The soundtrack of director Edgar Wright's recent film Last Night in Soho features two interpretations of Tony Hatch's classic pop hit "Downtown" performed by star Anya Taylor-Joy: one perky and uptempo, one haunting and downbeat. But the Soho soundtrack isn't the only way to hear "Downtown" as you likely haven't heard it before. The irresistible ode to that place where you can "forget all your troubles, forget all your cares" can be heard in Italian as sung by its originator, Petula Clark, as
Following the 2020 releases of Petula Clark's Christmas in London and On Air: 1951-1961, the Stage Door label is continuing its series exploring the early days of the superstar's extraordinary and still-thriving career. On May 21, Stage Door will release In Copenhagen 1958-1960, premiering a disc's worth of previously unreleased recordings from this largely unexplored period of Petula's career. The nearly two dozen recordings here have been sourced from master tapes housed in the archives of
Earlier this year, The Second Disc shared news of Rock, Pop and Doo Wop, a 7-DVD collection from Treasury Collection and executive producer-director TJ Lubinsky. Now, with the holidays upon us, a new set featuring dozens of classic hit-makers has just been released: '60s Rock, Pop and Soul. This 4-DVD package has been culled from two decades of Lubinsky's historic television concerts, with 130 hit songs from a "Who's Who" of legendary performers including Frankie Valli ("Can't Take My Eyes
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Elton John, Jewel Box (EMI/UMe) 8CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Deep Cuts 4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Rarities & B-Sides 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada And This Is Me... 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Elton John is reaching deep into the vault with Jewel Box, a new, super-sized collection of rare and unreleased material. The British pop legend's deep dive into his
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Elvis Costello and The Attractions, Armed Forces: Super Deluxe Edition (UMe) uDiscoverMusic Store: black / color Elvis Costello is revisiting his 1979 album in super-sized format. Armed Forces arrives today as a deluxe, slipcased 9-disc vinyl set with three 12-inch LPs, three 10-inch LPs, and three 7-inch singles including 23 previously unreleased live tracks and the complete contents of the previous Rhino/Edsel deluxe edition (with many
Cherry Red's long-running RPM imprint announced earlier this year that 2020 would be its final year of operations - but that hasn't kept RPM from going out with a bang. One of the final titles to arrive from the imprint, Right Back Where We Started From, is a joyous 3-CD celebration of Female Pop and Soul in Seventies Britain. The title is drawn from Maxine Nightingale's irresistibly bouncy 1975 single, a top ten entry in the United Kingdom and a top five in the States. Not every track on
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Ronnie Milsap, The Best of Ronnie Milsap (Craft Recordings) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The Best of Ronnie Milsap gathers up 12 of the artist's biggest hits from his first tenure at RCA, including "It Was Almost Like a Song," "Any Day Now," and "What a Difference You've Made in My Life." Craft's parent company, Concord Music, acquired the rights to 16 of Milsap's RCA albums from between 1977-2006 last year, and this is the first
When you're alone and life is making you lonely, you can always go downtown... When Petula Clark first sang those words by Tony Hatch back in 1964, it's highly doubtful that she - or anybody else - could have predicted the COVID-19 crisis which we're all currently experiencing. But the warm, inviting, and reassuring sentiment has never seemed more relevant than it does today. Thanks to the herculean efforts of the United Music Foundation, it's now possible to travel with the timeless Ms. Clark
It's been said that there's no place like home for the holidays...and few artists have conjured up that nostalgic warmth as well as Perry Como. For nearly five decades, the beloved Italian-American crooner was a fixture on radio, records, film and, naturally, the medium which seemingly suited the genial, gentle vocalist best: television. Starting with The Chesterfield Supper Club's transition to NBC-TV in the late 1940s, the subsequent debut of The Perry Como Show on CBS-TV in the early 1950s,
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Dionne Warwick, Odds and Ends: Scepter Records Rarities (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) From 1962 to 1971, Dionne Warwick, working primarily with songwriters/producers Burt Bacharach and Hal David, notched over twenty Top 40 hits on the Scepter label and garnered two Grammy Awards. Yet while there have been numerous reissues of Warwick's work at Scepter, some material has been overlooked. This new collection
From all of us here at Second Disc HQ to all of you, we hope you've enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving in the company of beloved family and friends. Of course, from this day which conjures nostalgic and warm feelings comes a celebration of a different kind with this year's annual Black Friday - and Record Store Day's miniature cousin to April's yearly event. In keeping with tradition, Mike, Randy and I have once again selected our top picks of the numerous titles being released tomorrow from
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Elton John, Diamonds [Various Formats] (UMe) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Elton John looks back on his extraordinary career with a new retrospective collection, available in 1-CD, 2-CD, 3-CD, and 2-LP formats. Get all of the details right here! R.E.M., Automatic for the
In the case of Rod McKuen, "prolific" might well have been an understatement. Before he turned 35, McKuen had already lived many lives - from farm hand, lumberjack, rodeo cowboy, disk jockey, and U.S. Army veteran to singer, songwriter, actor, and the most commercially successful poet of his time - or any other. Despite an enviable career that saw him receive two Academy Award nominations and Frank Sinatra dedicate an entire album to him, the songs of Rod McKuen frequently haven't received
Elaine Paige is lending her name to a new 3-CD collection of musical theatre favorites. Elaine Paige Presents The Musicals is due on November 25 from Union Square Music, with 58 tracks and over three hours of music. Elaine Paige Presents the Musicals is licensed from various labels, making for a cross-section of recordings. You'll find familiar names from the worlds of theatre, movies and pop, including Michael Ball ("Love Changes Everything" from Aspects of Love, "Falling Slowly" from
While we normally concentrate on CD reissues here at The Second Disc, we do occasionally like to highlight other titles which we think may be of interest to our readers. One such project, just announced from Shout! Factory, certainly qualifies: a 2-disc Blu-ray set entitled the T.A.M.I. Show/The Big T.N.T. Show Collector's Edition due out on December 2. Directed by Steve Binder, T.A.M.I. Show (meaning either "Teenage Awards Music International" or "Teen Age Music International") was filmed
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Led Zeppelin, The Complete BBC Sessions (Atlantic/Swan Song/Rhino) 3 CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 5 LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3 CD/5 LP Super Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Digital Download: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. This new collection expands the original double-disc set, from 1997, which was culled from the band's appearances on BBC radio between 1969 and 1971. This updated
We recently filled you in on the ninth volume of Ace Records' long-running series, Where the Girls Are. Today, we spotlight two companion volumes dedicated to Beat Girls of the 1960s! Pye Records, home of Petula Clark and The Kinks, practically defined the British "big beat" sound of girl-pop with its urbane, sophisticated productions. Scratch My Back! Pye Beat Girls 1963-1968 offers a cross section of the label's brashest sounds with 24 well-selected nuggets from artists both familiar and
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up...it's one of the year's most eclectic yet, with heavy hitters from Pink Floyd to Petula Clark...including releases from The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Paul Simon, Edgar Winter and more! Petula Clark, Natural Love: The Scotti Brothers Recordings (Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) In the early years of the 1980s, Petula Clark was signed to the Scotti Brothers label in the U.S. and starring in a revival of The Sound of Music
With spring having just begun, it might be hard to believe that summer is going to be here before we know it. But the year marches on and Real Gone Music is kicking off the summer with its June 3rd slate of titles. As per usual with the label, there are a wide variety of genres being represented, including one that Real Gone has never dipped into before. We'll begin with the two titles that feature liner notes by our very own Joe Marchese. The first is a collection from sixties British
When it comes to songwriting, Ray Davies is doubtless one well-respected man. Yet, unbelievably, Ace Records' recent Kinked! Kinks Songs and Sessions 1964-1971 marks the first collection to explore in comprehensive fashion the early body of work created by Davies outside of his famous band. Its 26 tracks encompass songs not recorded by The Kinks, or first released by artists other than The Kinks, as well as a handful of contemporary cover versions, sessions featuring The Kinks on backup, and
Ace Records’ latest addition to its Songwriters Series, Colour My World: The Songs of Tony Hatch, should come with a warning label – CAUTION: THESE SONGS WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY. A composer, lyricist, producer, arranger and A&R man (whew!), Hatch was a hitmaker par excellence, and one of no small skill for imparting joy through his music. Petula Clark’s bright 1964 single “Downtown” alone would likely have assured Hatch a place in the Book of Pop, Swingin’ Sixties chapter. But listening to a
Various Artists, Chicago Hit Factory: The Vee-Jay Story 1953-1966 (Charly) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) This import box set tells the story of great R&B label Vee-Jay Records via a whopping 10 discs, 269 tracks (including 112 hits) by more than 120 different artists, and a 72-page book. Artists include Jerry Butler, The Four Seasons, The Beatles, Gene Chandler, Little Richard, Betty Everett, The Dells and The Standells! Jazz, gospel, blues and doo-wop all figure prominently along with the
2012 has been a big year for The Beach Boys, and the fun, fun, fun shows little sign of abating any time soon. While we still wait for more details on the possible U.S. arrival of a series of reissued original albums, Sony Music Japan is celebrating with a unique tribute to America's band. Good Vibrations: The Beach Boys Songbook is a 25-track compilation drawn mostly, but not exclusively, from the Sony family of labels including Columbia, RCA Victor, Arista, Buddah and Bang, and offers a number
Long before David Letterman called the former Hammerstein’s Theatre on 50th Street and Broadway in New York City home, the theatre was the showplace of the world, thanks to one Mr. Ed Sullivan. The former gossip columnist on the Broadway beat might have been an unlikely visitor to American homes each Sunday night between 1949 and 1971, but it was thanks to Sullivan that viewers got their first or most significant taste of such performers across the entire spectrum of entertainment. On the
Way back on July 26, The Second Disc reported on the rumored news that Collectors' Choice Music was planning an expansive two-CD collection which would feature all of Petula Clark's Warner Bros. singles recorded between 1964 and 1970. These plans were confirmed on September 13. After prominent placement in the label's September and October catalogues displaying the finalized artwork and track listing, the Clark release disappeared from Collectors' Choice's website. Your humble correspondent is