One of Birmingham's most renowned musical exports, Roy Wood trained listeners to expect the unexpected. The founder or co-founder of The Move, Electric Light Orchestra, and Wizzard, Wood hasn't been among the most prolific artists of the rock era - with just four proper solo albums to his name - but he's surely one of the most inventive. Late last year, Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint reissued Wood's second solo LP, Mustard, as an expanded edition. Now, the label has returned to the
Play Tetris Til My Eyes Fall Out: The Second Disc's Bandcamp Friday Picks, October 2020
The month's best new release day is back! Since March, indie music retailer Bandcamp has waived their share of revenue for indie artists and labels using their platform to give "the little guys" a leg up in the face of the pandemic. The result was more music bought by more fans than any day on the site, a record broken on the first Friday of May. Bandcamp Fridays have since taken place in June, July, August, and September - plus the first of an annual occurrence when the service will donate its
Release Round-Up: Week of October 2
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Herb Alpert, Herb Alpert Is... (Herb Alpert Presents) 3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 5LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Herb Alpert Is...a trumpeter, songwriter, producer, artist, entrepreneur, philanthropist. The list goes on. To tie in with director John Scheinfeld's documentary of that name premiering this fall, Alpert's own Herb Alpert Presents label is releasing a 3-CD or 5-LP deluxe box set tracing his
The Walrus and Me: "Looking Through a Glass Onion" Collects Pop-Psych Beatles Covers
Let me take you down... The Beatles' songs were so sturdy and well-crafted that artists such as Matt Monro and Ella Fitzgerald became early adopters. But from the start, John, Paul, George, and Ringo's contemporaries had been just as likely as the older generation to mine their songbook. As the sixties continued and the Beatles ushered in the shift from pop to rock (minus the "and roll"), similarly youthful artists brought their own increasingly adventurous spins to the lads' material.
Nobody Does It Better: 'The Best of Bond...James Bond' Gets Update and Vinyl Release
With a new James Bond film set to shake (not stir) audiences in November, a longtime compilation of the super-spy's famed film themes is getting a new iteration on November 20. The Best of Bond...James Bond offers a stellar 25-track overview of the pop themes that scored nearly all of the films based on Ian Fleming's famed British secret agent. There are 14 U.K. Top 10 hits and two Academy Award winners herein - altogether, a formidable, half-century-plus musical portrait of one of cinema's
Short Takes: Bowie Box, Covering '90s and Early '00s, Planned for 2021
David Bowie's official website has announced plans for a fifth epoch-covering box set to release next year, after delaying an alternate version of said collection for a 2020 release. In a brief post, the late singer's website confirms that the follow-up to the four career-spanning album boxes - 2015's Five Years (1969-1973), 2016's Who Can I Be Now? (1974-1976), 2017's A New Career in a New Town (1977-1982) and 2018's Loving The Alien (1983-1988) - will cover the widest span of time yet: 1993
The Second Disc's Guide To Record Store Day Drop 2, September 26!
2020 has been a bit of a rollercoaster and Record Store Day 2020 is no exception: once scheduled in April, it moved forward a few months, and is now spread out across three Saturdays in the summer and fall. The Record Store Day Drop in August proved a success and round two, set for tomorrow, September 26, is sure to please fans of all genres and eras. It's a diverse list full of exciting releases that you can only find through your local brick-and-mortar record store (or through their online
They'll Take You There: Craft Recordings Releases Staple Singers' "Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection" on CD
Earlier this year, Craft Recordings released The Staple Singers' Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection in vinyl and digital editions. The set compiled all of The Staple Singers' 1968-1974 albums for the Stax label plus a volume of rarities, non-LP single sides, and live recordings. On November 13, that box will come to CD as remastered from the original analog tapes by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl. Come Go with Me: The Stax Collection features the following original studio albums: Soul
Almost Hear You Sigh: Record Store Day U.K. Announces New Releases, Spotlight on The Yardbirds' "Roger the Engineer"
Tomorrow marks Record Store Day Drop 2. Recently, RSD U.K. announced 23 additions to their drop lists for September and October. While we know for sure that The Rolling Stones' upcoming Steel Wheels Live 10" picture disc will be a worldwide release, it's unclear at the time of writing whether all of the other releases will be distributed across the pond. Still, with so many retailers taking their business online given the COVID-19 pandemic, it's altogether possible that customers in the
Release Round-Up: Week of September 25
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Diana Ross & The Supremes, Sing and Perform Funny Girl (Second Disc/Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music) Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records debut Diana Ross & The Supremes Sing and Perform "Funny Girl": The Ultimate Edition, a deluxe 2-CD celebration of the classic 1968 Motown-meets-Broadway gem. Greatly building upon the digital-only Expanded Edition issued in 2014, The Ultimate Edition
Review: The Rolling Stones' "Goats Head Soup 2020" Box Set Is Sure To Satisfy Your Hunger
Goats Head Soup: as far as Rolling Stones albums go, it's an outlier. It's not a "landmark album" in the same way as Sticky Fingers, it didn't defy expectations in the same way as Exile. It didn't herald a new sound like Beggars Banquet or Let It Bleed. Now, that's not to say it's not a great album, but it just feels...different. After the one-two-three-four punches of Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and the magnum opus Exile on Main Street, it makes sense that fans had long
Here Comes My Baby: Cherry Red Collects The Tremeloes' "Complete CBS Recordings"
When they signed to CBS Records in 1966, The Tremeloes were seeking a second act. Founded as a beat group in 1958, the Dagenham band fronted by Brian Poole scored numerous hits on the U.K. Singles Chart including covers of "Twist and Shout," "Candy Man," "I Want Candy," and "Do You Love Me," the latter of which reached No. 1. But when Poole left the group that bore his name in 1966, his bandmates found themselves at a crossroads. Yet they pressed onward, and a move from Decca to CBS yielded
Release Round-Up: Week of September 18
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! John Coltrane, Giant Steps: 60th Anniversary Edition (Rhino) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada John Coltrane's 1960 Atlantic debut was entitled Giant Steps, and indeed, that's what the saxophonist took on this groundbreaking album. Intense, dark, probing: the color of his saxophone was all his own. Rhino is celebrating 60 years of Giant Steps with a multi-format anniversary edition
Riding On The Metro: Berlin's 'Pleasure Victim' Expanded by Rubellan Remasters
Earlier this month, the Rubellan Remasters label issued their latest expanded CD - a bonus-track packed version of Berlin's breakthrough album, Pleasure Victim. Released in 1982, Pleasure Victim found the California band (no Europeans here, despite the name) bouncing back from a few years of difficulties on the club scene. In 1979, lead singer Teri Nunn had left the band, leaving the rest of the group's members to record a debut album with another vocalist. When Nunn rejoined, the group began
A Miracle Happened: "A Cellarful of Motown" Returns with Gems from The Temptations, Martha and The Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, Kim Weston, Blinky, and More
The classic Motown vaults are, once again, open. This Friday, the U.K.'s Caroline label will release the long-anticipated fifth volume of A Cellarful of Motown, the rarities series which last saw a volume in 2010. But this 2-CD, 43-song collection promises to have been worth the wait as it features previously unreleased and new-to-CD tracks from such household name artists as Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas, Gladys Knight and The Pips, and The (Detroit) Spinners
Goddamn Electric: Pantera's 'Reinventing The Steel' Gets Remixed and Expanded
Rhino is reinventing Pantera's final album as a remixed and expanded edition this fall, for its 20th anniversary. Reinventing The Steel, released in the spring of 2000, is coming back October 30 as a bonus-packed 3CD set that pairs the remastered original album with a brand-new remix by the band's longtime producer Terry Date. (This album was one of their only heavy metal works not to be produced by Date, who had collaborated with the group since 1990's Cowboys From Hell.) The set also
Dirty Old Town: The Pogues' 'BBC Sessions' RSD Release To Be Expanded On CD
Rhino is expanding one of their recent Record Store Day "drop" vinyl sets for CD: a collection of BBC performances by Celtic-punk group The Pogues. The BBC Sessions 1984-86 features six sets recorded over three years by the raucous ensemble, including a 1984 set for John Peel's radio program when they were still going by the full name of Pogue Mahone (a rough approximation of the Gaelic phrase for "kiss my ass"). Two Peel sets, one each for David "Kid" Jensen and Phil Kennedy (released for
Review: July, "The Complete Recordings" Traces Over 50 Years of the Beloved Psych-Rock Band
They might not be a household name, but July is a band you ought to know. The U.K. psych-rockers have garnered a cult following since the release of their self-titled 1968 record. Original mono copies sell for more than three grand online, but its not just the scarcity and desirability of the album that raises eyebrows; it's the high quality of the music. Though their singles may not have charted back in the day, the five-piece Ealing-based group is still considered by psych-rock enthusiasts
Born To Take The Highway: Joni Mitchell's Early Years Celebrated With New Box Set of Unreleased Music, 'Joni Mitchell Archives, Volume 1'
If you're as big a fan of Joni Mitchell as we are here at The Second Disc, you probably did a double-take at that headline. And with good reason. Joni Mitchell - the artist, songwriter, and singer who has created some of the most influential music of all time - has a reputation for not looking back. Despite her considerable legacy and personal archive full of treasures, it wasn't until recently that she began began really celebrating her past. Films, tribute concerts, and a recent book of art
Elevate Your Soul: U2 Announces 20th Anniversary Editions of "All That You Can't Leave Behind"
It's a beautiful day, or at least it will be on October 30, when U2 will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their acclaimed album All That You Can't Leave Behind. It was the album that put the band back on the charts and heralded something of a return to form after some experimental excursions in the mid-to-late '90s. The Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno-produced album won seven Grammy Awards including Best Rock Album, Song of the Year ("Beautiful Day") and, for the only time in history, two
Suddenly It's Yesterday: Demon Reissues R&B Classics from Freda Payne, 100 Proof Aged in Soul, More
Today, we're taking a look at an array of recent R&B/soul vinyl releases from Demon Music Group! Demon has been home to Holland-Dozier-Holland's Invictus catalogue for years now, and after a comprehensive series of CD reissues, the label has turned its attention to vinyl. Freda Payne's Contact was the Detroit songstress' second album for Invictus and a further showcase for her extraordinary vocal gifts. Freda had already recorded for labels including ABC-Paramount and MGM when an old
Review: The Doobie Brothers, "Quadio"
"What the people need is a way to make 'em smile/It ain't so hard to do if you know how," goes The Doobie Brothers' "Listen to the Music," the opening song (and lead single) off the San Jose, California band's sophomore album Toulouse Street. The Doobies knew how - and so does Quadio, the new, four-Blu-ray box set recently released by Warner Records and Rhino collecting the band's second through fifth albums in their original quadraphonic and stereo mixes. Quadio follows Chicago's box set of
Review: The Rivieras and The Duprees, "The Coed Singles"
New York has been the epicenter of many a musical genre, from salsa to Broadway. One that's still synonymous with the city - and indeed, with America's east coast - is doo-wop. Its golden age was a relatively short one; some might say 1955-1963, or maybe even 1957-1959, or that it started earlier in the fifties. The sweet vocal group sound of doo-wop's street-corner symphonies was simultaneously innocent and sophisticated, with nonsense syllables married to pretty, tight harmonies and
Oh No, Not Me: Tony Visconti Remixes David Bowie's 'The Man Who Sold The World' For 50th Anniversary (UPDATED WITH ORDER LINKS)
David Bowie's third album The Man Who Sold The World will be remixed and reissued for its 50th anniversary this fall. The album will be re-released November 6 - two days after its exact anniversary - with a new mix of nearly the entire album by original producer Tony Visconti, available on CD, LP and high-resolution digital formats. (The sole exception: Side 1 closer "After All," which Visconti felt he could not improve on.) This release will feature a new version of the album's original
Funny and You Don't Know Why: The Second Disc's Bandcamp Friday Picks for September
On March 20, as the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic was just starting to be understood, indie music retailer Bandcamp made the bold choice of waiving their share of revenue for artists and labels who were cancelling shows and delaying album releases left and right. The result was more music bought by more fans than any day on the site, a record broken on the first Friday of May. Bandcamp Fridays have since taken place in June, July and August - plus the first of an annual occurrence when the
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