Nobody - no, nobody was gonna rain on Diana Ross and The Supremes' parade. With new member Cindy Birdsong joining Miss Ross and Mary Wilson, the group released no fewer than five albums in 1968, all of which showcased their extraordinary versatility. One of those LPs was to be their only full-length tribute to a classic Broadway score - and what a tribute it was from three of Motown's "greatest stars." Diana Ross & The Supremes Sing and Perform "Funny Girl" featured the group's dynamic
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Little Steven and The Disciples of Soul, Men Without Women [CD/DVD] (Wicked Cool/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Little Steven Van Zandt's 1982 debut with The Disciples of Soul, Men Without Women, remains a high watermark in the Jersey shore bar band sound with its fusion of classic rock and soul sounds. Van Zandt was joined by members of The E Street Band, The Asbury Jukes, and The Miami Horns as well as pals like The
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Ronnie Milsap, The Best of Ronnie Milsap (Craft Recordings) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The Best of Ronnie Milsap gathers up 12 of the artist's biggest hits from his first tenure at RCA, including "It Was Almost Like a Song," "Any Day Now," and "What a Difference You've Made in My Life." Craft's parent company, Concord Music, acquired the rights to 16 of Milsap's RCA albums from between 1977-2006 last year, and this is the first
For the legendary Diana Ross, it's clear that there truly ain't no mountain high enough. The superstar made chart history earlier this year when "Love Hangover 2020" reached the top position on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart - making it her fourth consecutive No. 1 remix of a song that had previously been No. 1 on the Hot 100 in its original version. Now, that record-setting remix is coming to CD, clear vinyl LP, and digital formats along with Miss Ross' other three recent chart-toppers
The Motown news just keeps on coming! In April, vinyl subscription outlet Vinyl Me, Please featured Blue Note Records for the first volume in their immersive, multimedia series Vinyl Me, Please Anthology. Now, the label has announced their next installment: Vinyl Me, Please Anthology: The Women of Motown. VMP promises "an immersive journey into the storied label told through the music of the women who made it legendary." Subscriptions for the Anthology program will open on September 19 with
Back in March, we filled you in about Universal Japan's plans for Motown's 60th anniversary campaign, which included a series of reissues and a 3-CD, 60-song collection. We recently reviewed the U.S.' reissue of the definitive Motown: The Complete No. 1s box set. Now, the U.K. is getting into the act with a different 3-CD, 60-song anthology of its own. Motown: Greatest Hits arrives on August 16. Like the Japanese set, it boasts 60 classics from the label on three CDs, but the selection is
Smokey Robinson's mama famously told the young singer-songwriter that he'd better shop around, but happily, those looking for the definitive chronicle of Smokey and Diana and Mary and Flo and Martha and Marvin and Stevie and co. need shop around no more. To mark the label's 60th anniversary, Motown: The Complete No. 1s is back in print in a slightly-expanded edition, and this 11-CD box set is, simply, one-stop shopping. Impressively housed within a sturdy replica of 2648 West Grand Boulevard
For its 60th anniversary year, Universal Music Enterprises has begun reminding fans that "Motown Did It First"; now, the label that launched The Sound Of Young America is revisiting a box set that was released in celebration of its 50th anniversary a decade ago. Motown: The Complete No. 1s is being reissued and expanded on June 28. Motown: The Complete No. 1s featured more than 200 international chart-toppers, plus a handful of bonus masters that went to No. 1 through cover versions or
Happy Holidays! While gifts are flowing to friends and loved ones, there's not much new coming to stores! Here are a few highlights to keep you sated over the next three weeks! John Mellencamp, Other People's Stuff [LP] (Republic) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Other People's Stuff is a new collection of covers that shows Mellencamp applying his knack for storytelling to ten staples from the American music canon. The material is culled mostly from his own albums,
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Kinks, The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society [Various Formats] (BMG) 5CD/3LP/3-7″ Box Set: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Kinks are going back to the Village Green - and it's grown quite a bit in size! The band's legendary fifth album, 1968's The Kinks Are The
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Dionne Warwick, Odds and Ends: Scepter Records Rarities (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) From 1962 to 1971, Dionne Warwick, working primarily with songwriters/producers Burt Bacharach and Hal David, notched over twenty Top 40 hits on the Scepter label and garnered two Grammy Awards. Yet while there have been numerous reissues of Warwick's work at Scepter, some material has been overlooked. This new collection
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Queen, News of the World: 40th Anniversary Edition (UMC (U.K.) / Hollywood (U.S.) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.) Queen's sixth album, 1977's News of the World, is being generously expanded for its 40th anniversary in a new 3CD/1DVD/1LP box set. The original album is presented on CD and LP. The first bonus CD, the entirely unreleased Raw Sessions, presents an alternate version of the original album from demos, outtakes and live
Usually it takes 60 years to get to a diamond anniversary, but what's a few years early to celebrate Diana Ross! The R&B legend will be honored with a lifetime achievement award at the American Music Awards on November 19, and a new digital compilation will be released that weekend (Friday, November 17) to get the celebration started. Diamond Diana: The Legacy Collection is a breezy 15-track non-chronological trip through Miss Ross' unprecedented career. Focusing primarily on her solo
TOMORROW, Friday, November 3, is the day we've been waiting for here at Second Disc HQ - when we can finally unveil our new, and biggest ever, Second Disc Records slate of Christmas releases to you! Tomorrow, we're joining Real Gone Music for a trio of titles beginning with The Supremes' The Ultimate Merry Christmas, a deluxe 2-CD, 50-track celebration of Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard's 1965 Merry Christmas. This is one ultimate collection we're confident will live up to its
Saturday, October 14, marked 40 years since the passing of one of America's legendary vocalists, Bing Crosby. The famed crooner could fairly be recognized as the father of pop singing, treating the microphone and the studio of essential components of his art, and bringing intimacy to the form. On December 8, Bing Crosby Enterprises will team with UMe for new two titles in the Bing Crosby Archive Collection. New Tricks: 60th Anniversary Deluxe Edition and Among My Souvenirs: More Treasures
Longtime readers know that Christmas is our favorite time of the year here at Second Disc HQ, and this year, we're celebrating with our most lavish release yet: The Supremes' The Ultimate Merry Christmas! Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music are counting down the days until November 3, when we proudly present one of the greatest Christmas albums of all time - from the world's number-one girl group - in an edition that's years in the making! Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard
Get ready! A new, rarities-packed edition of The Supremes' chart-topping The Supremes A' Go-Go is headed to stores this spring! Released late in the summer of 1966, the ninth album by Motown's powerhouse vocal trio (Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson) reads like a who's-who of pop and Detroit soul, with a slew of covers (mostly from the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team) given that Supremes treatment. Here, you'll find versions of The Isley Brothers' "This Old Heart of Mine
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Little Richard, Mono Box: The Complete Specialty and Vee-Jay Albums (Concord/Specialty) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) This new, 5-LP vinyl box set collects all of the studio albums that Little Richard recorded for both the Specialty and Vee-Jay labels between 1957 and 1965. The mono albums, each replicating the original label and jacket art, have been remastered from analog tapes. A 16-page booklet featuring new liner
Christmas came early in 1965 for fans of The Supremes. In November of that year, Motown released not one, but two albums from the beloved trio of Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard: The Supremes at the Copa and Merry Christmas. Both of these LPs would not only score on the Billboard charts but become truly sparkling additions to the Supremes' discography. Still perennial favorites, both Copa and Merry Christmas showcase the group's tremendous versatility, vibrancy and dynamism.
On the eve of NBC's new production of The Wiz next week, Motown/UMe have dug into the vaults to release a lost album of songs from the Broadway musical by Diana Ross. The pairing, of course, is no mistake: the 1975 Tony Award-winning "super soul musical" was adapted into a film in 1978, with Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell and original cast member Ted Ross as Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion, respectively. Produced by Motown and directed by Sidney Lumet, with a young
Diana Ross, Why Do Fools Fall in Love / Silk Electric / Ross / Swept Away / Eaten Alive / Red Hot Rhythm and Blues (Expanded Editions) (Funky Town Grooves) Why Do Fools Fall in Love: Expanded Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Silk Electric: Expanded Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Ross: Expanded Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Swept Away: Deluxe Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Eaten Alive: Deluxe Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Red Hot Rhythm and Blues: Deluxe
Diana Ross is well-known as the Queen of Motown, but for real record geeks and catalogue enthusiasts, it's her post-Motown works - released in the U.S. on RCA Records and on Capitol/EMI worldwide - that deserves a revisitation, thanks to its high energy dance grooves supplied by several very famous collaborators. This fall, Funkytowngrooves is doing what Diana's fans have wanted for years: remastering and expanding her six albums from 1981 to 1987 for the first time ever. After two decades