The times they were a-changin’. The Miracles, the group founded in 1955, by Smokey Robinson, Warren “Pete” Moore and Ronnie White, had been synonymous with Motown Records since 1960, and survived chief songwriter and lead vocalist Smokey’s departure in 1972. But despite a chart smash in 1976 with the No. 1 “Love Machine,” the group was dissatisfied with Motown. Pete Moore recalled in 2012, “Even after all of this success, we never had any calls from Smokey or Berry [Gordy].” Indeed, Miracle
Black Friday 2012: Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Rolling Stones, Frank Zappa Lead Off Packed Slate of RSD Exclusives
Here in the U. S. of A., Black Friday is almost upon us: that unusual date following the prior day of giving thanks, in which consumers make a mad dash to the local big-box store, mall or shopping center to procure bargains for the holiday season ahead. Retailers are controversially beginning Black Friday “festivities” even earlier than usual this year, with many sales starting on Thanksgiving Day itself and not even at midnight but in the early part of the evening. For a number of recent
Pride and Joy of Austin, Texas: Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's Debut Expanded for Legacy Edition
Double Trouble is getting double-sized from Legacy Recordings and Epic Records. 1983’s Texas Flood, the debut album of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, is turning 30 in 2013, and Legacy is celebrating with a two-disc 30th anniversary edition of the classic LP. Due on January 29, the 2-CD set will include one bonus track appended to the original album, and an entire second disc of unreleased live material. The late Vaughan, who tragically perished in a 1990 helicopter crash, made his
Career Man: Franz Waxman Score to Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine Drama Premieres on CD
Releasing vintage film scores has long been “all in a night’s work” for the Kritzerland label. In June, Kritzerland issued Andre Previn’s score to the 1962 comedy All in a Night’s Work, a Paramount Picture starring Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine. That was hardly the first onscreen pairing between the two offscreen pals, however. Dino and MacLaine first lit up the screen together in 1955’s Artists and Models, MacLaine’s second film and the fourteenth starring the Martin and Lewis comedy
WE HAVE A WINNER! A Complete Set of BLACK FRIDAY/RECORD STORE DAY Releases from OMNIVORE RECORDINGS!
CONGRATULATIONS TO MICHAEL HOWE, WINNER OF THE BLACK FRIDAY/RSD PRIZE PACK!
Many a Tear Has to Fall: RPM Collects Tommy Edwards' "MGM Recordings 1958-1960"
Trivia time: name the only No. 1 Pop single to have been written by a United States Vice-President. If you answered “It’s All in the Game,” recorded in 1958 by Tommy Edwards, you win our Second Disc No-Prize! In 1951, Carl Sigman (“Ebb Tide,” “What Now My Love”) set lyrics to the 1912 (!) melody by Charles Dawes, Vice President under Calvin Coolidge and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. Although the song was recorded by Nat “King” Cole, Louis Armstrong and Dinah Shore, it had its most enduring
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Ultimate CCR: Greatest Hits and All-Time Classics"
Did John Fogerty write “Proud Mary,” or did it come to the Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman by some kind of divine inspiration? After all, the modern folk song has become such a part of the American cultural tapestry that it’s hard to believe the song’s origins were so, well, ordinary: Fogerty cobbled together a spontaneously-improvised riff at San Francisco’s Avalon Ballroom with lyrics inspired by diverse sources and experiences to create the song that anchored the band’s sophomore album
Holiday Gift Guide Review: The Comedy and Music of Ernie Kovacs and Edie Adams
Welcome to 2012's Second Disc Holiday Gift Guide! We'll use these special reviews to highlight not only seasonally-themed releases, but box sets, deluxe reissues and other special titles that might make the perfect gifts under your tree this holiday season! Groucho Marx once observed that "marriage is a wonderful institution," before adding, "but who wants to live in an institution?" A few lucky couples have not only thrived in that institution, however, but also in the world of comedy:
Attention All Planets of the Solar Federation: Rush's "2112" Returns in Deluxe Editions
2011 wasn’t a bad year to be a Rush fan, with the legendary Canadian band offering a deluxe edition of 1981’s Moving Pictures and three Sector box sets covering Rush’s entire 1974-1989 Mercury Records tenure. Now, Geddy Lee (bass, keyboard, vocals), Alex Lifeson (guitar) and Neil Peart (drummer) are preparing to close out this year by celebrating 2112 (yes, 2112 in 2012!) in a variety of deluxe formats. Amazon.com has confirmed December 18 as the release date for three editions of the classic
JSP Goes Beyond the Rainbow with 4-CD Collection of "Creations" by Judy Garland
Judy Garland’s place in the annals of popular music would have been all but assured if she had only introduced Harold Arlen and E.Y. “Yip” Harburg’s “Over the Rainbow” to the world. After all, the Academy Award-winning song from The Wizard of Oz (1939) was ranked the No. 1 Song of the Century by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) and topped a list of the 100 Greatest Movie Songs compiled by the American Film Institute. Garland
The Splendor of Alfred Newman: "Love" and "The Seven Year Itch" Due on CD
The music of Alfred Newman’s son Thomas will resound at theatres in the United States this Friday with his score to the blockbuster-in-the-making James Bond film Skyfall. But what better time to revisit two classic scores from Thomas’ dad, perhaps the all-time dean of the film score? Following its recent restoration of Alfred’s score to 1951’s David and Bathsheba, the Kritzerland label is turning its attention to two more famous titles from the vast 20th Century Fox library, both from 1955:
Release Round-Up: Weeks of October 30 and November 6
Election Day is upon us today! But if you're looking to cast your vote for some music, too, we might be able to help! Though we were able to keep the lights on each day at The Second Disc, Hurricane Sandy kept us from publishing a Release Round-Up last week. So without further ado, here's the best of the best for the weeks of October 30 and November 6! Louis Armstrong, The Complete OKeh, Columbia and RCA Victor Recordings 1925-1933 (OKeh/Columbia/RCA/Legacy) (10 CDs) / Charlie Christian,
T.S.O.P., The Early Years: BBR Collects The Three Degrees on Roulette
Big Break Records, an imprint of the U.K.'s Cherry Red Group, doesn't have an office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. But it might as well. Much of the remarkable music that emanated from ZIP Code 19107 has been revisited of late by BBR, and the latest title is one of the most fully loaded in the label's catalogue. The Three Degrees' Maybe actually combines two early albums from that "When Will I See You Again" trio, both from the catalogue of Roulette Records: 1970's Maybe and 1975's So Much
Rip It Up! "The London American Label: 1956" Spotlights Rock and Roll from Little Richard, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, More
Did any label impact the taste of record-buyers in the United Kingdom in the early rock-and-roll era than that of London? Ace Records has been chronicling the activities of the London American label on a series of definitive releases culling the best of the label's 45s from one given year. Previous volumes have covered every year between 1957 and 1963, and for the most recent addition to the series, Ace has turned the clock back to 1956. In that year, London's output included American singles
Reviews: Dion's "Complete Laurie Singles," David Cassidy's "Romance"
Today, we're taking a look at two recent releases from Real Gone Music! Dion DiMucci greeted the 1960s on his own, just 20 years old but already a chart veteran with soon-to-be-classics like “I Wonder Why” and “A Teenager in Love” under his belt. Those songs, though, were recorded with his friends The Belmonts. When Carlo Mastrangelo, Angelo D’Aleo and Fred Milano wanted to emphasize doo-wop harmonies and Dion wanted to rock and roll, Dion and the Belmonts split. How would the Italian kid
The Digital Master Company Turns 30: GRP Records Celebrated with New Compilation
Though the 50th anniversary of Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss’ A&M Records got some well-deserved attention earlier this year, another unit of Universal Music Group was also celebrating a milestone anniversary. GRP Records, founded by Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen, was founded in 1978, as an imprint of Arista Records known as “Arista/GRP.” This arrangement was similar to Creed Taylor’s CTI label, which first existed as part of A&M. Much as Taylor struck out on his own, so did Grusin and
Honey Don't! Rockstar Records Releases Live Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, But Ringo Says "It's Not Me"
Among the many footnotes in Beatles lore has been Ringo Starr's tenure with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. The group was one of the most popular acts on the early Merseybeat scene, playing Liverpool and Hamburg, and alternating sets with The Beatles at the Kaiserkeller. Yet there's precious little recorded evidence of the band and even less of Starr's tenure as drummer. An Oriole label single in 1963 yielded "Dr. Feelgood" b/w "I Can Tell." Parlophone released "America" (from West Side
More "Essentials" Arrive From Jefferson Airplane and Starship, Martina, Run-D.M.C., Incubus
Tomorrow might be Halloween, but there’s nothing scary about Legacy Recordings’ four latest additions to the Essential series roster! Today sees the release of career-spanning anthologies from a diverse group of artists: alt-metal rockers Incubus, hip-hop pioneers Run-D.M.C., country queen Martina McBride and ever-evolving Bay Area legends Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship/Starship! All of these double-CD anthologies combine familiar hit singles, album tracks and rarities to create what
What a Feeling: Giorgio Moroder Rarities Due from Repertoire
What could be cooler than the recent news that disco super-producer Giorgio Moroder joined music-sharing site SoundCloud and started posting high-quality rare and unreleased tracks for fans to stream? How about Moroder making not one, but two more accounts holding such audio treasures? But what could be cooler than that for fans of physical discs? Simple: Repertoire Records is releasing a double-disc set of rare gems produced by the man who gave us the greatest hits of Donna Summer, Blondie's
Gems from the Diamond Mine: Blue Rodeo Collect Early Albums, Unreleased Demos on New Box
Fans of Canadian country-rockers Blue Rodeo have something to get excited about, with the recent release of a box set collecting their first five albums with another three discs of unreleased material. Blue Rodeo 1987-1993 celebrates the Northern rockers, who have won 11 Juno Awards in their native Canada and placed 10 singles in the Top 10 of the Canadian charts, including "Try," "Til I Am Myself Again," "Lost Together" and "5 Days in May." Anchored by singer/songwriter/guitarists Jim Cuddy
T Stands For "Trouble Man": Marvin Gaye Classic Gets Expanded on CD
At long last, Trouble Man. With the upcoming 40th anniversary edition of Marvin Gaye’s 1972 album currently slated for November 13 release, each one of the Motown legend’s studio albums between 1971’s seminal What’s Going On and 1982’s Midnight Love has been expanded as a 2-CD set. (In the case of What’s Going On, an even more deluxe edition was released in 2011.) Trouble Man, the soundtrack to the 20th Century Fox “blaxploitation” film, turned out to be Gaye’s only excursion into movie
Review: Every Mothers' Son, "Come On Down: The Complete MGM Recordings"
It may not have been the strangest story ever told in pop music, not by a long shot. But it had to be right up there: a fella is smitten with the fisherman’s daughter, but her overprotective daddy apparently never lets her out of his sight. It seems she’s tied to the dock, and can’t get free: “Fish all day and sleep all night/Father never lets her out of his sight/Soon I’m gonna have to get my knife and cut that rope!” This offbeat little tale of love conquering all shot all the way up to a
"Die Hard 2," "Enemy Mine" Lead Off New Varese Batch
Like a sleeping giant, soundtrack reissue Varese Sarabande wakes only periodically and deliberately to release film and television scores from the vaults through their famed Soundtrack Club. In recent years, fans have bemoaned the lack of "Silver Age" scores - that is, more recent music from blockbuster films. That trend looks to change with the latest solid batch of limited edition reissues from Varese. First up, following Varese's own limited edition of Michael Kamen's score to Die Hard in
WE HAVE A WINNER! The Steve Miller Band's First Five Albums On CD!
CONGRATULATIONS TO DAVID KNOBLOCK, WINNER!
Can You Surry, Can You Picnic? Ace, Legacy Celebrate the Songs of Laura Nyro
In Wendy Wasserstein’s play Third, a professor is sitting at her desk, cigarette in hand, listening to “Wedding Bell Blues.” Her student enters, and recognizes the tune: “Is that the 5th Dimension?” The professor sharply replies, “Not in my office!” Beat. “It’s Laura Nyro. She wrote it.” He replies, “Cool. Does she have anything new out?” Professor Nancy Gordon answers, “She died of ovarian cancer a few years ago,” and changes the subject. Cancer would take Wendy Wasserstein, too, like
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