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
EMI to Give Us Some Truth
Whether you're more of a John Lennon or Paul McCartney fan, it's hard to overstate the contributions these two made to the pop-rock world, first as the principle songwriters of The Beatles and then as solo artists in their own right. Last year, of course, saw The Beatles' discography get remastered for the first time since the original releases of the records on CD in 1987. The McCartney catalogue is slated to come back out on CD through Paul's new homebase, Concord Records, starting with a new
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
It is Spartacus
Confirming months of rumor and speculation, Varese Sarabande Records has announced the full specifications for a lavish box set version of the music to Alex North's score to the classic sword-and-sandal epic Spartacus. The honchos at Varese weren't kidding; the venerable score label's latest limited release (the 1000th to be produced by longtime producer Robert Townson) is easily the largest set ever devoted to a single film score. A jaw-dropping six CDs and a DVD make up the set, featuring the
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,
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
Tracking You Down
A little early-afternoon treat to readers of The Second Disc: another poll! The last one, drafted during the Exile on Main St. reissue bonanza, was pretty darn successful, and this one's going to get things moving with a pretty simple question we've never asked before. What sort of bonus tracks get you to buy a reissue or deluxe title? It's a simple question, but one that can spark a myriad of discussion. Of course, it can be a case-by-case query. Prince fans are probably looking more for
Hip-O's Next Payback
To cap off another week of catalogue livin' and lovin', Hip-o Select has announced the ninth volume in its long-running James Brown singles sets. The Singles Vol. 9: 1973-1975 collates all of J.B.'s A and B-sides from the age, along with some duet singles with Lyn Collins and tracks by Fred Wesley and The J.B.'s. As usual, expect the photos, annotations and liner notes penned by Brown's former touring manager Alan Leeds, easily one of the most knowledgeable experts on The Godfather of Soul. Get
Friday Feature: "Toy Story"
This week's Friday Feature should come as no surprise. There's one movie on more minds than any other this week: Toy Story 3, the 11th effort by Disney's Pixar Animation Studios. Like the other films in the series, it promises to be a funny, adventurous and touching affair that adults will connect to as easily as kids. Like the others, it promises massive box office returns and universal acclaim (as of this writing, film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes has not picked up a single negative
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
News Round-Up: J5 Goes Live, Macca's "Run" Versions and Papa Roach Compiled
Hip-o Select has begun quite the marketing push for their upcoming release of The Jackson 5's Live at The Forum. They have set up an entire site devoted to it, featuring pictures, anecdotes and (best of all) streaming excerpts from the album ("Who's Lovin' You" is the first previewed track). The folks at the label have also made the mind-blowing decision to link to us on the site, so if you're a J5 fan who clicked through to The Second Disc, a special welcome to you! A very interesting
La-La Land Goes to "The Edge" with "Speed 2"
Bad puns all, I know. But the title at least lets you know that La-La Land continues its killer pace of getting great soundtracks to dig out from the vaults. Up for sale this week is two 20th Century Fox films from the '90s with Sony-owned soundtracks. Mark Mancina's score to Speed 2: Cruise Control, a score with more to offer than the silly, Sandra Bullock-led sequel to the action hit, makes its official debut on CD. Meanwhile, Jerry Goldsmith's score to The Edge, a David Mamet-penned nature
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
Under the Table and Dreaming (of a Better Compilation)
Last night at the Bonnaroo Music Festival, the venerable rockers of the Dave Matthews Band did an excellent job of putting the outdoor concert series to bed while kicking off yet another behemoth summer tour - their last before taking a previously-unheard-of break from touring in 2011 after some two decades on the road. The band, though still strong as ever, will benefit from the battery charge; the death of founding member LeRoi Moore in 2008 could have stopped them in their tracks, but they
Like Father, Like Son
Humorously enough, just as word spreads that a large Bob Dylan box set might be in the works, Interscope preps a catalogue compilation devoted to Mr. Zimmerman's son Jakob and his band The Wallflowers. Looking Through You - Another Collection will compile some of The Wallflowers' best-known odds and ends from singles, soundtracks and other compilations. The Wallflowers were a popular band in the late '90s alt-rock scene for a number of reasons. Yes, Jakob was the son of musical royalty, but his
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
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
Prince Week Day 5: Prince in Other Places
Prince's influence has been discussed far and wide, from fashion to music videos to the actual, Hendrixian quality of his guitar playing. But it's always unusual when the mercurial purple genius decides to directly contribute to another artist's canon, particularly since one really never knows where he's going to end up next. What follows is a chronological list of ten of Prince's most interesting "guest appearances." Half of them are actual guest appearances, the other half either songs he
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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