There may be no group more associated with the sounds of summer than The Beach Boys, favorite sons of Hawthorne, California. Yet the boys of summer could also accurately be described as the boys of winter, based on their timeless, perennial music celebrating Christmas. While the entire official Beach Boys Christmas catalogue is based around just one released album and another shelved one, the group's contribution to seasonal music can't be underestimated. On the eve of the group's 50th
Rock Hall Gets It Right
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its inductees earlier this evening, and the results are actually quite exciting. The artists inducted are Alice Cooper, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Darlene Love and Tom Waits. Leon Russell is getting the Award for Musical Excellence (formerly known as the Sidemen category) while the Ahmet Ertegun Award will go to Jac Holzman (founder of Elektra Records) and Art Rupe (founder of Specialty Records, the label that gave us Little Richard and "Tutti
Release Round-Up: Week of December 14
Another incredibly short one as we get closer to Christmas! Michael Jackson, Michael (Epic) A posthumous collection (the first of many) consisting of 21st century outtakes by The King of Pop. Did he sing them all? I don't know, but I know I'll buy this if only to make Will.i.am angry. (Official site) Dio, Holy Diver (Niji) The classic Dio album remastered and pressed onto picture vinyl by the late singer's own Niji label. (Facebook page) Bad Religion, 30th Anniversary Box Set
"Icon" Series Gets More Iconic
Universal is prepping another batch of Icon compilations for the first week of 2011. Now, we've been hard on this series before, but there's actually a lot to like about these new sets. While previous Icon sets have been bashed by The Second Disc for either shamelessly repackaging previous compilations or offering fewer CD-based rarities than, say, Legacy's Playlist series (more on that tomorrow), this new batch of Icon sets collate artists who haven't had much in the way of compilations yet
A Spoonful of Reissues Across the Pond
U.K. label Edsel is prepping a series of expanded two-fer reissues of most of The Lovin' Spoonful's catalogue. The original group - singer/songwriter John Sebastian, guitarist Zal Yanovsky, bassist Steve Boone and drummer Joe Butler - emerged from New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood in the 1960s. In the middle of the decade, they rode a wave of success thanks to folk-pop tunes like "Do You Believe in Magic," "Daydream," "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?" and the No. 1 hit
The Queen Remasters Begin
Amazon U.K. is posting order pages for what looks like the first batch of Queen remasters across the pond. It's been previously reported that the first four Queen albums would be reissued (and possibly expanded) in England on Queen's new home, Universal, in celebration of the band's 40th anniversary. Happily, though, Universal will give fans a taste of what to expect in terms of presentation and mastering with straight reissues of the band's first two greatest hits packages. Greatest Hits
Friday Feature: "Gremlins"
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kjHFSa7ghE] There were many scores that soundtrack fans were hoping for on CD in 2010. But few are sought after more than the score to Gremlins (1984), a wacky, synthesizer-based romp from composer Jerry Goldsmith. It would have been a fantastic grab from one of the major labels for the Christmas season, but it looks like it may be another long wait before the score is released. But with Christmas around the corner, why not bring up one of the most
More Catalogue Gold from the Grammys
Just as we noted the box sets and other catalogue sets that were nominated for Grammys this year, we would also like to tip the hat to the recordings that were put into the Grammy Hall of Fame, as announced Monday. Thirty recordings, including nine LPs, have been added to a group that now includes 881 classic pieces of music. The oldest recordings on the list are two singles, "Dark Was the Night - Cold Was the Ground" by Blind Willie Johnson and "My Mammy" by Al Jolson (both released in 1927);
"They're Here...": FSM Closes Year with "Poltergeist," "Horse"
Film Score Monthly has readied its last two titles of the year to order: one a classic Western, one a spooky horror treat. As mentioned months ago (in a rare up-front statement by FSM honcho Lukas Kendall), FSM fully expands Jerry Goldsmith's classic score to the Tobe Hooper-directed, Steven Spielberg-produced Poltergeist (1982) to completeness. As one of the most popular scores by one of the most popular modern composers, Poltergeist has been reissued before, on Rhino Records in 1997. This
Back Tracks: The Christmas Music of Johnny Mathis
Today's second installment in a special series of holiday-themed Back Tracks explores the holiday catalogue of legendary Columbia recording artist Johnny Mathis. Earlier this year, Columbia Records released Let It Be Me, a new set by the 75-years-young singer with the smooth voice and big vibrato. This is no small feat considering that Mathis made his Columbia debut in 1956, and other than a brief tenure at Mercury, has remained at the label for the 54 years since. With six decades of LPs in
The Second Disc Artist Interview #1: Mr. Richard Page on "Pull"
By any standards, Richard Page would have a lot to be thankful for as the frontman of Mr. Mister, the band behind chart-topping smash hits "Broken Wings" and "Kyrie." This year, however, there's another part of his career to celebrate: after two decades, Pull, the intended fourth album from the band, is coming out of hiding thanks to the fine folks at Legacy Recordings. Granted, Page wears more than just the face of Mr. Mister. As a noted songwriter for Madonna ("I'll Remember," her 1994 hit
Review: Mr. Mister, "Pull"
It's a story that's been done to death: band releases hit album, changes direction ambitiously for follow-up, is met with critical or commercial indifference - or worse, the disapproval of a label leads to said ambitious follow-up never happening. Sometimes, though, there's a post-script, Eddie and The Cruisers-style, where the music is freed from captivity to the delight of adoring fans. In some ways, this is the story of Pull, the mythical fourth album by Mr. Mister, one of the more notable
Back Tracks: John Lennon
Whether you thought he was the smartest of The Beatles, the best writer, the most politically astute, the one with the most interesting solo career - or if you disagree with any of those statements - I daresay I cannot allow you to disagree with this one: it is not fair that John Lennon is not still alive today. Regardless of your take on his input into the Fab Four (or their eventual demise), Lennon was very much an intelligent, caring, smart musician, who spent much of his career using those
Re-eh-sue Theory
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. Today's focus is on two hosers from the Great White North and the strangely funny musical legacy they left behind. The first flurries of the new winter stuck to the lawn outside The Second Disc HQ yesterday. Inevitably, we're going to need something to warm us up into the holiday season and the bitterest cold months of 2011. Sweaters? Check. Tuques? Check.
Back Tracks: Andy Williams at Christmas
Welcome to the first installment in a special series of holiday-themed Back Tracks in which we’ll explore an artist’s entire seasonal catalogue! When it comes time each year to create my annual Christmas mix for family and friends, it’s always an uphill battle to not open with Andy Williams’ “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” From the brassy fanfare to the upbeat chorus, it may be one of the ultimate Christmas anthems. This cherished song from the team of Edward Pola and George Wyle
ABBA Vinyl Box to Make Fans Dance, Jive, Have Time of Lives
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/aBBa#p/u/3/dBcEz5d5R6E] If the previously-reported expansion of ABBA's best-selling ABBA Gold compilation with a bonus DVD hasn't excited your inner dancing queen, here's another collectible that might pique your interest: the same day (tomorrow in the U.S.), Polydor and UMe are releasing ABBA: The Vinyl Collection, a newly-remastered box set. The set contains nine records in total: the first eight are all the ABBA studio albums internationally released by Polar
Review: Bing Crosby, "The Crosby Christmas Sessions"
It’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas when you hear the voice of Bing Crosby. It would hardly be considered a stretch to credit Crosby as one of the inventors of the art of popular singing. Crosby was among the first performers to conversationally and intimately sing as an extension of speech; he also pioneered the technique of the microphone so a singer wouldn’t have to belt to the rafters. Despite these accomplishments that seismically shifted the sound of American music, the late
Marshall Tucker Box Coming Soon
Southern rockers The Marshall Tucker Band will commemorate their near-40-year legacy with a new box set next week. The Capricorn Years is a 10-disc affair that collates the first seven MTB LPs (from the self-titled 1973 album to 1978's Together Forever), all of which were originally released on Capricorn Records (and many of them reissued on Shout! Factory with a live bonus track or two in recent years). It also includes another Shout! Factory-originated product: the two-CD/one-DVD Carolina
Friday Feature: "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol"
This special holiday-themed Friday Feature originally appeared in December 2010, but we've rescued it from The Second Disc Archives to share it with you! It is dedicated to the memory of Leslie Nielsen, who could count Mr. Magoo as just one of many of his indelible film creations, as well as to the gone-but-not-forgotten Jim Backus, Morey Amsterdam, Jack Cassidy and Paul Frees. Before Rudolph, Frosty and Charlie Brown ruled the television airwaves each December, there was the nearsighted Mr.
The Second Disc's Crystal Ball
Today being the first day of December, we're really entering the home stretch of another year. With that in mind, we present a neat little discussion topic for your perusal. With a new year creeping around the corner, there's going to be an inevitable crop of reissues coming our way next year. Billy Joel and Paul Simon are having their catalogues redone, and reissues from George Michael and Thin Lizzy are going to brighten up the bleaker months of winter. We can even expect offerings from Ozzy
Reissue Theory: Andy Gibb
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. The new Bee Gees box set prompts this post to look at the "other" Gibb brother who enjoyed a great deal of success - yet is sadly not around to continue making great music. As Joe's review of the new Bee Gees box set Mythology shows, young Andy Gibb was a pretty integral member of the musical family. Though he wasn't part of the ensemble that Barry, Robin
Review: Bee Gees, "Mythology: The 50th Anniversary Collection"
I've gotta get a message to you. The Bee Gees are celebrating half a century in the business we call show, and Rhino has invited fans to the party with the release of Mythology: The 50th Anniversary Collection, a new four-disc box. There's always something unmistakable about a family's vocal blend. The Gibbs belong to the same tradition alongside the Everlys, the Wilsons, the Jacksons, the Carpenters, and so many others. Family was foremost on Barry and Robin Gibb's mind when creating
Review: "Michael Jackson's Vision"
When Michael Jackson was declared dead on that fateful Thursday in June of 2009, most of us healed our pain through the songs. Compact discs flew off store shelves and MP3s funneled through Internet connections in an attempt to recall those days when MJ was the King of Pop. It was these kinds of public celebration - I recall at least one set of speakers blaring "The Way You Make Me Feel" that week in midtown Manhattan - that took center stage for most of us. As a result, it seemed that the music
A Wave of Melba Moore Reissues Coming in 2011
Fans of R&B singer and Tony winning actress Melba Moore have got some good news coming their way: nearly all of her LPs from the '80s are coming out on CD between now and March. Moore, the daughter of jazz bandleader Teddy Hill, rose to prominence on Broadway as a cast member in Hair and won a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in Purlie in 1970. Five years later, she began a recording career on Buddah and Epic - but it wasn't until the early '80s and a switch to
Details on the Graham Parker Box
To clarify from a post from earlier today, we present some info on Offical Bootleg: The Bootleg Box, the new box set from Graham Parker. It's six discs of bootleg shows from the British singer's career, all previously released for download by Parker himself. Most of the shows are solo, save for the first disc, an ill-quality but widely traded show with The Rumour in 1975. It looks to be a nice treat for fans of Parker and his music, and the set is actually quite a steal, particularly for an
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