Oh! You Pretty Things: David Bowie's 1971 song became an anthem for the glam era: "Don't you know you're driving your mothers and fathers insane? Let me make it plain, you gotta make way for the homo superior..." Bowie's alien persona - androgynous, dangerous, sexy, and flamboyant - connected with youth and caused a stir among their parents. The song's title has now been adopted by a new 3-CD box set from Cherry Red's Grapefruit imprint. Alas, "Oh! You Pretty Things" doesn't appear anywhere
Last year, Cherry Red's RPM imprint closed up shop after almost 30 years and some 600+ releases. But a new imprint was announced to pick up where RPM left off: Strawberry. Its inaugural collection, Halcyon Days: '60s Mod, R&B, Brit Soul, and Freakbeat Nuggets has proved an auspicious debut for the imprint with big shoes to fill. The 3-CD collection traces the development of '60s British soul and R&B from the mod period to the first flowering of psychedelia featuring a blend of names
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Kinks, Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One (BMG) 3CD/2 7-inch Box Set (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) 1CD Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) 1LP Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) 2CD Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The Kinks' 1970 classic Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One arrives in a variety of formats including bonus material such as
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Tom Jones, The Complete Decca Studio Albums Collection (Decca/UMC) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Link TBD) This long-awaited box from Sir Tom Jones - counting 17 discs, including 15 studio albums and two CDs of non-LP single and EP sides - boasts over 200 tracks and 10+ hours of music from Jones' classic Decca period of 1965-1975. It includes hits such as "What's New Pussycat?," "It's Not Unusual," "Help Yourself," "Green, Green
The Kinks last revisited their 1970 album Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One back in 2014 as a 2-CD set incorporating the soundtrack to Percy. The band's eighth album, Lola yielded the now-famous U.S. top 10 title track and the U.K. top 5 hit "Apeman" as well as earning to 40 status in America. Now, on December 18, it's returning in a variety of formats from BMG: Limited Edition, Deluxe 10" Slipcased book pack (containing 60 page book, 3 CDs, 2 x 7" singles, 4 color
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
And the Record Store Day news keeps coming! BMG has announced their list of releases to be found in shops April 18 and it's a great lineup. If you're looking for live Emerson, Lake and Palmer; a very cool Motorhead shaped picture disc; the beautiful sounds of Ravi Shankar in collaboration with George Harrison; or classics from The Kinks - BMG has you covered! Let's take a closer look at all their offerings... Ravi Shankar, Chants of India For the first time on vinyl, Ravi
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Kinks, Arthur, or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire [Various Formats] (BMG) 4CD/4-seven-inch single box: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / The Kinks Official 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / The Kinks Official 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / The Kinks Official The Kinks' 1969 concept album continued in the quintessentially British vein of The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation
The major labels aren't the only ones who'll be part of Record Store Day Black Friday this year. A number of impressive indies (and other major labels with notable catalog friendly material) have announced exciting additions to the RSDBF slate. What's more, we've got coverage of some exciting new music from artists as diverse as Paul McCartney, Tank and the Bangas, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, and Norah Jones! First up... Chuck Berry, Chuck Berry In London (Elemental) By 1965, the British
50 years ago, The Kinks released Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire, a concept album which continued in the quintessentially British vein of The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society but carved out its own musical identity. Building on the success of last year's Village Green box set, BMG has just announced a similarly expansive - make that Kink-size - set for Arthur, loaded with previously unreleased tracks and mixes and incorporating "the great lost Dave Davies
Ace Records, as always, has delivered some of 2019's finest collections including Songwriter Series volumes dedicated to Eddie Hinton, Leonard Cohen and Merle Haggard, and celebrations of producer Mickie Most and musician Reggie Young. Today, we're taking a look at a pair of the label's other recent releases. Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs present Three Day Week: When the Lights Went Out 1972-1975 (Ace CDCHD 1542) is another sublimely curated compilation focusing on a particular period of
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Kinks, The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society [Various Formats] (BMG) 5CD/3LP/3-7″ Box Set: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Kinks are going back to the Village Green - and it's grown quite a bit in size! The band's legendary fifth album, 1968's The Kinks Are The
The Kinks are going back to the Village Green - and it's grown quite a bit in size! On October 26, the band's legendary fifth album, 1968's The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, will arrive from BMG Rights Management in a massive new box set produced by Andrew Sandoval. The new box will boast 3 LPs, 5 CDs, 3 seven-inch singles and more, for a total of 174 tracks (3 previously unreleased songs, 55 previously unreleased versions). Considered the band's most
"Yesterday's Gone": the song by folk-pop duo Chad and Jeremy opens the first of the six discs comprising Cherry Red and RPM's new box set Fab Gear: The British Beat Explosion and Its Aftershocks 1963-1967. It's a most appropriate opener, as yesterday really was gone for an entire generation of artists swiftly rendered obsolete by the emergence of The Beatles. As the box eloquently explains, the Fab Four "in name, song, band structure, image, defined this new Beat music...Until 1967, when The
This past April, New York's Radio City Music Hall hosted a prestigious premiere. The film was Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives, and the screening was accompanied by an all-star concert featuring Barry Manilow, Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon, and others celebrating the life of the music legend. Beginning on October 3, Apple Music will exclusively stream the Chris Perkel-directed documentary, and today, September 27, Legacy Recordings has digitally released an exclusive
Record Store Day's 10th anniversary couldn't be anything less than big. And with articles devoted to April 22's RSD releases from David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, Omnivore Recordings, Legacy Recordings, Prince, Warner Music Group and Real Gone Music, you might wonder what there's left to say before the big day. But you'd be wrong! We've scoured the list to find another 23 must-have titles hitting the vinyl racks at fine independent music stores next month. Which of these favorites are on
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Kinks, The Mono Collection (Sanctuary/BMG) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The Kinks' The Mono Collection brings together eight of the band's classic albums in their original U.K. Pye Records mono editions on ten LPs, all pressed on 180-gram vinyl. The set includes 1967's Live at Kelvin Hall and 1970's original 2-LP collection The Kinks (otherwise known as The Black Album. A hardcover 48-page book including never-before-seen
The Kinks - The Mono Collection brings together eight classic albums in their original U.K. Pye Records mono editions on ten LPs, all pressed on 180-gram vinyl. The set includes 1967’s Live at Kelvin Hall and 1970’s original 2-LP collection The Kinks (otherwise known as The Black Album. A hardcover 48-page book including never-before-seen photos and new interviews with Ray Davies, Dave Davies and Mick Avory tops it all off. The Kinks in Mono, appropriately enough, kicks off with 1964’s
When Kinks bio-musical Sunny Afternoon took home the 2015 Olivier Award for Best Musical, it must surely have been a sweet moment for composer-lyricist and band frontman Ray Davies, whose concept albums and rock operas have long bore the hallmarks of strong theatrical storytelling. (He's also written a handful of musicals over the years.) By the time of 1972's Everybody's In Show-Biz, Davies was already pushing the envelope of his quintessentially British sound, incorporating rootsy American
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
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
The Kinks' tenth studio album, 1972's double LP Everybody's in Showbiz, is about to get the Legacy Edition treatment from Sony's Legacy Recordings. On June 3, the classic studio/live hybrid album will be reissued along with a full disc's worth of previously unissued studio outtakes (recorded at London's Morgan Studios) and concert material (recorded March 2-3, 1972 during The Kinks' Carnegie Hall concert stand). Often seen as a transitional album pointing the way towards
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Bob Dylan, The Bootleg Series Vol. 6 - Live 1964: Concert at Philharmonic Hall (Audio Fidelity) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Bob Dylan's The Bootleg Series Vol. 6 - Live 1964: Concert at Philharmonic Hall comes to hybrid 5.0 multichannel SACD for the first time. Audio Fidelity's release will boast a full booklet (as on the original standard CD release) and is playable in stereo on all CD players. Read more here! Various
Over the past couple of weeks, we've told you about the 2015 Black Friday Record Store Day offerings from Legacy, Omnivore and Real Gone Music. Well, the full list of releases which are coming out on November 27 has been announced and we've got the details below including new titles from Rhino, Varese Sarabande, Hear Music and more! The entire list is over 125 items long, so we've just highlighted some entries below in which you might be interested. The full listing can be seen at
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Elvis Costello, Unfaithful Music & Soundtrack Album (UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Elvis Costello has compiled a 2-CD companion release to his recently-released, utterly engrossing memoir Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink. Featuring songs that "offer the deepest emotional connection to the themes and stories in his book," Unfaithful Music & Soundtrack Album non-chronologically spans the onetime Angry Young Man and latter-day