By the time of 1964’s Muscle Beach Party, Philadelphia-born Frankie Avalon had already racked up some 31 hits on the U.S. Billboard charts, including two at Number One, “Why” and “Venus.” On the urging of his Chancellor Records mentor Bob Marcucci, Avalon had welcomed the 1960s by diversifying his talents into film, appearing opposite John Wayne in The Alamo and Walter Pidgeon in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. 1963’s Beach Party, however, was something else altogether. Directed by William
Review: Randy Vanwarmer, "Warmer/Terraform" and "Beat of Love/The Things That You Dream"
Bespectacled singer/songwriter Randy Vanwarmer became one of the unlikeliest radio heroes of the late 1970s when his gentle ballad “Just When I Needed You Most” began its ascent up the Billboard chart amidst an onslaught of disco (“I Will Survive,” “Hot Stuff”) and New Wave (“Heart of Glass”). Vanwarmer’s bittersweet memory of a long-gone lover hit a nerve with listeners looking for an escape from the dance floor. Although the song would qualify him as a one-hit wonder, Vanwarmer continued to
Brave New World: Catalogue Labels Take to Spotify for Featured Content
When it first launched in America in November of last year, Spotify looked like it might be the answer to the question of how to move music consumption into the digital frontier in a positive way. It's no secret the music industry has been crippled by technological advances labels were unfortunately not able to predict or adapt to very quickly, and it's thrown the nature of buying, collecting and immersing oneself into music the way we once did into question. But Spotify's model - where, either
Mondo Reale: Peter Gabriel Releases Discography Box Set in Italy
If you're an Italian Peter Gabriel collector, or are looking for a way to get just about his entire solo discography in one fell swoop, you've met your match. Gabriel is partnering with Italian publications TV Sorrisi e Canzoni and Corriere della Sera to sell just about all of his studio albums to create a mega-box for fans. Beginning with his latest project, last year's orchestral New Blood album, 18 sets will be sold at kiosks, one per week, and will ultimately provide a semi-definitive
Review: John Cale, "Conflict and Catalysis: Productions and Arrangements 1966-2006"
Catalysis (ca-tal-y-sis): The action of a catalyst, especially an increase in the rate of a chemical reaction. With his induction into Ace Records’ Producers series, John Cale joins an esteemed group including Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Sly Stone, Phil Spector and Burt Bacharach. If Cale isn’t always thought of in the same breath as those giants, it’s simply because his career has been so diverse, encompassing writing, performing and arranging for artists ranging from The Stooges to
Unsung No More: Funky Town Grooves Expands the Ray Parker, Jr. Catalogue
If you've watched the critically-acclaimed TV One series Unsung, which acts as a more in-depth Where Are They Now?/Behind the Music-type program for R&B artists including Alexander O'Neal, Sheila E., DeBarge and Atlantic Starr, you know that Ray Parker, Jr. is far more than just the man behind the iconic theme to "Ghostbusters." The singer/songwriter/producer/guitarist has a ridiculously long list of great session and production work, and managed to walk away from the major labels before he
Higher Ground: Audio Fidelity Reissues Vintage Stevie Wonder, James Taylor on 24K Gold CD
For its April 3 release slate, the Audio Fidelity label is returning to the catalogues of two tried-and-true artists and label favorites. Having tackled James Taylor’s second, fourth and fifth albums, Audio Fidelity fills the gap in Taylor’s Warner Bros. catalogue with the release of the singer/songwriter’s third LP, 1971’s Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon. Similarly, the label has given the remastered 24K Gold CD treatment to four of the five albums from Wonder’s “golden era” at Motown
Intrada Rescues "White Fang" from the Wild
Intrada's latest releases were supposed to be a double shot of Disney, but changes in the label's schedule have yielded just one new title for this week: the first release of the multifaceted score to 1991's live-action Disney flick White Fang. Based on Jack London's novel of the same name, White Fang told the tale of a Yukon explorer (Ethan Hawke) and the wolfdog he befriends. The acclaimed film's music was conducted primarily by two very different composers: an orchestral old hand in Basil
I Want You To Want Me: Cheap Trick "Complete Epic Albums" Box Offers Remastered Classics, U.S. CD Debuts
"ELO kiddies, ELO kiddies, whatcha gonna do when the lights start shining?" went the musical question in the first song on Cheap Trick's very first album. But one question, naturally, leads to another. Was the song title simply saying a British 'elo in a cheeky salute? Or was it alluding to ELO, a.k.a. Electric Light Orchestra, the orchestral rock outfit founded by Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood? Why the heck does the song sound more like Gary Glitter than those Brummies? And where did the boys
Before You Know It You'll Be on Your Knees: Edsel Releases Philip Bailey Two-Fer
It's always a treat at The Second Disc when a title or project we imagined in a Reissue Theory post comes to fruition in some way. Today, we have one from U.K. label Edsel that almost - almost - captures the essence of a set we envisioned: a two-for-one reissue of two albums by R&B singer Philip Bailey. Known as the sweet-toned vocalist for Earth, Wind & Fire - who could forget those high notes in "September"? - Bailey didn't strike out on his own until 1983's Continuation (reissued a
The People Tree: Anthony Newley, Leslie Bricusse and Hugo Friedhofer Classics Reissued by Kritzerland
Barbarians, Man, God, The Devil… Kritzerland’s latest two reissues sure aren’t shying away from big subjects! The label began accepting pre-orders today for one never-before-on-CD cast recording and one first-time soundtrack pairing. Both titles are sure to send your temperatures rising! Two Golden Age film scores from Hugo Friedhofer, a Kritzerland favorite, are brought together for the first time on one CD with The Barbarian and the Geisha/Violent Saturday, while the legendary team of
Keep On Dancing: Elvis, Dusty, The Wicked Pickett All Appear on "Memphis Boys"
Just last year, Ace Records' Kent imprint issued a definitive 3-CD survey of Fame Studios, the Muscle Shoals, Alabama home of many of the greatest soul records ever committed to vinyl. Over in Tennessee, however, another joyful noise was arriving courtesy of the musicians at Memphis, Tennessee's American Studios. Ace is celebrating the multifaceted sounds of Chips Moman and Don Crews' American Studios with the new Memphis Boys: The Story of American Studios, a 24-track tribute featuring such
Sam & Dave & Edsel: U.K. Label Reissues Stax Duo's Early Albums
Next to Aretha Franklin, they were the most successful R&B act of the '60s. They were two of the most prominent architects of the iconic Stax sound. And their success can be traced back to the most fortuitous bathroom break in history. Next week, U.K. reissue label Edsel will honor the discography of Sam Moore and Dave Prater - known simply as Sam & Dave - with a pair of reissues that collates just about their entire Stax/Atlantic tenure. Moore and Prater were gospel-raised singers who
In Case You Missed Them: EMI Budget Boxes from Robin Trower, Kevin Ayers
In the past few months, EMI has released or announced more of their budget box sets which collect swaths of complete albums and rare tracks over multiple, low-frills discs. In particular, today we spotlight two such sets from two virtuosic British musicians. In February, the label released Farther On Up the Road: The Chrysalis Years 1977-1983 by Robin Trower. The London-born Procol Harum guitarist cut a steady amount of solid blues-based albums after leaving the "Whiter Shade of Pale" band in
Broadway Babies: Sony's Masterworks Label Reissues Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett Classics on CD
In 1962, Carol Burnett was one of America's fastest-rising comedy stars, having reigned on Broadway as a brassy princess in Once Upon a Mattress and endeared herself to the rest of America as a regular on The Garry Moore Show. Julie Andrews shared a stage pedigree with Burnett, a performer since childhood and the originator of iconic roles in Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's My Fair Lady and Camelot. When Andrews teamed with Burnett as a guest on Moore's program, the chemistry was all too
Love in Action: Todd Rundgren Goes "Back to the Bars," To "Mink Hollow" and Beyond
Welcome back to our Rundgren Round-Up, spotlighting the final installments in Edsel’s series of the complete Bearsville Todd Rundgren and Utopia reissues! On 1978’s Back to the Bars, Todd Rundgren was in gentle, intimate mode, feeding off audiences in New York, Los Angeles and Cleveland eager to hear his most accessible tunes on a “retrospective” tour. For this look back at a near-decade’s worth of music making, Rundgren enlisted the classic Utopia line-up of Kasim Sulton, Willie Wilcox and
Review: Big Brother and the Holding Company Featuring Janis Joplin, "Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968"
Journey back with me to 1968, will you? Your time machine is courtesy Owsley “Bear” Stanley, visionary sound engineer and renowned LSD chemist. But you don’t need any lysergic acid to enjoy the music contained on the little silver disc known as Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968 (Columbia/Legacy 88697 96409 2, 2012), billed as the first release from Bear’s Sonic Journals. That said, a little Southern Comfort probably wouldn’t hurt. (Or a toke or two, as per the suggestion of Stanley’s son
Release Round-Up: Week of March 12
Earl Van Dyke, The Motown Sound: The Complete Albums & More (Hip-o Select/Motown) Two discs of classic instrumentals and rare single sides from Motown's legendary Funk Brothers - their first and some of their only recordings to be credited just to them. Big Brother and The Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin, Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968 (Columbia/Legacy) From the archives of late engineer Owsley "Bear" Stanley, an unreleased show featuring Joplin and band at the legendary San
Ring Them Bells: Liza Minnelli's Triumphant "Live at the Winter Garden" Expanded For CD Premiere
Liza Minnelli turns 66 today, and could rightfully relax, look back and celebrate over six decades in show business. But the daughter of Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli, who made her first onscreen appearance as a baby in 1949's MGM extravaganza In the Good Old Summertime, has never been one to rest on her considerable laurels. Minnelli is still touring, recording and doing what she does best: entertaining, whether on the big screen (Sex and the City 2), the small screen (Arrested
City In His Head: Todd Rundgren's Utopia Reissues Continue From Edsel
Todd Rundgren’s tenure at Albert Grossman’s Bearsville Records label took him from his days as a singer/songwriter/self-described Runt in 1970 through his cutting-edge avant garde experiments, both solo and with his band Utopia, culminating in 1985’s A Cappella, rejected by the label and eventually released on Warner Bros. instead. The U.K.’s Edsel label has recently completed its catalogue overhaul for Rundgren, including the entirety of his tenures at Bearsville and Warner. The most recent
Natural Woman: Hear Music Unveils Carole King's "Legendary Demos" At Long Last
Some years back, I was attending a performance of Carole King’s Living Room Tour at New York’s theatre-in-the round then known as the Westbury Music Fair, its cozy environs just perfect for King’s intimate show. Midway through the set, a fan shouted to the stage, “Release your demos, Carole!” King smiled knowingly. “Talk to the publisher!” she replied. It clearly wasn’t the first time she had heard the request; indeed, legendary isn’t too strong a word for the original vocal-and-piano tracks
Wear Your Love Like Heaven: New "Essential Donovan" Arriving From Legacy
I’m just mad about Donovan, and while I don’t know whether Donovan’s mad about me, you just might be mad about The Essential Donovan! Though a single-disc compilation of that name arrived from Epic Records and Legacy Recordings in 2004, the 2012 edition does it one (or a few, actually) better. Slated for April 17, the new Essential Donovan coincides with Donovan Leitch’s long-overdue induction next month into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It features 36 songs on two discs, including every
Eight More ICON Sets for You to Briefly Consider
What you will see after the jump are eight more of Universal's generic ICON titles, released this past Tuesday. There are two country acts, two Motown acts, two Motown compilations, one from Dean Martin and one from pop/rock band Fall Out Boy. A stranger collection you'll rarely find. I'd give a halfhearted recommendation to the Motown ones if you want to spend a little money on someone who has the distinct displeasure of never having heard any Motown song, ever. If you have more money to spend,
Warner Waxes Nostalgic for Record Store Day
Believe it or not, Record Store Day is almost upon us. (It's April 21 - just over a month away!) We've been anxiously awaiting word from the labels on what's coming out this year, and it looks like Warner Music Group is one of the first to the scene. While there's not much in the way of unreleased goodies on the catalogue side of things - there are certainly plenty new or unearthed songs from current acts, which you can read about here - there are a couple of vintage and contemporary classics
Reissue Theory: Tears for Fears, "Big Ideas: The Singles 1982-1993"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable albums and the reissues they may someday see. In honor of a recent milestone for one of the '80s' best synthpop bands, we present the idea of something their catalogue doesn't have but could totally need: a box set. Our friends at Slicing Up Eyeballs reminded us yesterday that March 7, 1983 was the day that Phonogram Records (and Mercury in the U.S.) released The Hurting, the debut album by British synth-rockers Tears
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 180
- 181
- 182
- 183
- 184
- …
- 222
- Next Page »