Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. This week's lineup includes a solo rarity from a beloved songwriter; remixes from a legendary diva; and more! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Madonna, I'll Remember EP (Warner/Rhino) (iTunes / Amazon) Madonna's 1994 hit ballad from the film With Honors, co-written with Richard Page and Patrick Leonard, anchors
In Memoriam: Melanie Safka (1947-2024)
Melanie Safka, known the world over simply as Melanie, tapped into a deep well of emotion with the powerful anthem "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" and skated into listeners' hearts with "Brand New Key." Though the singer-songwriter's U.S. hits dried up by the early 1980s, she continued to write and record in her disarming and often happily quirky style. A voice of the Vietnam generation, Melanie was content to transport audiences back to the Woodstock era while always authentically speaking
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Frank Zappa, "Over-Nite Sensation: 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition"
Had Frank Zappa gone commercial? Surely the artist who proudly embraced the slogan "No Commercial Potential" hadn't sold out to the masses. Yet, with 1973's Over-Nite Sensation, the composer-guitarist-bandleader found himself in a particularly purple patch that resulted in two consecutive Gold albums and four straight top 40 entries on the Billboard 200. The title of Over-Nite Sensation was, of course, sarcastic; the record was Zappa's seventeenth overall and twelfth with The Mothers of
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Billy Joel, "The Vinyl Collection Vol. 2"
On July 25, 2024, Billy Joel will play his 150th lifetime show at New York's Madison Square Garden. It will be the 104th show of the first-of-its-kind residency which began in 2014. Remarkably yet unsurprisingly, his final ten shows are already sold out. More remarkably - but just as unsurprisingly to anyone who's followed the singer-songwriter over the past 30 years - he's filled the cavernous arena 100+ times over the past decade without introducing a single new song. (His last two pop
Holiday Gift Guide Review: John Williams, 'Hook (The Ultimate Edition)'
I. Kindest Personal Regards When critics walked out of screening rooms for Steven Spielberg's Hook, they - not inaccurately - saw a film that possessed the childlike whimsy and rollercoaster thrills the director was a sure hand at ever since JAWS scared its way to the top of the all-time box-office charts. And yet, it was hard not to feel a bit overwhelmed by it all. "Hook is a huge party cake of a movie, with too much frosting," David Ansen opined for Newsweek. "After the first delicious bite,
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Bob Dylan, "The Complete Budokan 1978"
We're kicking off our Holiday Gift Guide Review series with a look at Bob Dylan's The Complete Budokan 1978. Long before Madonna, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift, Bob Dylan was reinventing himself. The artist who stepped onstage at Tokyo's Budokan arena in 1978 only bore superficial resemblance to the firebrand who was proclaimed a "Judas!" by an irate fan over a decade earlier at Manchester Free Trade Hall. That audience member was famously angry over the then-folkie's decision to plug in and
Release Round-Up: Week of November 17
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the many titles available today in the final "big week" of the holiday release season. We are an Amazon affiliate and earn on qualifying purchases. We're kicking things off with our two Christmas releases from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music! While Amazon's orders are unfortunately delayed, both of these titles are shipping now from Real Gone's webstore! Arthur Fiedler and The Boston Pops, The Ultimate Pops
Weekend Stream Extra: Talking Heads, "Stop Making Sense"
With the news that the theatrical re-release of Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense has exceeded the box office gross of the original film, we've given a listen to the recent release of the movie's soundtrack, now streaming everywhere, as we kick off the Weekend (Stream) early! Earlier this fall, the late Jonathan Demme's film of Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense returned to cinemas from buzzy studio A24 (Everything Everywhere All at Once, Priscilla) in a restored print. Variety has just
I'm the Slime: Zappa's "Over-Nite Sensation" Goes Super Deluxe for 50th
The title of Frank Zappa's 1973 album Over-Nite Sensation was, expectedly, dripping with sarcasm; the album was the prolific composer-bandleader's seventeenth overall release. But the "sensation" part was spot-on. The LP became Zappa's first of two U.S. gold-certified releases and an ideal entry point into his musical world. On November 3, Zappa Records and UMe celebrate the 50th anniversary of this landmark record in a variety of formats including a 4CD/1Blu-ray super deluxe edition, 2LP and
Do the Stanley: Cherry Red, Esoteric Launch Stackridge Reissue Series
Stackridge may be best-remembered today for the band's third album, 1974's The Man in the Bowler Hat. Produced by Sir George Martin, it remains their highest-charting LP. But Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings is aiming to bring all of the Stackridge discography to light with a new reissue campaign. Both 1971's self-titled debut and 1972's Friendliness are available now, with the band's next three albums all scheduled for reissue later this month and in September. Wrapped in a Hipgnosis
Learn to Work the Saxophone: Steely Dan's "Aja" Returns to Vinyl, SACD in September
UMe's Steely Dan reissue campaign - which has so far yielded remastered standard and audiophile vinyl and hybrid stereo SACD reissues of the band's first three albums Can't Buy a Thrill, Countdown to Ecstasy, and Pretzel Logic - has announced an unexpected detour. On September 29, the series will jump ahead to the sixth Dan album and arguably Donald Fagen and Walter Becker's crowning achievement: 1977's Aja. (No fear: Katy Lied and The Royal Scam will show up later.) Aja sounded - and sounds
Suffer Never: Finn Brothers' Debut Album Set for Expanded Vinyl Package (UPDATED 8/21/2023)
UPDATE (8/21/2022): More than a year after its release, fans' patience has paid off with a CD version of this title available through Needle Mythology. Orders (including vinyl and t-shirt merch bundles) will be shipped with a free enamel badge of the album's cover art and are expected to ship around October 20. ORIGINAL POST (6/1/2022): Two of the best-loved songwriters of the Antipodes are celebrating their brotherly partnership in a new deluxe vinyl package. Finn, the first album credited
Cherry Red's El Label Celebrates Burt Bacharach, Leonard Bernstein on New Box Sets
In recent months, Cherry Red's El imprint has turned its attention to a pair of legendary American composers. Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) and Burt Bacharach (1928-2023) were born just a decade apart, though Bacharach lived more than three decades longer than Bernstein. Neither man was born in New York City, but both created much of their remarkable work there. Both were proud Jewish Americans, and both wrote for the musical theatre. An American in New York: Leonard Bernstein - The City
Review: Little Feat, "Sailin' Shoes" and "Dixie Chicken" Deluxe Editions
Little Feat was no ordinary rock-and-roll band. The seeds of the California group were planted when singer-songwriter Lowell George, then playing in Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, met keyboardist Bill Payne, who had unsuccessfully auditioned for the famously tough Zappa. The pair hit it off and teamed with former Mothers bassist Roy Estrada and drummer Richard Hayward, late of George's old band The Factory, to form Little Feat. The story remains unclear as to exactly what prompted George
Let My Love Open the Door: Two Pete Townshend Classics Get Half-Speed Mastered Treatment
Today, Pete Townshend turns 78 years young. The Who frontman will be touring Europe with Roger Daltrey in June and July as well as keeping busy with other endeavors; his Tony Award-winning musical The Who's Tommy will see a major revival from original director Des McAnuff in Chicago this summer. On June 23, UMe will revisit two solo chapters of Townshend's career with half-speed mastered reissues of two solo albums, Rough Mix (1977) and Empty Glass (1980). These are just the first in a series
Legacy Reissues "Whitney Houston," "Whitney" on Vinyl
Since its opening in theatres on December 23, 2022, the Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody has earned over $56 million internationally, attesting to the ongoing power of its subject and her enduring music. I Wanna Dance with Somebody is now available on home video and digital formats, and along with the digital-only soundtrack release, her first two albums have recently returned to print in vinyl editions from Legacy Recordings. The 21-year old's debut album arrived on
You Made Me Love You: Judy Garland's Nightclub Debut Restored for Premiere Release
Judy Garland wasn't even 35 years of age when she quipped on the stage of Las Vegas' New Frontier Hotel, "That's the noisiest, loudest opening number...I'm getting a little old for it! Without taking a step, I get tired!" If the superstar was, in fact, tired, she hardly showed it. Thanks to the High Definition Tape Transfers label, the opening night of Garland's first Las Vegas engagement is now available in sparkling sound for all to enjoy. The Lost Vegas Show premieres the ebullient
Review: Bob Dylan, "Fragments - 'Time Out of Mind' Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol. 17"
The Oxford dictionary describes the phrase time out of mind as "a time in the past that was so long ago that people have no knowledge or memory of it." What was Bob Dylan getting at when he lifted the phrase for his 1997 Grammy Award-winning album? Critics and fans alike immediately seized on the notion of the record as some kind of dark farewell from an artist in the September of his years. Indeed, the album was filled with musings on lost love, mortality, hopelessness, and despair. But
What a Day That Was: Talking Heads' 'Stop Making Sense' Expanded for Vinyl, Film Reissue
Why Stop Making Sense? Why a movie? Why tour? Why do the musicians come out gradually? What will the band do next? Whe do the odd instruments come from? Are live concerts better or worse than records? Why no "special effects" in the movie? Why a big suit? Why was a digital system used for the sound? Talking Heads' now-legendary live project Stop Making Sense asked a lot of questions of the listener when it was released in 1984. Here's another one: why reissue the album? That one's easy to
Release Round-Up: Week of March 17
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! U2, Songs of Surrender (Interscope) 4CD (40 tracks): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4LP (40 tracks): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Deluxe CD (20 tracks): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada CD (16 tracks): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP (16 tracks): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada U2 is revisiting its discography on the new project Songs of Surrender. The album takes its name from the
Review: Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello, "The Songs of Bacharach and Costello"
And so this had to be/painted from memory... The news broke on the morning of February 9, 2023 that Burt Bacharach had died at the age of 94. That evening, his longtime friend and musical partner Elvis Costello opened a 10-evening residency at New York's Gramercy Theatre which ultimately saw him perform 239 unique songs from every far-flung corner of his wide-ranging catalogue. The residency became a grand tribute to Bacharach. The pre-show music piping throughout the theatre each night
In Memoriam: Burt Bacharach (1928-2023)
"I have a bridge to write." Summer 2021: I had gently clasped Burt Bacharach's hands as I thanked him - not for the first time, but for the last - for composing the melodies which had long enriched my heart. He politely accepted the compliment, his voice barely above a whisper, and quickly excused himself, disappearing into the California sunset. The reason for his exit was simple: there was more music to write. It was announced this morning that Burt passed away at the age of 94. At the
Goodness Gracious Me: Cherry Red Collects Early George Martin Productions on "A Painter in Sound"
Late producer Sir George Martin is described as A Painter in Sound on Cherry Red/El's new collection of his Pre-Beatles Productions and Classical Influences. While Martin has been anthologized in the past, most notably on the unparalleled 6-CD set Produced by George Martin in 2001, there's always room for another one - in this case, an eclectic 4-CD journey that's largely far-removed from the rock which made Martin famous. The title of the set is derived from a Martin quote repeated in its
The Weekend Stream: January 28, 2023
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing weekly review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there's plenty of great new/old music to usher you into the weekend. Today, there's some newer KISS, some obscure Duke Ellington, and a few rare cast albums - plus a way you can help out some writers in need. KISS, Sonic Boom (UMe) (iTunes / Amazon) After a mid-'90s reunion of the classic KISS line-up, the band dynamics began to shift again In the early 21st
The Sweetest Punch: "The Songs of Bacharach and Costello" Box Celebrates "Painted from Memory," More
Elvis Costello has sung jazz with The Charles Mingus Orchestra and pianist Marian McParland, explored hip-hop textures with The Roots, recorded with classical artists The Brodsky Quartet and Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, penned an album with R&B titan Allen Toussaint, and written and recorded with Paul McCartney. Yet of his many rich, felicitous collaborations, the most celebrated may well be with legendary composer Burt Bacharach. Now, that partnership which has spanned over
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