Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! Philip Bailey, State of the Heart: The Columbia Recordings (1983-1988) (SoulMusic/Cherry Red) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) State of the Heart celebrates the timeless voice of Earth, Wind & Fire's Philip Bailey with expanded editions of his three solo LPs for Columbia Records in the '80s: 1983's Continuation, 1984's Chinese Wall (including the mega-hit Phil Collins duet
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. ZTT rarities, dream pop from down under, two Michael Jackson connections, great '70s songwriters - this latest Stream has everything, plus a call to support one of our favorite music services as they take on a big challenge. Act, Snobbery and Decay (Showtime) / Leilani, Precious Treasure
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
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Prince, Originals (Warner/NPG) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Originals brings together 15 demos of songs Prince gave away to other artists including The Time, Sheila E., Kenny Rogers, Martika, Vanity 6, and The Bangles. Tidal will exclusively offered the album for high-resolution streaming on June 7, with the CD and wide digital release out today, and vinyl configurations to follow in July. A Target exclusive CD edition adds one
Throughout his career, Phil Collins has always been willing to share his talents - whether at the microphone or the drum kit, as a songwriter, or in the producer's chair - with his fellow musicians. On September 28, the superstar will collect 59 of his favorite collaborations on a new 4-CD box set. Rhino/Atlantic will release Plays Well with Others just one week before Collins launches his Not Dead Yet, Live! tour on October 5 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Collins states in the press
Mention “Hold On, I’m Comin’” and chances are you can hear that confident, swaggering horn riff that insistently opens the Sam and Dave classic. Indeed, all you really need to know is in that riff! All four albums recorded by Sam and Dave for Stax/Atlantic have been collected by Edsel on two new releases, and these expanded editions (including various single sides) add up to true cornerstones for any R&B or soul music library. But the label hasn’t stopped there. A very different kind of
It's always a treat at The Second Disc when a title or project we imagined in a Reissue Theory post comes to fruition in some way. Today, we have one from U.K. label Edsel that almost - almost - captures the essence of a set we envisioned: a two-for-one reissue of two albums by R&B singer Philip Bailey. Known as the sweet-toned vocalist for Earth, Wind & Fire - who could forget those high notes in "September"? - Bailey didn't strike out on his own until 1983's Continuation (reissued a
Skip Scarborough (1944-2003) may not have ever gained the name-brand recognition of some of his songwriting peers. But the man born Clarence Alexander Scarborough penned some of the most instantly recognizable classics in the soul music pantheon. Anita Baker's "Giving You the Best That I Got," The Friends of Distinction's "Love or Let Me Be Lonely" and Earth Wind & Fire's "Can't Hide Love" are just three of Scarborough's most memorable compositions. The latter went on to be recorded by
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. Despite the presence of a hit single with a famous singer/songwriter/producer and a killer soul vocalist, Philip Bailey's hit sophomore record remains unexpanded on CD. What would such a project look like? This article is the only way you'll ever know-oh-ohh... What does it say about Philip Bailey that his biggest hit wasn't entirely his? It's not like Bailey only had