When it comes to chronicling the various regional iterations of rock and soul, Ace Records has few equals. The U.K. label's Kent imprint has two recent, rarities-packed collections touching on two American locales and their contributions to popular music. Dave Hamilton's Detroit Soul Volume Two brings together 24 tracks spanning the 1960s-1980s from Hamilton's small but prolific Motor City studios. Hamilton had been a presence on the Detroit musical landscape since the late 1940s, and
Release Round-Up: Week of February 5
Welcome to February's first Release Round-Up! Elton John, Wonderful Crazy Night (Island/UMe) Deluxe Edition CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Standard Edition CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Box Set: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Sir Elton returns with his 32nd studio album! Featuring his longtime band and production by T Bone Burnett, Wonderful Crazy Night returns Elton to his upbeat, piano
Feelin' Groovy: Now Sounds Collects Harpers Bizarre's "Complete Singles"
Now Sounds is back with its first release of 2016, and with it, the label is spreading some California sunshine. Harpers Bizarre's The Complete Singles Collection 1965-1970 compiles all 26 sides issued on 45 RPM singles by Warner Bros. Records, including tracks from the group's early incarnation as The Tikis and numerous mono mixes never before available on CD. The resulting release, which follows Now Sounds' reissues of Harpers' Feelin' Groovy and Anything Goes albums, is a refreshing journey
RPM Collects Mod-Rockers The Mickey Finn, Reissues Two Albums From Tim Rose
Cherry Red's RPM label closed out 2015 on a high note with a couple of releases in today's spotlight, from mod rockers The Mickey Finn and singer-songwriter Tim Rose. The Mickey Finn traveled in the same circles as The Rolling Stones and The Pretty Things, but despite some very close calls, the band never hit the big time. Garden of My Mind: The Complete Recordings collects The Mickey Finn's 1964-1967 Blue Beat, Oriole, Columbia, Polydor and Direction singles along with previously unreleased
Popsicles, Icicles and More: Ace Collects The Best of The Murmaids
Ace Records has recently made quite a splash with the first-ever comprehensive compendium from one-hit wonder girl group The Murmaids. But as the collection so accurately titled A Few of the Things We Love reveals, the girls had more to offer than just "Popsicles and Icicles." This collection is pure girl group manna! That nostalgic composition by the young David Gates, pre-"Make It with You" and "Baby I'm a-Want You" fame, of course kicks off this 21-track anthology comprising The
Heat It Up: Groove Line Tells "The Salsoul Orchestra Story: 40th Anniversary Collection"
The title of The Salsoul Orchestra's second album said it all - Nice 'n' Naasty. The soul-disco orchestra, originally under the baton of MFSB alumnus Vincent Montana Jr., could serve up nice, shimmering and lushly elegant soundscapes...and naasty floor-filling grooves that practically demanded you hit the dancefloor! Happily, the group has recently received a lavish tribute in the form of a sizzling 3-CD collection from Groove Line Records (the label responsible for the recent, definitive
SPECIAL FEATURE! "The Grease Megamix" Is the Word: Inside an Unlikely International Hit
In the 45 years since Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey premiered their musical Grease in a trolley barn-turned-blues club in Chicago, the show has taken on a life unlike any other theatrical production in America, or even the world. There have been 11 different major productions of the show throughout the U.S. and U.K., including a record-breaking 3,388-performance run on Broadway, five runs on London's West End between 1979 and 2007 and three national tours; an internationally-acclaimed film
Review: Alan Price, "Savaloy Dip: Words and Music by Alan Price"
In a career spanning more than 50 years, Alan Price has just about done it all. The founding member of The Animals (and creator of the indelible organ parts on tracks like "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and "House of the Rising Sun") followed his tenure in that band by refining his craft as a top-flight singer-songwriter and broadening his artistic horizons by scoring films and stage musicals. So perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that one of the prolific Price's projects fell through the
Rock On! 7Ts Reissues David Essex's First Three Albums
7Ts Records - Cherry Red's imprint dedicated to all things seventies, returned late last year to the catalogue of one of its favorite artists, David Essex, for a trio of album reissues. The stage and screen star's first three solo albums - Rock On, David Essex, and All the Fun of the Fair - are all newly available from 7Ts, with the latter two in slightly expanded form. David Essex, OBE, was born David Albert Cook in 1947. Since making his record debut on the Fontana label in 1965, he has
Souvenirs: Esoteric Reissues Two Albums From Welsh Prog Band Eyes of Blue
The Welsh progressive rock band Eyes of Blue had its share of ups and downs - the "ups" certainly including gigs opening for The Spencer Davis Group, The Move, The Moody Blues, The Who, and Led Zeppelin, and the "downs" relating to the promising group's flameout in a short period of time. Late in 2015, Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint shone a light on Eyes of Blue with the first authorized CD releases of the band's two Mercury albums, both from 1969: Crossroads of Time and In Fields of
Big Break Records "Breaks Away" with Al Jarreau, Rose Royce
Accompanying the recent releases from The Spinners and Frantique, Big Break Records rounded out its 2015 slate with a pair of titles from Al Jarreau and Rose Royce. Renowned vocalist Al Jarreau made his album debut in 1975 with the Reprise Records release We Got By, a collection of original songs from the jazz-rooted singer. He followed that effort with Glow, incorporating tracks by a wide range of writers including Elton John, James Taylor and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Jarreau was slowly but
BREAKING! Bobby Darin's "The Motown Years" Coming In March From Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music!
Look out, old Bobby is back! Earlier this week, The Second Disc celebrated its sixth anniversary, and now, we're inviting you to the party! Today, we're thrilled to announce our very first release of 2016. On March 11, Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music will make a Reissue Theory a reality with a new title from two legendary icons of American popular song: Bobby Darin and Motown Records! Another Song on My Mind: The Motown Years is the first-ever anthology dedicated to the
The Glow of Love: Groove Line Records Compiles The Music of Change, Featuring Luther Vandross, More
If ever a group lived up to its name, that group was Change. The brainchild of French-Italian music impresario and producer Jacques Fred Petrus, in collaboration with Italian-based producer/arranger Mauro Malavasi and bassist Davide Romani, Change released six albums between 1980 and 1985. Built on infectiously danceable rhythms, melodic hooks and sublimely soulful vocals, the sound of Change was primarily created by a rotating cast of Italian-based musicians and America-based vocalists.
Big Ace Records Round-Up, Part One: "Georgie Fame Heard Them Here First" and "The Birth of Surf, Volume 3"
Welcome to the first part of our Ace Records late 2015 round-up spotlighting two of the label's recent releases: Georgie Fame Heard Them Here First and the third volume of The Birth of Surf. 2015 was a good year for fans of Georgie Fame. The British singer, who has blended rhythm and blues, jazz, ska, beat, and soul into his own formidable style for over 50 years, was celebrated with BGO Records' collection of his CBS recordings (Georgie Does His Thing with Strings/Knock on Wood/The CBS As
In Memoriam: David Bowie (1947-2016)
Ziggy Stardust, The Thin White Duke, Aladdin Sane, The Goblin King - David Bowie was a man of many faces. Yet ultimately his most haunting performance may have been as himself. Late 2015 was a period of remarkable and ever-innovative artistry for a man who released his first single in 1964. He revisited his film performance in The Man Who Fell to Earth by writing an off-Broadway musical, depicting its central character, the alien Newton (portrayed onstage by Michael C. Hall), as trapped in
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough: Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall" To Be Reissued with New Spike Lee Documentary
We're barely a week into 2016 and we're already seeing a lot of reissue news for this new year! The latest comes from Legacy Recordings, who yesterday announced a massive Elvis Presley box set. Now they've got a new reissue featuring another legendary performer: Michael Jackson. Due to be released on February 26 is a new edition of Jackson's landmark 1979 solo Epic Records debut Off the Wall. The album is being paired with Spike Lee's new documentary Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to
Rhino Charges Into January with New Colored Vinyl Titles, CD Box Sets
Rhino Records has quite the cure for the usual January doldrums that hit the release calendar, announcing more than a dozen new and reissued titles available exclusively through participating physical stores. The "Start Your Ear Off Right" initiative, featuring titles available January 19, encompass some of the best-known names in Rhino's back catalogue, including The Grateful Dead, The Monkees, Devo, The Cars and The Replacements. From colored vinyl variants to CD box sets, there's virtually
Cherry Red's él Label Offers Rod McKuen, Wally Stott, Bobby Scott Rarities
Cherry Red's él imprint has a trio of recent releases continuing its commitment to truly eclectic sounds of the pre-1964 era. Two of these are musical odes to the big city life of London and New York, from arrangers Wally Stott and Bobby Scott, respectively; the third reissues and expands a compilation from the late Rod McKuen. Singer-songwriter-poet-author-renaissance man McKuen, who died earlier this year, was recently the subject of Varese Vintage's Reflections: The Greatest Songs of Rod
Review: Roy Orbison, "The MGM Years 1965-1973"
The Big O is back with a big box set. The MGM Years 1965-1973, recently arrived from Roy's Boys, LLC and Universal Music Enterprises, chronicles over the course of 13 CDs (or 14 LPs) the least well-known period of the late vocal titan's career. Orbison joined MGM Records riding the crest of the "Oh, Pretty Woman" wave; the composition which he wrote with Bill Dees was a U.S. and U.K. chart-topper at the height of the British Invasion in 1964 for Fred Foster's Monument Records. Enticed by
WE HAVE OUR WINNERS: SECOND DISCMAS PRIZE PACKS!
CONGRATULATIONS! The following entrants have been randomly selected to win one of our Second Discmas surprise CD grab bags! If you see your name on the list below, sit back and relax - your prize pack will shortly be on the way to the address you provided! Please let us know when your package arrives - and ENJOY! We were completely overwhelmed by the amount of responses to Second Discmas 2015. Thanks to all of you who entered - and to all of you reading this - for making The Second Disc
The Year in Review - The 2015 Gold Bonus Disc Awards, From A to Z
Happy New Year, and welcome to The Second Disc's Sixth Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! As with every year's awards, our goals are simple: to recognize as many of the year's most essential reissues and catalogue titles as possible, and to celebrate as many of those labels, producers and artists who make these releases happen in an increasingly-challenging retail landscape. The labels you'll read about below have, by and large, bucked the trends to prove that there's still a demand for physical
YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A CD PRIZE PACK! IT'S TIME FOR SECOND DISCMAS!
Christmas is almost upon us! And here at The Second Disc, Mike, Randy, Ted and I would all like to thank you, our readers, for making our fifth year our most spectacular yet! In 2015, we redesigned our website, welcomed new writers and new readers, and launched Second Disc Records. And our plans for 2016 are even bigger! We believe that the holiday season is the perfect time to do what we love to do best: share the gift of music. We call our annual tradition - what else? - Second
Three Cheers and Dammit, C'est La Vie: Elaine Paige Celebrates 50 Years on "I'm Still Here"
Each evening from the first preview on August 7, 2011 to the closing performance on January 22, 2012, audiences at Broadway's Marquis Theatre were treated to the sight of one of the First Ladies of the London stage making a rare appearance across the Atlantic belting one of Stephen Sondheim's most famous songs. The show was Follies, the star was Elaine Paige, and the song was "I'm Still Here." Now, that anthem of showbiz survival provides the title for the superstar actress-singer's new live
Sister Golden Hair Surprise: America Opens Its "Archives" On New Release
The vaults are open! The legacy of the enduring band America has received a long-overdue celebration with the recent release on compact disc and digital download of Archives Vol. 1. Featuring the versatile, original trio of Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and the late Dan Peek (as well as the talented musicians and producers who contributed mightily to the band's earliest albums), Archives is a 15-track, non-chronological collection of previously unreleased alternate versions, early mixes, demos,
Review: "International Pop Overthrow: Volume 18"
We're welcoming back Ted Frank to The Second Disc for a look at the latest offering - Volume 18 - from the fine folks at International Pop Overthrow! Producer/curator David Bash, graphic designer Steve Stanley and their team have created another instant classic with their latest and greatest collection of the best, most diverse and most delicious pop music circa 2015! In the year that saw the Numero Group's superb Ork Records Collection, Omnivore Recordings' immediately indispensible Power
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