A new beginning – Donna Summer was certainly ready for one when she signed as the first artist on David Geffen’s upstart record label in 1980. She had clashed and litigated with her longtime home of Casablanca Records over her artistic direction, and on a personal level had become a born-again Christian. Her first album for Geffen would build on her success at Casablanca but confidently introduce a new Donna Summer, as well. The Wanderer, her eighth studio album, became a top 20 success in the U.S. and yielded a top five…
Release Round-Up: Week of October 16
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Tom Petty, Wildflowers & All the Rest (Warner Records) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4CD Deluxe Edition (above plus Home Recordings & Wildflowers Live): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 7LP Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 5CD Super Deluxe Edition (above plus Finding Wildflowers): TomPetty.com 9LP Super Deluxe Edition: TomPetty.com 9LP Ultra Deluxe Edition: TomPetty.com (Sold out during pre-order period) The late Tom Petty’s long-awaited box dedicated to the gestation of his classic Wildflowers album is finally here. Wildflowers & All The Rest rounds up the original 1994 album alongside several bonus discs of…
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Review: Donna Summer, “A Hot Summer Night”
“This isn’t just my show…this is your show!” Donna Summer exclaimed during “MacArthur Park,” the opening song of her August 6, 1983 concert at Costa Mesa, California’s Pacific Amphitheatre. Now, that memorable concert dubbed A Hot Summer Night truly can be yours, as Driven by the Music and Crimson Productions have debuted it on CD and DVD as well as on a separate vinyl release. A Hot Summer Night, part of Summer’s Hard for the Money tour, was filmed in the wake of the She Works Hard for the Money album release. The LP…
Release Round-Up: Week of July 10
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Grateful Dead, Workingman’s Dead: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Grateful Dead/Rhino) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Often hailed as one of Grateful Dead’s most accessible albums along with its follow-up, American Beauty, Workingman’s Dead placed its focus on tighter songcraft in a country/folk-oriented vein that would later be described as “Americana.” It introduced the group’s first chart hit, the timeless “Uncle John’s Band,” as well as the favorite “Casey Jones” which has received substantial…
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State of Independence: Donna Summer Live Set Comes to CD, DVD, LP in July
Following its career-spanning Encore box set celebrating late superstar Donna Summer, Demon Music Group’s Driven by the Music imprint will be bringing one of the diva’s classic concerts to multiple formats. A Hot Summer Night will be issued on July 10 in both CD/DVD and 2-LP colored vinyl formats. The concert was recorded on August 6, 1983 as part of Summer’s Hard for the Money tour. The She Works Hard for the Money album had just been released a couple of months earlier, in June, but Summer was already on the second…
Review: Donna Summer, “Encore”
I. Try Me, I Know We Can Make It Donna Summer’s first studio album was entitled Lady of the Night, after its retro-styled galloping pop song composed by Giorgio Moroder and the album’s producer Pete Bellotte. Following the release of her next LP, Summer would own the night as an international superstar. But there was much more to the so-called Queen of Disco than just the remarkable string of hits that crossed over from the dancefloor to the mainstream pop consciousness, among them “Love to Love You Baby,” “I Feel Love,” “Last…
Release Round-Up: Week of March 27
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Donna Summer, Encore (Crimson Productions) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The ultimate Donna Summer box set, Encore bring together the late superstar’s complete albums on 33 CDs, including 8 discs of 7″ and 12″ mixes, single edits, non-album cuts, and other rarities. It totals a staggering 329 tracks, truly the most comprehensive tribute to Summer ever collected. Christian John Wikane provides the new liner notes. The set is limited to 1,500 copies and out today in the United Kingdom (and next Friday in…
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It’s For Real: “Encore” Collects Donna Summer’s Complete Studio Albums and More
On March 27, Demon Music Group’s Crimson Productions label will release Encore, the ultimate Donna Summer box set. The Queen of Disco’s reigned over the pop charts for decades with stints on Casablanca, Geffen, Mercury, and Atlantic. Over the years, she released 17 studio albums, two live albums, and a wealth of successful singles. Encore will bring together all those albums across 33 CDs, plus 8 discs of 7″ and 12″ mixes, rare edits, non-album cuts, and other rarities. It totals a staggering 329 tracks, truly the most comprehensive…
Release Round-Up: Week of March 29
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up. Here’s what’s due for March 29! John Coltrane, Coltrane ’58: The Prestige Recordings [5 CD] (Craft Recordings) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The year 1958 was a breakout one for saxophone legend John Coltrane. It marked the year when Coltrane–already well-established as a talented sideman–began to make a name for himself as a solo musician and developed his signature “sheets of sound” style while exploring many other routes. To mark the 70th anniversary of Prestige, Coltrane’s complete 1958 recordings are released today on…
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Release Round-Up: Week of August 24
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Linda Clifford, If My Friends Could See Me Now / Let Me Be Your Woman / Here’s My Love / I’m Yours (Blixa Sounds) If My Friends Could See Me Now: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Let Me Be Your Woman: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Here’s My Love: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada I’m Yours: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Blixa Sounds reissues four albums (three new to CD) from seventies soul/disco songstress Linda…
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Release Round-Up: Week of April 20
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! The Who, Live at the Fillmore East 1968 (UMe) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Who’s April 6, 1968 concert from New York’s Fillmore East gets its first-ever official release just in time for its 50th anniversary. For the occasion, it’s been restored and fully remixed from the original four-track tapes by longtime Who engineer Bob Pridden, who was responsible for the mix heard that night in the Fillmore East. The 2-CD iteration of…
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Dim All The Lights: New Donna Summer Compilation Coming Ahead of Broadway Musical
Last night, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical began previews at Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre starring not one, not two, but three actresses as the beloved superstar. The musical directed and co-written by Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys) chronicles the life of the Boston-born artist from her days touring abroad in Hair to disco stardom to her untimely death in 2012 at the age of 63. While a cast recording has not yet been announced, UMe and Island/Def Jam are collecting 17 of Summer’s classics on a new collection designed to tie into the Broadway…
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Release Round-Up: Week of November 18
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up – the last of the major release weeks for 2016! The Beatles, Eight Days a Week (DVD or BD) (Apple/Capitol) 2-Disc Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2-Disc DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Standard Edition Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Standard Edition DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Ron Howard’s acclaimed 2016 documentary chronicling Beatlemania, Eight Days a Week, hits DVD and Blu-ray. The standard editions offer the film only, while the 2-disc Deluxe Editions add over 100…
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Release Round-Up: Week of October 9
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up highlighted by the first course of a Christmas feast, plus a trio of deluxe box sets, new albums from veteran artists, and more! The Three Suns, A Ding Dong Dandy Christmas / George Melachrino and His Orchestra, Christmas Joy / John Gary, The John Gary Christmas Album / The Soulful Strings, The Magic of Christmas (Real Gone Music) The Three Suns: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. George Melachrino: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. John Gary: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. The Soulful Strings: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K….
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Release Round-Up: Week of May 26
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! We hope all of our U.S. readers enjoyed a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. And now, without further ado, onto the music! Yes, Progeny: Seven Shows from Seventy-Two (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Finally, after a brief delay, Progeny is here! This whopping 14-CD box captures seven complete concerts from Yes circa 1972 – the same tour leading up to the performances preserved on Yessongs. For those who don’t need 14 discs, 2-CD and 3-LP Highlights distillations are also available (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) !…
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Better Treat Her Right: Latter-Day Donna Summer Albums Expanded in the U.K.
1979 could have been called “The Year of Donna Summer.” In the last year of the 70s, Summer became the first female artist in the history of to have three number 1 singles in a calendar year: “Hot Stuff,” “Bad Girls” and “No More Tears (Enough is Enough),” a duet with Barbra Streisand. She would have had four, but alas, “Dim All the Lights” stalled at No. 2. But despite reaching the top of the charts consistently with disco records, Summer decided that she wanted to try a new sound. Her record…
Donna Summer and John Barry Go “Deep” On New Hot Shot Reissue
Everything about The Deep was big. Jaws author Peter Benchley was guaranteed over half a million dollars by impresario Peter Guber for film rights to his unpublished follow-up in a deal which seemed justified when The Deep finally arrived and quickly became a bestseller. For his big screen-ready underwater adventure, Guber had a big budget, big locations for shooting, and a big partner in Neil Bogart’s Casablanca Records. Bogart wasn’t known for doing anything small, and as the inaugural production of Casablanca FilmWorks, The Deep didn’t disappoint. The film starring Nick Nolte,…
Hot Stuff: Donna Summer’s Legacy Celebrated with New Remix Album
The sudden passing of Donna Summer in 2012 had fans old and new flocking to her music to hear some of the finest disco music imaginable. This fall, Verve Records will bring that legacy into a new era with Love to Love You Donna, a set featuring new remixes of her most enduring tracks. Happily, Love to Love You Donna features more than its share of enduring remixers to give Summer’s hits the respect they deserve. Electronic funk duo Chromeo tackles her 1982 hit “Love is in Control (Finger on the Trigger),” England’s Hot…
In Memoriam: Donna Summer (1948-2012)
Who among us hasn’t been touched by the music of Donna Summer? One of the defining voices of the disco era, Summer has been silenced today after a brave battle with cancer. Yet the music of LaDonna Adrian Gaines, born on New Year’s Eve in 1948, will doubtless continue to transport us back to a time when vivacious music blared “On the Radio.” Donna Summer implored us to take that “Last Dance” on the disco floor with some very “Bad Girls” in a nearly unrivalled string of hits. She reminded us about…
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Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention
September 25, 2026