By any estimation, 1966 was a pivotal year in rock. On one side of the Atlantic: Pet Sounds, Blonde on Blonde, Sounds of Silence. On the other: Revolver, Fresh Cream, Aftermath. Those albums merely represent the tip of the iceberg, however. 1966 was a year in which psychedelia emerged from the fringes and onto the charts via such artists as The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, and yes, The Beatles with “Tomorrow Never Knows.” The underground scene continued to grow and increasingly attract the attention of major labels. Earlier this year, Cherry Red’s Grapefruit…
Release Round-Up: Week of February 2
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 Edition (Virgin/UMe) 3CD/1DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon…
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Review: “Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track” [Super Deluxe Box Set]
Listen to the ground…there is movement all around… Saturday Night Fever didn’t invent disco…but in many ways, it epitomized the genre. With the December 1977 release of the John Badham-directed drama and its soundtrack album, the onetime underground dance movement which had been rising to the mainstream since at least 1974 became the mainstream. Disco’s alluring blend of the gritty and the glamorous gained a face in the form of John Travolta, whose tough yet tender Tony Manero of Bay Ridge, New York found solace in his escape each Saturday night to…
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Release Round-Up: Week of November 17
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Queen, News of the World: 40th Anniversary Edition (UMC (U.K.) / Hollywood (U.S.) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.) Queen’s sixth album, 1977’s News of the World, is being generously expanded for its 40th anniversary in a new 3CD/1DVD/1LP box set. The original album is presented on CD and LP. The first bonus CD, the entirely unreleased Raw Sessions, presents an alternate version of the original album from demos, outtakes and live cuts. The second bonus disc collects a further 19 relevant bonus tracks, including versions from archival live…
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Release Round-Up: Week of October 6
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Carol Burnett, Carol Burnett Sings: Expanded Edition (Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Real Gone celebrates the 50th anniversary of The Carol Burnett Show with the comedy legend’s third solo album and first for RCA Victor. A tie-in to the groundbreaking variety show, Carol Burnett Sings features four songs performed on early episodes: “Georgy Girl,” “Enter Laughing,” “I Believed It All” and “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” Another tune “Nobody,” was performed by Burnett during an appearance on the earlier program Carol…
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Spicks and Specks: Ace Collects “Songs of The Bee Gees” From Lulu, Nina Simone, Percy Sledge, Others
With a recent Grammy Awards salute, a new catalogue deal, and the 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Fever, the music of the Bee Gees has been front and center in 2017. Ace Records has joined the celebration of the brothers Gibb with a new entry in the label’s long-running Songwriters Series. To Love Somebody: The Songs of The Bee Gees 1966-1970 pulls into focus the early professional years of Barry, Robin, and Maurice, with 24 choice cover versions of songs both familiar and lesser-known. These performances, in particular, underscore the deep affection…
Release Round-Up: Week of March 31
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring some of the most hotly-anticipated sets of the year! Fleetwood Mac, Tango in the Night [Various Editions] (Warner Bros./Rhino) 3CD/1DVD/1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Fleetwood Mac’s 1987 album featuring “Little Lies” and “Everywhere” returns in a variety of formats including a 3-CD/1 DVD/1 LP version (with the original album on CD, high-resolution stereo DVD, and LP; a CD of outtakes; and a CD of rare single…
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Spicks and Specks: Bee Gees’ Catalogue Moves to UMe
Second Disc HQ always buzzes when new catalog acquisitions are announced, and last week had us feeling like bees…Bee Gees, that is! Last Tuesday, it was announced that distribution of the legendary Australian trio’s discography (including 22 studio albums, the bestselling Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, compilations and unreleased material) would transition from longtime home Rhino to Capitol/Universal Music Enterprises. Barry Gibb, along with his late brothers Robin and Maurice, guided the group from psych-pop outfit in the late ’60s and early ’70s to disco juggernauts and songwriter/producers extraordinaire–some 220 million records sold…
Introducing Playback Records: “The Songs of Mann and Weil” Join Steve and the Board, Garage Nuggets
There’s a new reissue label in town! We’re happy to share the news of a brand-new, top-notch label. Based in Australia, Playback Records has recently issued its first three deluxe releases – all of which we know will be of interest to readers of The Second Disc! Longtime fans of The Bee Gees will doubtless recognize the names of Colin Petersen and Geoff Bridgeford. Before Messrs. Petersen and Bridgeford began to make music with Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, however, they were bandmates with writer-producer Steve Kipner in Australia’s Steve and the…
Review: Robin Gibb, “Saved by the Bell: The Collected Works 1968-1970”
Give me a smile! With the new release of Robin Gibb’s Saved by the Bell: The Collected Works of Robin Gibb 1968-1970 (R2 549315), Rhino/Reprise has unveiled the most significant archival collection related to The Bee Gees in nearly a decade. Not since 2006’s The Studio Albums 1967-1968 has the vault door been opened to reveal such a remarkable wealth of pop treasure from an artist with the surname of Gibb – in this case, the late Robin. This three-CD set, produced with stunning attention to detail by Andrew Sandoval, includes the recordings Robin…
Release Round-Up: Week of June 2
This week’s Release Round-Up is headlined by a legendary singer-songwriter’s first appearance on Second Disc Records, plus an array of box sets, reissues and beyond from across the musical spectrum! Paul Williams, A Little on the Windy Side: Expanded Edition (Second Disc/Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) The newest release from our very own Second Disc Records imprint of Real Gone Music is here! The first-ever American reissue of Paul Williams’ 1979 Portrait Records album has been newly remastered and features four bonus tracks – three previously unreleased outtakes and one…
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The Second Disc’s 2015 Record Store Day Must-Haves
Tomorrow, Saturday, April 18, music fans and collectors will flock to their local independent record stores to celebrate both the sounds on those familiar round black platters and the cherished opportunity to shop for music in a physical retail environment. To many of us, both are a way of life. Each year around this time, we here at Second Disc HQ take a few moments to count down the titles to which we’re most looking forward to picking up! Our friend and founder, Mike Duquette, returns to these pages to kick things…
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Give Me a Smile: Reprise to Release Long-Lost Robin Gibb Recordings
A few weeks ago, Rhino released Bee Gees: 1974-1979 which followed from last year’s Bee Gees: The Warner Bros. Years 1987-1991. Both boxes contained the complete studio albums from those periods plus some bonus material. Now, fans of the Bee Gees and the Gibb brothers should have more to look forward to as Rhino’s sister label Reprise has just announced a new set chronicling the recordings of one of the band’s members during a two year period: Saved By the Bell: The Collected Works of Robin Gibb 1969-1970. This three-CD set includes…
Back Tracks, In Memoriam: Robin Gibb
May 20, 2012: We’re deeply saddened to report that Robin Gibb of The Bee Gees passed away this morning in England at 10:47 a.m. (5:47 a.m. ET) at the age of 62. Gibb’s passing comes following a brave battle with cancer, courageously fought in the public eye. Robin Gibb will always be remembered for his great gift of song, with his angelic voice having provided comfort to so many of us in our saddest times and pure joy in our most upbeat moments. Robin, we will miss you. In honor of this remarkable man,…
Andy Gibb’s Greatest Hits Reprised, and Flashback with Iron Butterfly
Two long out-of-print greatest hits collections are back in print today thanks to the fine folks at Rhino Records. Iron Butterfly’s Evolution: The Best of Iron Butterfly arrived on the Atco label in 1971 and brought together 11 tracks from the hard rock pioneers’ first four albums. Andy Gibb’s 1991 Greatest Hits, originally on the Polydor label, differed from the 1980 RSO Records hits compilation, and offered 12 prime pop cuts from the youngest of the Brothers Gibb. Although Rhino’s Light and Heavy: The Best of Iron Butterfly upped the number of…
