Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Joni Mitchell, Archives Vol. 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980) (Rhino) 6CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980) features six CDs (also available as a "highlights" set on four LPs) chronicling the Canadian icon's trek
Barbra Streisand entered London's Olympic Sound Studios in June 1966 while reprising her role of Fanny Brice in the West End premiere of Funny Girl to begin work on what would become her very first Christmas album. Four songs arranged by Ray Ellis and produced by Ettore Strata were cut at the session including "Silent Night" and the Gounod setting of "Ave Maria." A mere two weeks following her July 14 final performance, she was onstage back in the U.S. for the first of four summer concert
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. More late period Prince is released from The Vault, plus a new Barbra Streisand single, future Bandcamp Friday favorites, cuts from new Broadway cast recordings and more! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Prince, "Magnificent" (NPG/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon) The Musicology 20th anniversary celebration continues with
Happy 2024! Welcome, friends, to The Second Disc's 14th Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! As we yet again look to a new year with optimism and a hopeful spirit, we recognize the many roles music has played in our lives. With that spirit in mind, The Second Disc wishes to recognize 2023's cream of the catalogue music crop - those exemplary reissues and box sets, big and small, that proved to be truly outstanding for music lovers worldwide. After much deliberation, we're excited to unveil our
John Luongo is a good liar. Well, maybe he's good at being tongue-in-cheek. "I'm bashful," he says at the start of our interview back in October. "You're gonna have to really drag these things outta me, 'cause I'm a little shy!" What follows is about 100 minutes of captivating stories and thoughtful, enthusiastic lessons from one of the most notable names in dance music. The Boston-born DJ and mix engineer made a name for himself transforming dozens of soul and pop tracks for disco 12"
If you're a Second Disc reader, you're no doubt aware of the immense musical power film composer John Williams has over us (and people like us!). Even a casual fan surely knows his most familiar works for the screen, from Star Wars and Indiana Jones to Jurassic Park and Harry Potter; the films of Steven Spielberg (JAWS, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Schindler's List); themes for everything from Superman to the Olympics. He's picked up five Oscars (53 nominations, second only to Walt Disney), 25
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the (many, many!) new titles available today! As an Amazon associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. The Salsoul Orchestra, Christmas Jollies I + II: The Extra Jolly Edition (SoulMusic/Cherry Red/Second Disc) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Cherry Red) The Second Disc has teamed with SoulMusic Records for the definitive celebration of the Christmas disco/Philly soul classic. The Salsoul
On November 7, Barbra Streisand will release her long-awaited memoir. My Name Is Barbra shares its name with the superstar's fifth Columbia Records album, originally released in 1967, and promises to trace her life and career from her Brooklyn roots through her triumphs in Broadway, Hollywood, on the concert stage, and beyond. Before that, though, the EGOT winner and 46-time Grammy nominee (and eight-time winner!) is gifting fans with two new releases. On October 27, Streisand will look back on
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! Alice Cooper, Killer: Deluxe Edition (Warner/Rhino) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Killer, released in November 1971, was the fourth album from the original Alice Cooper band line-up of singer Alice Cooper, lead guitarist Glen Buxton, rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway, and drummer Neal
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing weekly review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there's plenty of great new/old music to usher you into the weekend from a Sly and the Family Stone rarity to the latest expanded edition from Taylor Swift! https://youtu.be/oGsct11DL_M Sly and the Family Stone, Ten Years Too Soon (The Remix Album) (Epic/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon) Perhaps the most bizarre item in the Sly and the Family Stone catalogue has hit
Happy 2023! Welcome, friends, to The Second Disc's 13th Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! A lot has happened in the last twelve months, but as we look to a new year with optimism and a hopeful spirit, we recognize the many roles music has played in our lives. With that spirit in mind, The Second Disc wishes to recognize 2022's cream of the catalogue music crop - those exemplary reissues and box sets, big and small, that proved to be truly outstanding for music lovers worldwide. Despite the
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! Billy Joel, Live at Yankee Stadium (Columbia/Legacy) 2CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Billy Joel's Live at Yankee Stadium, originally released on video, is getting a major makeover. The concert film, shot on June 22 and 23, 1990, has been restored and remixed from original audio and video elements for a 2CD/Blu-ray
Barbra Streisand first took the stage of New York's tiny Bon Soir on September 9, 1960. The eighteen-year-old singer appeared third on a bill after house band The Three Flames and comic duo Tony and Eddie, and before closing act Phyllis Diller. The groundbreaking comedienne later recalled her first encounter with Streisand: "We shared a dressing room at the Bon Soir...It was the size of a peapod and usually you could smell fear in there. But she wasn't a bit nervous - at least not that I
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Various Artists, Summer of Soul (...or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised): Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Legacy Recordings delivers a soundtrack to Questlove's acclaimed 2021 documentary Summer of Soul, chronicling the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. Live recordings are featured from headliners including The 5th Dimension, Nina Simone, David Ruffin, Sly & The Family Stone,
Today, Harold Rome and Jerome Weidman's 1962 Broadway musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale is best-remembered as the debut of Barbra Streisand. The then-teenaged star portrayed secretary Yetta Tessye Marmelstein, best known as "Miss Marmelstein," and stopped the show nightly with the song of that name. "The evening's find is Barbra Streisand," wrote Howard Taubman in The New York Times, "a girl with an oafish expression, a loud, irascible voice, and an arpeggiated laugh. Miss Streisand is a
Happy 2022! Welcome, friends, to Part Two of The Second Disc's 12th Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! Once again, we've all faced unprecedented challenges over the past twelve months. A year that began with hope and promise has ended with further uncertainty for many of us. But music continues to fill a significant role in our lives, providing solace, comfort, and escape in a time unlike any other. With that spirit in mind, The Second Disc wishes to recognize 2021's cream of the catalogue
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! George Harrison, All Things Must Pass: 50th Anniversary [Various Formats] (Capitol/UMe) 5CD/BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 8LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 5LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3CD (contains CD 1, CD 2 & CD 5, below): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD (contains CD 1 & CD 2 only): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon
Somewhere in the world, someone is cold/Be aware/And while you're feeling young, someone is old/Be aware/And while your stomach's full, somewhere in this world, someone is hungry/When there is so much, should anyone be hungry? On Sunday, March 14, 1971, CBS-TV aired Singer Presents Burt Bacharach. The composer's variety special welcomed Tom Jones, Rudolf Nureyev, and Barbra Streisand. After Bacharach and Streisand performed an intimate, close-up rendition of "(They Long to Be) Close to
Music from Season Two of the acclaimed Amazon Prime television series boasts not one but two Barbra Streisand tunes ("Just Leave Everything to Me" from the film soundtrack of 1969's Hello, Dolly! and the evergreen "Happy Days Are Here Again") plus appearances by Frank Sinatra ("How Are Ya Fixed for Love" with Keely Smith), Blossom Dearie ("Some Other Time") and Ella Fitzgerald ("Old Mother Hubbard'). Further tracks come from Dean Martin ("I'd Cry Like a Baby"), Louis Prima and the Witnesses
"Words by Hal David." That credit graces many of the most cherished popular songs of the second half of the twentieth century, including "(They Long To Be) Close To You," "I Say a Little Prayer," "The Look of Love," and of course, "What the World Needs Now Is Love." Beginning this weekend, Public Television stations nationwide will be celebrating the life and legacy of Hal David with a new special. What the World Needs Now: Words by Hal David from John Paulson Productions is hosted by The
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Big Star, Live on WLIR (Omnivore) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2-LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Omnivore has Live On WLIR, a newly restored and remastered version of Big Star's legendary 1974 radio broadcast. The 15-track collection is available on CD and 2-LP. The release marks the vinyl debut of this raw, live set. Read more here! Love Actually: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Real Gone
Last year, the Bella Union label released a collection that fell under the radar. Happily, we here at Second Disc HQ have discovered Paradise: The Sound of Ivor Raymonde, available in 1-CD, 2-LP, and digital formats. The name of Raymonde will surely be familiar to fans of Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones, or The Walker Brothers, but those are only three of the artists with whom the late producer-arranger-conductor worked his magic. Paradise, co-curated by his son Simon Raymonde of Bella Union
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Melissa Manchester, Mathematics: The MCA Years (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music bring Melissa Manchester's 1985 MCA album to CD for the very first time in an expanded 2-CD deluxe edition! Mathematics: The MCA Years features the original Mathematics (produced by George Duke, Brock Walsh and Robbie Nevil, Trevor Veitch and executive producer Quincy Jones!) on
Since September 25, 1979, there hasn't been a day when an Andrew Lloyd Webber melody hasn't been heard on Broadway. That was the opening night of Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Evita. Before it ended its run in June 1983, Lloyd Webber's musical Cats had opened, launching a record-breaking run through September 2000. But on January 26, 1988, the show opened which would eclipse them all: Phantom of the Opera. It today celebrates 30 years (marked with a special gala earlier this week) and is
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Debby Boone, You Light Up My Life: 40th Anniversary Expanded Edition (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Finally, the platinum LP containing the biggest hit of the 1970s arrives on CD! Real Gone's new edition expands Debby Boone's original You Light Up My Life album by a whopping thirteen tracks, tracing Debby's career back to her earliest recordings with her sisters as The Boone Girls. You'll hear their effervescent