Earth Wind and Fire - The Second Disc

Genres:

Classic Rock, Disco/Dance, Electronic, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Aphex Twin, Archie Bell and the Drells, Bruce Springsteen, Earth Wind and Fire, Elton John, George Michael, INXS, John Williams, Miles Davis, Wham!

Walking on the Chinese Wall: SoulMusic Records Collects Philip Bailey’s First Three Solo Pop Albums

January 30, 2023 by The Second Disc | 4 Comments

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 decade helped solidify Bailey’s reputation as an…

Categories:

Features, The Weekend Stream

Formats:

Box Sets, CD

Genres:

Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

Tags:

Deniece Williams, Earth Wind and Fire, George Duke, Little Richard, Nile Rodgers, Phil Collins, Philip Bailey

The Weekend Stream: December 10, 2022

December 10, 2022 by Mike Duquette | 1 Comment

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 / Amazon) As the first part of Rhino’s ongoing…

The Weekend Stream: December 4, 2021

December 4, 2021 by Mike Duquette | No Comments

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 back into superstardom, U2 have digitally premiered a huge…

Categories:

Formats:

Genres:

Classic Rock, Disco/Dance, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

Tags:

Earth Wind and Fire, Jimi Hendrix, Lou Monte, Ramsey Lewis, The Isley Brothers, U2

Never Was a Cloudy Day: New Remixes Celebrate Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September”

September 21, 2020 by Mike Duquette | 1 Comment

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…

Categories:

Formats:

Genres:

Disco/Dance, Pop, R&B/Soul

Tags:

Earth Wind and Fire

Wake Up Everybody: Vocalion Releases Quad SACDs from Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, O’Jays, Earth Wind and Fire, Helen Reddy

January 20, 2020 by Joe Marchese | 7 Comments

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 following group of releases is available now from the U.K. label,…

Categories:

Earth Wind and Fire, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Helen Reddy, Paul Mauriat, The O'Jays

Formats:

CD, SACD

Genres:

Pop, R&B/Soul

Tags:

Boogie Wonderland: Cherry Red, SoulMusic Collect The Emotions’ Columbia Albums In New Box

December 4, 2019 by Joe Marchese | 6 Comments

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 attention on Stax’s Volt imprint. But when Stax shuttered in 1975, The Emotions were left without a…

Categories:

Earth Wind and Fire, The Emotions

Formats:

Genres:

Disco/Dance, Pop, R&B/Soul

Tags:

That’s What Friends Are For: Clive Davis Soundtrack Features Barry, Whitney, Dionne, Aretha, More

September 27, 2017 by Joe Marchese | 6 Comments

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 34-track deluxe soundtrack on Apple Music boasting four previously unreleased performances. (A standard 20-track digital soundtrack will be…

Categories:

Formats:

Earth Wind and Fire, Melvin Van Peebles

Genres:

Classic Rock, Country, Everything Else, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

Hard-Hitting “Sweet Sweetback” Returns To Vinyl For Stax 60th Campaign

August 3, 2017 by Joe Marchese | 1 Comment

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 so, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song: An Opera – A Film of Melvin Van Peebles…

Categories:

News, Reviews

Formats:

Vinyl

Genres:

R&B/Soul, Soundtracks

Tags:

Release Round-Up: Week of April 22

April 22, 2016 by Joe Marchese | 1 Comment

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 You,” “Choice of Colors,” “Say You Love Me,” “Finally Got Myself Together (I’m a Changed…

Categories:

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, DVD, Digital Download, SACD

Genres:

Classic Rock, Folk, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul

Tags:

Bernard Herrmann, Bill Evans, Doris Day, Earth Wind and Fire, Eric Carmen, Jethro Tull, Marvin Hamlisch, Sandy Denny, The Impressions

Release Round-Up: Week of April 1

April 1, 2016 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

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 to pair the respective material from Return to the Valley of The Go-Go’s up with their original albums. Beyond that,…

Categories:

Celtic Thunder, Earth Wind and Fire, Sarah McLachlan, Various Artists

Formats:

CD, Digital Download, SACD, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

Tags:

Bill Wyman, Earth Wind and Fire, Martha and the Vandellas, Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, The Go-Go's, The Miracles, The Replacements, The Supremes, Todd Rundgren

Review: “The Classic Christmas Album” Series 2015

December 8, 2015 by Joe Marchese | 3 Comments

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 year’s new studio album Holiday with five added bonus tracks. Then as now, Holiday is an enjoyable assortment of…

Categories:

Reviews

Formats:

Genres:

Holiday, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

Tags:

You’ve Got the Touch: Legacy’s 2015 Black Friday RSD Slate includes Presley, Cash, Hendrix, Isley Brothers and “Transformers” Soundtrack

October 23, 2015 by Randy Fairman | 5 Comments

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, the film Garden State and…

Categories:

Earth Wind and Fire, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, Record Store Day, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Alan Parsons Project, The Isley Brothers

Formats:

Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Country, Pop, R&B/Soul, Soundtracks

Tags:

Release Round-Up: Week of October 16

October 16, 2015 by Joe Marchese | 1 Comment

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 tracks! King Crimson, Thrak (CD/DVD-A) (DGM) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) 1995’s Thrak arrives as the…

Categories:

Formats:

CD, DVD-Audio, Digital Download, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Country, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Cole Porter, Earth Wind and Fire, Glen Campbell, Judy Garland, King Crimson, Pat Boone, Ray Parker Jr., Raydio, The dB's

Release Round-Up: Week of October 2

October 2, 2015 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

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 you’ll find in each version! Paul McCartney, The Paul McCartney Archive Collection: Pipes of Peace (MPL/Concord) Paul…

Categories:

Formats:

CD, Digital Download, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock

Tags:

Bad Company, Carl Wilson, Carole King, Celtic Thunder, Dean Martin, Dick Haymes, Earth Wind and Fire, Garbage, Grateful Dead, Janet Jackson, Joe Jackson, Judy Garland, Paul McCartney, Sarah McLachlan

Uh Huh Yeah! New Release Explores The Roots of Earth, Wind & Fire

September 17, 2015 by Mike Duquette | 1 Comment

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 Peppers. Their type of…

Categories:

Earth Wind and Fire, The Salty Peppers

Formats:

Digital Download

Genres:

R&B/Soul

Tags:

Do You Hear What I Hear?: Legacy Adds Four New Entries to “Classic Christmas Album” Series

September 10, 2015 by Randy Fairman | 7 Comments

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 covers material from that decade and runs the gamut in genres, featuring some of the bigger…

Categories:

Celtic Thunder, Earth Wind and Fire, Sarah McLachlan, Various Artists

Formats:

Genres:

Everything Else, Pop, R&B/Soul

Tags:

Release Round-Up: Week of April 21

April 21, 2015 by Joe Marchese | 9 Comments

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 birthday of Ol’ Blue Eyes is celebrated with a variety of releases under the Ultimate Sinatra umbrella,…

Categories:

Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, SACD, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock

Tags:

America, Dick Hyman, Earth Wind and Fire, Frank Sinatra, Jim Peterik, Joan Jett, Labelle, Paul Revere and The Raiders, Rush

The Entertainers: Billy Joel, America, Labelle, Earth Wind and Fire Get Surround-Sound Treatment From Audio Fidelity

March 24, 2015 by Joe Marchese | 1 Comment

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, Homecoming introduced the Top 10 Pop/Top 5 AC hit single…

Categories:

Formats:

SACD

Genres:

Classic Rock, Pop, R&B/Soul

Tags:

America, Billy Joel, Earth Wind and Fire, Labelle

Don’t Stop The Music: A Big Break Bounty, Part Two

August 27, 2014 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

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 Billboard charts and eventually…

Categories: