With typical aplomb, Iconoclassic kicks off a new release year this week with the first of three forthcoming titles: the official release of a live show by one of the label’s favorite acts, and expanded editions of an overlooked post-punk classic and a power-pop rarity making its debut on CD. Tomorrow, February 20, the label will release Live on Fire At The Agora 1978, another vintage slice of guitar greatness from the Dwight Twilley Band. Having expanded four of Twilley’s solo albums (Twilley (1978), Scuba Divers (1982), Jungle (1984) and Wild Dogs (1986)) and given a proper…
The Weekend Stream: July 26, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. Billy Joel fans have it good this week, with seven hours of hits and rarities from his new documentary. If you’ve got room after that, there’s an anniversary reissue for literally the last five decades in a few different genres, too! Billy Joel, And So It Goes (The Musical Companion to the HBO Documentary Film) (Columbia/Legacy) (Apple / Amazon) If you’ve watched all five hours of the new two-part Billy…
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I’ve Got a Secret: The Bongos to Release Archival Live Album
New Jersey power-pop band The Bongos have added some archival works to their digital catalogue in recent years, partnering with Legacy Recordings on expansions of their RCA recordings (including the 1983 EP Numbers with Wings, a pair of 12″ mixes and 1985’s Beat Hotel, and even a holiday track in 2023). This spring, they’ll go back to the label where it all began – New Jersey’s own JEM Recordings – to put some of that vault material out on CD for the first time. The Shroud of Touring: Live in 1985, available May 23,…
The Weekend Stream: December 2, 2023
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts. This week’s latest includes anniversary projects from Alicia Keys, live vault material from Bruce Springsteen, an oddity from The Alan Parsons Project and possibly the only article where Taylor Swift shares space with Minor Threat! Alicia Keys, The Diary of Alicia Keys 20 (RCA/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon) Legacy Recordings celebrates two decades of R&B pianist/singer Alicia Keys’ sophomore album, featuring the hits “You Don’t Know My Name” and “If I Ain’t Got You.” The album…
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The Weekend Stream: September 9, 2023
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there’s plenty of great new/old music to float you into the weekend. From classic Jersey pop and British dance of the ’80s to a bright young drummer keeping Detroit soul alive in the present day, our latest offerings pack quite a punch. The Bongos, Numbers with Wings (40th Anniversary Edition) (RCA/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon) The New Jersey pop/rock outfit led by singer/songwriter Richard Barone made the jump from critical darlings to…
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The Weekend Stream: March 4, 2023
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. De La Soul’s digital debuts make headlines, plus favorites from Donna Summer, Adam Schlesinger, lo-fi disco soul, ’80s dance-rock, a brilliant new pop track and an actress returning to sing a song she crooned in a cartoon! De La Soul, 3 Feet High and Rising / De La Soul is Dead / Buhloone Mindstate / Stakes is High /…
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The Weekend Stream: July 10, 2021
While The Second Disc prides itself on connecting people to reissues and box sets they can keep on their shelves, it’s no secret that listening audiences are also digital – catalogue music lovers, too – and our passion is connecting people to music from the past that they might adore. So we’ve introduced a new feature: The Weekend Stream, which focuses on hidden gems that recently made it to digital channels that might make your playlists a little brighter! Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, Trout Mask Replica (Zappa) (Qobuz) The biggest…
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“Drums Along the Hudson” Beat Again with Reissue of Expanded Album
When Jem Recordings – the famous import distributor (located in the author’s hometown!) – was reborn last year, at its front and center was The Bongos, the incredible Hoboken-bred pop-rock band who were the first and last act to play the town’s legendary venue Maxwell’s when it closed last year. Jem issued on CD an unreleased Bongos album, Phantom Train, as well as a physical release for frontman Richard Barone‘s superb Cool Blue Halo 25th Anniversary Concert. Last week, Jem added another Bongos treasure to their catalogue: an expanded edition of Drums Along the…
Interview: Going Full Circle with Richard Barone of The Bongos
Richard Barone, frontman for New Jersey-based power-pop act The Bongos, describes his career as centered around the theme of “full circle.” This year, Barone has revisited a lot of captivating and familiar territory from his lengthy career. The Bongos were the closing act at legendary Hoboken club Maxwell’s in July, having (as members of the band “a”) been the venue’s first act. Onstage, they announced the release of a “lost” Bongos album, Phantom Train, recorded primarily at Compass Point Studios with producer Eric “E.T.” Thorngren in 1986 but unreleased until this week. The…
Release Round-Up: Week of September 30/October 1
Most titles this week are already out in the States, on account of Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2 hitting stores on Monday. So without further ado… Rush, The Studio Albums 1989-2007 / Vapor Trails Remixed (Atlantic/Rhino) All of the Canadian rock gods’ albums for Atlantic in one box, with 2002’s Vapor Trails newly remixed (and available separately). The Studio Albums: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Vapor Trails Remixed: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. The Bongos, Phantom Train / Richard Barone, Cool Blue Halo: 25th Anniversary Edition / Cool Blue Halo: 25th Anniversary Concert (Jem Recordings) The Hoboken power-pop group releases a lost classic…
In Your Wildest Dreams: Lost Bongos Album Ready to Be Found
This summer, we interviewed Marty Scott of Jem Recordings, the newly-reactivated New Jersey label which released the first recordings by Hoboken group The Bongos. Scott told us that a vintage unreleased Bongos LP would be the label’s first release – and we now have some details about the disc for you. Phantom Train was recorded by The Bongos over 1985 to 1986, primarily at the famed Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas. After several years on RCA Records, the band had been wooed to Island Records by its founder, Chris Blackwell, but…
INTERVIEW: Excavating Jem with Marty Scott
The list of American cities tied to record labels is small, but certainly notable. Memphis has Stax and Sun, Detroit is defined by Motown, Sub Pop defined the Seattle sound…and then there’s Jem Records, which made its home in the middle-class borough of South Plainfield, New Jersey. Jem, as well as its sub-labels like Passport (a joint venture with Seymour Stein of Sire Records) and PVC, became something of a cratedigger’s dream in the 1970s and 1980s, licensing content from all over the world and getting it into stores across America, effectively…
