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/ The Drifters

November 14, 2024 By Mike Duquette 1 Comment

Here There and Everywhere

As fans prepare for the release of the new Disney+ documentary Beatles '64, chronicling The Fab Four's legendary inaugural trip to America, U.K. label Ace Records has an exciting release coming that same weekend, featuring nearly two dozen Black artists paying tribute to a series of songbooks that owed so much to soul music and rhythm and blues traditions. Here, There and Everywhere: Black America Sings Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, available November 29, is the seventh of Ace's "Black

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Categories: News Formats: CD, Vinyl Genre: Blues, Classic Rock, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock Tags: Billy Paul, Carmen McRae, Donny Hathaway, Esther Phillips, Four Tops, George Harrison, John Lennon, Keb' Mo', Linda McCartney, Margie Joseph, Marvin Gaye, Mary Wells, Natalie Cole, Paul McCartney, Randy Crawford, Sarah Vaughan, Stevie Wonder, Syreeta, The Beatles, The Chiffons, The Drifters, The Supremes, The Three Degrees, Wings

November 27, 2021 By The Second Disc Leave a Comment

Stream

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 discover! Despite the Thanksgiving holiday (and recovery period from Record Store Day Black Friday) there are some surprises for lovers of rock, soul and soundtrack obscurities - check it out below! Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Live, New York, 1981 (Blackheart/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify) If you can believe

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Categories: Features, The Weekend Stream Formats: Digital Download, Digital Streaming Genre: Comedy, Everything Else, Folk, Gospel, Holiday, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks Tags: Brenda Lee, Darlene Love, Debbie Gibson, Jim Nabors, Joan Jett, Melanie, The Drifters, Vaughn Meader

November 3, 2021 By Joe Marchese 2 Comments

The Drifters We Gotta Sing

Between 1954 and 1966, The Drifters notched 32 entries on the Billboard Hot 100, with a thirty-third "bubbling under."  Five of those hits reached the top ten.  The African-American vocal group's fortunes were even greater on the R&B chart where, of 30 entries between 1953 and 1974, 23 reached the top ten.  Despite an ever-changing lineup, The Drifters remain a beloved cornerstone of American pop and soul.  Now, Cherry Red's Strawberry Records imprint has chronicled one period of the group's

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul Tags: The Drifters

May 11, 2021 By The Second Disc 1 Comment

Black Music Month Banner

On June 7, 1979, President Jimmy Carter recognized June as Black Music Month.  Thirty years later, President Barack Obama, the first African-American to hold the nation's highest office, commemorated the designation.  He noted that the rich legacy of black music had encouraged citizens "to dance, to express our faith through song, to march against injustice, and to defend our country's enduring promise of freedom and opportunity for all."  This June and into July, Rhino and sister imprint Run

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Categories: News Formats: CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl Genre: Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Charles Mingus, Curtis Mayfield, Miles Davis, Milt Jackson, Ray Charles, Roberta Flack, The Drifters, The Time, Zapp and Roger

March 3, 2021 By Joe Marchese 14 Comments

Its Whats Happening Baby DVD

It's What's Happening, Baby!  That's the name of the 1965 television special hosted by influential New York disk jockey Murray Kaufman, a.k.a. Murray The K.  Over the course of 90 minutes, the jocular, hep-talking Murray (who christened himself The Fifth Beatle as an early friend and supporter of the Fab Four) shared musical performances by the day's biggest pop and soul acts including The Supremes, Dionne Warwick, Ray Charles, The Righteous Brothers, The Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Johnny Rivers,

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Categories: News Formats: CD, DVD Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Chuck Jackson, Dionne Warwick, Four Tops, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Herman's Hermits, Johnny Rivers, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Martha and the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, Mary Wells, Murray the K, Patti LaBelle and The Bluebelles, Ray Charles, The Drifters, The Ronettes, The Supremes, The Temptations

January 10, 2020 By The Second Disc 2 Comments

Laura Nyro More Than a New Discovery

Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Laura Nyro, More Than a New Discovery [Limited Violet Vinyl Mono Edition] (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Today's the day!  We're so proud to reissue, for the first time ever on vinyl (and in homage to the artist's favorite color), Laura Nyro's 1967 debut More Than a New Discovery in a violet vinyl limited edition of 1,250 copies.  This edition features the original, long out-of-print (and

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Categories: Release Round-Up Formats: CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Country, Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Ben E. King, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Glen Campbell, Laura Nyro, Mister Rogers, The Drifters

February 19, 2015 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

Bert Berns Story 3

Here comes the night…again! Even if you don’t know the name of Bert Berns, chances are you know the songs he wrote (“Twist and Shout,” “I Want Candy,” “Hang On, Sloopy,” “Piece of My Heart”), produced (“Under the Boardwalk,” “Baby I’m Yours,” “Brown-Eyed Girl,” “Here Comes the Night”) and oversaw as head of Bang Records (“Cherry, Cherry,” “Solitary Man” and the rest of Neil Diamond’s earliest recordings). Though Berns died in the final days of 1967 at just 38 years of age, a year hasn’t gone by

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Categories: Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Bert Berns, The Drifters, Van Morrison, Various Artists

April 30, 2014 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

black america sings bacharach

In retrospect, it might be telling that Burt Bacharach’s first recorded song, “Once in a Blue Moon,” was cut in 1952 by Nat “King” Cole. From those earliest days, Bacharach and his lyrical partner Hal David saw their songs recorded by a host of African-American artists: Johnny Mathis, Gene McDaniels, Joe Williams, Lena Horne, and Etta James among them. Once the duo began to change the sound of American music with their ultra-cool, sophisticated pop-soul compositions, those songs were most

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick, Nina Simone, The Drifters

February 3, 2014 By Joe Marchese 7 Comments

brill building comp2

Today, 1619 Broadway in the heart of New York City’s theatre district doesn’t particularly stand out. Despite the building’s ornate façade, 1619 appears to be just another office building on a busy thoroughfare populated with every kind of attention-grabbing signage.  But this building – along with its neighbor to the north, 1650 Broadway – is as much a part of rock and roll history as Sun Studios or Abbey Road.  1650 is the one and only Brill Building, incubator to some of the finest songs in

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Categories: News Tags: Burt Bacharach, The Coasters, The Crystals, The Drifters, The Everly Brothers

December 16, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

christmas with bing cover3

Occasionally the aisles of your local grocery or big-box store turn up releases you won't find even in your local indie music store.  Such is the case with a recent batch of holiday-themed titles from Sony Commercial Music Group.  Just in time for Christmas '13, CMG has unveiled a number of holiday compilations - and a handful of straight album reissues - for fans of classic pop (Bing Crosby, Patti Page), country (B.J. Thomas, Buck Owens, Roy Clark), rock-and-roll (Elvis Presley) and R&B

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Categories: News Tags: B.J. Thomas, Bing Crosby, Buck Owens, Patti Page, Roy Clark, The Drifters, The Miracles, The Platters

October 1, 2013 By Joe Marchese 6 Comments

warner sound of bacharach

In his 85th year, Burt Bacharach has kept a pace that would wear out many a younger man.  In addition to performing a number of concert engagements, the Oscar, Grammy and Gershwin Prize-winning composer has released a memoir, continued work on three musical theatre projects, co-written songs with Bernie Taupin and J.D. Souther, and even penned a melody for Japanese singer Ringo Sheena.  Though Bacharach keeps moving forward, numerous releases this year have looked back on his illustrious

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Categories: News Tags: Burt Bacharach, Love, Percy Sledge, Sergio Mendes, Stacy Lattisaw, The Drifters, Vanilla Fudge

August 14, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

saint etienne picnic

For the inaugural release of his new Cherry Red imprint Croydon Municipal, Saint Etienne’s Bob Stanley has curated a collection of Songs for a Central Park Picnic.  Songwriter/producer Stanley’s label is an extension of his Croydon Municipal blog, in which he holds forth on subjects as diverse as Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb’s Guilty, the evolution of Britpop, and the fortunes of HMV.  Like Stanley’s blog, his new CD compilation reflects his eclectic musical passions. Saint Etienne Presents

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Categories: News Tags: Burt Bacharach, Phil Spector, The Drifters

June 20, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

london american 1964

1964 will forever be remembered on American shores as the year of Beatlemania, when those four moptops from Liverpool led the British Invasion to the top of the pop charts.  That tale has been chronicled many times, but one of the most recent releases from U.K.-based label Ace tells the story of the year's American Invasion - via the American records imported to London on the London American label.  This latest volume in the long-running series (which now features an entry for each year between

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Lou Johnson, Louis Armstrong, Otis Redding, The Crystals, The Drifters, The Ronettes

March 11, 2013 By Joe Marchese 5 Comments

mann and weil born to be together1

Born to Be Together: could a more apropos title have been devised for a collection of the songs of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil?  Married since 1961, the team both defines and defies the phrase “unsung heroes.”  Without hit records as recording artists, Mann and Weil have never had the name recognition of their Brill Building-era compatriots like Carole King or Neil Sedaka, but these Grammy Award-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Famers are hardly unsung.  If all they’d ever written was the most

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Categories: News, Reviews Tags: The Crystals, The Drifters, The Monkees, The Righteous Brothers, The Ronettes

November 1, 2012 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

london american label 1956

Did any label impact the taste of record-buyers in the United Kingdom in the early rock-and-roll era than that of London?  Ace Records has been chronicling the activities of the London American label on a series of definitive releases culling the best of the label's 45s from one given year.  Previous volumes have covered every year between 1957 and 1963, and for the most recent addition to the series, Ace has turned the clock back to 1956.  In that year, London's output included American singles

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Pop, R&B/Soul Tags: Little Richard, The Drifters

March 29, 2012 By Mike Duquette Leave a Comment

go west mcdlx

If you're a British compilation hunter or fan of imports, it's tough to go wrong with Demon Music Group's Music Club Deluxe label. The relatively inexpensive double-disc sets the label turns out might look simple or quickly assembled, but they're in fact often packed with a few rarities for your buck. In recent weeks, Music Club Deluxe has issued a half-dozen compilations, all for '80s pop/rock artists. You likely know their hits, but there are some great album cuts, B-sides and remixes to go

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Categories: News Tags: Limahl, Living in a Box, Sheena Easton, Stiff Little Fingers, The Drifters

May 17, 2011 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

london american label 1958

After a terrifically eclectic volume dedicated to the hits, misses and everything in between of 1963, Ace’s London American Label turns the clock back to the early days of rock and roll via the pioneering British imprint.  The London American Label: 1958, the sixth volume of the series, similarly offers something for everyone.  Unlike so many other British labels mining this period thanks to public domain law, Ace licenses each and every track from the current copyright owners and remasters them

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Categories: News Tags: The Drifters

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