Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. Iconic Seattle punk, a new Elton John single and fresh Duran Duran remixes kick things off - plus another round of esoteric Christmas cheer! The Gits, Frenching the Bully / Enter: The Conquering Chicken / Kings & Queens / Seafish Louisville (2024 Remasters) (Sub Pop) Frenching: iTunes / Amazon / Bandcamp Enter: iTunes / Amazon /
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. This week, there's rare jazz, country, pop standards and gospel, plus remixes of a Madonna hit and one of the most unexpected Disney covers you'll ever hear. Madonna, Who's That Girl EP (Warner/Rhino) (iTunes / Amazon) ¿Quién es esa niña? Madonna's international chart-topping 1987 single - the title track to her first soundtrack album from
Tomorrow, Record Store Day is once again upon us! It's that time of year where music lovers and vinyl flippers get together at their favorite physical music retailers and wait in line to snag some treasured albums - almost all of which are pressed on vinyl instead of CD (or, you know, sold on secondary marketplaces for above their retail value). This year, the list tops out at over 350 titles, so there's very nearly something for everybody. It wasn't easy to narrow our choices down to around
When Elton John played the final stop of his final U.S. tour at Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium on November 20, 2022, Kiki Dee was right there by his side to sing their 1976 smash "Don't Go Breaking My Heart." While that duet remains a major part of the Kiki Dee story, there's plenty more to the Yorkshire-born singer-songwriter's discography. Thankfully, Edsel has chronicled that discography in depth on 2020's The Fontana and Motown Years (spanning 1963-1970) and 2019's The Rocket Years (spanning
From the time singer-guitarist Glen Campbell recorded "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" in 1967, he became forever linked with the words and music of Jimmy Layne Webb. Formerly a staff songwriter for Motown's Jobete Music arm, Webb had placed songs with big names (The Supremes) and lesser-known talents (Danny Day, The Contessas) when he attracted the ear of Soul City Records' Johnny Rivers. The "Poor Side of Town" and "Memphis, Tennessee" singer was the first to release a version of "Phoenix," on
Continuing our look through this year's Record Store Day list, here is a glance at twenty-one releases from the Universal family of labels. All descriptions are taken from the labels. If you are interested in any of these titles, they will be available at your local record store on April 20. Head over to recordstoreday.com for a list of participating retailers. U.K. readers, please visit recordstoreday.co.uk and Canadian readers, please visit recordstoredaycanada.ca. The Beatles, "I Saw
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts. More Madonna remixes, a trove of rarities from Matt Monro, and two solo albums from an Elton John sideman are all here - plus new EPs from a current Broadway star and a neat new vocal group! Madonna, Love Profusion (The Remixes) (Warner/Rhino) (iTunes / Amazon) A super-sized bundle of mixes to the final single from 2003's American Life is the latest digital archival
Welcome to a special edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts. With the most wonderful time of the year officially in full swing, it's worth going back and highlighting some great holiday hits and Christmas curiosities made available to stream and download in the last month or so. Which ones are you excited to find under the tree? Elton John, Step Into Christmas (Mercury) (iTunes / Amazon) One of the best "recent" additions
Edsel has long been championing the recordings of Kiki Dee, including two definitive box sets chronicling The Fontana and Motown Years and The Rocket Years. It's the latter chapter to which the label has recently returned on a reissue of the British singer's second album, I've Got the Music in Me. Originally released on Elton John's Rocket Records in 1974, the LP yielded a top twenty pop hit on both sides of the Atlantic. What sets this 2-CD expanded edition apart is both the content - it
"If I'm gonna be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I'm going to have to earn it," Dolly Parton commented upon her 2022 induction into the Cleveland hall. She promised that a rock and roll album was on the way, and today, she made good on that promise...with what essentially amounts to two such records! On November 17, Dolly's own Butterfly Records in association with Big Machine will release Rockstar, a whopping 2-CD or 4-LP collection with 30 songs featuring some of the biggest names in the
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! Olivia Newton-John, Just the Two of Us: The Duets Collection Vol. 1 (Primary Wave/Green Hill) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 17 favorite duets with Olivia Newton-John are featured on this new collection. The late artist's duet partners include Dolly Parton ("Jolene"), Michael McDonald ("Act of Faith"), Barry Gibb ("Face to
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today. Elton John, Honky Château: 50th Anniversary Edition (Rocket/UMC) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Hot on the heels of his final U.S. live performances, Elton John is looking back with a 50th anniversary edition of his 1972 LP Honky Château. The reissue will feature the original album (boasting such classics as "Rocket Man,"
Though Elton John lavishly retired from touring with a run of shows at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last year - part of a tour that's set box-office records - you'd be right that it wouldn't be a long, long time before we heard from him in some way, shape, or form. Indeed: now comes word that his 1972 album Honky Château will be reissued just past its 50th anniversary with a trove of rare session demos and live tracks. If Madman Across the Water - reissued and expanded last year by UMe - was
Happy 2023! Welcome, friends, to The Second Disc's 13th Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! A lot has happened in the last twelve months, but as we look to a new year with optimism and a hopeful spirit, we recognize the many roles music has played in our lives. With that spirit in mind, The Second Disc wishes to recognize 2022's cream of the catalogue music crop - those exemplary reissues and box sets, big and small, that proved to be truly outstanding for music lovers worldwide. Despite 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, it's hardly Thanksgiving leftovers thanks to some British Christmas favorites, a legendary dance duo and a killer rockabilly discovery. Elton John, Step Into Christmas (Rocket/Mercury/UMe) (iTunes / Amazon) He may have retired from performing, but Elton John is still in the release
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 features a new version of a pop legend's most recent compilation, great proto-Motown soul, an expanded version of Robert Glasper's breakout album, Bon Jovi in Spanish(?) and a heap of early Christmas gifts. Check it out! Elton John, Diamonds (Deluxe) (Virgin/EMI) (iTunes /
As Elton John continues the final North American leg of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, another four gems from his discography have returned to vinyl following the recent reissues of The One and Peachtree Road. A Single Man arrived in 1978 and marked a turning point for the singer-songwriter following 1976's expansive double album Blue Moves. Despite the presence of the hit single "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word," Blue Moves had ended John's streak of chart-topping albums that began
As we here in the U.S. head into Labor Day weekend, we have a shorter Release Round-Up than usual! To all our readers - wherever you might be - please have a safe and happy weekend! Shania Twain, Not Just a Girl: The Highlights (Mercury Nashville/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Not Just a Girl (The Highlights), a new companion album to the documentary coming to Netflix, features 17 of Shania Twain's classic pop and country hits plus the new title track. Read more
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, Marvin Gaye gets remixed, two pop icons from different generations join forces, an underrated Olivia Newton-John album resurfaces and more. Marvin Gaye, I Want You: The John Morales M+M Mixes (Motown/UMe) (iTunes / Amazon) Sort of the quiet masterpiece in Marvin Gaye's impressive '70s run, the
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles out today! George Michael, Older: Deluxe Edition (Legacy) 5CD/3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada George Michael's third solo album - and the one he believed to be his finest - returns from Legacy Recordings in a new 5CD/3LP edition and a 2LP set. This expansion of 1996's Older features both the remastered album and the EP Upper (included with
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the titles hitting stores today! Elton John, Madman Across the Water: 50th Anniversary Edition (Rocket/UMe) 3CD/BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Elton John's 1971 Madman Across the Water receives a new 50th anniversary reissue. Available in three different formats, its most expansive is a 3CD/Blu-ray collection
Last year, Elton John surprised fans on Record Store Day with the premiere release of Regimental Sgt. Zippo, a complete studio album which he recorded prior to his first released LP, Empty Sky. Now, the once-lost psych-pop gem is seeing an even wider release. On July 8, Island/Mercury will debut the stereo version of Regimental Sgt. Zippo on 1CD and 1LP vinyl; the RSD vinyl edition was presented in mono. The CD version is promised to contain the full album in both mono and stereo. The
After a series of smaller "Drops" over the past two years, Record Store Day is (mostly) back to a one-day event, and the big day is tomorrow: Saturday, April 23. Over 250 titles will be available at independent stores everywhere - including some CD releases, too! That's plenty of albums in almost every genre imaginable, so visit RecordStoreDay.com in the U.S., RecordStoreDay.co.uk in the U.K., and RecordStoreDayCanada.ca in Canada for the complete list, and sound off below as to which titles
Elton John's breathtaking piano pop conjured up powerful images thanks to the lyrics of Bernie Taupin - but the duo were often writing about things before they experienced them. The Americana of 1970's Tumbleweed Connection, for instance, was indeed a fantasy; only within the year would Elton get his first taste of America - and the results powered his next studio album, 1971's appropriately-titled Madman Across the Water. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rUarpBrfLI That album will be the
In recent weeks, Ace Records has made two new additions to its ongoing Producers Series, and both titles spotlight the versatility of the respective talents, Todd Rundgren and Gus Dudgeon. The Studio Wizardry of Todd Rundgren is, in many senses, an update of Rhino's 1992 compilation An Elpee's Worth of Productions. Like that set, it paints a portrait of the singer-songwriter largely in service of others' songs, though a handful of his own compositions appear, too. Ace's collection spans