One of the most striking (and oft-reissued) albums in U.K. '80s pop gets its biggest look this fall, with a new box set edition of Bronski Beat's The Age of Consent. The new 4CD/1DVD edition, available October 18, packages the original 1984 album with 1985 remix album Hundreds and Thousands, plus 19 remixes, edits and B-sides as well as three unreleased remixes and a disc of 19 never-before-released studio outtakes and radio sessions. The DVD features both restored music videos and Top of the
The Disco Discharge series, dormant for over a decade, has been recently reactivated by Demon Music Group's Edsel label for one of its boldest projects yet. The 5-CD collection Disco Discharge Presents Box of Sin (also available on 4 LPs of highlights) is a journey through the gay club scene of 1980-1989 via 54 full-length or extended tracks from artists both expected and unexpected - including Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Donna Summer, Dreamgirls Sheryl Lee Ralph and Jennifer Holliday,
Good times and bum times, I've seen them all and my dear, I'm still here... Eartha Kitt certainly earned the right to sing those famous lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The theatrical legend wrote the song for Yvonne DeCarlo to introduce in the 1971 Broadway production of Follies, but the seen-it-all anthem was later adopted by artists including Barbra Streisand, Carol Burnett, Elaine Stritch, Judy Collins, Dame Shirley Bassey, Cleo Laine, and Ann Miller. Kitt - a singer, dancer, actress,
CONGRATULATIONS TO DENNIS HANEY, WINNER OF THE JIMMY SOMERVILLE REISSUES!
The more things change… The old adage has never been more shockingly true than when it comes to the music of Jimmy Somerville. Throughout an uncompromising career, Somerville has deftly blurred the lines between politics and music, deploying his piercing falsetto to sing eloquently of social ills against a dance-pop backdrop. Somerville came to prominence in 1984 as a member of Bronski Beat, a group of three young gay men who were determined to make their mark despite the social climate in
Jellyfish, Live at Bogart's (Omnivore) A fine 1991 gig from the criminally underrated power pop band, captured on CD and three sides of vinyl. Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits (Audio Fidelity) The Bard's first compilation gets the 24K gold disc treatment. Elton John, Classic Album Selection (Universal U.K.) Elton fans have a neat little budget compilation of studio albums to look forward to (from 1970's self-titled album to 1973's Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player). Small
Edsel continues populating a busy release schedule with recently-announced expansions of three albums from two bands featuring Scottish pop singer Jimmy Somerville. British pop fans might know Somerville today as the falsetto-voiced singer who crooned several hits in the '80s and '90s (including a chart-topping dance track in the U.S., "Heartbeat," in 1995). But his first brushes with stardom happened with a pair of synthpop bands in the middle of the 1980s. First, there was his brief but