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 1973-1979). Now, the third box in the label’s hardcover book-style…
Stayin’ With It: Edsel Continues Kiki Dee Box Set Series, Premieres “Two Sides to Every Story” Album
Release Round-Up: Week of January 26
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. B.T. Express, Non-Stop: Expanded Edition (Iconoclassic) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Iconoclassic follows up its definitive reissue of B.T. Express’ debut Do It (‘Til You’re Satisfied) with a similarly comprehensive reappraisal of the funk outfit’s sizzling sophomore release, 1975’s R&B chart-topper Non-Stop. Walking the line between funk and disco – and doing both extremely well – the band turned to Tom Moulton for a…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
Do It Right: Edsel Reissues, Expands Kiki Dee’s “I’ve Got the Music in Me”
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 adds four previously unreleased 1983…
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Kiki Dee, “The Fontana and Motown Years”
UPDATED DECEMBER 2020: Kiki Dee rocketed to worldwide stardom (no pun intended) on Elton John’s Rocket Records in 1976, imploring “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” to John on the chart-topping duet. She had been recording for Rocket since 1973, scoring such U.K. hits as “Amoreuse” and “I’ve Got the Music in Me,” the latter of which also went to the top 20 of the U.S. Hot 100, as well. Anyone familiar with Dee’s Rocket recordings knows her to be a singer of both power and sensitivity, and last year, Edsel collected that…
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…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
The Day Will Come: Edsel Collects Kiki Dee’s “Fontana and Motown Years” On New Box Set
Kiki Dee rocketed to worldwide stardom (no pun intended) on Elton John’s Rocket Records in 1976, imploring “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” to John on the chart-topping duet. She had been recording for Rocket since 1973, scoring such U.K. hits as “Amoreuse” and “I’ve Got the Music in Me,” the latter of which also went to the top 20 of the U.S. chart, as well. Anyone familiar with Dee’s Rocket recordings knows her to be a singer of both power and sensitivity, and last year, Edsel collected that period of her discography…
A Whole Lotta Ground: “Motown Unreleased 1969” Features Supremes, Temptations, Smokey, Marvin Gaye, Kiki Dee, More
This weekend, Motown fans and alumni are descending on Detroit for the ultimate celebration of Hitsville, USA’s 60 years of music and memories culminating in the Hitsville Honors gala. But the label doesn’t want fans elsewhere to be left out in the cold. In a surprise, the annual digital collection of Motown Unreleased won’t be arriving in December, but instead is available now. To mark 60 years, Motown Unreleased 1969 boasts 60 tracks, all recorded in 1969 and left unheard – until now. The label’s heaviest hitters are all here, including Diana…
Release Round-Up: Week of May 24
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! America, Classic Album Collection: The Capitol Years (Capitol/Caroline) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) All six of America’s Capitol albums are collected in one newly remastered box set. Classic Album Collection: The Capitol Years presents newly remastered versions of 1979’s Silent Letter, 1980’s Alibi, 1982’s View from the Ground, 1983’s Your Move, 1984’s Perspective, and 1985’s In Concert in one deluxe, affordable package complete with a booklet. It’s been compiled by America archivist Jeff Larson and remastered by Andy Pearce. Read all about it…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
UPDATED: Edsel Collects Kiki Dee’s “The Rocket Years” on New Box Set
When Kiki Dee was signed in 1973 to Elton John’s Rocket Records label, the 26-year old was already a veteran of the music business as an in-demand background singer and a solo artist for Fontana and Motown. The former Pauline Matthews of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England had proven herself a versatile vocalist at both of those labels, but at Rocket she would finally take flight as a top-tier blue-eyed soul singer. The Edsel label has long championed Kiki’s work on various reissues; now, they’ve brought all of her Rocket repertoire together on…
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…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
Motown Did It First: Japan’s Motown 60 Campaign Reissues Supremes, Temptations, Four Tops, Gladys, Martha, Brenda, and More
Motown Did It First! That’s the campaign slogan for Universal Japan’s ongoing program celebrating the venerable label’s 60th anniversary. And indeed, the influence of Motown – still the most successful African-American-founded record label of all time – can’t be underestimated when considering the current music scene. A number of physical releases have already been released in Japan to mark the anniversary, most of which are available as affordable imports and include titles not commonly available on the CD format. This first wave of titles is anchored by the compilation Motown 60, featuring…
Right from the Start, I Gave You My Heart: Edsel Collects Kiki Dee’s Complete Rocket Years
When Kiki Dee was signed in 1973 to Elton John’s Rocket Records label, the 26-year old was already a veteran of the music business as an in-demand background singer and a solo artist for Fontana and Motown. The former Pauline Matthews of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England had proven herself a versatile vocalist at both of those labels, but at Rocket would finally take flight as a top-tier blue-eyed soul singer with so much more to offer than just the duet part in “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” The Edsel label has long…
They’ve Got the Music in Them: Edsel Expands Kiki Dee and Carmelo Luggeri’s “A Place” With Unreleased Songs
If you’re a fan of Kiki Dee, rest assured that Edsel won’t be breaking your heart any time soon. The Demon Music Group label has recently followed its series of Kiki’s Rocket albums with a deluxe, expanded edition of her most recent release: 2013’s collaboration with singer/songwriter/guitarist Carmelo Luggeri, A Place Where I Can Go. The original 11-track album has been expanded with an entire second disc of previously unreleased bonus material. Kiki Dee first joined in performance with British-born Carmelo Luggeri 20 years ago, in 1995, for the live album Almost…
Don’t Go Breaking Her Heart: Kiki Dee’s Rocket Albums Expanded and Reissued By Edsel
When Kiki Dee was signed in 1973 to Elton John’s Rocket Records label, the 26-year old was already a veteran of the music business as an in-demand background singer and a solo artist for Fontana and Motown. The former Pauline Matthews of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England had proven herself a versatile vocalist at both of those labels, but at Rocket would finally take flight as a top-tier blue-eyed soul singer with so much more to offer than just the duet part in “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” Edsel has brought together Dee’s…
Release Round-Up: Week of February 17
The Pretenders, 1979-1999 (Edsel) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) This mega-box features all of Edsel’s expanded Pretenders reissues, totaling the band’s eight Sire/Warner Bros. albums across 14 CDs and 8 DVDs (with six of the titles as 2-CD/1-DVD sets and two as 1-CD/1-DVD sets). Wow! All of the box set’s albums are also available individually (see below)! All track listings and discography can be found here. The Pretenders, 1979-1999 individual CD/DVD reissues (Edsel) Pretenders (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Pretenders II (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Learning To Crawl (Amazon U.S. / Amazon…
Categories:
Genres:
