“Motor-Cycle transported me back to the ’60s in a way not many records do…There’s no irony or second-guessing: Golden’s all in, a psychedelic daughter of the Beat generation, among her equally hippie cohort, in swirls of free-loving, drug-chasing, multiracial, pan-sexual abandon… The album is a mother lode, not unlike Daniel Johnston or The Shaggs, say, for its multi-level fascination.” High Moon Records has quoted groundbreaking punk legend Richard Hell in describing Lotti Golden’s 1969 album Motor-Cycle, which the label is reissuing in an expanded edition on March 28. The singer-songwriter’s Atlantic LP…
The Year In Review: The 2022 Gold Bonus Disc Awards, From A to Z – Part Two
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 many delays caused by…
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Sock It To Me, Baby: Ace Celebrates Bob Crewe on “Whatever You Want”
Yesterday, we looked at Ace Records’ recent anthology dedicated to West Coast producer Gary Usher. Today, we’re heading east… Stanley Robert Crewe of Newark, New Jersey studied architecture and tried his luck as a fashion model before turning full-time to music. Though the handsome young man was a teen idol-in-the-making, he found his truest calling behind-the-scenes. With writing partner Frank Slay, Crewe gifted “Silhouettes” to The Rays and “Tallahassee Lassie” to Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon. He formed his first record company, XYZ, in 1957, and by 1962 had launched arguably his most…
Release Round-Up: Week of February 21
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Hank Williams, Pictures from Life’s Other Side – The Man and His Music in Rare Photos and Recordings (BMG) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) BMG salutes late singer-songwriter-legend Hank Williams with the release of Pictures from Life’s Other Side – The Man and His Music in Rare Photos and Recordings. This lavish 6-CD collection presents all 144 tracks recorded by Williams for his 1951 radio show sponsored by Mother’s Best Flour Company. The Mother’s Best radio shows have been chronicled on various sets…
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Shake a Tail Feather! RPM Collects Complete Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels
Between 1965 and 1968, Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels scored a series of hits on producer-impresario Bob Crewe’s DynoVoice and New Voice labels. With the prolific Crewe at the helm, Ryder’s records featured a fiery blend of blue-eyed soul and pure, high-adrenaline rock-and-roll. Mitch Ryder (real name: William Levise, Jr.) set the stage for Michigan rockers from Bob Seger to Grand Funk Railroad to conquer the charts. For one of its final releases, Cherry Red’s RPM imprint has celebrated the Ryder oeuvre with a comprehensive new collection due tomorrow February 21…
“Goonies” R Good Enough to Launch Varese’s Vinyl Webstore; Plus “Barbarella” and More!
Varese Sarabande made headlines last month when it was revealed that the venerable label had been acquired by Concord Music. Today, Varese has announced the opening of a new online vinyl store on March 30. The Varese Vinyl shop will inaugurate its sales with three limited, numbered, exclusive soundtrack LPs: John Carpenter and Alan Howarth’s Christine on “Fury Red” vinyl; Bob Crewe and Charles Fox’s Barbarella on 180-gram vinyl; and Dave Grusin’s The Goonies on a 2-LP “Willy’s Gold” colored vinyl edition. Back in 2010, Varese premiered Dave Grusin’s score to the…
Wonder Women: Classic Superhero Soundtracks Coming from La-La Land, Varese
Two classic female comic heroes are getting some timely attention on CD, with soundtracks to the sexy sci-fi romp Barbarella and the heroic score to the hit ’70s TV series Wonder Woman are bowing on CD this week. One of DC Comics’ best-known Justice League charter members (and easily the company’s best-known princess of Themyscira!), Charles Moulton’s Wonder Woman first appeared on the page in 1941, and after memorable television adaptations of Superman in the 1950s and Batman in the 1960s, the Amazonian heroine became TV’s most famous superhero in the 1970s….
Good Times! The Second Disc’s Essential RSD Black Friday 2016 Release Guide
From all of us here at Second Disc HQ to all of you, we hope you’re enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving in the company of family and friends. Of course, from this day which conjures nostalgic and warm feelings comes a celebration of a different kind with this year’s annual Black Friday – the day for consumers to start off the holiday shopping season on a mad, frenetic note. But 2016 is just in the latest year in which numerous retailers in the U.S. have made headlines by blackening Thursday, or Thanksgiving Day…
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Do Your Thing: 20 Record Store Day Black Friday Essentials
Are you making a list and checking it twice? We are! Record Store Day Black Friday is here in less than a month, and this week we’re showcasing all of our favorite titles. We’ve shown you the goods from Legacy, Real Gone, Rhino and Omnivore; now, here are 20 more titles we think you should absolutely check out. There’s soundtrack goodies from Varese Sarabande and Light in the Attic; holiday favorites from Bob & Doug McKenzie, Frank Sinatra and “Dolemite” himself; lost gems from Isaac Hayes, The Runaways and Harry Nilsson; and…
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Release Round-Up: Week of March 10
This week brings a particularly impressive slate by any standard, but we’re particularly proud to introduce the world to Second Disc Records with our first two releases, from Johnny Mathis and the late Bob Crewe! Johnny Mathis, Life is a Song Worth Singing: The Complete Thom Bell Sessions (Second Disc/Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Here, on two CDs, we proudly present both of Johnny Mathis’ album collaborations – including the never-on-CD Mathis Is… – with songwriter-producer Thom Bell, plus ten bonus tracks! Read more here! Bob Crewe, The Complete Elektra Recordings…
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In Season: Bob Crewe’s Lost Musical Revealed On “The Complete Elektra Recordings” Coming NEXT WEEK From Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music
“Bob Crewe’s lyrics have meant so much–to so many–for so long; it is hard to imagine they will ever be forgotten. Bob had a way about him in life as he did in the studio, a charismatic personality, an ability to draw the best out of everyone and a limitless joy of music, art and life…We will never forget Bob Crewe.” So spoke Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio upon the passing last year of Bob Crewe at the age of 83. A veteran songwriter, producer and entrepreneur, Crewe’s vibrant, thrilling music famously…
Real Gone’s March Slate Boasts Peggy Lee, Perry Como, Foghat, J. Geils Band – and Second Disc Records, Too!
We hope that nobody missed yesterday’s big news of The Second Disc’s partnership with Real Gone Music to create Second Disc Records, launching March 10 with a pair of releases from Johnny Mathis and Bob Crewe! But that’s not all that Real Gone has on tap for March release. With a total of eight titles ranging from psychedelia to standards, this may be one of the label’s most eclectic release batches yet! Real Gone is kicking off the month on March 3 with two iconic classic rock albums on painstakingly-recreated replica vinyl…
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Second Disc Records Label Kicks Off in March with Johnny Mathis’ “Complete Thom Bell Sessions,” Bob Crewe’s “Complete Elektra Recordings”
As The Second Disc enters its fifth year as your go-to destination for classic music news and reviews, we’re excited to share our biggest news yet: a partnership with one of our favorite labels, Real Gone Music, to create Second Disc Records! Since its founding in 2011, Real Gone has rescued music that might otherwise have languished in a dusty vault or relegated to digital download – music that lives up to the label’s name – in splendidly remastered and generously expanded editions. Real Gone embodies the same “something for everyone” spirit…
In Memoriam: Bob Crewe (1931-2014)
From you’re just too good to be true, can’t take my eyes off you to voulez-vous coucher avec moi (ce soir)?, some of the most memorable phrases in popular music came courtesy of Bob Crewe. The multi-hyphenate talent – a songwriter, producer, singer, entrepreneur, artist, philanthropist, activist, and candidate for the title of “Fifth Season” – passed away yesterday at the age of 82, but not before leaving behind a rich legacy guaranteed to endure for decades to come. Crewe’s songs were built around big, powerful emotions, packed with drama and filled…
