40 years ago, Varese Sarabande Records launched with the soundtrack to writer-director Bruce Kimmel's The First Nudie Musical. Today, the label (recently acquired by Concord Music Group) continues to serve the soundtrack community with an impressive array of releases from both past and present. Its limited edition CD club has recently announced its first four titles marking the company's 40th anniversary. First up is John Williams' 1972 score to director Mark Rydell's The Cowboys. The John
Over the past couple of days, La-La Land Records has released a pair of 2-CD soundtrack limited edition sets for two entries in sci-fi/superhero franchises which began in the 1970s: Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Alien 3. Released in 1987, Superman IV marked the final time Christopher Reeve would step into the Man of Steel's iconic red and blue costume. Directed by Sidney J. Furie (Lady Sings the Blues, Iron Eagle), the film centered around Superman's efforts to curtail the nuclear
Welcome to our annual rundown of Must-Haves for this year's Record Store Day event! Once you're through reading, let us know what you're most looking forward to picking up tomorrow at your favorite local independent retailer! Our list features just a sampling of our favorites from our friends at Legacy Recordings, Varese Sarabande, Rhino Records, Real Gone Music, Demon Music Group, Walt Disney Records, Omnivore Recordings, and more! Joe's kicking things off with five essential picks (in
Since Disney bought Lucasfilm back in 2012, there has been a steady stream of new Star Wars material for fans to explore that galaxy far, far, away. A couple of weeks ago, the animated television series Star Wars: Rebels wrapped up its four-season run. Tomorrow sees the release of The Last Jedi, the latest film in the famous saga, on DVD and Blu-ray. On May 25, the second "anthology film," Solo: A Star Wars Story will be released. Next year, the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge areas are to open at
We've already filled you in on the upcoming Record Store Day releases from Legacy Recordings, Rhino, and Real Gone Music, but there's still much more on offer from many of our other favorite labels! Here's a selection of "the best of the rest" to be released in brick-and-mortar independent record stores on Saturday, April 21! ABBA, Summer Night City (Polydor) (2000 copies) (Record Store Day UK) (Quantity TBA) Clear/yellow-splatter 7-inch release of ABBA's 1978 non-LP single Baby Huey,
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Ron Wood and Ronnie Lane, Mahoney's Last Stand: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Faces' Ronnie Lane and Ron Wood teamed up to pen the score, consisting of country/folk-flavored songs and instrumental tracks, for this 1972 low-budget Canadian film. Real Gone brings it back to CD with new liner notes by Richie Unterberger. Read more here! Roxy Music, Roxy Music: Super Deluxe
This past Sunday, John Williams received a Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Capella, for a track on his latest studio album. It's his 24th Grammy and joins his five Oscars, four Golden Globes, three Emmys and numerous other awards. At 85, Williams has hardly slowed down. Of course, aside from his film composing work, he has also been an orchestra conductor for many years. Sony Classical is celebrating that aspect of Williams' career with the 20-disc John Williams:
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Alan Parsons Project, Eye in the Sky: 35th Anniversary Edition (Arista/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The eye in the sky is still looking at you...Legacy Recordings has a 35th anniversary box set celebrating The Alan Parsons Project's 1982 best-seller Eye in the Sky. The album, which yielded the APP's biggest hit single with its title track as well as the classic instrumental "Sirius," will be enhanced for this lavish
While all of the Thanksgiving and Black Friday excitement was going on last week, La-La Land announced five exciting new limited-edition soundtrack reissues which are going to be available today at 12 pm PST on the label's website. First up, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, is the soundtrack to Richard Fleischer's 1967 musical Doctor Dolittle. The film, based upon the character created by the Hugh Lofting in 1920, starred Rex Harrison as Doctor Dolittle, Samantha Eggar as Emma
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...well, five years ago in California, anyway...The Walt Disney Company purchased Lucasfilm Ltd. for a staggering $4 billion, gaining the rights to George Lucas' space epic Star Wars and beginning a new sequel trilogy (as well as several film and TV spin-offs) in the $42 billion franchise. Only now, however, has Disney Music Group announced its first physical catalogue product: a triple-LP vinyl box set of John Williams' original Oscar-winning score to
Attendees of this past weekend's Mondo-Con were treated to a special new print from the master pop-culture provider: a striking new poster for E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. Eagle-eyed fans will recognize the graphic from its debut on La-La Land Records' 35th anniversary double-disc expansion of John Williams' Oscar-winning soundtrack. It's a wondrous image: of the film's protagonist Elliott, seen from behind astride his bicycle as he looks upward into the evening sky, reflecting on the incredible
Rhino Records is inviting vinyl fans on a musical trip to Hogwarts, with a box set of soundtracks from the Harry Potter film series. J.K. Rowling's series of children's novels about an orphaned boy who discovers his magical powers--and, naturally, recruits his fellow magical friends to an all-out battle of good versus evil--has become a major cultural force since the release of debut book Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone in 1997. The original seven books, released over the following
Thirty-six years ago, principal photography began on Steven Spielberg's masterpiece E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. It's incredibly fitting, then, that The Second Disc can exclusively share details on La-La Land Records' definitive new expansion of John Williams' timeless, award-winning score to the film, prepared in honor of the film's 35th anniversary. "He is afraid. He is totally alone. He is 3,000,000 light years from home." So announced the first posters for E.T., Spielberg's seventh feature
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is celebrating the 35th anniversary of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial this fall--and fans of the Oscar-winning original soundtrack are in for an unexpected treat tastier than a bag of Reese's Pieces. Steven Spielberg's masterpiece (and the author's unquestionable favorite film) will be released in several new packages on September 12, including a bow on the 4K Ultra HD format and a new deluxe gift set. Included in that set is a soundtrack release, which The
How appropriate on this, the eve of the Fourth of July, that Mondo announces a vinyl title to keep audiences out of the water and off the beach! The specialty vinyl label will premiere John Williams' original Oscar-winning score to Steven Spielberg's JAWS this fall. Based on the bestseller by Peter Benchley, JAWS focused on a bustling beach community whose summer tourism boom is threatened by a massive great white shark. The chief of police (Roy Scheider), a young oceanographer (Richard
As an old movie poster once said: "If adventure has a name, it must be Indiana Jones." Well, if adventure has a soundtrack, it's John Williams' unforgettable score to the first Indiana Jones film, 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, which will bow on vinyl next June in an expanded pressing. Williams was, of course, the perfect man to provide the music of the 1930s globetrotting, fedora-clad archaeologist/adventurer played to perfection by Harrison Ford. After all, Indy's creators were director
Welcome to our annual rundown of Must-Haves for this year's Record Store Day event! Once you're through reading, let us know what you're most looking forward to picking up tomorrow at your favorite local independent retailer! Our list features just a sampling of our favorites from our friends at Legacy Recordings, Varese Sarabande, Rhino Records, Walt Disney Records, Real Gone Music, Omnivore Recordings, and many more! Mike's kicking things off... This year's Record Store Day offerings
Record Store Day's 10th anniversary couldn't be anything less than big. And with articles devoted to April 22's RSD releases from David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, Omnivore Recordings, Legacy Recordings, Prince, Warner Music Group and Real Gone Music, you might wonder what there's left to say before the big day. But you'd be wrong! We've scoured the list to find another 23 must-have titles hitting the vinyl racks at fine independent music stores next month. Which of these favorites are on
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Zombies, Odessey and Oracle: 50th Anniversary Edition (Varese Vintage) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) It's the time of the season! Varese has a new edition of The Zombies' 1968 classic, freshly remastered at d2 Mastering and with seven bonus tracks as well as new liner notes by co-producer Andrew Sandoval and rare photographs. The bonuses comprise the mono mix of "I'll Call You Mine" and "I Want Her She Wants Me;" alternate
Varese Sarabande Records has quite the bounty of soundtrack CD club releases this spring, announcing two stellar deluxe editions and reissuing a favorite album on disc. First up, a double-header for John Williams fans: his 1990 score to the romantic drama Stanley & Iris and the premiere release of his score to 1972's Pete 'N' Tillie. Stanley & Iris starred Robert De Niro and Jane Fonda as two struggling coworkers in a baking factory--she struggles to make ends meet with her extended
For over 40 years, the names of director Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams have been inextricably linked. Since 1973's The Sugarland Express on which they first worked together, only two Spielberg pictures have not featured a score by Williams (1985's The Color Purple and 2015's Bridge of Spies). On March 17, Sony Masterworks will celebrate the enduring collaboration of these two titanic talents with the release of John Williams and Steven Spielberg: The Ultimate Collection. This
From the deepest reaches of space (the final frontier), to the toughest streets on either side of America, to not one, but two prehistoric adventures on tropical islands, La-La Land Records' just-announced final five catalogue soundtrack titles of 2016 offer some of the greatest film music around! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDPGywgZ_Yo "He's been chased, thrown through a window and arrested," the poster proclaimed. Just another day for a Detroit cop on vacation in Beverly
Superheroes and comic book characters have become a larger force in pop culture over recent years with many comic-book based properties racing to the top of list box-office winners each year, and over ten comic book-related television shows scheduled to air this fall on various networks. DC Comics, home to Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and dozens of others, has been a big part of that. Next week also sees the annual San Diego Comic Con taking place, the largest comic and pop culture gathering
With this year's Record Store Day on Saturday, April 16 rapidly approaching, it's time to highlight the releases from Walt Disney Records. The label is offering up three selections on vinyl for the event and they range from the earliest days of the Walt Disney Company right up to its modern acquisitions. The first up is a new vinyl compilation entitled Disney Favorite Songs. This 8-song LP features songs from the classic and modern Disney repertoire ranging from "When You Wish Upon A Star"
Welcome to our first Release Round-Up of 2016! The Mamas and the Papas, The Complete Singles: The 50th Anniversary Collection (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Real Gone Music has 53 tracks on 2 CDs of pure pop pleasure from The Mamas and the Papas - as a group and solo - with this first-ever collection of their complete singles, just in time for their 50th anniversary! Full details here. J.D. Souther, John David Souther (Expanded Edition) (Omnivore)