Apologies if The Second Disc is flooding your Web space with posts today. I, for one, am thrilled; it's nice to see great news getting us catalogue enthusiasts through the week. And here are three little briefs to further your excitement for all things reissues: Steven Van Zandt recently talked to a U.K. radio station about the long-in-development reissue of Bruce Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978). It looks like it might follow the format of this year's Exile on Main St.
Reissue Theory: Solo Folds
Could this man have been the heir to Randy Newman's hysterically biting throne? The Second Disc's coverage of Randy Newman's reissues from last week got your catalogue correspondent thinking about the possibilities lately that Folds - the definitive indie-pop pianist and one-time leader of Ben Folds Five, one of the best acts of the 1990s - should have ascended to that same jaunty position Newman commanded in the prime of his pop career. Sadly, this didn't happen - and admittedly, it isn't hard
Review: John Fogerty, "Centerfield: 25th Anniversary"
John Fogerty can be called many things. Prolific, though, isn't one of them. Fogerty's 1985 Centerfield, originally issued on Warner Bros. Records, marked the former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman's return to a prominent place in the rock pantheon after a near decade-long absence. After acrimoniously parting ways with his famous band, Fogerty recorded a collection of rootsy country covers (1973's The Blue Ridge Rangers) for CCR's longtime label, Fantasy Records. Yet Fogerty was locked in
Rhino's Next Hand(made Title)
The latest Rhino Handmade title is up for sale, and it's an expanded version of "Live" Full House, the 1972 concert chronicle from The J. Geils Band. The group's third release (after two relatively well-received studio LPs for Atlantic) was a tight set recorded over two nights at Detroit's Cinderella Ballroom in April 1972. That eight-track selection is now being expanded to include both shows from both nights. "Live" Full House, which starts shipping in August, also features six collectible
Rhino Handmade Redux: Introducing Tartare
One would think Collectors' Choice Music would have had its hands full with July's release of the complete Allan Sherman catalog. Not so. The fine folks at Collectors' Choice have joined forces with Warner Music Group to introduce a new label designed to reissue LPs so rare, even WMG's Rhino Handmade wouldn't tackle them. With that in mind, the new label is named Tartare, and its first 10 releases are all due to ship on July 6. Any new reissue label is cause for readers of The Second Disc to
My Son, the Reissue Campaign
In the pantheon of American comedy, there's a special corner reserved for the work of song parodists. The form arguably reached its greatest heights under the aegis of Stan Freberg in the 1950s. Freberg and his stable of talented voice artists (including animation legends Daws Butler, Paul Frees and June Foray) knew no sacred cows and their amazing body of work still inspires gales of laughter today. (Any comedy fan unfamiliar with the Freberg oeuvre is advised to seek out Rhino's exhaustive
Review: The Jackson 5, "Live at The Forum"
One of the oddest takeaways from watching Michael Jackson perform live was always the screaming. Watch almost anything Jackson ever commissioned for live release - snippets from Moonwalker, the Bucharest concert recorded during the Dangerous tour - and you'll see an increasingly disturbing parade of young people, sweating, screaming, crying, hyperventilating and fainting at the mere notion of a glance, point or step from the King of Pop - their king, their idol, an undying figure that law, fame
Back Tracks: Michael Jackson Part 2 - The Epic Years and Beyond
After poring through Michael Jackson's Motown years, we commemorate the year anniversary of his passing with a look at the material he recorded as an adult for Epic Records. If the J5 material was platinum, much of this stuff is uncut diamond - and the world is eagerly waiting to see what Sony will do with this material for catalogue purposes. (A multi-album deal has been struck, with the first batch of material likely due for the holidays, alongside a new video game based on Jackson's
Friday Feature: "Grease"
Quick, name a late '70s blockbuster with a propulsive, lasting soundtrack! Okay, now name one that wasn't written by John Williams. Chances are you've got two films atop your list: Saturday Night Fever and Grease. Both were classics of their time, full of dancing, John Travolta and the influence of one or more Brothers Gibb. But it's the latter we're going to look at to definitively cap our look at summer reissues. Even 32 years after its release, Grease still seems to be the word - the film,
Reissue Theory: DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince, "Homebase"
We continue our summer set of Reissue Theory posts with a big star whose musical career is now just a footnote. But that footnote gave us, in part, one of the best-loved summer songs of the '90s. Of course, we're talking about DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince. Sure, the latter is now known worldwide by his real name, Will Smith. And he's a mega-movie star whose box-office power is relatively unmatched. He's even better known for his star-making turn as the lead in the still-funny NBC sitcom
Back Tracks: Michael Jackson Part 1 - The Motown Years
With Friday being the year anniversary of Michael Jackson's death, The Second Disc would be at fault for not commemorating The King of Pop's recording career and its representation through catalogue preservation. But to quote a dusty outtake from The Jackson 5, we're gonna change our style. Your humble correspondent cannot possibly say anything about Jackson's career that hasn't already been said in the year since he passed away. There are plenty of other resources for such a thing - I
Reissue Theory: "Katrina and The Waves"
Joe's Reissue Theory post on Brian Wilson's Imagination sparked some thought on the much-welcomed beginning of summer, and other catalogue titles that commemorate the season. This in turn provoked a recollection of the ongoing mania over some Katrina and The Waves remasters awhile back. Earlier this year, KaTW member/principal songwriter Kimberley Rew took to an indie label to reissue The Waves' first four original LPs, complete with bonus cuts. The Bible of Bop (a 1981 compilation featuring
Reissue Theory: Brian Wilson, "Imagination"
Monday, June 21 marks the first day of Summer 2010. How appropriate, then, that the 68th birthday of Brian Wilson was a mere day earlier on June 20. Few musicians, if any, have contributed as much to the American myth of summer as Beach Boys leader Wilson. Years after galvanizing popular music with albums like 1966's much-reissued Pet Sounds and singles such as the same year's psychedelic "Good Vibrations," Wilson embarked on a solo career in 1988. Like so much of the man's journey through life,
The Long and Short of It
If you haven't checked out the discussion on this week's post about single edits/versions on compilations, do so immediately. It's a fun, thoughtful look at an issue that some of us take for granted every now and again. It's inevitably led to a bit of thought given to the opposite consideration, too: what if labels started releasing longer versions of hits everyone knew and loved? What a delightful surprise that would be. And I keep crossing my fingers that it'll happen every now and
Reissue Theory: The Time, Part I
After last week's Prince binge on The Second Disc, it was inevitable that we'd double back to some of The Purple One's best side projects. One of those great ensembles is The Time, arguably the funkiest band to come out of Minneapolis in the 1980s and a criminally underrated side-project to this day. The Time was basically Prince's rearranged version of a similarly named local funk outfit, Flyte Tyme. That band was led by vocalist Alexander O'Neal and featured among its ranks keyboardists Monte
Rhino Handmade Goes "On Tour" Plus a Bit of Live Dead
Rhino Handmade has announced its latest title, a thoroughly expanded edition of Delaney & Bonnie's seminal live LP On Tour with Eric Clapton. In late 1969, Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett embarked on a killer tour that included some of the best blues and rock musicians of the era. Clapton was the featured performer, to be sure, but that tour also included star turns from Leon Russell, Dave Mason of Traffic, Carl Radle, Jim Gordon and Bobby Whitlock (who would form Derek and The Dominos with
News Round-up: A Soulful Tuesday
Soul music enthusiasts have had a lot to cheer about this year, with boutique labels (Reel Music, Cherry Red’s Big Break and Super-Bird) and majors (Hip-O Select) alike delivering the goods with deluxe reissues of many classic albums. Soulmusic.com is offering two new releases this week, one on its own label and one coming from Expansion Records. Thelma Houston’s 1969 LP Sunshower (Dunhill 50054) was previously available on CD as an expensive Japanese import, but Soulmusic.com brings it to the
Bacharach: Reissued, Remastered and Remixed
Hot on the heels of The Second Disc’s look at the solo recordings of Burt Bacharach, news just broke that one of the maestro’s most famous non-solo albums is receiving the limited-edition deluxe reissue treatment from the Kritzerland label. United Artists’ cast recording of the 1968 Broadway musical Promises, Promises has long been a favorite recording of Bacharach & David aficionados for introducing their songs “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” “Promises, Promises” and “Knowing When to
On the Radio
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhTRQE2AELA] In the past week, The Second Disc has had a lot to say, whether it was about Prince, Scott Walker, Huey Lewis and The News or a few others. Every now and then, it's nice to turn the lens around to you, the reader, because we all have different songs and artists filling our head at any given time. We lead you to the weekend by throwing to another bit of open-ended discussion. Most of us were likely, in the words of Journey, raised on radio.
Friday Feature: "Batman (1989)"
And one last foray into the Prince catalogue on The Second Disc with what is arguably one of the dopiest entries in his catalogue. To some, it seems like a total work for hire, a hatchet job, a cash-in - and while that may be the case, it's kind of a fun listen. That's right: Prince's album devoted to the 1989 film Batman. The story goes that star Jack Nicholson was the one who suggested Prince to director Tim Burton. After editing two scenes to a temp track of Prince tunes ("1999" for the
Prince Week Day 7: Crystal Ball
In the penultimate entry of Prince Week (I know, this is Day 7, but we got one more piece for you tomorrow), The Second Disc turns its attention to one of the most fertile times in Prince's life. From 1986 to 1987, just two short years, His Royal Badness managed to record enough material for a good four or five albums; it should go without saying that this material would be greatly served in a box set from Rhino at some point in time. Hit the jump to get your world rocked with a story of lots
Box Set Round-Up: Hank Williams and Level 42
There's a pair you'd never expect to see in the same title. A few bits of news around the way regarding a few box sets coming up. First up, Time-Life has got a really large box set of Hank Williams material coming out. The Complete Mother's Best Recordings...Plus! is a 16-disc box set (including a DVD) of all Williams legendary, surviving recordings for Nashville radio station WSM (where he had his own show sponsored by Mother's Best Flour). These 72 acetates were recorded through 1951, two
The Setlist Situation, Part II
A huge debt to Vintage Vinyl News for posting the track lists of the upcoming batch of Setlist compilations from Legacy Recordings. If you haven't been following these titles, Sony's reissue label is releasing 11 budget-oriented live compilations (basically a live counterpart to their successful and sometimes collector-worthy Playlist series) on July 13. Happily, VVN's post (the information of which comes from Legacy itself) shows the discs seem rather forthcoming about recording information -
Prince Week Day 6: Life in the Madhouse
In determining what was going to make up the contents of Prince Week, a great deal of agonizing was endured over where to place Prince's many side projects. Prince, ever the purple brain trust, developed a lot of side projects over time, particularly during the beginning of his success as a pop artist. The Time, Sheila E. and Vanity 6 are still the best acts he ever squired in the early Paisley Park years, but there were plenty others that deserve a look back someday - and ultimately, the sheer
Reissue Theory: Green Day, "Dookie"
On this day, seminal '90s pop-punk band Green Day gets the kind of musical immortality only reserved for a select few. That's right, today's the day that the Green Day: Rock Band video game hits stores. Fans will finally be able to control Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool as they ascend from obscurity to supposed sellouts. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times: I don't get the concept of selling out at all. So many supposed fans get mad when their beloved local act
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