The name of the Copacabana conjures up many memories: maybe of Lola’s love triangle with Tony and Rico, maybe of Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz trying to get their husbands there in the very first episode of I Love Lucy to air. The famous New York nightspot opened in 1940 on East 60th Street, playing host to the biggest and brightest names in entertainment and becoming synonymous with sophistication and glamour. It made headlines when it ended its “no blacks” policy, playing host to acclaimed
Step Inside Love: Cilla Black's Historic Recordings with George Martin Collected In Complete 5 CD/1 DVD Box Set [UPDATED 4/23]
What's it all about, Cilla? Though "Alfie" and "Anyone Who Had a Heart" are very much the property of Ms. Dionne Warwick in the United States, Liverpool's Cilla Black can fairly stake claim to them across the pond. Born Priscilla Maria Veronica White, the protégé of Brian Epstein and close Beatle pal scored a string of beloved hit singles at the height of Swinging London, though her profile has long remained under the radar in America. Well, not if The Second Disc has anything to say about
R.I.P. Levon Helm (1940-2012)
American popular music has lost another one of the greats with today's passing of singer/drummer Levon Helm, 71. Though few groups would have the audacity to name themselves The Band, that’s exactly what Helm, Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel did. The former Hawks crystallized the sound that spawned a thousand imitators, returning rock to its most stripped-down American roots. The Band backed Bob Dylan, was admired by The Beatles, and epitomized the burgeoning
Woo-Hoo! Blur Mega Box Set Coming This Summer
While Blur frontman Damon Albarn has been less than positive about the future of the band following this year's reunion tour, EMI's catalogue team would like you to think otherwise with an upcoming high profile reissue campaign collecting the band's discography. Blur 21, to be released July 30 in the U.K. in celebration of the anniversary of the group's debut album Leisure (1991), collates all of the influential Britpop band's albums, from Leisure to Think Tank (2003), pairs each with a bonus
R.I.P. America's Oldest Teenager, Dick Clark (1929-2012)
It's with a heavy heart that we pass on the news of the death earlier today of Dick Clark, 82, the legendary entertainment impresario, one-time disk jockey and eternal host of American Bandstand whose place in the annals of music history can't be denied. The report was initially published by TMZ but later confirmed by sources including ABC News. Our memories of the great man's appearances on game shows like The $10,000 Pyramid and programs like New Year's Rockin' Eve are too many to recount,
Review: Janis Joplin, "The Pearl Sessions"
One dictionary defines "pearl" as an object both "hard" and "lustrous," synonymous with "gem" or "jewel." Couldn't all of those words also describe Janis Joplin? Pearl was, of course, the name bestowed upon the singer by her final group, The Kozmic Blues Band, and the title of her final, posthumously released album from 1971. Pearl has arrived on CD once more from Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings under the title The Pearl Sessions (88697 84224 2), expanding the original 10-track album
Review: Donovan, "The Essential Donovan"
Dear Donovan: what's it been like being you? The enigmatic Scotsman born Donovan Philips Leitch has worn many colours since bursting onto the music scene in 1965: the guitar-slinging Woody Guthrie disciple of "Catch the Wind," the mystical folkie of "Season of the Witch," the lysergic hippie of "Sunshine Superman," the sinister rock narrator of "Hurdy Gurdy Man." Though he's never retired, the poet/troubadour has maintained a low profile in recent years. He's only sporadically emerged with
Dead and (Real) Gone: Grateful Dead, Mick Fleetwood's Zoo, Durocs, Germs and More Coming In May
It’s time to book passage on the Real Gone train for next month’s trip from Philadelphia to San Francisco, as the enterprising label has announced its latest, wide-ranging group of titles all slated for late May release. Returning to print are live shows from The Grateful Dead as well as a number of albums from the Cameo Parkway library, while rare LPs from The Germs, The Durocs, Jerry Reed and Mick Fleetwood all get the deluxe treatment for the first time. Three titles are making their CD
Release Round-Up: Week of April 17
Janis Joplin, The Pearl Sessions (Columbia/Legacy) Essentially a new double-disc deluxe edition of Joplin's final album, with mono single mixes and a heap of mostly unreleased session outtakes as bonus tracks. Little Richard,
The Hungry Years: Neil Sedaka's "Tra-La Days" and "Overnight Success" Arrive on CD, 10cc and Elton John Guest
From “Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen” to “Breaking Up is Hard to Do,” Neil Sedaka drew on a seemingly endless well of onomatopoeic hooks to enliven his early rock-and-roll records, leaving no Tra-la-la or do-be-doo untouched. The Juilliard-trained musician and native of Brooklyn, New York was one of the relatively rare few rockers of his generation equally adept at both performing and songwriting. As active members of Don Kirshner’s Aldon Music stable (alongside Carole King and Gerry Goffin as
Take Off the Mask: Greg Phillinganes' "Pulse" Expanded by Big Break Records
Never a label to count out in the R&B reissue game, one of Big Break Records' latest reissues is guaranteed to put a smile on the faces of liner note hounds everywhere: Pulse, the second solo album from keyboard legend Greg Phillinganes. While the 28-year-old Phillinganes may not have been a household name when Pulse was released at the end of 1984, anyone with a serious ear for pop and R&B had likely already heard his work: from 1976 to 1981, he served as a keyboardist for Stevie
King of Cool: Career-Spanning Dean Martin Box Set "Collected Cool" Coming in June, Uncut Dino DVDs Arriving in May
How lucky can one guy be? Although Dean Martin's exhaustive catalogue has been definitively anthologized on four massive box sets released by Germany's Bear Family label between 1997 and 2001, unheard material from the King of Cool continues to be discovered. Reporting in February 2011 about the then-recent Cool Then, Cool Now 2-CD/book box set, this writer opined: "A true career retrospective box with material from each label and era would be essential for those Martin fans looking for more
Bacharach, Sondheim, Lloyd Webber Honored by Melissa Manchester, Dave Koz, Stephen Bishop and More on New Kritzerland Releases
Kritzerland is reaching into the vaults of Los Angeles’ S.T.A.G.E. charitable organization for three star-filled releases celebrating composers who need no introduction: Burt Bacharach, Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber. These live concert recordings feature renowned artists from the worlds of pop (Melissa Manchester, Stephen Bishop) and jazz (Dave Koz, Ann Hampton Callaway) plus stars from stage, screen and television (Tyne Daly, Felicity Huffman, Len Cariou, Charlotte Rae, Donna
Here She Comes Again: Cracker Barrel Offers Reissued Dolly Parton Live Set On CD/DVD
With a catalogue of over fifty studio albums, both solo and as a duet partner, and a reported 3,000+ songs, it's hard to dispute Dolly Rebecca Parton's standing as a reigning queen of country music. Still, such an appellation sells Parton short, seeing as she's also an actress, author, entrepreneur and philanthropist with multiple Grammy Awards, a Kennedy Center Honor, the National Medal of Arts, and Oscar and Tony nominations. Even when crossing over onto the pop charts or courting a wide
Get Down: Gilbert O'Sullivan's "I'm A Writer, Not A Fighter" Remastered and Expanded
Are you ready for another trip through Gilbertville? The fine folks at Salvo and Union Square Music have just released the latest title in their acclaimed Gilbert O’Sullivan reissue series, and though the album is called I’m a Writer, Not a Fighter, it might as well have been named Another Side of Gilbert O’Sullivan. On this 1973 set, the singer/songwriter placed less emphasis on the acoustic piano, his usual instrument of choice, and more on keyboards. These electronic textures musically
I Second That Emotion: Thelma Jones' Columbia Debut Reissued On Big Break Label
Trivia time: name the singer who recorded the original version of “The House That Jack Built.” If you guessed Thelma Jones, you go to the head of the soul music class! While at the small Barry Records label, it was Jones who introduced the song later made famous by Aretha Franklin, but for reasons lost to time, the singer was never able to turn her solid-gold pipes into chart success. Her discography isn’t very deep, but a career highlight of the North Carolina native can now be reappraised
By Grabthar's Hammer! "Galaxy Quest" Score Unearthed from Vaults
With all the Star Trek soundtrack love expressed in the reissue world lately, it's awesome to report the premiere release of the score to the best Trek satire there ever was. The soundtrack to the excellent 1999 comedy Galaxy Quest is making its commercial debut from La-La Land Records. Galaxy Quest is the tale of a group of struggling actors known for playing the crew of a short-lived cult favorite show of the same name. Tim Allen is the William Shatner-esque captain, Sigourney Weaver the
Get It On: Marc Bolan Goes Super Deluxe with T. Rex "Electric Warrior," 2-CD, 1-CD Versions Also Available [UPDATED]
Before David Bowie was Ziggy Stardust, Marc Bolan was the Electric Warrior. A major turning point in the glam-rock revolution of the U.K., the Electric Warrior album (1971) effectively buried the psychedelic folk rock of Tyrannosaurus Rex and immortalized the trashy hard rock of T. Rex. True, one successful single (“Ride a White Swan”) and eponymous album had already introduced the T. Rex name in 1970, and the single “Hot Love” first boasted the expanded band line-up of Bolan, Mickey Finn, Steve
Love So Fine: Nick DeCaro's "Works" Features James Taylor, B.J. Thomas, Andy Williams, More
Though the A&M stands for (Herb) Alpert and (Jerry) Moss, A&M Records has meant a great many things to a great many people since its founding in 1962. Those who came of age in the 1980s may think of the famous logo adorning records by Sting, Janet Jackson or Bryan Adams. In the 1970s, the label was home to The Carpenters, Cat Stevens and Joe Cocker. In the 1960s, A&M was not only a label but a “sound.” That sound was a certain, beguiling style of sophisticated adult soft-pop
Put Your Hands Together: Massive 10-CD Philadelphia International Box Due [UPDATED]
Philadelphia International Records has turned 40, and you're invited to the party! Sony's Legacy Recordings thrilled fans earlier this year with the archival release of Golden Gate Groove, a Don Cornelius-hosted concert that brought together many of the label's biggest and brightest stars, from the O'Jays to Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes featuring Teddy Pendergrass. The folks across the pond at the Harmless label have already dropped Philadelphia International: The Re-Edits, with 21 tracks
First Stop on the Love Train: The O'Jays' "Imperial Years" Collected On Shout Label
The music business has always had a funny way of turning artists into overnight sensations. But although The O’Jays achieved widespread fame on the Philadelphia International label with 1972’s one-two punch of “Back Stabbers” and “Love Train,” the group hardly broke through overnight. As the Mascots, the Ohio natives recorded their first single in 1960. As the O’Jays (named after their manager, Cleveland DJ Eddie O’Jay), they recorded for the Daco, Apollo and Little Star labels. It was
Bellamy Brothers Release Box Set Through Reader's Digest
Country-pop crossovers The Bellamy Brothers are releasing a box set through Reader's Digest, collating four discs' worth of hits with rare and new tracks. Howard and David Bellamy, self-taught brothers from Florida who enjoyed mixing traditional country sounds with rock/pop influences, first enjoyed success behind the scenes of the music industry. David wrote Top 5 country hit "Spiders and Snakes" for Jim Stafford, while Howard became his road manager. (Trivia alert: Stafford's previous manager
Just The Tracks, Ma'am: Ace Collects "Criminal Records" On New Compilation
Long before CSI, there was Dragnet. The granddaddy of the television procedural drama, Dragnet actually began on radio in 1949, moving to television in 1951, where it has remained a staple ever since in both repeats and revivals. So it’s appropriate that the ominous theme to Dragnet both opens and closes Ace’s rip-roaring new compilation, Criminal Records, subtitled “Law, Disorder and the Pursuit of Vinyl Justice.” Between Ray Anthony’s treatment of that famous theme and Stan Freberg’s
California Feelin': The Beach Boys' Al Jardine Reissues and Expands "Postcard From California"
Dennis Wilson did it in 1977. Carl Wilson did it in 1981. So did Mike Love. Brian Wilson waited until 1988. But it wasn't until 2010 that Al Jardine released his first solo studio album. Entitled A Postcard from California, Jardine had to content himself with a limited release via Amazon's MOD (Made on Demand) system. Now, with the surviving Beach Boys reuniting for a hotly-anticipated 50th anniversary tour beginning later this month and gearing up for the band's first studio album since
EMI Releases Second Budget Box by UFO
UFO are getting their second budget box set from EMI in the U.K., covering the band's work in the '80s on Chrysalis Records. A follow-up to last year's budget set from the label, The Chrysalis Years Volume 2 follows the hard-rocking band through several periods of transition. In 1978, virtuosic guitarist Michael Schenker, formerly of Scorpions, left the band, to be replaced by Paul "Tonka" Chapman, the band's guitarist from 1974 to 1975. (This was far from the only lineup change through the
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