"Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter." "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)." "A Must to Avoid." These chart hits from Herman's Hermits have stood the test of time, but how many reading this remember the films in which those songs were featured? Upon signing to MGM Records in the U.S., Herman's Hermits were groomed for a Hollywood film career, and why not? At the height of the group's fame, they rivaled the Beatles for popularity, even topping them as the biggest-selling pop
Beware! La-La Land Expands "The Blob" Remake Score
It can fill up a room in seconds, gets unexplainably bigger every day and can consume anything it touches. No, not your music collection - The Blob! The ectoplasmic entity - as remade in 1988 - is the latest expanded soundtrack to come from La-La Land Records today. A remake of the classic 1958 sci-fi/horror flick, The Blob finds the titular monster consuming the helpless population of a California town - but rather than some space creature, this blob is a military bio-weapon gone horribly
Review: Roy Orbison, "The Monument Singles Collection (1960-1964)"
It's frequently been said that image is everything in the music business. And surely one of the most recognizable images in all of music is that of Roy Orbison, the loner behind dark sunglasses, clad in black. If one could see his eyes, wouldn't they surely betray his lifetime of heartache? His wife Claudette (the inspiration behind the song) was killed at his side in a motorcycle accident, his two young sons perished in a fire at his home. There was more than meets the eye to Roy Orbison,
The Aeroplane Flies Higher: EMI Preps Three Years of Smashing Pumpkins Reissues
For Generation X, fewer names inspire emotions quite like Smashing Pumpkins. The Chicago-based alt-rock outfit, anchored primarily by singer, songwriter and sole remaining original member Billy Corgan, made rock music that was dark, atmospheric and ambitious - and yet somehow maintained commercial as well as critical success - before splintering in 2000 and reforming some six years later. While Corgan continues to lead Smashing Pumpkins through some interesting projects - he's been working on a
"Get Back" To The Beatles With Ace's "Black America Sings Lennon and McCartney"
“Yesterday” is considered the most-covered popular song of all time, but might The Beatles also be the most-covered band of the rock era? I’ll leave that one to the Guinness folks, but needless to say, there are thousands of cover versions of songs introduced by The Fab Four, most of which were written under the “Lennon and McCartney” umbrella. On June 7, Ace will release a follow-up to its acclaimed 2010 collection How Many Roads: Black America Sings Bob Dylan, turning the spotlight onto the
It's Motown Monday: Kent Releases The Definitive Monitors In June
It's Motown Monday here at The Second Disc as we're pleased to spread the news of the latest title in Ace Records' series of lost Motown treasures! Previous releases have been devoted to The Satintones, The Contours and Marv Johnson, and this June will see the first-ever CD anthology dedicated to the recordings of The Monitors. Led by future Temptation Richard Street, The Monitors released five singles on Berry Gordy's V.I.P. and Soul labels and one LP on Soul. Say You!: The Motown Anthology
Review: Don Sebesky, "Giant Box"
Why can’t jazz be populist and pure, both at the same time? One imagines Creed Taylor asked that question when he launched CTI (Creed Taylor Incorporated) as a solo label back in 1970. Three years earlier he had decamped from Verve and christened the CTI name as an imprint of Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss’ A&M Records. At A&M, Taylor produced nearly 30 albums by such jazz greats as Wes Montgomery, Montgomery's heir apparent George Benson, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Herbie Mann. Taylor’s
Stage and Screen Classics, Reissued: "Until September" and "Camelot"
If there’s a link between Kritzerland’s two new releases, it would have to be melody. I’m speaking of sheer, unadulterated, romantic melody, courtesy of two of music’s finest purveyors of such themes: John Barry and Frederick Loewe. This morning, the stage and screen specialists announced two limited edition titles of 1,000, and both are notable, indeed. From Mr. Barry comes the 1984 score to Until September, while Mr. Loewe is represented by the first-ever CD release of the 1964 Original
Friday Feature: "Night Shift"
Fate works in mysterious ways. Dionne Warwick was home one evening, half-asleep while the 1982 film Night Shift played on her television set. “I didn’t really pay attention to the names that were going up on the credits,” Warwick recounted, “but I knew that was Burt Bacharach’s melody. There was no way in the world it could be anybody else’s.” She was speaking of “That’s What Friends Are For,” an all-but-forgotten song written for the 1982 film Night Shift, Ron Howard’s major big screen
LAST CHANCE REMINDER! Contest: Win Bob Dylan's "The Other Side of the Mirror" on Blu-Ray
Hey, friends! Our Bob Dylan contest ends tonight at 11:59 p.m. EST. Mike and I couldn't be more thrilled to give you the opportunity to win The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965 on Blu-Ray! Don't delay; details are below. Enter now! We've got some very exciting stuff for fans of Bob Dylan: a contest to win a reissue of a Dylan documentary on Blu-Ray from Legacy Recordings! We're giving away a copy of The Other Side of the Mirror - Bob Dylan
Bob Seger Reissues His Live Albums with a Bullet
If you're in the mood for that old time rock & roll, you just might be in luck! Capitol and EMI have announced two remastered editions of classic live albums from Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. 1976's Live Bullet and 1981's Nine Tonight are both due in stores on May 17. Bob Seger catapulted to national stardom in 1976 with the LP Night Moves, after a string of regional hits in the Detroit area and throughout the Midwest. Just before that commercial breakthrough, Seger and his
Heavy Traffic: "The Jim Capaldi Story" Told On Upcoming Box Set
It's time to clear a space on your shelf next to Steve Winwood's 1995 box set The Finer Things or its 2010 counterpart Revolutions. The life and career of Winwood's longtime collaborator Jim Capaldi (1944-2005) is being celebrated by the fine folks at Universal U.K. with a lavish new box set, Dear Mr. Fantasy: The Jim Capaldi Story. Set for release on June 27, Dear Mr. Fantasy is named after one of Traffic's most beloved songs. It encompasses Capaldi's work with that group as well as early
Shirley Bassey Goes Beyond "Goldfinger" On BGO Reissue
Dame Shirley Bassey first blazed into the American consciousness in 1964 singing the immortal theme to Goldfinger. Bassey's full-throttle take on the John Barry/Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse song became her first and only American Top 10 single, and helped the film’s soundtrack recording climb all the way to the top spot. Bassey returned to both John Barry and James Bond with the themes to Diamonds are Forever (1971) and Moonraker (1979), but she never again scaled the heights of commercial
We Got the "Beat" Deluxe Track List
When you think of the canon of rock music, it's largely a man's world, from the most legendary performers to the (theoretically, mostly) male-dominated clique of music geeks. Sure, Elvis and The Beatles wouldn't have gotten anywhere without their screaming female fans, but it took until the early '80s for girls to earn a place in the hierarchy of rock. That glass ceiling was finally shattered with Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, Charlotte Caffey, Kathy Valentine and Gina Schock, better known as
Beach Boys Reunite on Record for Japan Relief
Take it from one who knows: the Record Store Day-exclusive 78 RPM release of The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes and Villains" wasn't easy to come by. You've now got another chance, however, to own a special Beach Boys collectible vinyl single. At the same time, you can help a great cause. Among the highlights of Al Jardine's 2010 solo album A Postcard from California was "Don't Fight the Sea," a track reuniting Jardine with Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Bruce Johnston and even Carl
Intrada Premieres Scores to "Ravagers," "Stay Tuned"
Some small but significant premiere releases have bowed from Intrada this week: a dynamic sci-fi score from the '70s and a comedic action romp from the '90s. Ravagers was a brooding post-apocalyptic film featuring Richard Harris as a vigilante safeguarding against the titular band of marauders hell-bent on killing any survivors they can find. Art Carney and Ernest Borgnine co-starred in this forgotten thriller, and the score was composed by Fred Karlin, a jazz arranger who gained prominence in
"What's New?" Ronstadt and Riddle Classic Revisited on Gold CD
While the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has inexplicably remained immune to her charms, few artists have had the career of Linda Ronstadt. She's racked up 38 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including ten that went Top Ten. On the album chart, she's placed 36 entries, including ten that reached the Top Ten there too (her magic number!) and three that hit pole position. And consider this: after playing a vital role in the country-rock scene with the Stone Poneys and their hit recording of Mike
"Would You Believe" The Complete Hollies 1963-1968 Is Coming From EMI?
Fans of the Hollies have lately had plenty of items on their wish lists, thanks to recent releases from the Sundazed and BGO labels. Yes, it’s been quite a year in catalogue terms for the lads from Manchester! EMI’s U.K. arm continues the celebration with the May 9 release of one whopper of a box set. The Clarke, Hicks & Nash Years (what about Bobby Elliott? Just askin’!) is subtitled The Complete Hollies: April 1963 – October 1968, and if this is somewhat of a fallacy, it’s more or less the
Reissue Theory: Majosha, "Shut Up and Listen to Majosha"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. As a modern-day piano man starts digging through the archives, we take a look at one of his steps on the path to critical acclaim. Exciting news seems to be developing for fans of singer/songwriter/pianist Ben Folds: he recently tweeted a picture taken at his Nashville home of what appears to be the beginning of some research for an archival project. Folds' wife, Fleur,
Crossing the Pond: "London American Label 1963" Spotlights Spector and More
It’s 1963. Imagine a label that counted Roy Orbison, Darlene Love, James Brown, The Drifters and Jerry Lee Lewis all among its artists. While such an array of talent never convened under one roof in America, it was a very different story in the United Kingdom. The U.K.’s Decca Record Company indeed brought all of those artists, and more, under the umbrella of its London American label. London American delivered the best in American pop, R&B and rock and roll to British audiences. Ace is
In Case You Missed Them: Soundtrack Smashes from La-La Land, FSM
Our apologies for not getting these titles to you earlier, but there's been a lot of action on the indie soundtrack label front, with two titles announced by Film Score Monthly late last week and three from La-La Land that went on sale yesterday and are selling briskly. Over at FSM, the label released Friday a short but powerful score to the film Testament, a 1983 drama featuring Jane Alexander as a mother coping with the fallout from a nuclear blast outside their California suburb. The
Fallin' All Over Again: Alicia Keys' Debut to Be Reissued This Summer
Has it really been a decade since that rich, soulful voice broke through the radio with a heartfelt "I keep on fallin'....i-i-i-i-in...and out..."? It was the voice of one Alicia Keys, the Hell's Kitchen-raised singer/songwriter/pianist, all of 20 years old at the time. She had a stunningly impressive resume for her age - a classically-trained pianist who started writing songs at 14, the valedictorian of New York City's Professional Performing Arts School at 16, two failed record deals with
Right On: Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" Receives 40th Anniversary Box Set (UPDATED WITH TRACK LIST)
Smokey Robinson has called it "the greatest album of all time." Rolling Stone ranked it in the Top Ten in its survey of the Greatest Albums of All Time, at No. 6. Marvin Gaye's What's Going On broke the Motown mold as Gaye delivered one of the most personal albums of all time: impassioned, outraged, haunting, beautiful and altogether unexpected. That seminal LP was released on May 21, 1971 and has remained in print since. Ten years ago, for its thirtieth anniversary, Motown reissued What's Going
That's Amore: Capitol Releases More from Dean Martin in June
Dean Martin once implored in song, "Please don't talk about me when I'm gone." Dino has been gone since 1995, but I doubt he'd mind that fans and collectors alike haven't stopped talking about him since. Part of this is due to the seemingly endless stream of repackaged "greatest hits" collections - and guess what? Not one, not two, but three such sets are on the way this June, just in time for Father's Day. Now ain't that a kick in the head! Back in February, we reported on Hip-o's two-CD,
Review: Bob Dylan, "In Concert: Brandeis University 1963"
Will the real Bob Dylan please stand up? Sunday, May 12, 1963. A 21-year old Bob Dylan is scheduled to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, America’s favorite variety program. The young singer plans to perform his satirical “Talking John Birch Paranoid Blues,” taking sharp aim at the radical anti-Communist John Birch Society. In the song, Dylan’s narrator joins the group, walking off with his “secret membership card," ready to hunt for reds. “Now we all agree with Hitler’s views, although he killed
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 227
- 228
- 229
- 230
- 231
- …
- 253
- Next Page »