Bill Champlin - The Second Disc

The Weekend Stream: April 25, 2025

April 26, 2025 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

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 from a forthcoming West End musical by one of…

Categories:

The Weekend Stream

Formats:

Digital Download, Digital Streaming

Genres:

CCM, Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Disco/Dance, Electronic, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

The Weekend Stream: February 22, 2025

February 22, 2025 by Mike Duquette | 2 Comments

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! A great Carly Simon deep cut gets a fresh mix, plus Phil Collins in concert and new music from The Stylistics. Carly Simon, “Share the End” (2025 Remaster) (Elektra/Rhino) (iTunes / Amazon) Though merely billed as a remaster in the metadata, this upbeat, heartbreaking side-two opener to Simon’s sophomore album Anticipation has been newly remixed. It’s a dramatic revisit of a song that resonates still, and hopefully a portent of…

Categories:

The Weekend Stream

Formats:

Digital Download, Digital Streaming

Genres:

Classic Rock, Country, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

Tags:

Bill Champlin, Billy Gibbons, Carly Simon, Gene Simmons, Larry Coryell, Phil Collins, Ray Parker Jr., Ron Wood, Shania Twain, Steve Lukather, Tatyana Ali, The Stylistics, Tower of Power, Will Smith

Whatcha Gonna Do for Me: Average White Band Releases “On the Strip: The Sunset Sessions,” Reissues “Cupid’s in Fashion”

November 3, 2020 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments

The opening track of Average White Band’s new/old release On the Strip: The Sunset Sessions couldn’t have a more apropos title: “Let’s Go Round Again.” Following a successful run of albums with producer-arranger Arif Mardin, the funky big band outfit was re-establishing itself. 1979’s Feel No Fret was a self-produced affair on which the band was joined by co-producer Gene Paul; it yielded hit singles in “Atlantic Avenue” and a revival of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “Walk on By.” For a follow-up, AWB turned to the up-and-coming David Foster. A composer,…

Categories:

News, Reviews

Formats:

Vinyl

Genres:

Pop, R&B/Soul

Tags:

Average White Band, Bill Champlin, David Foster

Is He Groovin’ You? Big Break Collects Harvey Mason’s Funky Arista Years

August 8, 2017 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

Harvey Mason may be best known for his session credits on countless classic records by artists from Carole King to Quincy Jones. But the drummer/percussionist has also led a solo career since 1975, most often fusing his jazz sensibility with R&B textures. His first stint as a solo artist came at Clive Davis’ Arista Records, where he recorded five well-received, self-produced albums between 1975 and 1981. Big Break’s recent anthology Sho Nuff Groovin’ You: The Arista Records Anthology 1975-1981 draws on all five releases to paint a full portrait of the artist’s…

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News, Reviews

Formats:

Genres:

Jazz, R&B/Soul

Tags:

Bill Champlin, Dave Grusin, David Foster, George Benson, Harvey Mason, Merry Clayton

What The World Needs Now: Bacharach Demos Collected, Featuring Brian Wilson, Bill Champlin, More

May 22, 2017 by Joe Marchese | 1 Comment

On May 12 of this year, Burt Bacharach turned 89 years young. Since 1952, when he began his career as a professional songwriter with Nat “King” Cole’s recording of the instrumental “Once in a Blue Moon,” hardly a year has gone by without a new Bacharach song. Throughout the seven decades in which he’s been working, Bacharach has enjoyed fruitful collaborations with not only Hal David, but also Bob Hilliard, Carole Bayer Sager, Elvis Costello, and most recently, Steven Sater. Now, the spotlight has been turned on his long partnership with another…

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News, Reviews

Formats:

Genres:

Pop

Tags:

Bill Champlin, Brian Wilson, Burt Bacharach, Dr. Dre, Tonio K.

Two From Captain Fingers: Robinsongs Reissues Lee Ritenour’s “Rit” and “Rit 2”

December 9, 2015 by Joe Marchese | 3 Comments

In a solo career now numbering five decades and counting, California’s Lee Ritenour – a.k.a. Captain Fingers – remains one of music’s most virtuosic and prolific guitarists. An in-demand session guitarist who has played for artists including Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, Ritenour released his first recording as a leader in 1975 with First Course; his most recent, A Twist of Rit, was issued earlier this year. Now, Cherry Red’s Robinsongs imprint has looked back to Ritenour’s first two albums of the 1980s to combine Rit and Rit…

Categories:

News

Formats:

Genres:

Jazz, Pop

Tags:

Bill Champlin, David Foster, Eric Tagg, Lee Ritenour