Welcome to 2024's final edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts! With no Release Round-Up this Friday and a few weeks of peace and quite from (and for!) us until 2025, we've got a few more treats for you under the tree from Wham!, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Miles Davis, Archie Bell & The Drells and so much more! Wham!, Last Christmas (Epic/Legacy/Sony Music U.K.) (iTunes / Amazon) For
Band break-ups can be traumatizing, no matter how they happen. Philip Bailey, whose high falsetto vocals were a key part of Earth, Wind & Fire during their most commercial years in the '70s and '80s, has frequently described the band's (temporary) dissolution, brought up during a 1983 band meeting by founder Maurice White, as one of the lower points of his career. Bailey's next moves could shape his trajectory as an artist for better or worse. Of course, what happened over the rest of the
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing weekly review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there's plenty of great new/old music to usher you into the weekend. This week, a Madonna rarity makes a splashy debut, the daughter of a soul legend sings with her dad on his holiday classic, and Roger Waters emerges from lockdown - plus remixes old and new, and a World Cup throwback you might not believe is real. Madonna, Gambler (Warner/Rhino) (iTunes /
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing weekly review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there's plenty of great new/old music to discover! This week we've got a U2 digital box set, soulful rarities from The Isley Brothers and Ramsey Lewis, and the return of a cute Christmas favorite. U2, Achtung Baby (30th Anniversary Edition) (Island/UMe) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify) Alongside a new vinyl pressing of the album that hurtled U2 into the '90s and
Do you remember? The 21st night of September is nearly upon us, and it's always a bit of a day to celebrate for Earth, Wind & Fire fans. This year, the R&B legends are rising to the occasion with a new video and retro-style remixes of the 1978 smash. The lead single from The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire Volume 1, a Top 10 hit at the time of its release, has taken on a life of its own. Since 2016, writer/comedian Demi Adejuyigbe has gained notoriety with an annual series of
The U.K.'s Dutton Vocalion label has announced its first batch of hybrid SACD releases for 2020, all of which feature original quadraphonic and stereo mixes. (The stereo mixes are playable on all CD players.) This round follows an eclectic array of titles released in 2019 including albums by Paul Revere and The Raiders, The Guess Who, Argent, Blood Sweat & Tears, Carlos Santana, and numerous others. (Visit the Dutton Vocalion website for information on all of these titles and more!) The
SoulMusic Records has recently brought together the five Columbia/ARC albums of the beloved R&B trio The Emotions on one 3-CD set with a selection of eight bonus tracks. Don't Ask My Neighbors: The Columbia/ARC Recordings (1976-1981) has Flowers (1976), Rejoice (1977), Sunbeam (1978), Come Into Our World (1979), and New Affair (1981) in one clamshell case. Sisters Sheila, Wanda and Jeanette Hutchinson first recorded on the small Brainstorm and Twin Stacks labels before receiving national
This past April, New York's Radio City Music Hall hosted a prestigious premiere. The film was Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives, and the screening was accompanied by an all-star concert featuring Barry Manilow, Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon, and others celebrating the life of the music legend. Beginning on October 3, Apple Music will exclusively stream the Chris Perkel-directed documentary, and today, September 27, Legacy Recordings has digitally released an exclusive
Upon its release in 1971, there was nothing quite like Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. The low- budget, independently-made film - written, directed, edited, composed by and starring Melvin Van Peebles, and rated X "by an all-white jury" as its tagline proclaimed, ushered in the blaxploitation genre in shocking and often graphic fashion. Prior to the film's release, the multi-hyphenate Van Peebles realized that the best way to spread the word about his groundbreaking work was via music. And
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Impressions, The Best of The Impressions: The Curtom Years (Varese Vintage) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Varese Vintage has an impressive line-up of releases this week! First up, the label has brought together 18 prime cuts from the premier purveyors of Chicago soul, Curtis Mayfield and the legendary Impressions. This set features singles released on the Curtom label between 1968 and 1976 including the R&B hits "Fool for
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Go-Go's, Beauty and the Beat / Vacation / Talk Show: Deluxe Editions (Edsel) Beauty and the Beat: Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Vacation: Expanded Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Talk Show: Expanded Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Edsel has expanded editions of the three classic albums by The Go-Go's originally released between 1982 and 1984. While none of the bonus material here is unreleased, these reissues do serve
Since 2011, Sony's Legacy Recordings has offered a crop of ideal stocking stuffers with the Classic Christmas Album series. This year's quartet of releases has a decidedly more modern bent, featuring artists associated with the '70s (Earth, Wind & Fire), '80s (a various artists compilation), '90s (Sarah McLachlan) and 2000s (Celtic Thunder). Three of these titles are actually expanded editions of previously released albums. Earth, Wind and Fire's Classic Christmas entry reprises last
Announcements about this year's Black Friday Record Store Day event have been trickling out. A couple of days ago we brought you news of Omnivore's titles and before that, of Real Gone's Dictators release! Now we can tell you about Legacy's slate for the day after Thanksgiving. The titles run the gamut in size from 7" singles to 12" 2-LP sets, and also range in genre from rock to country to hip-hop. Several soundtracks are being released including a single from the 1960s Batman TV show,
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The dB's and Friends, Christmas Time Again! (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Omnivore revisits and revises the classic alt-rock Christmas compilation. Producer Chris Stamey has added new performances by Yo La Tengo & Jeff Tweedy, Marshall Crenshaw, Robyn Hitchcock, and Big Star's Third (featuring Mike Mills of R.E.M. taking lead vocals on Big Star's "Jesus Christ") to selected tracks from past editions of the album for a total of 22
Welcome to our new Release Round-Up! Paul McCartney, The Paul McCartney Archive Collection: Tug of War (MPL/Concord) The Paul McCartney Archive Collection continues with 1982's Tug of War, featuring "Ebony and Ivory" and "Here Today." The release is available in various formats: 3-CD/1-DVD Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2-CD Special Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2-LP Vinyl Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Check out our full feature for information on what
A new digital album explores little-known soul trio The Salty Peppers, best known as the elements of one of the best soul bands of the 1970s: Earth, Wind & Fire. In 1969, Maurice White, the drummer in the Ramsey Lewis Trio, struck out on his own on the Chicago music scene first as a songwriter and then as the drummer in a new quartet of his own creation. With two friends, keyboardist/bassist Don Whitehead and singer Wade Flemons and Don Whitehead, White would found a trio, The Salty
Legacy Recordings is getting into the Christmas spirit this year by continuing its Classic Christmas Album series. On October 2, four new entries will be released featuring artists who had their biggest successes in the '70s (Earth, Wind & Fire), '80s (a various artists compilation), '90s (Sarah McLachlan) and 2000s (Celtic Thunder). The majority of the material on these compilations is of a relatively recent vintage. The exception is The Classic Christmas '80s Album which obviously
Today's Release Round-Up features an array of titles including a box set from the one and only Chairman of the Board, a number of vintage albums in surround sound, a classic reissue from a new Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, and more! Frank Sinatra, Ultimate Sinatra (Capitol/UMe) 4-CD Box: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 1-CD Highlights: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2-CD Target Exclusive: Target.com 2-LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Standard Edition DD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. The 100th
Audio Fidelity is continuing its well-received series of surround-sound releases on hybrid SACD with a trio of quadraphonic (4.0) titles from 1974 and one classic rock favorite from 1972 in 5.1. All of these titles feature the surround mix on the high resolution SACD layer with a newly-remastered version of the original stereo mix on both the SACD and standard CD layers. The '72 classic is America's Homecoming. The second album by the trio of Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley and Dan Peek,
Welcome to the second part of our series exploring the bounty of summer offerings from Cherry Red’s Big Break Records label! Big Break has a pair of releases from 1976 including an expanded edition of Earth, Wind and Fire’s Spirit. The 1976 LP was a major turning point for the band – with leader Maurice White assuming the producer’s chair following the death of Charles Stepney during its sessions – as well as one of its most successful records, peaking at No. 2 Pop and R&B on the