Chain, chain, chain…chain of fools… Don’t be cruel…to a heart that’s true… Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees…people say we monkey around… Those three songs are still among the most recognizable in rock and soul, yet they barely scratch the surface of the songwriting careers of Don Covay, Otis Blackwell and the team of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, respectively. Ace Records has recently searched the discographies of all of those gentlemen to create the latest entries in the label’s definitive
Go Where You Wanna Go: The Mamas & The Papas' Farewell, "People Like Us," Expanded by Now Sounds
“I guess no matter what else we do, we’ll always be part of this thing called The Mamas & the Papas, with all its intense love-hate relationships.” So once admitted “Papa” John Phillips, and by all accounts, those familiar relationships flared up in 1971 when John, ex-wife Michelle Phillips, Denny Doherty and Cass Elliot reunited for what would turn out to be their final album together, People Like Us. Yet despite being a contractual obligation for the group, the LP turned out to be a work
I Don't Know Where, But It Sends Me There: "Good Vibrations: The Beach Boys Songbook" Arrives
2012 has been a big year for The Beach Boys, and the fun, fun, fun shows little sign of abating any time soon. While we still wait for more details on the possible U.S. arrival of a series of reissued original albums, Sony Music Japan is celebrating with a unique tribute to America's band. Good Vibrations: The Beach Boys Songbook is a 25-track compilation drawn mostly, but not exclusively, from the Sony family of labels including Columbia, RCA Victor, Arista, Buddah and Bang, and offers a number
"Star Trek" Surprise Beams Out of Nowhere
Fans of the soundtracks to Star Trek have had a great few years. Some of our favorite film score reissue labels, including Film Score Monthly, Intrada, La-La Land and Varese Sarabande, have expanded no less than six Trek film soundtracks in the past two years, including The Wrath of Khan (1982), The Search for Spock (1984), The Voyage Home (1986), The Final Frontier (1989), The Undiscovered Country (1991) and the 2009 reboot film, not to mention two box sets of music from Star Trek: The Next
Near, Far, Wherever You Are: "Titanic" Soundtrack to Be Reissued This Spring
A hundred years ago, it was the largest maritime disaster in history. Fifteen years ago, it was the highest-grossing film of all time and the last massive soundtrack on the pop charts. Now, Sony Classical brings the soundtrack to James Cameron's Titanic back to the surface in a major way with two collector's editions of the popular album. On paper, Titanic would have been your average romantic tearjerker: lower-class boy woos upper-class girl to the displeasure of her wealthy suitor. But that
Intrada Ends Banner Year, Boldly Goes Where Few Have Gone Before
Intrada knows how to another great year of soundtracks: with three oft-requested and legendary soundtracks, all expanded and mostly unlimited. By far the biggest news for contemporary score fans is the news of another expanded score from the Star Trek universe. The past few years have seen expanded scores for four Trek films (1982's The Wrath of Khan, 1984's The Search for Spock, 1989's The Final Frontier and 2009's reboot of the franchise) and two collections of music from the beloved The Next
It's Better Down Where It's Wetter: "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" Arrives On CD, Plus Rare Goldsmith "Explorers"
Not even a holiday can slow down the folks at Intrada. On Monday, Labor Day, the Intrada team announced its two latest releases, both of which will begin shipping on Wednesday, September 7. The Intrada Special Collection welcomes Jerry Goldsmith’s score to Joe Dante’s 1985 The Explorers, while the Walt Disney Records/Intrada co-branded line brings Paul J. Smith’s score to the 1954 film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to CD. The very first film adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic undersea fable
Where The Hits Are: Sedaka and Greenfield Profiled in "Songwriters" Series
Doo doo doo down doo be do down down/Come a come a down doo be do down down… One year before “Da Doo Ron Ron,” eleven before “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)” and eighteen before “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da,” Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield taught the world that “Breakin’ Up is Hard to Do” with their immortal wordless refrain. Sedaka went on to become the king of the “Tra-la-las” and “shoo-be-doos” with his early rock-and-roll records, and the Juilliard-trained musician was one of the
Sonic Youth Comp Goes from Starbucks to Stores Everywhere
Anyone who missed Sonic Youth's last compilation, 2008's Hits Are for Squares (released exclusively through Starbucks stores), have another chance to get it beyond last year's vinyl release on Record Store Day. It's being released to general retail this summer, reports MusicTAP. The collection collates hits and favorite tracks from the New York City band's extensive catalogue, stretching back from 1984's EVOL to 2004's Sonic Nurse. All the tunes were selected by famous fans of the band,
Where Are All The "Magic Colors": Lesley Gore's Lost Album Arrives on CD
Lesley Gore epitomized the sound of American pop in the early-to-mid 1960s with hits like "It's My Party" and its answer/follow-up, "Judy's Turn to Cry." For my money, there may never have been a greater one-two punch in pop than that pair, produced by Quincy Jones and arranged by Claus Ogerman. But where was the teen pop queen by the Summer of Love? The U.K.'s Ace label answers that question with the June release of Magic Colors: The Lost Album with Bonus Tracks 1967-1969, unearthing a lost
Review: Ride, "Nowhere: 20th Anniversary Edition"
Rock music has a definite genre problem. When Rhino Handmade announced the reissue of Ride's Nowhere late last year, some absent-minded reading on Wikipedia yielded a primer on the shoegaze genre. "Shoegaze" is one of those things you might encounter if you were a voracious reader of music reviews in the early '90s, but it might have just been a word rather than a whole genre. Shoegaze was a mini-genre assigned to bands with a particular style - particularly, effects-laden guitars taking
"Nowhere" Goes Somewhere for 20th Anniversary (UPDATED 11/29)
Another deluxe title is on its way from Rhino Handmade next month, and it's a good one for any shoegaze fans out there: Pitchfork reports that the label is reissuing Nowhere, the debut LP by Ride, for its 20th anniversary. Ride were a British alt-rock band in the tradition of The Cocteau Twins, The Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. All of those outfits were deemed "shoegaze" bands by the British music press, a term which would describe bands heavy on distorted but melodic guitars.
"TNG" Box Boldly Goes Where Few Have Gone Before
Film Score Monthly has announced its fifth box set, and like the others, it's quite an undertaking: Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Ron Jones Project collates 14 discs' worth of music from the famous television series plus a heap of other Trek goodies from composer Ron Jones. Jones, best known for some surprisingly notable scores to animated television works (including the Disney cartoons DuckTales and Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers along with turns on Family Guy), composed scores to 42
Quick Note: More Beatles-Related Reissues from Somewhere Else
Not much developing on this story yet, but Wall Street Journal music critic Jim Fusilli posted this on his Twitter feed earlier today: "In October, Rhino to release Ravi Shankar-George Harrison boxed set." There was a link along with the tweet, but it just linked to a documentary about chants of India on YouTube, for which Harrison was interviewed. UPDATE (2:51 P.M.): This article has some more info. Collaborations, as it's called, looks to collate three Shankar records produced by Harrison -
Industry Primer: Conan Seeks Satisfaction Elsewhere, or The Bugatti Veyron Mouse That Roared
Light years away from the world of back catalogue music projects, the entertainment press has been abuzz with the recent furor over the late night talk show lineup on NBC. This past Friday, Conan O'Brien exited The Tonight Show after a too-brief seven-month tenure, leaving Jay Leno able to leave his low-rated primetime show and take back control of the show he agreed to cede to O'Brien almost six years ago. One of the delights during the whole mess was seeing O'Brien - in my opinion, one of the
I Just Don't Know Where to Begin
Wow! I am pleased as punch to present my review of Elvis Costello and The Attractions Live at Hollywood High live disc at MusicTAP, one of my favorite music Web sites. When I first got the idea of writing about back catalogue material, MusicTAP head Matt Rowe was one of the people I looked to for inspiration. His thrice-weekly insights about the past, present and future of music are always scintillating and never preachy - and he puts up release dates early and often. I urge you to come to
Come Up and See Me: Steve Harley's 'Best Years' Revisited in 2CD/DVD Box Set
One of the best-loved British albums of the mid-'70s will be revisited this summer with a fresh new mix and a host of bonus material: Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel's The Best Years of Our Lives. Previously released as a 4CD/DVD set, Chrysalis' new 2CD/DVD, available June 20, shuffles things around a bit. The original nine-track album, featuring the national chart-topper "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)," has been newly mixed in stereo by the album's original co-producer Alan Parsons.
Mondo Maestro: New John Williams Box Set Series Announced, Plus 'Star Wars' Re-Recordings on Vinyl
With yesterday being "May the Fourth" and an informal day of celebration for Star Wars fans (even though "orthodox" fans might recognize the original film's release date, May 25, as a holiday of its own!), the time is right to plan a few music reissues related to the film - and one exciting, ambitious new announcement for the catalogue of the series' longtime composer, John Williams. The 93-year-old composer has kept a low profile since the release of his score for the fifth and final Indiana
Review: Eric Burdon and WAR, "The Complete CD Collection"
With the recent release of WAR's Why Can't We Be Friends? as an expanded edition for Record Store Day (with a CD edition to follow - links still aren't active), TSD has given a spin to Rhino's most recent WAR CD release: The Complete CD Collection from Eric Burdon & WAR. "Peace and love was happening, and we figured that nobody would forget the name of the band if we called them WAR. And we were right," Jerry Goldstein remembered in Dan Epstein's liner notes to the new box set Eric
Voices, Another Sound: Duran Duran Bow 'Greatest' on Vinyl
Duran Duran will bring their latest - and, appropriately, greatest - compilation to vinyl for the first time this summer. 1998's Greatest - a tidy summary of the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers' most commercially successful period in the '80s and '90s - will be pressed as a double album on white vinyl - featuring a newly cut master created at Abbey Road Studios - with sleek packaging including an embossed front cover (recalling the companion DVD release of the band's biggest videos) and
Hero of the Day: Metallica Unloads Massive 'Load' Box Set
We'll spare you additional ribald jokes and puns in sharing that Metallica have announced their latest sprawling box set reissue, this time dedicated to their sixth studio album - 1996's Load. Available June 13, the centerpiece of the Load reissue campaign is a box that'll offer 15 CDs, six LPs and four DVDs featuring the remastered album, rare single material, scores of unreleased outtakes (from demos to rough mixes), audio or video of five full shows and plenty additional concert
A Man Could Get Lost: Soft Cell to Expand 'Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing' with Rare Remixes
After expanding their debut album for a box set in 2023, Soft Cell will revisit the next entry in their discography: the remix album Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing. Available June 20, the collection comes back to two CDs or two LPs with a host of bonus material, including vintage non-LP singles and remixes plus a host of rare promo remixes issued in the last decade. (While UMC's solicitation notes three of the 12 tracks on the set's bonus disc are unreleased, our research puts it at one, with the
The Weekend Stream: April 25, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. Strap in for a killer line-up of titles this week: two more Record Store Day debuts, an incredible posthumous collaboration between two '80s icons, the return of one of glam's most beloved bands, new music by some of our favorite pop girls, a hotly anticipated new take on a Broadway favorite, exciting moments in gospel/soul, an exciting new song
Wowie Zowie: Frank Zappa's "Cheaper Than Cheep" Premieres Lost Concert Film, Soundtrack
All has been quiet on the Frank Zappa front since the release last fall of the 50th anniversary super deluxe edition of his album Apostrophe ('). That lull ended today, though, with the announcement of a multi-format release filled with audio and video goodies. Cheaper Than Cheep arrives May 9 as an online exclusive release available at Zappa.com, uDiscoverMusic.com, and Sound of Vinyl, presenting audio and video from a long-lost television special that's been housed in the Zappa archives for
Didn't Miss a 'Step': New Kids on the Block Celebrate 35th Anniversary of Third Album
New Kids on the Block will revisit their blockbuster Step by Step with a new expanded edition this summer. The 35th anniversary package will be available in a handful of physical and digital formats, with some exclusive variants and bonus tracks throughout. The 1990 release will be available on CD with two tracks from the vault and four mostly promo-only remixes. A pressing of the CD at Target will have an extra track - a recent live version of the cut "Where Do I Go from Here?" - which will
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