Come April, Micky Dolenz will be returning to a place where he hasn’t appeared in 33 years. No, the performing mainstay won’t be discovering some new, far-flung venue. But he will be returning to the single shelves of record store racks with his first 45 RPM release since 1983. 7a Records, the label responsible for Dolenz’s The MGM Singles Collection and the recent An Evening with Peter Noone and Micky Dolenz, will release “Chance of a Lifetime” b/w “Living on Lies” in conjunction with Europe’s Record Store Day festivities on Saturday, April…
Rhino Unveils Record Store Day Line-Up with a-ha, Monkees, Madonna, Doors, Coltrane, More
We’ve already filled you in on Rhino’s upcoming Record Store Day releases from the late David Bowie, but the label has now confirmed the rest of its vinyl offerings for the April 16 event! This year’s crop of 25+ titles is a diverse one, with a number of vinyl premieres, new entries in the label’s longtime “Side by Side” series, and more! You’ll find all details just below. a-ha – Hits South America 12-inch 180-gram vinyl Limited edition of 3000 copies, $14.98 AIR – Casanova 70 12-inch translucent splatter vinyl Limited edition of…
Review: The Monkees, “Classic Album Collection” and “The Cereal Box Singles”
2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the first time Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork first hit TV screens and record sleeves as The Monkees, and indeed, it’s shaping up to be an auspicious year. In advance of the restored Blu-ray premiere of The Monkees’ television show, new album Good Times! and a tour featuring Dolenz and Tork, Rhino has released The Monkees 50: Classic Album Collection, a 10-disc box set collecting the original version of every one of the band’s Colgems albums between The Monkees (1966) and Changes…
Love to Love: The Monkees Announce New Album “Good Times!” Coming In June
The Monkees turn 50 this year – and the celebration is just getting bigger and bigger! Rhino has already released two titles in conjunction with the label’s Start Your Ear Off Right campaign, The Classic Album Collection and The Cereal Box Singles (watch this space for reviews soon!), and the eagerly-awaited Blu-ray box set of the classic television show is due on April 29. Today, Rhino and Micky Dolenz took to Rolling Stone to confirm more big news: the first new Monkees album in 20 years. June 10 is the date for Good…
A Little Bit Micky, A Little Bit Peter: 7a Presents Dolenz and Noone In Conversation On CD
A Monkee and a Hermit walk into a bar… Well, actually it was a theatre, The Monkee was Micky Dolenz, and the Hermit was none other than Herman himself, Peter Noone. Just last month, sixties survivors and music legends Dolenz and Noone shared a stage together for three intimate evenings of candid conversation. Those lucky enough to attend one of the talks (including yours truly) won’t soon forget the pair’s easy camaraderie and seemingly endless well of riotous and revealing recollections. Now, thanks to 7a Records, those who didn’t make An Evening…
You’re Welcome: Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie Curates Mix Featuring Beach Boys, Byrds, Dion, More
Among Ace Records’ recent releases is a collection that just might make you scream – make that “Primal Scream” – with elation. Bobby Gillespie Presents Sunday Morning Comin’ Down is a mix CD curated by Primal Scream founder/Jesus and Mary Chain drummer. The Glasgow-born singer/songwriter/musician has selected 20 of his favorite tracks for Ace, and the result is a set that not only illuminates Gillespie’s influences as an artist but stands on its own with thematic and sonic coherence. In Gillespie’s remarkable musical world, soundtracks sit alongside haunting psychedelia, California pop, Texas…
Rhino Charges Into January with New Colored Vinyl Titles, CD Box Sets
Rhino Records has quite the cure for the usual January doldrums that hit the release calendar, announcing more than a dozen new and reissued titles available exclusively through participating physical stores. The “Start Your Ear Off Right” initiative, featuring titles available January 19, encompass some of the best-known names in Rhino’s back catalogue, including The Grateful Dead, The Monkees, Devo, The Cars and The Replacements. From colored vinyl variants to CD box sets, there’s virtually something for everyone here. And just what will you find? Read on and find out! Bad Company,…
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“The First Bobby Hart Solo Album” OUT TODAY From 7a Records!
UPDATED 12/7: The 7a Records label made a big splash earlier this year with its first-ever release. The MGM Singles Collection brought together Micky Dolenz’s rare MGM Records sides in a lavishly designed and annotated presentation that was a fan and collector’s dream. Now, we’re thrilled to report that the Monkees specialists at 7a have turned their attention to another key figure in Monkees lore with the first-ever CD release today of 1980’s aptly-titled The First Bobby Hart Solo Album. There was little Bobby Hart and his partner Tommy Boyce couldn’t accomplish. Subjects of the recent…
Hurt So Bad: 7a Records Rescues “The First Bobby Hart Solo Album” With Expanded CD Reissue
The 7a Records label made a big splash earlier this year with its first-ever release. The MGM Singles Collection brought together Micky Dolenz’s rare MGM Records sides in a lavishly designed and annotated presentation that was a fan and collector’s dream. Now, we’re thrilled to report that the Monkees specialists at 7a are turning their attention to another key figure in Monkees lore with the first-ever CD release on December 7 of 1980’s aptly-titled The First Bobby Hart Solo Album. There was little Bobby Hart and his partner Tommy Boyce couldn’t accomplish. Subjects…
I’m a Believer: The Monkees’ TV Series Comes to Blu-ray
Monkees 50 is upon us! Yes, that’s right, 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of Micky, Davy, Peter and Mike joining together as The Monkees – and you can bet that the good people at Rhino Records aren’t about to let the year pass without a return of Monkeemania! Yesterday, on the 50th anniversary of the first announcement of The Monkees’ casting call, Rhino announced the first project of the golden celebration: a limited edition, website-exclusive Blu-ray set dedicated to all things Monkees! This upcoming collection, due on January 29, 2016, includes all…
Release Round-Up: Week of September 4
The fall is almost upon us – which means some of the most exciting release weeks of the year are just around the corner! We hope you’ve checked out Ted’s farewell to the sounds of summer, because we’re kicking off September right here with a new release from Second Disc Records – as well as goodies from The Doors, Eydie Gorme, Micky Dolenz, Peter Frampton, Pugwash, and many more! To our U.S. readers, we wish you a safe and happy Labor Day weekend filled with great new (and old) sounds! Wilson Pickett,…
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I’m A Believer: Micky Dolenz’s Rare MGM Singles Arriving On Deluxe Reissue
7A Records sure isn’t Monkee-ing around with its first release! On July 13, the newly-formed label – a labor of love for BBC radio and television presenter Iain Lee – will release Micky Dolenz’s The MGM Singles Collection on vinyl. This collection reissues for the first time all ten single sides released between 1971 and 1974 by Dolenz on the MGM, Lion and Romar labels. That Lee and his partner at 7A are Monkees fans is an understatement; even the label’s name is derived from the studio chatter preceding the band’s recording…
Holiday Gift Guide Review: The Monkees, “The Monkees: Super Deluxe Edition”
For The Monkees, the third time’s the charm. The 1966 debut album from Davy, Micky, Peter and Mike has been expanded twice before on CD – first in 1994 on one CD and then in 2006 as a two-CD set. Rhino Handmade has recently unveiled the third and most comprehensive release of this album yet, and with 45 previously unreleased bonus cuts among its 100 songs, The Monkees: Super Deluxe Edition (R2-543027) is not just Monkee mania, but Monkee manna. The story of this American fab four has been told numerous times…
Release Round-Up: Week of November 10
The Monkees, The Monkees: Super Deluxe Edition (Rhino Handmade) (Exclusively available directly from label) It’s Monkeemania all over again: Davy, Micky, Peter and Michael are back with a 3-CD expansion of their debut album featuring 100 tracks – 45 of which are previously unreleased! ABBA, Gracias Por La Musica: Deluxe Edition (Polar/Universal) (Amazon U.S. Link TBD / Amazon U.K.) ABBA is saying “Thank You for the Music” – in Spanish! The band’s Spanish-language 1980 album Gracias Por La Música is going deluxe with 5 bonus tracks, plus a 40-minute DVD featuring vintage promo clips…
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Release Round-Up: Week of October 7
Stevie Nicks, 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault (Reprise) 2-LP Vinyl + Download Card: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Standard Edition CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. The Fleetwood Mac rock legend dips into her vault for a newly-recorded album of songs composed between 1969 and 1995. The album features co-production by Dave Stewart and guitar great Waddy Wachtel, and is also available in a deluxe edition exclusive to Nicks’ website. Various Artists, The Classic Christmas Albums (Legacy) Legacy has a new batch of Classic Christmas Albums, and the Johnny Mathis…
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Last Train To Clarksville: “The Monkees” Goes Super Deluxe In November
In 1967, Monkeemania was sweeping the country. “I told people I would outsell The Beatles, and they laughed at me,” impresario Don Kirshner once recalled. “Then the first album sold four million.” That first album which led the television foursome to outsell The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys and, well, everybody else in 1967 is the subject of a new 3-CD Super Deluxe set arriving from Rhino Handmade on November 11. The Monkees – Super Deluxe Edition rewinds the series of box sets that has already encompassed the group’s sixth,…
Hey Hey! They’re Boyce and Hart – And You Can Help Complete Their Documentary!
For a few years in the halcyon days of the sixties, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart were on top of the world. Singers, songwriters and producers, Boyce and Hart – individually or collectively – were behind some of the most enduring hits of that era or any other: “Last Train to Clarksville,” “(I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone,” “Come a Little Bit Closer,” “Hurt So Bad,” “I Wanna Be Free,” “Valleri,” “Pretty Little Angel Eyes,” and of course, the immortal “Theme from The Monkees.” As if turning out hits for The Monkees and so…
Release Round-Up: Week of March 25
Johnny Cash, Out Among the Stars (Columbia/Legacy) This new album of newly-discovered mid-’80s outtakes is perhaps better than what was released at the time. Gorgeous and, at times, haunting, the way Johnny Cash albums should be. CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Elton John, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: 40th Anniversary Edition (Mercury/Rocket/UMe) Elton’s classic double album comes back to glorious life with several lavish editions, featuring new covers of songs from the set, B-sides, live material and more. 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 4CD/1DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 1BD:…
Action, Action, Action! Real Gone’s April Release Schedule Announced
Second Disc HQ may be surrounded by layers of detestable snow, but a new release schedule from Real Gone Music is as good as any sunshine! (Plus, these titles are due in April, by which everything will have melted…WE HOPE.) You’ve already read about two of the label’s new April releases courtesy of Joe’s post about Doris Day earlier today, but that’s not all they’re offering. A complete singles collection by Patti LaBelle and The Bluebells – featuring the three future members of LaBelle with future Supremes member Cindy Birdsong – is…
Review: The Monkees, “The Monkees Present: Deluxe Edition”
And then there were three. Peter Tork had departed The Monkees in December 1968, just a couple of months prior to the February 1969 release of the band’s seventh studio album, Instant Replay. The remaining trio of Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz and Mike Nesmith soldiered on, though, cutting numerous new tracks and updating old ones for an eighth effort. Issued by Colgems in October 1969 on the heels of an unsuccessful greatest-hits album, it was The Monkees Present and emphasized the slimmer group line-up on its cover artwork. Like its predecessor, The…
Release Round-Up: Week of August 20
Fleetwood Mac, Then Play On: Deluxe Edition / Fleetwood Mac: 1969-1972 (Warner Bros./Rhino) The pre Buckingham-Nicks era of the Mac gets some love on CD and vinyl: their last Peter Green-led album from 1969 is expanded with bonus tracks, and it’s also included in a remastered vinyl box set with follow-ups Kiln House (1970), Future Games (1971) and Bare Trees (1972) (plus the 1969 single “Oh Well” on 45). Then Play On: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 1969-1972: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Jimi Hendrix, The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Experience Hendrix/Legacy) The famous “purple box” from 2000 – the first box set released in the official…
Release Round-Up: Week of May 28
Wings, Wings Over America: The Paul McCartney Archive Collection (MPL/Hear Music/Concord) Paul McCartney’s first great U.S. tour was chronicled brilliantly on this 1977 live album, and it’s been greatly expanded herein for McCartney’s ongoing reissue campaign. 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 3CD (Best Buy exclusive) 4CD/1DVD box: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Tony Bennett & Dave Brubeck,
More Monkeemania: Friday Music Reissues “Justus” In CD/DVD Edition
The recently-announced, and hotly-anticipated, Rhino Handmade box set of The Monkees Present isn’t the only one of the band’s albums on the reissue docket. Following last year’s similar edition of 1987’s Pool It!, Friday Music will, on May 28, reissue The Monkees’ 1996 reunion album Justus in a CD/DVD package combining the original 12-track CD with a DVD of the original Rhino Home Video tie-in program. Justus marked the first studio album to feature all four Monkees – Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith – since 1968’s Head soundtrack. …
Listen To The Band: Rhino Boxes Micky, Mike and Davy’s “The Monkees Present”
Listen to the band! The Monkees’ eighth album, The Monkees Present, was a grab bag unlike any other previously produced by the group. By October 1969, The Monkees was off the air and remaining Monkees Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz and Mike Nesmith were soldiering on for their second album without Peter Tork. February’s Instant Replay, the first sans Tork, had managed a respectable showing at No. 32 on the pop chart, but in the post-Head days, hit singles were far from guaranteed for the group. Yet the somewhat fraught atmosphere led the…
Songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil Are “Born to Be Together” on New Ace CD
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 played song of the twentieth century, The Righteous…
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