And perhaps it is, depending on how often you buy from one. The fourth annual Record Store Day is happening in less than a month (April 17) but already a lot of releases have been announced for the occasion. Best of all, there are some neat releases for catalogue fans out there, too. You can have a look at the full list here, but here are some of the neatest catalogue offerings coming on Record Store Day. Devo, Duty Now for the Future (1979) (Warner Bros.) As previously mentioned, Devo's
Back Tracks: Alex Chilton
A potentially embarassing confession: it took the death of Big Star frontman Alex Chilton for me to realize just what I knew about him. I knew his name was the title of a Replacements song (thanks, Rock Band), I'd known of Big Star thanks to the justifiable hype over last year's box set from Rhino and I'd known a handful of his most famous, very solid compositions that he either wrote or popularized ("Thirteen," "The Letter," "In the Street") through inevitable cultural osmosis (thanks, That
Reissue Theory: Howard Jones, "Dream Into Action"
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=IT&hl=it&v=ZZEGHnAxEpo] Predicting the future is a tough game. While the above video - a possibly-not-entirely-live performance by Howard Jones, Herbie Hancock, Thomas Dolby and Stevie Wonder at the 1985 Grammys - probably looked like the future of music some 25 years ago, it seems a little, shall we say, overdone in hindsight. But nobody will ever stop predicting the future - certainly not here at The Second Disc, where (ideally) every day
Slightly Cynical News Round-Up
To the surprise of almost nobody and the anguish of '80s catalogue fans, EMI has again reshuffled the dates for the next batches of Duran Duran reissues. Duran Duran, Seven and the Ragged Tiger and Arcadia's So Red the Rose are set for April 20 in the U.S. (note that the U.K. March 29 date for Duran and Tiger still stands - impatient fans, go for an import if you can). Additionally, Notorious and Big Thing will street on July 6, not June 7. Phil Collins hinted to The Rock Radio that more
Back Tracks: U2
Is it inherently lazy to do a U2 post on a music blog for St. Patrick's Day? Whether it is or not, it's done for two reasons. First, since The Second Disc is all about reissues, it's worth tipping a hat to Universal's ongoing series of U2 reissues. They have been some of the best on the market in recent years. The packaging is nice, the content is comprehensive and groundbreaking (in other words, the fan gets all those hard-to-find tracks he or she is looking for plus a score of vault material)
News Round-Up: Disintegrated, Devo and Lena Horne Unearthed
Chain of Flowers reports that the upcoming expansion of Disintegration by The Cure still lacks a release date. In a related story, ARRRRRRRGH. Amazon is taking pre-orders for a reissue of Duty Now for the Future, Devo's 1979 sophomore album. This title, due on April 13 (presumably with bonus content), follows the deluxe versions of Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! and Freedom of Choice released last year. Hip-O Select tweeted a tease for an upcoming release: "Lena Horne did 16 singles on MGM
Reissue Theory: - Public Enemy, "Fear of a Black Planet"
Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of Fear of a Black Planet, the third album by hip-hop legends Public Enemy. Billboard did a great write-up about the album's impact after two decades, which dovetails rather interestingly into a highly-recommended recent documentary I had the pleasure to see last week. The film, Copyright Criminals, is a thought-provoking look into the rise of sampling in music and the ongoing legal challenges faced by samplers. Public Enemy frontman Chuck D, as well as
News Round-Up: Meet The Supremes (Again), Costello Clues and More Stones
Amazon has posted the track list for Hip-o Select's upcoming deluxe reissue of Meet The Supremes before Hip-o Select actually did. Read it here and expect an analysis here soon. It seems that Japan is getting a SHM-CD release of Live at Winterland, San Francisco by Elvis Costello and The Attractions in June. It'll be out on Universal, but not part of The Costello Show series of live material. Will it end up part of the series in America? Doubtful, since the show was recorded only a few days
Rock Hall: Fame or Shame?
From now until Monday, The Second Disc will be bringing out some features and opinions on Monday's upcoming Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions. Let's start with a column that ultimately addresses what a mixed blessing the Hall can be. Few music-oriented entities draw so much criticism and debate as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In its 25-year history, it has inducted 165 artists into its ranks (with another five to be inducted on Monday), spurring decades-long debates about which of them
Back Tracks: James Horner
As this post is being written, the Oscars have wrapped up. Exciting, right? Of course not. The Oscars are perhaps as ridiculous as the Grammys, and usually don't have a heck of a lot to offer fans of any music in general. Perhaps this year was a bit of an exception - it was very exciting to see Michael Giacchino score his first Oscar for the excellent score to Up - but for someone raised on ultra-thematic scores such as John Williams' work for Star Wars, Jaws and others, there's usually not much
Reissue Theory: Robert Palmer - "Riptide"
It's no secret that I'm a huge Duran Duran fan (these upcoming reissues are seriously a thing of beauty). But I also credit them with opening me up to a whole lot of other acts. Had I not started listening to them in middle school, I would not have been drawn to other synth/New Wave bands, CHIC, Madonna, David Bowie or Robert Palmer. Palmer in particular was quite the performer. His Duran connections were smallish - he was the lead vocalist for DD side-project The Power Station - but he was a
Release Round-Up: From Chicago to the White House
Rhino Handmade has announced its latest title, the first-ever true quadraphonic release of The Chicago Transit Authority, the 1969 debut LP by Chicago. Featuring hits like "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" and "Questions 67 and 68," this DVD release includes the entire album presented in four discrete channels of sound. Order it here and have a go at a demo of "quadio" over here. A couple of soundtrack tidbits coming up. First up, new releases from La La Land Records have been
That's Why They've Done It Again (UPDATED 3/4)
A break from the usual weekend radio silence to report on a very exciting story over at Slicing Up Eyeballs: EMI's Dutch Web site has added reissues of Duran Duran's Notorious and Big Thing to their catalogue schedule. Both titles have a release date of June 7, and will ostensibly serve as companion pieces to the great, recent deluxe editions of the Duran discography (Rio and a vintage live show, Hammersmith '82, were released last fall, and 2 CD/1 DVD versions of Duran Duran, Seven and the
There They Go Again
Thanks to the ICE boards (where I'd read this a bit ago but foolishly forgot to post here) for pointing out the upcoming release of Callin' All, an enormous 4-disc box set from indie-pop favorites The La's. Despite recording only one LP and a handful of singles in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band has earned cult immortality thanks to the irresistible "There She Goes." Their other material is pretty neat too, and even though they've had their share of reissues and repackagings over the
The Paradox
If you're an avid follower of the music business at large, you know the common narrative that defines the industry: once, record labels signed great talents and earned lots of money and influence off the back of that art. Gradually, that art became secondary to business and excess, and as labels became absorbed into bigger corporations and followed trends instead of setting them, music fans got increasingly put off by the product. By the time rapid technological advances changed the way we
Reissue Theory: The Art of Noise, "In Visible Silence"
The Art of Noise usually gets lumped into that U.K. '80s esoterica category that a lot of their early labelmates on ZTT (Frankie Goes to Hollywood, 808 State, The Buggles and so on) seem to be in. Their sound was hip, catchy and weird, they say, and maybe a bit too much so for their own good. This is kind of funny, particularly because it's kind of wrong. The Art of Noise were indeed hip, catchy and weird. Their early work on ZTT, like the sample-heavy "Close (To the Edit)" and "Beat Box," set
News Roundup: However Far Away, Banshees Banished and Intrada Releases
A pair of sour notes from our friends over at Slicing Up Eyeballs. First, a source from Universal Music Group tells Cure fan site Chain of Flowers that the planned triple-disc reissue of Disintegration has been delayed a third time. The set - which features the original LP, a disc of demos and outtakes and an expanded version of the live album Entreat - was originally slated for a Feb. 16 release before being pushed back to April 6. In the U.S., where distribution is being dealt with by Rhino
Reissue Theory: Novelty Edition
One of the potential hazards of being a music collector is that sometimes, if you're feeling adventurous, you spring for an all-too-dangerous impulse buy. I'm guilty of this all the time, especially when the music in question is cheap. Put me within 25 yards of a garage sale or a cutout bin at a supermarket and I'm probably going to walk away having bought at least one disc. Sometimes this strategy works out in my favor: a random purchase of Squeeze's Singles 45 and Under from my local ShopRite
Stones Material Coming Out of "Exile"
NME reported today that The Rolling Stones have set a May 17 (that would be the 18th for us Americans) release date for a new deluxe edition of Exile on Main St. The 1972 double album, which confused critics upon release but is now seen as a Stones classic, will be released in a few formats: a single-disc reissue, a double-disc version with ten unreleased tracks and a deluxe box with both CDs, a vinyl copy, a new half-hour documentary on DVD and a 50-page collector's book. What the NME report
Back Tracks: Tears for Fears
Not many people dig music from the 1980s. To a degree, I understand why. Sandwiched between the monstrous artistry of album-oriented rock bands of the '70s and the mainstream-busting advances of grunge and rap in the '90s, most of the music of the '80s was characterized by an emphasis on image (i.e.: MTV) and artifice (why hire a drummer when you can buy a Linn LM-1?). But a good song - whether it's a hit or not - will transcend its labels and packaging and hopefully turn into something you'll
Release Round-Up: In Case You Missed Them
Here are a couple of catalogue release tidbits, one that I'm certain is fairly new and a few stragglers I've neglected to mention thus far: Rhino has started taking pre-orders for The Prague Sessions, a new Peter, Paul and Mary compilation. The set features previously unreleased live versions of the folk group's best-known songs, backed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Should be an interesting new way to hear these songs. On March 23, Eagle Records is releasing Live at Knebworth, a
Rumor Mill: More Def Leppard Reissues Coming?
Tonight I was given an interesting tip from a friend, Kevin Alba of Metal Asylum, concerning a potential next wave of reissues from Def Leppard. According to the story (scroll down a bit more than halfway to read), Japan is getting SHM-CD remasters of the band's first two albums, On Through the Night (1980) and High and Dry (1981). Now of course this kind of stuff happens all the time, but what makes it interesting is that both sets are supposed to feature bonus discs with as-yet-unannounced
Monoliths
I've been listening to Pet Sounds a lot lately. Maybe it's the dreary weather; whenever I put on some Beach Boys things feel a bit sunnier. But it's a heck of a record (as I'm sure most of you know) - one of those rarified few that's hard to chop down entirely. It's also fascinating that it's one on a rather short list of pop albums that have supported its own box set. The sprawling The Pet Sounds Sessions, released in 1997, chronicles the process of the album through alternate mixes, outtakes,
So Much to Give
Another late breaking release announcement: Hip-O Select has announced the reissue of I've Got So Much to Give, the first record by Barry White. Out of print for years, this remastered disc comes with new liner notes by BW collaborator Jack Perry (who also worked on last year's killer Unlimited box set) and two bonus cuts making their CD debut. And collector's rejoice: it's unlimited! Check out the tracks after the jump.
J is Indeed for Jackson 5
Awhile back I'd posted on the existence of a "new" Jackson 5 title, J is for Jackson 5. My guess was that, like the similarly titled B is for Bob set done for Bob Marley, the CD would be a kid-friendly compilation of J5 tunes (not that they really recorded that many kid-unfriendly tunes). Thanks to an Amazon listing, my beliefs have been proven correct. The tracklist offers nothing new for J5 acolytes, unless you don't have any of the officially-released, now out-of-print Motown karaoke CDs.