Dionne WordPress Banner

The Second Disc

Expanded and Remastered Music News

  • Home
  • News
    • Classic Rock
    • Rock
    • Pop
    • Jazz
    • Popular Standards/Vocal
    • R&B/Soul
    • Country
    • Folk
    • Cast Recordings
    • Soundtracks
    • Everything Else
      • Classical/Opera
      • Disco/Dance
      • Funk
      • Gospel
      • Rap/Hip-Hop
  • Features
    • Release Round-Up
    • The Weekend Stream
    • Giveaways!
    • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Classic Rock
    • Rock
    • Pop
    • Jazz
    • Popular Standards/Vocal
    • R&B/Soul
    • Country
    • Folk
    • Cast Recordings
    • Soundtracks
    • Everything Else
      • Classical/Opera
      • Disco/Dance
      • Funk
      • Gospel
      • Rap/Hip-Hop
  • Release Calendar
    • Coming Soon
    • Now Available
  • About
  • Second Disc Records
    • Full Catalog
  • Contact

/ Search Results for: "is"

Too Hot! Big Break Collects Heatwave On "Always and Forever"

June 30, 2016 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

Heatwave Always and Forever

Heatwave was a band like no other.  American vocalists Johnnie Wilder Jr. and his brother Keith Wilder joined with British singer-songwriter-keyboardist Rod Temperton, Swiss bassist Mario Mantese, Czechoslovak drummer Ernest "Bilbo" Berger, and Jamaican guitarist Eric Johns to form this truly international cadre of first-class R&B purveyors.  Thanks to a string of hits including "Boogie Nights," "Always and Forever" and "The Groove Line," the seductive grooves of Heatwave ruled both the

Continue Reading

Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Heatwave

The Columbia Years 1968-1969

June 30, 2016 By

Betty Davis The Columbia Years

This surprise release has already shaped up to be one of the year's hottest.  The bulk of Betty Davis' never-before-released or bootlegged Columbia sessions were produced by Miles Davis and Teo Macero. Her accompanists remain the stuff of legend: drummer Mitch Mitchell of The Jimi Hendrix Experience (which would play its final gig nearly a month later), bassist Billy Cox (who'd replace Noel Redding in Hendrix's new band), and a host of musicians in Miles' orbit: guitarist John McLaughlin,

Continue Reading

Formats: CD, Vinyl Genre: R&B/Soul

Nothing Has Been Proved: Cherry Red to Expand Dusty Springfield's "Reputation"

June 29, 2016 By Mike Duquette 1 Comment

Dusty Springfield Reputation Expanded

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Dusty Springfield rightfully regained her reputation as one of the best British soul singers of her generation, with the help of some famous collaborators. The fruits of that labor, 1990's Reputation, is being expanded by Cherry Red Records this summer. While Dusty had dominated part of the '60s with a unique brand of soul-pop on tracks like "I Only Want to Be with You," "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" and the Burt Bacharach-Hal David-penned "Wishin' and

Continue Reading

Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Pop Tags: Dusty Springfield, Pet Shop Boys

Pronto Monto

June 27, 2016 By

Kate and Anna McGarrigle Pronto Monto

Omnivore delivers a CD debut for Kate and Anna McGarrigle's third album and their final LP for Warner Bros. Records.  Featuring A-list musicians including Steve Gadd, David Spinozza, Bernard Purdie, Gary Mallaber, Grady Tate and Tony Levin, Pronto (so titled for the rough pronunciation of the French "prends ton manteau," or "take your coat") was produced by David Nichtern, who added a bit of pop flair to the folk duo's compositions.  In addition to the McGarrigles' own songs, Pronto offered

Continue Reading

Formats: CD Genre: Folk

Born to Love You: Freddie Mercury's Solo Singles Collected on New Set

June 27, 2016 By Mike Duquette 2 Comments

Freddie Mercury The Singles Cover

A new Freddie Mercury anthology will be released this fall, chronicling the late Queen singer's solo tracks on two CDs and 13 vinyl singles. Messenger of the Gods: The Singles features 25 tracks recorded by Mercury and released between 1973 and 1993--several of which were never released in America, or released widely on CD. Among the set's rarer treasures is Mercury's first "solo" single, credited to Larry Lurex in 1973. The single, featuring covers of Phil Spector's "I Can Hear Music"

Continue Reading

Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD, Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Pop Tags: Freddie Mercury, Queen

Release Round-Up: Week of June 23

June 24, 2016 By Joe Marchese 6 Comments

Marvin Gaye Volume 2

Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Bangles, Ladies and Gentlemen...The Bangles! (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Ladies and Gentlemen...The Bangles!, first released digitally in 2014, features all of the band's pre-Columbia studio material, plus four unreleased demos, two live tracks and other odds and ends!  It arrives in stores from Omnivore just before Susanna Hoffs, Vicki Peterson and Debbi Peterson hit the road again!  Read more here! Laura

Continue Reading

Categories: Release Round-Up Formats: Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, SACD, Vinyl Genre: Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rock Tags: Barbara Cook, Henry Mancini, Jeff Wayne, Laura Nyro, Marvin Gaye, Neil Young, Steve Vai, The Bangles

We Dig Anita and Ahmad! Cherry Red's él Label Collects Kerr and Jamal

June 22, 2016 By Joe Marchese 2 Comments

Anita Kerr We Dig Anita

Cherry Red's él imprint has previously celebrated the legendary career of Anita Kerr with various album reissues, and now the label is putting the spotlight on her prolific work in the studio supporting a host of music's most famous artists.  We Dig Anita: The Oohs and Aahs of the Nashville Sound brings together 33 tracks from this multi-talented pioneer of the lush country-pop Nashville Sound - an accomplished singer, musician, arranger, producer and composer.  All of the tracks on We Dig

Continue Reading

Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Country, Jazz, Pop Tags: Ahmad Jamal, Anita Kerr

Human Highway: Director's Cut

June 21, 2016 By

Human Highway

Neil Young premieres the restored "Director's Cut" of his 1982 film Human Highway, starring Young, Dennis Hopper, Devo, Sally Kirkland, Russ Tamblyn and Neil's co-director Dean Stockwell, on DVD and BD.  Audio is presented in 5.1 and stereo mixes.

Continue Reading

Formats: Blu-Ray, DVD Genre: Rock

Earth

June 20, 2016 By

Neil Young Earth

Neil Young teams with Lukas and Micah Nelson's band Promise of the Real for a new quasi-live album. Earth features live performances of songs from 2015 drawing on Young's albums including The Monsanto Years, Ragged Glory, and After the Gold Rush.  The live tracks feature musical overdubs, as well as "sounds of the earth" (car horns, insect noises, and sounds from bears, birds, crickets, bees, horses, cows, frogs, etc.). Young describes it as "Ninety-eight uninterrupted minutes long, EARTH flows

Continue Reading

Formats: CD, Vinyl Genre: Rock

Songs of Perfect Propriety

June 20, 2016 By

Barbara Cook Songs of Perfect Propriety

Coinciding with the release this week of Barbara Cook's autobiography, Stage Door Records has the first CD reissue of the legendary singer's first, and most unusual, solo album.  Released on the small Urania label in November 1958, Songs Of Perfect Propriety features Cook performing a song cycle of Dorothy Parker poems and verses set to music by opera and chamber music composer Seymour Barab.  The young Cook brought her lustrous voice to these incisive art songs which can now be heard anew. 

Continue Reading

Formats: CD Genre: Popular Standards/Vocal

Way Down In The Jungle Room

June 20, 2016 By

Elvis Way Down in the Jungle Room

Way Down in the Jungle Room is the first anthology dedicated to the master recordings and outtakes recorded at Graceland's famous Jungle Room by Elvis Presley and longtime producer Felton Jarvis during two now-legendary periods: February 2-8, 1976 and October 28-30, 1976.  The outtakes have been newly mixed by Grammy Award-winning engineer Matt Ross-Spang at Sam Phillips Recording in Memphis, Tennessee.  For these intimate and raw, heartfelt sessions, Elvis was backed by many members of his

Continue Reading

Formats: CD, Digital Download, Vinyl Genre: Pop

Braver Than We Are

June 20, 2016 By

Meat Loaf Braver Than We Are

Meat Loaf's new studio album reunites him with Jim Steinman, the musical maestro behind Bat Out of Hell I & II.  Braver Than We Are features new renditions of Steinman songs never previously recorded by Meat Loaf including tracks from his musicals Tanz der Vampire, The Dream Engine, Rhinegold and More Than You Deserve. Ellen Foley and Karla DeVito guest on the album. Aside from the standard CD, Amazon is listing an exclusive autographed 2-LP vinyl and an exclusive CD/DVD version with the DVD

Continue Reading

Formats: CD, Digital Download, Vinyl Genre: Rock

Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway

June 20, 2016 By

Barbra Streisand Encore

Barbra Streisand goes "Back to Broadway" (again!) with this new duets album.  On this 10-song set, Streisand is joined by an eclectic array of talents including Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Melissa McCarthy, Chris Pine, Daisy Ridley and Anne Hathaway on songs by Marvin Hamlisch, Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe and others.  The Target-exclusive edition will boast four solo bonus tracks.

Continue Reading

Formats: CD, Digital Download, Vinyl Genre: Popular Standards/Vocal

Close to You: Bacharach Reimagined

June 20, 2016 By

Close to You Bacharach Reimagined

Kyle Riabko's contemporary, guitar-infused take on the classic Burt Bacharach songbook is preserved on this London Cast Recording of his contemporary musical revue Close to You: Bacharach Reimagined.  Riabko and a cast of young musician-singers bring vitality to these modernized yet faithful renditions of Bacharach favorites with lyrics by Hal David and Carole Bayer Sager.  The 2-CD set features over ten demos as bonus tracks.

Continue Reading

Formats: CD, Digital Download Genre: Cast Recordings

Frank Zappa For President

June 20, 2016 By

Frank Zappa For President

The late Frank Zappa throws his hat in the ring with this new archival release!  Zappa Records promises that Frank Zappa for President  "gives us a glimpse into what could have been. This album is comprised of unreleased compositions realized on the Synclavier along with other relevant tracks mined from the Vault with a political thread tying it all together. Don t forget to Register and Vote!"

Continue Reading

Formats: CD Genre: Classic Rock

So Happy Together: The Turtles Prepare "Complete Albums" and "All the Singles"

June 20, 2016 By Joe Marchese 10 Comments

Turtles Album Collection

The Turtles once staged a fictional Battle of the Bands on a remarkable 1968 LP, but were a real such battle to occur, the group founded by Howard Kaylan, Mark Volman, Al Nichol, Jim Tucker, Chuck Portz and Don Murray would surely come out on top.  For more than 50 years, The Turtles have provided an unparalleled pop soundtrack via such infectious hits as "Happy Together," "You Baby," "She'd Rather Be with Me," "Let Me Be," "It Ain't Me Babe" and "Elenore."  But those classics are only part of

Continue Reading

Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Pop Tags: Flo and Eddie, The Turtles

In The Midnight Hour: Real Gone August Slate Includes Wilson Pickett, The B-52's, Dusty Springfield, Diamond Rio, More

June 17, 2016 By Randy Fairman 2 Comments

Wilson Pickett Complete Atlantic Singles Volume One

With summer nearly upon us, we're all beginning to make plans for the next few months.  Real Gone is doing the same, having just revealed what its releases are going to be for middle of summer in August! The first item on the list is the first of an eventual three-volume collection chronicling Wilson Pickett's tenure at Atlantic Records.  Pickett released a total of 66 single sides at the label and The Complete Atlantic Singles Vol. 1 collects the first 22 of these.  When Pickett moved to

Continue Reading

Categories: News Formats: CD, Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Country, Folk, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul Tags: Cat Mother and the All-Night Newsboys, Diamond Rio, Dusty Springfield, Fanny, Marty Robbins, Mitch Miller, The B-52's, The New Christy Minstrels, Wilson Pickett

At The Groovy Cellar: RPM Reveals "Another Splash of Colour: New Psychedelia in Britain 1980-1985"

June 17, 2016 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

Another Splash of Colour

Mention psychedelia and chances are you're transported to a certain patchouli-scented period in the late 1960s, a hazy period of high times and boundary-breaking musical creativity.  The spirit of psychedelia didn't die with the advent of glam, hard rock or disco, however, though it may have been submerged for a time.  In 1981, the 13-track album A Splash of Colour chronicled Great Britain's "New Psychedelia" with '60s-influenced cuts from The Mood Six, Miles Over Matter, The High Tide, The

Continue Reading

Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Pop, Rock Tags: Julian Cope, Robyn Hitchcock, The Attractions, Various Artists

Release Round-Up: Week of June 17

June 17, 2016 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

Chicago Quadio

Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Chicago, Quadio (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. TBD / Amazon Canada) This week's biggest and most hotly-anticipated release, Chicago's Quadio, brings together nine albums from the legendary band in remastered high-resolution 192/24 DTS-HD Master Audio in both their original quadraphonic and stereo mixes on nine Blu-ray discs.  This lavish celebration of the Windy City's favorite band is housed in a rigid two-piece box, with every album

Continue Reading

Categories: Release Round-Up Formats: Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks Tags: Bobby Darin, Chicago, Grace Jones, John Phillips, Keith Emerson, The Kingbees, Toni Braxton

The Big Rock: Expanded Edition

June 15, 2016 By

The Kingbees The Big Rock

Omnivore expands The Kingbees' 1981 RSO swansong with four bonus tracks appearing for the first time on CD!  The Big Rock, celebrating its 35th anniversary, features The Kingbees' trademark blend of rock-and-roll, punk and country in full force.  After the original release of the album in 1981, The Kingbees disbanded. Shortly thereafter, Jamie James recorded four new songs with a brand new rhythm section. Those songs comprise the bonus tracks for this expanded edition.  James also supplies his

Continue Reading

Formats: CD, Digital Download Genre: Rock

A Matter Of Time: Glen Campbell's Atlantic Years Anthologized By Varese

June 15, 2016 By Joe Marchese 3 Comments

Glen Campbell For the Good Times

Following the release of 1981's It's the World Gone Crazy, Glen Campbell left Capitol Records, his home of two decades, and moved over to Atlantic Records' new country division, Atlantic America.  The superstar artist remained at Atlantic through 1986, releasing three mainstream country LPs while simultaneously recording contemporary Christian material at Word.  Varese Vintage has recently released the first anthology of this oft-overlooked period in Campbell's career.  For the Good Times

Continue Reading

Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Country, Pop Tags: Glen Campbell

Get Out of Your Lazy Bed: Matt Bianco's Debut to Be Expanded by Cherry Pop

June 14, 2016 By Mike Duquette 1 Comment

Matt Bianco Whose Side

Cherry Pop Records is about to go continental with a deluxe reissue of Whose Side Are You On, the debut LP from U.K. jazz-pop outfit Matt Bianco. Originally comprised of vocalists Mark Reilly and Basia Trzetrzelewska, keyboardist Danny White and bassist Kito Poncioni (who only played on B-side "Big Rosie" and left before the full album sessions), Matt Bianco (a name meant to evoke '60s spy culture) delivered artistic, Latin-tinged jazz-pop that recalled and anticipated contemporary European

Continue Reading

Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Pop Tags: Basia, Matt Bianco

Review: The Beach Boys, "Pet Sounds 50"

June 13, 2016 By Joe Marchese 7 Comments

Pet Sounds 50

50 years have passed since the original release of The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, yet it still stands alone in the rock canon.  The talents of Brian Wilson, Tony Asher, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson and Bruce Johnston coalesced in one unforgettable place and time to create music's most exquisite realization of both the exultant joy and beautiful melancholy of adolescence. It took until the compact disc era for Pet Sounds to be fully appreciated; the album wasn't certified

Continue Reading

Categories: Reviews Formats: Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Vinyl Genre: Pop Tags: Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys

Sings The Shadow of Your Smile: Expanded Edition

June 12, 2016 By

Bobby Darin Shadow of Your Smile

Bobby Darin's 1966 Sings The Shadow of Your Smile marked the superstar's return to Atlantic Records.  The album, arranged by Shorty Rogers and Richard Wess, was titled after the Oscar- and Grammy-winning Johnny Mandel/Paul Francis Webster tune from the 1965 film The Sandpiper.  Joining "The Shadow" were its four fellow  Oscar nominees for Best Original Song: Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini's "The Sweetheart Tree" (The Great Race), Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "What's New Pussycat" (from the

Continue Reading

Formats: CD Genre: Popular Standards/Vocal

In a Broadway Bag: Expanded Edition

June 12, 2016 By

Bobby Darin Broadway Bag Stereo

Bobby Darin teamed with arrangers Shorty Rogers and Perry Botkin Jr. for this 1966 Atlantic Records LP featuring swinging renditions of then-recent Broadway showtunes from musicals including Mame, Golden Boy, Skyscraper and most notably Funny Girl (Bobby's "Don't Rain on My Parade," immortalized in the film American Beauty).  Edsel's standalone reissue is housed in a digipak and features three previously issued bonus tracks, all from period Atlantic singles: "Walking in the Shadow of Love,"

Continue Reading

Formats: CD Genre: Popular Standards/Vocal

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 326
  • 327
  • 328
  • 329
  • 330
  • …
  • 449
  • Next Page »

Upcoming Releases

  • Status Quo Live deluxe
    Live! Deluxe Edition
    Status Quo
    May 16, 2025
    US UK
  • Brothers in Arms 40
    Brothers in Arms: 40th Anniversary Edition
    Dire Straits
    May 16, 2025
    US UK
  • Version 1.0.0
    The Bridge
    David Sancious
    May 16, 2025
    US UK
See Full Calendar

Connect

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 4,676 other subscribers

Popular Posts

  • Most Commented
  • Most Viewed
  • Dionne Warwick Make It Easy on Yourself(Don't) Walk On By: Dionne Warwick's "Make It Easy on Yourself: The Scepter Recordings 1962-1971" Due in June on 12...
  • Tracks II CD packshot no disc artShut Out the Light: Bruce Springsteen Offers Seven Unheard Albums on 'Tracks II'
  • Rod Stewart Ultimate Hits Amazon exclusiveHe Wears It Well: Rod Stewart's 'Ultimate Hits' Due in June
  • RSD 2025 best of restRecord Store Day 2025: The Best of the Rest
  • record store day logoThe Second Disc's Guide to Record Store Day 2025: Our Favorite Picks
  • John Williams Anthology 1Mondo Maestro: New John Williams Box Set Series Announced, Plus 'Star Wars' Re-Recordings on Vinyl

Music Resources

  • Addicted to Vinyl
  • Crap from the Past
  • Discogs
  • Film Score Monthly
  • IMWAN Forum – From the Vaults
  • MusicTAP
  • Musoscribe
  • Pause & Play
  • Popdose
  • Slicing Up Eyeballs
  • Steve Hoffman Music Forums
  • Ultimate Classic Rock
  • Vintage Vinyl News
  • Wolfgang's Vault

Labels of Note

  • Ace Records
  • Analog Spark
  • Bear Family
  • BGO Records
  • Big Break Records
  • Blixa Sounds
  • Cherry Red Label Group
  • Craft Recordings
  • Demon Music Group
  • Friday Music
  • Funky Town Grooves
  • Iconoclassic Records
  • Intervention Records
  • Intrada
  • Kritzerland
  • La La Land Records
  • Legacy Recordings
  • Light in the Attic
  • Masterworks Broadway
  • Now Sounds
  • Omnivore Recordings
  • Real Gone Music
  • Rhino Entertainment
  • Rock Candy Records
  • SoulMusic Records
  • Sunset Blvd. Records
  • Supermegabot
  • Varese Sarabande
  • Vinyl Me, Please
  • Wounded Bird
Copyright © 2025 The Second Disc. All rights reserved. · Site by Metaglyphics

The Second Disc is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk.

Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy