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Release Round-Up: Week of November 5

November 5, 2013 By Mike Duquette Leave a Comment

bowie the next day extra1

David Bowie, The Next Day: Extra (ISO/Columbia) The year's biggest comeback album is now available as a 2CD/1DVD set featuring B-sides, remixes, unreleased songs and four music videos. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Bob Dylan, The Complete Album Collection Vol. One (Columbia/Legacy) Dylan's "official" albums discography from 1962 to 2012 is collected on this 47-disc set, featuring studio and live titles, 14 newly remastered albums and a two-disc compilation of non-LP material. CD: Amazon U.S. /

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Categories: News, Release Round-Up Formats: Blu-Ray, Box Sets, DVD Tags: Bob Dylan, Buck Owens, Vinyl

It's Love That Really Counts: Él Continues Vintage Burt Bacharach Series

November 4, 2013 By Joe Marchese 3 Comments

burt bacharach make it easy2

In 1962 alone, Burt Bacharach premiered more than 30 new compositions, recorded by a variety of artists from Marlene Dietrich to The Drifters.  It's even fair to say that '62 was the year the composer truly came into his own.  While previous years offered their share of hits for the songwriter - "I Wake Up Crying," "Tower of Strength," "Baby, It's You," "Magic Moments," "The Story of My Life" - the Bacharach sound hadn't completely crystallized.  With Jerry Butler's July 1962 single of Bacharach

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Categories: News, Reviews Tags: Burt Bacharach, The Shirelles

Review: Perry Como, "Just Out of Reach: Rarities from Nashville Produced by Chet Atkins"

October 31, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

perry como just out of reach

“Hey, let’s do it again and again,” invited Perry Como on the bouncy opening track of 1975’s Just Out of Reach.  The Tony Hatch/Jackie Trent song, previously recorded by singer-actor Jim Dale on This is Me, was perfectly suited to Como’s warm, soothing tones.  Who wouldn’t take him up on the offer to do it again and again?  As the musical landscape of the 1960s and 1970s drastically shifted, the one-time big band “boy singer” wasn’t quite as ubiquitous a presence as he once was. Still, the

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Categories: Reviews Tags: Perry Como

The Best That He Could Do: John Mellencamp Collects Albums for New Box

October 30, 2013 By Mike Duquette 6 Comments

mellencamp big box

While the 1980s have become synonymous with pop/rock music that allegedly valued image, craft and style above the emotional rush of the music itself, one of the decade's most popular entertainers had an image as rough-hewn and rugged as they could come: John Mellencamp. The Indiana-bred musician earned his keep making tuneful rock steeped in the traditions of the genre as well as the vision of the average, working-class middle American. And with a list of hits that includes "Jack and Diane,"

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets

Review: Humble Pie, "Performance - Rockin' the Fillmore: The Complete Recordings"

October 30, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

humble pie performance

Today, 105 Second Avenue in New York City looks inconspicuous enough, housing a branch of a savings bank.  But for just over three years, between March 1968 and June 1971, that address was home to Bill Graham’s Fillmore East.  The grandiose 2,830-capacity venue built in 1925 as a Yiddish theatre was sadly demolished around 1996, having survived transformations into The New Fillmore East and the landmark gay disco The Saint.  Though the building no longer exists, with the bank occupying its

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Categories: Reviews Formats: Box Sets Tags: Peter Frampton

Pogues Box Up Complete Albums, Unreleased Live Show for "30 Years"

October 29, 2013 By Mike Duquette 2 Comments

pogues 30 packshot

Celtic rockers The Pogues are releasing a new box set that collects all of their studio albums - two newly-remixed just for this release - and an unreleased live album with a very special frontman. Led by unforgettable frontman Shane Macgowan, The Pogues deftly combined the raucous traditions of traditional Celtic folk songs and sharp-edged punk rock, gaining a considerable live following when opening for The Clash on one of their last tours. A contract with Stiff Records followed, yielding Red

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets Tags: The Clash, The Pogues

Omnivore Unveils Colorful Black Friday Slate with Van Zandt, Clark, Kovacs

October 29, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

omnivore black friday 2013

Here at Second Disc HQ, we know that we can count on Omnivore Recordings for some of the most colorful and fun releases for Record Store Day's Back to Black Friday shopping event!  On the day after Thanksgiving, you might find yourself at your local indie record store to pick up one of Omnivore's three Black Friday collectibles.  As usual, it's a diverse trio, with releases from two late troubadours - Townes Van Zandt and Gene Clark - and one legendary late comedian, Ernie Kovacs. This past

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Categories: News Formats: Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Comedy, Everything Else, Folk Tags: Ernie Kovacs, Record Store Day, Townes Van Zandt, Vinyl

Cherry Red, RPM Are "Looking Good" On New Girl Group Box

October 29, 2013 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

looking good box

What is “femme mod soul,” you might ask?  Cherry Red’s RPM imprint has the answer with a new 3-CD box set, Looking Good: 75 Femme Mod Soul Nuggets.  This set aims to chronicle the girl group sound “from and for the underground.”  As Lois Wilson points out in an introductory essay, the box doesn’t paint a full picture of the girl group era.  Not only have there been countless compilations on the theme, but Rhino’s four-CD box set One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found

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Categories: News Tags: Reparata and the Delrons, Skeeter Davis, The Blossoms, The Three Degrees

Release Round-Up: Week of October 29

October 29, 2013 By Mike Duquette Leave a Comment

oh yes we can love

Bananarama, Deep Sea Skiving / Bananarama / True Confessions / Wow! / Pop Life / Please Yourself: Deluxe Editions (Edsel) The pop trio's London discography gets the royal treatment with these 2CD/1DVD expanded editions featuring loads of rare and unreleased bonus tracks. Deep Sea Skiving: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Bananarama: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. True Confessions: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Wow!: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Pop Life: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Please Yourself: Amazon U.S. /

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Categories: News, Release Round-Up Formats: Box Sets Tags: Leo Sayer, Patti Page, The New Christy Minstrels, The Ramones

"Taxi" Driver Bob James' Funky Fusion Celebrated On New 2-CD Anthology

October 28, 2013 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

bob james rhodes scholar

Every day, somewhere in the world, someone is watching Taxi – and hearing the catchy yet wistful theme song composed by Bob James.  The television comedy, created by Mary Tyler Moore Show alumni James L. Brooks, Stan Daniels, David Davis and Ed. Weinberger, ran from 1978 to 1983 and netted eighteen Emmy Awards.  But the original music of Taxi is just one of the many credits of jazz great Bob James.  His spellbinding ouevre has just been compiled by the Decision Records label in association with

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Categories: News

In Memoriam: Lou Reed (1942-2013)

October 27, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

lou reed

Tough, uncompromising and honest – the music of singer, songwriter and guitarist Lou Reed might have been the very quintessence of New York rock and roll.  Since first making a splash with 1967’s The Velvet Underground and Nico, Reed, who has died unexpectedly at the age of 71, doggedly pursued his own personal muse.  Even as he synthesized numerous influences like doo-wop, jazz, R&B and Tin Pan Alley pop into his own ultimately influential rock style, he always stayed true to his roots as a

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Categories: News Tags: Lou Reed

Say It Loud, Say It Clear: New Mike + The Mechanics Compilation Stacks Hits and Rarities (UPDATED 10/24)

October 24, 2013 By Mike Duquette 3 Comments

mike the mechanics the singles 1986 2014

UPDATE (10/24/2013): This set has been pushed back to January 20, 2014 (and duly retitled) to better coincide with some more Mike + The Mechanics events in the coming year, including a U.K. tour in the winter of 2014, a forthcoming memoir from Rutherford and a planned reissue of The Living Years for its 25th anniversary. Original post (9/12/2013):Although Phil Collins was the one member of Genesis it was impossible to escape during the '80s, thanks to an increasingly popular solo career and

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Categories: News Tags: Mike + The Mechanics, Mike Rutherford, Paul Carrack

Beyond "Baby Blue": Edsel Collects Badfinger Albums, BBC Sessions

October 24, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

badfinger edsel

An estimated ten million people watched the September 29 series finale of AMC’s Breaking Bad, with a memorable final scene set to Badfinger’s “Baby Blue.”   By the following morning, the Pete Ham song produced by Todd Rundgren for the 1971 Apple Records release Straight Up had been downloaded more than 5,000 times – boosting its sales by some 3,000 percent!  “Baby Blue” remained in the iTunes Top 20 for next two days.  It also racked up roughly 30,000 downloads over the following week,

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Categories: News

Sweet Blues: Guitar Legend Mike Bloomfield Celebrated On New Box, Bob Dylan Tracks Debut on Set

October 23, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

The time was 1965, the place was Columbia Records' studios on Seventh Avenue in New York City between 52nd and 53rd Streets, the occasion was the recording of Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited. Al Kooper - he of the famed organ riff that propelled "Like a Rolling Stone" - recalled, "Suddenly Dylan exploded through the doorway with this bizarre-looking guy carrying a Fender Telecaster guitar without a case. It was weird, because it was storming outside and the guitar was all wet from the rain. But

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets Tags: Bob Dylan, Michael Bloomfield, Muddy Waters

Neil Young Opens The "Cellar Door" With Vintage 1970 Concerts

October 22, 2013 By Joe Marchese 9 Comments

neil young cellar door

No, there’s still not a date on the calendar for the much-talked-about release of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s 1974 concert tapes last scheduled for August 27 and currently anticipating release next year.  (Or so it’s been reported.)  But Neil Young has a solo live release scheduled for December 10 that should whet appetites for that CSNY project and excite fans and collectors in its own right, too.  Young’s camp has confirmed Live at the Cellar Door, the latest installment of Young's

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Categories: News Tags: Neil Young, Vinyl

Release Round-Up: Week of October 22

October 22, 2013 By Mike Duquette 1 Comment

monro rarities

Tears for Fears, The Hurting: Deluxe Edition (Mercury/UMe) The landmark debut album from the U.K. hitmakers celebrates its 30th anniversary with a new double-disc deluxe edition stocked with rare single-only material and a deluxe box set version with a bonus disc of John Peel sessions and the In My Mind's Eye live concert film on DVD. 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 3CD/1DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Van Morrison, Moondance: Expanded Edition (Warner Bros./Rhino) Though Van would rather you

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Categories: News, Release Round-Up Formats: Blu-Ray, Box Sets, DVD Tags: Laura Nyro, Matt Monro, Queen, Robin Trower, Spencer Davis Group, Tears for Fears, Ten Years After, The Waterboys, TLC, UFO, Van Morrison

Kritzerland Can't "Wait" For Two Dave Grusin Premieres; "Moon" Swings With Billy May, Too!

October 21, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

heaven can wait

For more than fifty years, Robert David Grusin – or Dave Grusin, as he’s better known – has been making music to the tune of multiple Grammys and an Oscar, not to mention Golden Globes and various other honors.  Grusin has successfully scored for motion pictures and kept a busy profile in pop, soul and jazz, co-founding GRP Records and encouraging compact disc technology at the dawn of the era.  The Kritzerland label has visited the Grusin well before with releases of his scores to films as

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Categories: News Genre: Soundtracks

"Smile": Laura Nyro's 1976 Album Returns To CD From Iconoclassic

October 21, 2013 By Joe Marchese 5 Comments

laura nyro smile

Iconoclassic Records is giving fans of the late Laura Nyro a reason to Smile with tomorrow’s expanded reissue of the singer-songwriter’s 1976 album of the same name.  Smile marked Nyro’s return to music after a four-year hiatus following her Gamble and Huff-produced Philly soul gem Gonna Take a Miracle. This reissue – which appends three bonus tracks receiving their first domestic release – is the latest in Iconoclassic’s impressive series which also includes reissues of Season of Lights (1977),

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Categories: News Tags: Laura Nyro

Doors, Dead, Duran Drafted by Rhino for Record Store Day

October 17, 2013 By Mike Duquette 4 Comments

the doors rsd

It's less than 70 days until (holiday name redacted because it's too early to think about it), which means it's almost time for Record Store Day's Black Friday event! On November 29, participating stores will be stocking exclusive titles from major and independent labels. Warner Music Group's Rhino catalogue arm - long thought on the ropes until a slew of releases this year - has five strong catalogue vinyl projects to offer on that special day, including one we've previously reported on (which

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Categories: News Tags: Vinyl

Shower The People: "The Essential James Taylor" Blends Best of Columbia, Warner Years

October 17, 2013 By Joe Marchese 9 Comments

essential james taylor2

If you, like me, immediately think of James Taylor whenever you hear the initials "JT" in the context of a music superstar, then Legacy Recordings has a release just for you!  The Essential James Taylor, due on October 29 like The Essential Boz Scaggs, is the troubadour's first-ever 2-CD career-spanning anthology.  Its 30 studio and live tracks draw on the artist's tenures at Warner Bros., Columbia and Hear Music, from 1970's breakthrough Sweet Baby James through 2007's One Man Band. Following

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Categories: News

Happy Hearts: The Four King Cousins Return With "More Today Than Yesterday"

October 16, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

four king cousins more today

In those halcyon days of television variety, when ABC's The Hollywood Palace rubbed shoulders with CBS's The Ed Sullivan Show, it wasn't hard to spot the music-making King Family.  After all, the ensemble was more than 30 members strong, consisting of big band sweethearts The King Sisters, guitarist Alvino Rey, and some 32 brothers, sisters, children, wives, aunts and uncles.  Following much-talked-about appearances on Hollywood Palace, The King Family went on to headline its own variety show

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Categories: News, Reviews Tags: The Four King Cousins

The "Lowdown" On Legacy's Upcoming "Essential Boz Scaggs"

October 16, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

essential boz scaggs

Earlier this year, Boz Scaggs returned from a five-year absence from the studio with Memphis, a collection celebrating classic southern soul like “Rainy Night in Georgia,” “Love on a Two Way Street” and “Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl.”  In just a couple of weeks, Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings will be celebrating Scaggs’ own music with the October 29 release of the 2-CD anthology The Essential Boz Scaggs.  This 32-song set draws on Scaggs’ landmark tenure at Columbia Records which yielded

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Categories: News

Review: Paul Simon, "The Complete Albums Collection" and "Over the Bridge of Time"

October 15, 2013 By Joe Marchese 11 Comments

paul simon complete cover

I. Hello Darkness, My Old FriendMore than 45 years ago, Paul Simon dramatized a journey “to look for America” in the song boldly and simply called “America.”  Over 3-1/2 gorgeously elegiac minutes beginning with hymn-like vocalizing, Simon abandoned conventional song structure and rhyme to portray two young people searching for the heart of this promised land.  The conversational lyric is both deceptively simple and densely packed.  Optimism (“Let us be lovers, we’ll marry our fortunes

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: Box Sets Tags: Paul Simon, Simon and Garfunkel

Release Round-Up: Week of October 15

October 15, 2013 By Mike Duquette 1 Comment

taylor dayne playlist

Eric Clapton, Unplugged: Expanded and Remastered Edition (Reprise/Rhino) The guitar god's '90s comeback was done on an acoustic. The Grammy-winning, best-selling album and the acclaimed episode of MTV Unplugged from which it was taken are paired up and considerably expanded, more than two decades later. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) King Crimson, The Road to Red (Panegyric) Holy crumbs, this 21CD/1DVD/2BD set is a massive tribute to King Crimson's Red album, including new stereo and surround

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Categories: News, Release Round-Up Formats: Box Sets Tags: ABBA, Paul Simon, Taylor Dayne, The Alan Parsons Project, The Art of Noise, The Partridge Family, Vinyl

In A Sentimental Mood: Pablo Expands Sarah Vaughan's "Ellington Songbooks"

October 14, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

sarah vaughan sophisticated lady

Over a long recording career encompassing roughly ten labels and 45 years, “Divine One” Sarah Vaughan (1924-1990) followed her muse wherever it led.  That meant she might record an album of poetry by Pope John Paul II one day (1984’s The Planet is Alive...Let It Live!) and bossa nova with Sergio Mendes the nest day (1987’s Brazilian Romance, recently reissued as part of Legacy’s Complete Columbia Albums Collection, or a Beatles anthology (1977’s Songs of the Beatles, belatedly released in 1981)

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Categories: News Tags: Sarah Vaughan

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