It's not hard to see why Nik Kershaw was considered a teen idol in the 1980s, but it is hard to understand why this was the case after listening to his music. The British guitarist released several great albums of atmospheric yet accessible guitar pop-rock, but it seemed a bit heavier than the usual teen idol fare of generations past or future. Kershaw's best-known output don't deal with typical teen fare. His biggest singles, "Wouldn't It Be Good," "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" and "The
A Little More a-ha
A quick heads-up regarding the new a-ha deluxe reissues which buyers have been getting from Rhino this week: Looks like there will be some bonus download-only tracks available. But the best part is, you don't have to spend $15-20 on the full album to get them! I haven't seen 'em posted yet on either Rhino's Web site or iTunes, but the band's Web site has unveiled the tracks: The Sun Always Shines on T.V. (Steve Thompson Dance Remix) (U.S. 12" A-side - Warner Bros. 20410-0, 1985) - 8:27 Take
Does EMI Stand for "Every Mastering Insignificant"?
Immense praise to Slicing Up Eyeballs for bringing this story to our attention: EMI have released a statement regarding the mastering of the last two entries in the ongoing Duran Duran remaster series. And it ain't pretty. If you've been following this story at all, through ICE or Amazon or even our own review of the first album, here's how it goes: the new reissues of Duran Duran (1981) and Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983), while stuffed with some great bonus content, suffer thanks to
Live Aid at 25
It was 25 years ago today that two massive, historic concerts were organized for African famine relief. Live Aid, performed in London's Wembley Arena and Philadelphia's JFK Stadium on July 13, 1985, was one of those rare overblown rock success stories - dozens of superstars and members of rock royalty coming together not at the behest of a politician or a natural disaster, but simply because it seemed the right thing to do. It raised millions for charity, it provided a massive plug for the
Back Tracks: R.E.M. - The I.R.S. Years
Today, the 25th anniversary reissue of R.E.M.'s Fables of the Reconstruction hits stores. Athens, Georgia's favorite rock band has spent the past five years or so establishing their place in the pop-rock firmament: since 2006, the band's early recordings for I.R.S. Records - a six-year span between 1982 and 1987 - have been the center of much catalogue attention from EMI and Universal (each has a piece of the I.R.S. catalogue). The four members of the band - vocalist Michael Stipe, guitarist
"Rated R" for "Really, This is the Last Time We'll Post Any Info on It"
After what feels like ages, new cover art and a final track list has been revealed for the 10th anniversary deluxe edition of Queens of The Stone Age's Rated R. The remastered original LP - the band's first on Interscope Records - will be pressed alongside a disc of B-sides and nine tracks recorded live at the Reading Music Festival on August 28, 2000. It'll be in stores August 3. Pre-order it at Amazon and hit the jump to see the track list.
Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be "Cowboys from Hell"
Cowboys from Hell, the major-label debut LP by Pantera, is going to be released this fall in a number of deluxe packages. Cowboys, released on Atco after Pantera changed their sound from '80s glam metal to a more thrash/groove-oriented setting, was a breakout hit for the band. Vocalist Phil Anselmo's pipes were reminiscent of Rob Halford of Judas Priest, and the late, great guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott's playing caused plenty of metal fans to pick up their own axes in the years since.
Reissue Theory: David Seville, By Any Other Name
If you told anyone following the music industry in 1958 that David Seville's musical legacy would be eagerly consumed by kids more than 50 years into the future, they might laugh. After all, Seville's greatest "discoveries" aren't exactly real - they're in fact a trio of animated chipmunks named Alvin, Simon and Theodore. And their musical style - a high-pitched warbling that made novelties like "Witch Doctor" and "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" into left-field, award-winning hits
News Round-Up: Coming Soon from Audio Fidelity, Kritzerland & Masterworks Broadway
There's lots of label action to report today, so let's just jump right in: Hot on the heels of this week's release of Stevie Wonder's Talking Book and Laura Nyro's Time and Love: The Essential Masters, Audio Fidelity has announced two more titles to receive the 24K Gold CD reissue treatment. Coming up are two 1980s classics: Rickie Lee Jones' 1989 Flying Cowboys, produced by Walter Becker of Steely Dan, and Billy Idol's Rebel Yell, the 1983 album that catapulted Idol to superstardom. Steve
Back Tracks: The Apple Tree, Part I
The news of the Apple Records catalogue getting a new remastering and reissuing is one of the many catalogue stories one should file under "cautious optimism." It is awesome to have these classic, underappreciated records from luminaries like Badfinger, James Taylor and Billy Preston back into local record shops, bearing fresh digital remasters by the team that did a pretty darn good job on last year's Beatles remasters. But there are things we have to remember as fans. First, pretty much all
Reissue Theory: D'Angelo, "Brown Sugar"
The music industry is too often based upon unreachable expectations. An artist will sell millions of copies and gain critical acclaim and widespread public admiration on one album, and get lambasted come the next record for not perfectly matching the arc of their predecessor. Ridiculously, nobody takes the time out to realize that holy crap, for some fleeting moment, an artist unified the public through their music. Even if an artist is only fleetingly consistent (like Guns N' Roses) or
Starr-Struck: Vini Poncia and Jackie Lomax, Reissued
Oh my, my! Ringo Starr turned 70 on July 7 and celebrated with a concert at Radio City Music Hall and an afternoon “Peace and Love” celebration. After the breakup of The Beatles, few would have believed what a prolific career the former Richard Starkey would have; his 15th studio album, Y Not, saw release via Hip-O Records just this past January. Ringo’s always gotten by, well, with a little help from his friends. His first solo LP, 1970’s Sentimental Journey, found George Martin in the
Reissue Round-Up: To the Moon with Simon
Here's a handful of blurbs that we can thank MusicTAP for bringing to our attention from Legacy Recordings: There's a date on the calendar (August 10, to be exact) saved for a 10th anniversary reissue of Modest Mouse's The Moon and Antarctica. The band's major-label debut was previously reissued in 2004 (after the mainstream success of follow-up album Good News for People Who Love Bad News and its hit single "Float On"); that reissue saw the LP get a brand-new remix and four live bonus tracks
Review: Harry Nilsson and John Stewart, "Spotlight on Nilsson/Willard"
Whenever the temptation exists to get depressed about the state of the catalogue business, a reissue comes along as a reminder of a couple things. One, that good things, indeed, do come to those who wait. Two, that sooner or later most everything will see the light of day. One such reissue arrived from DRG Records on June 29 to sadly little fanfare. This totally unexpected set joins albums by two disparate artists, yet stands as a cohesive and altogether rewarding listening experience. Harry
Bobbing for Apple in October
Well, it's happening: NME is reporting that Apple Records remasters are on their way October 25. No label has been specified (recall the rumors that Rhino, not EMI, was working on these), but the albums in question have been. Cautious optimism abounds, as there hasn't been any discussion of bonus tracks or any additional material. (UPDATE 7/7/2010: An official release has been issued and can be read here. Looks like EMI is doing these, with promises of some bonus material and digital releases -
Score Round-Up: Intrada Goes to Washington and La-La Land is the Judge
The week (or post-holiday part of the week) kicks off few release notes from around the soundtrack catalogue labels. Intrada has two releases - one which celebrates another hero of the early days of the U.S.A. - and La-La Land has a two-fer dealing with the films of a biting American satirist. Intrada's releases are The Black Bird - Jerry Fielding's 1976 score to the goofy semi-sequel to The Maltese Falcon - and Laurence Rosenthal's score to the 1984 miniseries George Washington (the label
Review: "Promises, Promises: Original MGM Broadway Cast Recording"
The Fourth of July isn’t usually a holiday known for gifts. But your humble reviewer felt as if he got a gift, and what a gift!, on July 3 when Kritzerland’s limited edition deluxe 2-CD reissue of the original cast album of Promises, Promises (KR 20015-9) arrived in the mail. As a result, much of the weekend was spent listening to an album I’ve known for years, but hearing it as if for the first time. For background on this release, see The Second Disc’s post of June 14 and join us after
Reissue Theory: Klark Kent
We're sure readers of The Second Disc are relaxing after what was surely a delightful Fourth of July. (I know I am.) But if you've managed to pry yourself away from your back porch or grill and have a look at our humble catalogue compendium, allow yourself to consider - in honor of our country's independence - a true American musician. One who, in his musical travels, fought for truth, justice and the American way. He may not have been exactly as he seemed, but his work is worth the appreciation
July 4th Special Review: Frank Sinatra, "America, I Hear You Singing"
“I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,” Walt Whitman famously wrote in 1900. In early 1964, the country was still recovering from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and as in so many times of turmoil, artists stepped up to raise their voices in song and perhaps lend comfort and assurance. One such artist was Frank Sinatra. While his many other loves have been well-documented, love of country surely ranked high among them. A lifelong civil rights champion and proud
"Golden Years" Revisited
Details have arrived regarding the long-awaited deluxe edition of Station to Station, David Bowie's 1976 album and the vehicle for his "Thin White Duke" character. Recorded while Bowie was arguably his most drug-addled, Station to Station featured the U.K. Top 10 hit "Golden Years," as well as singles "TVC 15" and "Wild is the Wind." The promotion of the LP saw Bowie in some of his most outrageous days; interviews were punctuated by the singer extolling the virtues of facism, and controversy
Rick Nelson Box Set Raves On
A hat tip to MusicTAP for pointing this one out: Bear Family, the inimitable German catalogue label specializing in reissues from the early days of rock, is issuing the last in a series of career-spanning box sets from the late, great Rick Nelson. In 1957, Ricky Nelson, the heartthrob co-star of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (which starred his parents), began to develop a rock 'n' roll career that thrived throughout the rest of the decade. Next to Elvis Presley and Pat Boone, there was no
Friday Feature - "Jaws: The Revenge"
Let's get the facts out of the way first: Jaws: The Revenge (1987), the third sequel to one of the best horror films of all time, is terrible. It is quite possibly the worst movie ever made. It is so bad that I once watched the film with a friend and we ended up taking a break (with the film, not with our friendship, though that could have just as easily happened). The plot is ludicrous: Ellen Brody (Lorraine Gary), the widow of Roy Scheider's heroic police chief from the first two Jaws films,
The Finer-er Things
As many of our readers know, Island released a new-ish Steve Winwood box set, Revolutions: The Very Best of Steve Winwood. I say "new-ish" because the offerings weren't terribly different from the last expansive anthology of Winwood material, 1995's The Finer Things. Predictably, the set didn't do terribly well - a shame because Winwood is a solid, enjoyable performer to listen to, but simultaneously not a shame since it doesn't offer enough new stuff for catalogue enthusiasts to savor. But the
News Round-Up: Live CSNY, XTC on Vinyl, Teardrop Expands
An article from The Columbian of Clark County, Washington is making the rounds for noting that a box set is being prepped chronicling the 1974 tour of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Planned to enter stores around the holiday season, the set is said to comprise three CDs and a DVD, culled from eight of the best stops on the tour. The 1974 tour saw CSNY performing after a four-year hiatus; the outdoor-arena shows (among the first of their kind) often stretched to three hours of electric and
Loesser is Always More: Happy Birthday, Frank Loesser!
While his name may not be instantly recognizable today, many of the songs penned by Frank Loesser most certainly are: “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” “Heart and Soul,” “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?,” “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat.” The man himself passed away in 1969, but his catalog lives on. June 29 would have marked Loesser's 100th birthday, and Sony’s Masterworks Broadway division marks the centennial with this week’s release of the 19-track compilation Heart and Soul: Celebrating the
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