If you went into theatres in the summer of 1987 to see Predator, you might have expected a rote action film with Arnold Schwarzenegger and nothing more. On the surface, there's nothing that would have you expect anything else. The Austrian Oak leads a team of soldiers through an attempted rescue mission in South America. Sounds like any other action movie from the '80s, right? But then you catch those quick bursts of infrared images. The distorted sound. The unearthly snarling. And you realize
Reissue Theory: Sting - "The Art of the Heart"
This week's Reissue Theory is something a bit different: a proposal to reissue a record that's never actually been released! When people talk about phenomenal live artists, the conversation doesn't often turn toward Sting's solo career. The Police were a hell of a live act - they built their career on constant touring all over the world - but Sting's solo career, however good, always has an air of stuffiness to it. How could the same singer currently on tour with a symphony orchestra ever be
The Second Disc Interview #1: A Soulful Chat with Harry Weinger
It is with the greatest pride that The Second Disc presents its first-ever interview, bringing you closer to the catalogue music world we all love so much. Our first interviewee is one of the most notable names from the world of reissues. Harry Weinger, vice-president of A&R for Universal Music Enterprises, has been part of the music business for more than 30 years, writing for publications like Rolling Stone, Vibe, Billboard and Cashbox before becoming a staff writer for PolyGram's
Of Panthers and Baby Elephants: "The Essential Henry Mancini" Coming Soon
Henry Mancini’s film score work has been anthologized numerous times, and the latest such release is due August 24 from Legacy as part of their ongoing The Essential… series. The Essential Henry Mancini is a 2-disc overview containing 36 tracks, dating between 1958 and 1983. During that time, Mancini was one of Hollywood’s most prolific composers, creating memorable themes for the big and little screens alike. Mancini’s longterm collaboration with Blake Edwards ranks with the Danny Elfman/Tim
British Invasion, Redux: New Sets Due from The Searchers and Petula Clark
While the original British Invasion is now just a few years south of 50, its music continues to endure. The Second Disc is pleased to report on a trio of new releases coming our way from two of the U.K.’s seminal artists, The Searchers and Petula Clark. One of the best and most successful bands to come out of Liverpool, The Searchers may have toiled in the shadow of that other band from Liverpool, but hits like “Sugar and Spice,” “Pins and Needles” and “When You Walk in the Room” remain some of
Back Tracks: The Apple Tree, Part II - The Beatles, Sort Of
What has it been, two weeks since The Second Disc promised a continuation of our Back Tracks series regarding the Apple Records discography? Regardless of the gap, it's time to continue our look back. Part 1 covered all the previous reissues of the records that are to be reissued in October. Part 2 will cover all the Apple releases that involve The Beatles; by this, we mean anything that had a Beatle involved by name.* (For the sake of clarity, we're not including anything actually by The
More Score to Adore
With no shortage of catalogue film score news and announcements in the past week, The Second Disc adds to that with two releases from Intrada and a few rumblings about La La Land. First, the releases: Lalo Schifrin's score to the newspaper drama The Mean Season and George Delerue's fanciful score to the Glenn Close comedy Maxie, both released in 1985, are getting their first-ever releases as part of Intrada's Special Collection. Both albums feature a new sequencing experiment for the label: big
The First-Ever Second Disc Ticket Giveaway Extravaganza!
It is with extreme pleasure that The Second Disc presents its first-ever giveaway, courtesy of Sony's RED Distribution. It's a slight deviation from the usual catalogue-oriented affairs, but your humble correspondent couldn't resist the opportunity to bring you, the reader, some neat (and free!) stuff. The artist in question is Chris Shiflett, currently the lead guitarist for The Foo Fighters and also known for his work with Me First and The Gimme Gimmes, Jackson United, Viva Death and,
Friday Feature: "Ghostbusters"
For whatever cosmic reason, 1984 was a huge cosmic intersection for pop music and film. Prince exploded into the national consciousness with Purple Rain, Kenny Loggins continued his run as America's go-to soundtrack guy with his contributions to Footloose. Stevie Wonder called The Woman in Red to say he loved her, Harold Faltermeyer helped make Eddie Murphy a superstar with "Axel F." from Beverly Hills Cop. Even Phil Collins had a soundtrack hit, against all odds. And then there was
Dear Apple, Your Track Lists Are Showing
Our resident Beatles/Apple sage Phil Cohen noted The Second Disc that there was some preliminary info on the track lists for the upcoming Apple reissues. To quote him, from a comment on our Back Tracks post on previous issues of these albums (Part 2 is due very soon - we promise - and will cover previous reissues of all the other material on Apple, including The Beatles-oriented stuff): Some preliminary info about the Apple releases is available via a link at The Beatles official website. There
"Batman," "Krull" to Be Expanded by La-La Land
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AdEHOta-Uc] La-La Land Records has announced its next batch of catalogue soundtrack reissues - and they're two big names to fans of '80s action/fantasy films. Danny Elfman's iconic score to the 1989 film version of Batman and James Horner's music from Krull (1983) are getting lavish expanded releases for the month of July. Batman, part of La-La Land's Expanded Archival Collection series, will feature, for the first time ever, the full score as
Back Tracks: Rupert Holmes
“If you like pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain”…Come on, you know how it goes, sing along…“If you’re not into yoga, if you have half a brain…” So goes the song that got Rupert Holmes into the record books as singer/songwriter of the last No. 1 hit of the 1970s and the first of the 1980s. While it may be the most famous song penned by the idiosyncratic artist/composer/producer (and collaborator of artists ranging from Streisand to Sparks!), it’s merely the tip of the iceberg for Rupert
Back Tracks: R.E.M. - The I.R.S. Years
Today, the 25th anniversary reissue of R.E.M.'s Fables of the Reconstruction hits stores. Athens, Georgia's favorite rock band has spent the past five years or so establishing their place in the pop-rock firmament: since 2006, the band's early recordings for I.R.S. Records - a six-year span between 1982 and 1987 - have been the center of much catalogue attention from EMI and Universal (each has a piece of the I.R.S. catalogue). The four members of the band - vocalist Michael Stipe, guitarist
Back Tracks: The Apple Tree, Part I
The news of the Apple Records catalogue getting a new remastering and reissuing is one of the many catalogue stories one should file under "cautious optimism." It is awesome to have these classic, underappreciated records from luminaries like Badfinger, James Taylor and Billy Preston back into local record shops, bearing fresh digital remasters by the team that did a pretty darn good job on last year's Beatles remasters. But there are things we have to remember as fans. First, pretty much all
Reissue Theory: D'Angelo, "Brown Sugar"
The music industry is too often based upon unreachable expectations. An artist will sell millions of copies and gain critical acclaim and widespread public admiration on one album, and get lambasted come the next record for not perfectly matching the arc of their predecessor. Ridiculously, nobody takes the time out to realize that holy crap, for some fleeting moment, an artist unified the public through their music. Even if an artist is only fleetingly consistent (like Guns N' Roses) or
Starr-Struck: Vini Poncia and Jackie Lomax, Reissued
Oh my, my! Ringo Starr turned 70 on July 7 and celebrated with a concert at Radio City Music Hall and an afternoon “Peace and Love” celebration. After the breakup of The Beatles, few would have believed what a prolific career the former Richard Starkey would have; his 15th studio album, Y Not, saw release via Hip-O Records just this past January. Ringo’s always gotten by, well, with a little help from his friends. His first solo LP, 1970’s Sentimental Journey, found George Martin in the
Bobbing for Apple in October
Well, it's happening: NME is reporting that Apple Records remasters are on their way October 25. No label has been specified (recall the rumors that Rhino, not EMI, was working on these), but the albums in question have been. Cautious optimism abounds, as there hasn't been any discussion of bonus tracks or any additional material. (UPDATE 7/7/2010: An official release has been issued and can be read here. Looks like EMI is doing these, with promises of some bonus material and digital releases -
July 4th Special Review: Frank Sinatra, "America, I Hear You Singing"
“I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,” Walt Whitman famously wrote in 1900. In early 1964, the country was still recovering from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and as in so many times of turmoil, artists stepped up to raise their voices in song and perhaps lend comfort and assurance. One such artist was Frank Sinatra. While his many other loves have been well-documented, love of country surely ranked high among them. A lifelong civil rights champion and proud
Friday Feature - "Jaws: The Revenge"
Let's get the facts out of the way first: Jaws: The Revenge (1987), the third sequel to one of the best horror films of all time, is terrible. It is quite possibly the worst movie ever made. It is so bad that I once watched the film with a friend and we ended up taking a break (with the film, not with our friendship, though that could have just as easily happened). The plot is ludicrous: Ellen Brody (Lorraine Gary), the widow of Roy Scheider's heroic police chief from the first two Jaws films,
Apple, Cored
A quick, relatively inconsequential bit from gossipy gadfly Roger Friedman: he's apparently getting word that EMI/Capitol is planning to start overhauling the much-in-need-of-overhauling catalogue of Apple Records. As any Beatlemaniac can tell you, Apple Records was The Beatles' own label, created in 1968 (part and parcel of the whole Apple Corps unit The Fab Four had spearheaded). Although the band broke up not long after its creation, Apple would be the home to several notable names through
Loesser is Always More: Happy Birthday, Frank Loesser!
While his name may not be instantly recognizable today, many of the songs penned by Frank Loesser most certainly are: “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” “Heart and Soul,” “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?,” “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat.” The man himself passed away in 1969, but his catalog lives on. June 29 would have marked Loesser's 100th birthday, and Sony’s Masterworks Broadway division marks the centennial with this week’s release of the 19-track compilation Heart and Soul: Celebrating the
They'll Be Compiled, in a Week or Two
The a-ha reissue/compilation frenzy continues. The band's official Web site just announced another compilation from Rhino Records, just months after last compilation The Singles 1984-2004 got a domestic release. This new set, 25, features two discs' worth of hits and favorite album tracks from every one of the band's albums, including the new farewell single "Butterfly, Butterfly (The Last Hurrah)." Pretty much everything that's on The Singles 1984-2004 (and reaching a bit further, the 1991
Reissue Theory: The Tubes, "Outside Inside"
The music industry is a crazy place. One year your band's putting on a crazy stage show that equally satirizes and utilizes the grandest excesses of rock, the next minute you've got a hit single with most of the members of Toto for support. Such is the tale of The Tubes, one of many ambitious, underappreciated bands from the '70s and '80s. During the band's early tenure on A&M from 1975 to 1981, they had a significant following thanks to their funny songs (first single "White Punks on Dope"
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