Given the speed and frequency with which the Motown label made recordings during its heyday, the company’s vaults are known to be vast. Large amounts of unreleased material have been added to compilations and reissues over the years, while still other collections have been solely devoted to never-before-heard tracks from the label’s superstars. Due to European copyright laws that allow unused recordings to enter the public domain, Motown has been releasing digital-only copyright-extension compilations for the past several years beginning with multiple Motown Unreleased 1962: Guys, Girls, Jazz, and Gospel volumes. Last…
The Boss: Diana Ross Celebrated with New Digital Compilation
Usually it takes 60 years to get to a diamond anniversary, but what’s a few years early to celebrate Diana Ross! The R&B legend will be honored with a lifetime achievement award at the American Music Awards on November 19, and a new digital compilation will be released that weekend (Friday, November 17) to get the celebration started. Diamond Diana: The Legacy Collection is a breezy 15-track non-chronological trip through Miss Ross’ unprecedented career. Focusing primarily on her solo years, the set does feature one track with The Supremes (“You Can’t Hurry…
Release Round-Up: Week of November 3
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! The Supremes, The Ultimate Merry Christmas (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music are joining Motown Records to unwrap a celebration of The Supremes’ 1965 perennial Merry Christmas. The Ultimate Merry Christmas features the album in three distinctive versions: the original 1965 mono and stereo mixes, as well as a brand new, never-before-heard 2017 mix premiering previously unheard vocals and instrumentation. And that’s not all! The additional, previously unreleased bonus tracks include a Diana Ross/Florence Ballard duet on “Silent Night,” and a Diana/Mary Wilson duet on…
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COMING TOMORROW! The Supremes Kick Off Our Christmas Slate with The Ames Brothers, Connie Smith
TOMORROW, Friday, November 3, is the day we’ve been waiting for here at Second Disc HQ – when we can finally unveil our new, and biggest ever, Second Disc Records slate of Christmas releases to you! Tomorrow, we’re joining Real Gone Music for a trio of titles beginning with The Supremes’ The Ultimate Merry Christmas, a deluxe 2-CD, 50-track celebration of Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard’s 1965 Merry Christmas. This is one ultimate collection we’re confident will live up to its name! We’re also proud to reissue The Ames Brothers’ nostalgic…
Among His Souvenirs: Bing Crosby Celebrated with Deluxe Reissue and New Rarities Anthology, Supremes Duet Included
Saturday, October 14, marked 40 years since the passing of one of America’s legendary vocalists, Bing Crosby. The famed crooner could fairly be recognized as the father of pop singing, treating the microphone and the studio of essential components of his art, and bringing intimacy to the form. On December 8, Bing Crosby Enterprises will team with UMe for new two titles in the Bing Crosby Archive Collection. New Tricks: 60th Anniversary Deluxe Edition and Among My Souvenirs: More Treasures from the Crosby Archive are both being released with the cooperation of…
BREAKING! Second Disc Records, Real Gone Music Unwrap The Supremes’ “Ultimate Merry Christmas”!
Longtime readers know that Christmas is our favorite time of the year here at Second Disc HQ, and this year, we’re celebrating with our most lavish release yet: The Supremes’ The Ultimate Merry Christmas! Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music are counting down the days until November 3, when we proudly present one of the greatest Christmas albums of all time – from the world’s number-one girl group – in an edition that’s years in the making! Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard ushered in 1965 with the electrifying, era-defining…
Here They “A’ Go-Go”! Classic Supremes Album To Be Expanded in April
Get ready! A new, rarities-packed edition of The Supremes’ chart-topping The Supremes A’ Go-Go is headed to stores this spring! Released late in the summer of 1966, the ninth album by Motown’s powerhouse vocal trio (Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson) reads like a who’s-who of pop and Detroit soul, with a slew of covers (mostly from the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team) given that Supremes treatment. Here, you’ll find versions of The Isley Brothers’ “This Old Heart of Mine (is Weak for You),” The Four Tops’ “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie…
Ain’t Too Proud To Beg: New Digital Releases Premiere Unreleased Beach Boys and Motown Featuring Marvin Gaye, Supremes, Temptations and Many More
As has become commonplace over the past several years due to the copyright laws in the U.K. and Europe, a couple of “copyright extension” releases came out at the end of 2016 to come in right at the deadline for 1966 recordings. While sometimes these collections have taken physical form like the two large Bob Dylan box sets that have been released over the past couple of years, they are more often than not digital-only releases. And in keeping with the traditions of the past several years, that is the format for two new sets…
Ace Collects Classic Beatles Covers On “Let It Be: Black America Sings Lennon, McCartney and Harrison”
If there was ever any doubt as to the versatility, adaptability and endurance of the songs of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, it would certainly be dispelled by Ace’s new release of Let It Be: Black America Sings Lennon, McCartney and Harrison. The latest volume in the label’s Black America Sings series (also encompassing volumes dedicated to Sam Cooke, Bob Dylan, Otis Redding, and the team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David) and the second dedicated to the music of The Beatles, Let It Be features a staggering array of…
This Could Be The Night: Shout! Factory To Release “T.A.M.I. Show” and “The Big T.N.T. Show” on Blu-ray
While we normally concentrate on CD reissues here at The Second Disc, we do occasionally like to highlight other titles which we think may be of interest to our readers. One such project, just announced from Shout! Factory, certainly qualifies: a 2-disc Blu-ray set entitled the T.A.M.I. Show/The Big T.N.T. Show Collector’s Edition due out on December 2. Directed by Steve Binder, T.A.M.I. Show (meaning either “Teenage Awards Music International” or “Teen Age Music International”) was filmed on October 28 and 29, 1964 in California and released in December of that year. …
Release Round-Up: Week of April 1
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! The Go-Go’s, Beauty and the Beat / Vacation / Talk Show: Deluxe Editions (Edsel) Beauty and the Beat: Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Vacation: Expanded Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Talk Show: Expanded Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Edsel has expanded editions of the three classic albums by The Go-Go’s originally released between 1982 and 1984. While none of the bonus material here is unreleased, these reissues do serve to pair the respective material from Return to the Valley of The Go-Go’s up with their original albums. Beyond that,…
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Along Comes “1966”: Ace Anthology Features The Supremes, The Who, Velvet Underground, Bowie, More
Was 1966 the greatest year ever in popular music? The case could certainly be made for its significance – and Jon Savage has done just that in his new book 1966: The Year the Decade Exploded. Savage’s book looks at the events and culture of the year in twelve essays, each one built around one 45 RPM record. Naturally, such a book deserves a soundtrack, and Ace Records has seen to it that it receives one with the companion volume of the same name. Jon Savage’s 1966: The Year the Decade Exploded…
Dreaming of a Supremes Christmas: Expanded “Merry Christmas” Available NOW!
Christmas came early in 1965 for fans of The Supremes. In November of that year, Motown released not one, but two albums from the beloved trio of Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard: The Supremes at the Copa and Merry Christmas. Both of these LPs would not only score on the Billboard charts but become truly sparkling additions to the Supremes’ discography. Still perennial favorites, both Copa and Merry Christmas showcase the group’s tremendous versatility, vibrancy and dynamism. Now, 50 years later, Motown once again is bringing Christmas early! Last Friday saw the first-ever…
Shaken, Not Stirred: Ace Mines “The Secret Agent Songbook” With “Come Spy with Us”
For many, the sound of John Barry epitomizes the sound of the spy thriller. It’s no surprise – with 12 James Bond films under his belt, the late, great British composer imbued his melodies with the right amount of adventure, humor, tension, sophistication, and well, sex. It’s fitting that Barry opens Ace Records’ superlatively entertaining new anthology Come Spy with Me: The Secret Agent Songbook, collecting 25 samples of swinging music from spies and secret agents (and even a handful of detectives!) released between 1962 and 1968, the heyday of the genre….
Release Round-Up: Week of April 29
Grace Jones, Nightclubbing: Deluxe Edition (Island/UMe) Pull back up to the bumper with a generously expanded version of the almighty Jones’ most beloved album. 2CD: Amazon U.K. 1CD: Amazon U.S. 2LP: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S. Blu-Ray Audio: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S. Diana Ross & The Supremes, Sing and Perform Funny Girl: Expanded Edition (Motown Select) A digital-only expansion of The Supremes’ 1968 album of the Jule Styne-Bob Merrill musical, featuring the original LP alongside a brand-new remix and a pair of live cuts. (Amazon U.S.) Funny Girl: Original Broadway Cast Recording – 50th Anniversary Edition (Capitol/UMe) Speaking of…
The (Motown) Music That Makes Me Dance: The Supremes’ “Funny Girl” Gets Expansion
I’m the greatest star/I am by far! But no one knows it… – Fanny Brice, Funny Girl Back in 2012, while reviewing Hip-o Select’s splendidly expanded edition of The Supremes at the Copa, I wrote of the “altogether enjoyable [and] still inexplicably not on CD” album The Supremes Sing and Perform Funny Girl. Indeed, that 1968 LP, featuring Motown’s greatest stars tackling the showstoppers from Jule Styne and Bob Merrill’s score, has long been one of the rarest and most-requested titles in the Supremes discography. Yet Funny Girl has remained unavailable throughout…
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…
Motown Rarities Uncovered on Vinyl Box, Digital Outtakes Set
Motown aficionados have a lot of fun stuff to dig through on a number of formats, with the recent release of a box set collecting 14 rare cuts on vinyl and a new, copyright law-busting compilation of 52 previously unavailable outtakes from some of the label’s biggest names. Recently issued in the U.K., The Motown 7s Box: Rare and Unreleased Vinyl seems to take more of a tack about “tracks unreleased to vinyl” than “never-before-released tracks on vinyl.” Everything here has been made available in some way, shape or form, including rare studio…
Release Round-Up: Week of December 4
Beachwood Sparks, Desert Skies (Alive Records) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) We missed this one last week – and didn’t want you to miss it, too! The previously unreleased debut album from California psychedelic country-rockers Beachwood Sparks arrives on CD with bonus material, all circa the late 1990s. For fans of The Flying Burrito Brothers, Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, and the West Coast pop-rock sound. The Jones Girls, Coming Back (Expansion) (Amazon U.K.) The Jones Girls, best-known for a string of LPs for Philadelphia International, “came back” with this 1992 album for…
Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye): Final “The Complete Motown Singles” Volume Bows
They did it. Nearly nine years after the first volume in Hip-O Select’s The Complete Motown Singles box set series was released, the 14th and final entry in the series, Volume 12B: 1972, will be released on December 10, just in time for the holidays. The year 1972 marks, for many, the end of the “classic Motown” period. Label founder Berry Gordy moved label operations from Detroit to Los Angeles, and many of his most treasured acts were in periods of transition. Diana Ross was long a solo artist away from The Supremes, while…
Release Round-Up: Week of June 18
Patty Duke, Don’t Just Stand There/Patty / Sings Songs from Valley of the Dolls/Sings Folk Songs (Time to Move On) (Real Gone Music) All four of Patty’s United Artists albums released on a pair of two-fers, including 1968’s unreleased Sings Folk Songs. The Supremes, Cream of the Crop / Love Child / I Hear a Symphony / Join the Temptations / Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland / Supremes A Go-Go (Motown MS 649, 1966) (Culture Factory) A bunch of Supremes classics – six albums from 1966’s The Supremes A Go-Go to 1969’s Cream of the Crop, their last with Diana Ross – all get the mini-LP treatment from Culture Factory. Diana Ross, The Boss /An…
Where Were You When We Needed You: Latest Volume of “The Complete Motown Singles” Arrives in June
Let’s dispense with the “Get Ready” puns: after a four-year wait, Hip-O Select’s Complete Motown Singles series inches closer toward the finish line with Volume 12A: 1972. This five-disc set includes every single side released by Motown during the first half of 1972, a time of transition for the company. Berry Gordy had already moved his Detroit-based media empire westward to Los Angeles, leaving some of his flagship groups in a transitional period. The Jackson 5 still had their hits, but not with the blinding intensity of their earliest years (though Michael still enjoyed hits…
Losers Weepers! Ace Unveils Rare and Unreleased Songs on “Finders Keepers: Motown Girls 1961-67”
Thanks to the dedication of labels like Ace Records, it would be impossible to “forget the Motor City.” Along with the U.S.’ flagship Hip-O/UMG Select imprint, Ace has led the charge in issuing vintage 1960s-era Motown material, much of it unreleased. The recent release of Finders Keepers: Motown Girls 1961-1967 compiles 24 tracks from girls both famous (The Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, Mary Wells) and all-too-unknown (LaBrenda Ben, Thelma Brown, Anita Knorl) for a potent overview of songs that slipped through the cracks at Hitsville, USA. Sweetening the pot is the…
Culture Factory Reveals “Supreme” Slate with Motown, James Taylor, Robert Palmer and More [UPDATED]
UPDATE: In the days since this article has been posted, Culture Factory has revised the street dates for all of the titles mentioned here. See below for corrected information as of March 28, 2013. ORIGINAL POST OF 3/25: Since its inaugural wave of releases in 2011, the Culture Factory label has carved out a niche in the catalogue field. Artists such as Robert Palmer, Hot Tuna, Paul Williams, Bob Welch, The Flamin’ Groovies, Sylvie Vartan, Rare Earth and The Motels are all among the recipients of the Culture Factory treatment. The label’s…
Release Round-Up: Week of March 12
Various Artists, Motown the Musical – Originals: The Classic Songs That Inspired the Broadway Show (Motown/UMe) The Sound of Young America is now the sound of The Great White Way, with a new musical entering previews this week. This new compilation presents all the original versions of the songs that feature in the show! 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. TV Mania, Bored with Prozac and the Internet? (Tapemodern) Completed by Duran Duran keyboardist Nick Rhodes and former band guitarist Warren Cuccurullo in the late ’90s and presumed lost until…
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