 30 Years of Bananarama (Rhino U.K.) The U.K. division of Rhino compiles the best of the “Venus” hitmakers in this CD/DVD package out today in the U.K. and next week stateside! Read more here. The Beat, I Just Can’t Stop It/Wha’ppen?/Special Beat Service (Demon/Edsel) The complete studio output of The Beat (or The English Beat, if you prefer) gets the deluxe reissue treatment in the U.K. from Edsel as 2-CD/1-DVD sets chock-filled with extra material! Don’t miss our review of
Review: Carly Simon, "Spoiled Girl: Expanded Edition"
The title of Spoiled Girl had a knowingly ironic resonance for Carly Simon. A scion of the Simon and Schuster publishing firm (her father was founder Richard L. Simon), Carly was considered by some to be a "spoiled girl." In fact, that couldn't have been further from the truth, despite a somewhat privileged upbringing. Yet here she was, mockingly singing of a woman who "thinks of nothing but herself," the kind of gal who sends her chauffeur to supply more bubbles for her bath! 1985's Spoiled
Don't Save It for Later: Shout! Factory's "The English Beat Live at The US Festival" Detailed
When we reported on the dueling reissue campaigns by Edsel and Shout! Factory over the catalogue of The (English) Beat, it was pretty clear that each had its own distinct advantages. Shout! Factory's The Complete Beat box set lacked some of the bonus content and all of the video footage in Edsel's 2CD/1DVD expansions of each of the ska band's three albums. On the other hand, they were going to include The Beat in its burgeoning series of live shows from the fabled US Festival. Now, we have some
Friday Feature: "JAWS"
It wouldn't be summer without cold beers, meat on your barbecue, kids splashing in swimming pools...or a 25-foot-long, three-ton great white shark intent on devouring your local bustling summer community. Okay, that last one's a stretch in literal practice, but the 1975 blockbuster film JAWS, based on Peter Benchley's best-selling novel, is a summertime staple, in fact kicking off the notion of huge crowd-pleasing flicks grabbing for audience members as the temperature heats up. The movie was
I Feel Good (All Over): Dance All Weekend Long with Kent's "Cleethorpes Northern Soul Weekender"
Though we've come to expect delightful and deeply soulful compilations from Ace's Kent label, one of Kent's latest is a particular trip: a trip, in fact, to the Cleethorpes Northern Soul Weekender. The 6Ts Rhythm and Soul Society has been throwing these bashes on a yearly basis since 1993, offering up plenty of dancing and some of the best names in soul music, among them Doris Troy, Barbara Lewis, Tommy Hunt, Bettye LaVette and Maxine Brown. Kent's The Cleethorpes Northern Soul Weekender,
A Heart in New York: Art Garfunkel Anthology "The Singer" Due In August with Two Unreleased Tracks
When the singer’s gone, let the song go on… Jimmy Webb wrote those words for the unlikely rock star by the name of Arthur Garfunkel, a former architecture student endowed with a purity of tone and the ability to pierce the heart. And thankfully, both the singer and the song remain very much alive today. Garfunkel, of course, was the yin to Paul Simon’s yang, the Tom to his Jerry. It’s most appropriate, then, that he will bookend his old friend with a new anthology coming on August 28 from
You Just Can't Walk Away: The Dells Come "One Step Closer" On New Reissue
It can be fairly said that no group in popular music has had a run quite like that of The Dells. The mighty Chicago group, founded in 1952, can boast a line-up of five – Mickey McGill, Verne Allison, Marvin Junior, Chuck Barksdale and Johnny Carter – that didn’t change between 1960 and 2009, the year of Carter’s passing! Such longevity has meant that The Dells have prospered through numerous musical trends, only altering the instrumentation around their velvet vocals. Cherry Red’s SoulMusic
Men of Colours: More Icehouse Expansions Coming from Universal Australia
Following up on last year's successful expanded reissue of Australian band Icehouse's debut LP Flowers, as well as a new compilation, frontman Iva Davies will again partner with Universal Music Group's Australian arm to put the band's catalogue back into print, as well as release new expanded editions of two of the group's most beloved works. Davies' Diva Records and Universal will release expansions of the remainder of the group's back catalogue (Primitive Man (1982), Sidewalk (1984), Measure
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