The Weekend Stream Extra: A Guide to ‘MTV Unplugged’ on Paramount+ (Part 4)

Welcome to a special Sunday feature of The Weekend Stream, which takes a look at one of MTV’s great live music programs thanks to a recent reissue of one of its best-known episodes. We’re running a five-part deep-dive on every episode of MTV Unplugged that’s currently streaming on the station’s parent streaming network Paramount+! (Parts 1, 2 and 3 can be read here, here and here.) The seventh and eighth seasons of MTV Unplugged aired in 1996 and 1997, which were sort of its last years as a regular program. By then, the show locked into a comfortable…

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The Weekend Stream: July 29, 2023

Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there’s plenty of great new/old music to float you into the weekend. Big things happening in this column: two big box sets from a legendary prog-turned-pop outfit, rare mixes from one of pop’s most legendary performers, tons of remixes from a soulful producer/performer and 200(!) classical titles from a legendary British label. Whew! Genesis, Archive #1 (1969 – 1975) / Archive #2 (1976 – 1992) (Atlantic/Rhino/Craft) Archive #1: iTunes / Amazon…

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On His Own: Bobby Brown’s Breakthrough ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ Set for Deluxe Edition at Iconoclassic

Leaving a pop group can be a tricky thing. Will the work you do on your own connect with audiences the same way it did with your bandmates? Ultimately, there’s only one way to find out: strike hard and make the music your own. Bobby Brown of New Edition delivered a master class in how to go solo with his second LP Don’t Be Cruel (1988) – and now, thanks to Iconoclassic Records, it’s getting its due on disc with a deluxe 2CD edition packed with remixes and rarities. As one fifth…

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