There’s a new reissue label in town! We’re happy to share the news of a brand-new, top-notch label. Based in Australia, Playback Records has recently issued its first three deluxe releases – all of which we know will be of interest to readers of The Second Disc! Longtime fans of The Bee Gees will doubtless recognize the names of Colin Petersen and Geoff Bridgeford. Before Messrs. Petersen and Bridgeford began to make music with Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, however, they were bandmates with writer-producer Steve Kipner in Australia’s Steve and the…
He’s No Ordinary Guy: Ace Celebrates Songs of Jerry Ross on “Some Kinda Magic”
Before Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff and Thom Bell created The Sound of Philadelphia, Jerry Ross created the sound of Philadelphia. The Philly-born producer-songwriter-entrepreneur penned hits for Diana Ross and the Supremes and The Temptations and produced chart-toppers by Bobby Hebb and Shocking Blue, but only now has his remarkable legacy in pop, rock-and-roll and soul been celebrated on disc. Ace has recently issued Some Kinda Magic: The Songs of Jerry Ross, a 24-track compendium of Ross’ finest compositions as issued on various labels including his homes of Swan, Cameo-Parkway and Mercury as…
Release Round-Up: Week of September 23
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, packed with heavy hitters! David Bowie, Who Can I Be Now (1974-1976) (Parlophone) 12-CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 13-LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada David Bowie – Who Can I Be Now? (1974-1976), the second in the late artist’s series of deluxe albums box sets, will contain the following albums plus a 128-page booklet in the CD edition (or 84 pages in the vinyl edition. You’ll find more details here, and watch for Joe’s review soon! Diamond Dogs (Remastered) 1-CD…
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Release Round-Up: Week of September 16
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Led Zeppelin, The Complete BBC Sessions (Atlantic/Swan Song/Rhino) 3 CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 5 LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3 CD/5 LP Super Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Digital Download: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. This new collection expands the original double-disc set, from 1997, which was culled from the band’s appearances on BBC radio between 1969 and 1971. This updated version has been fully and newly remastered under the supervision by…
Rock My Soul: Cherry Red, Grapefruit Collect Early British Hard Rock On “I’m a Freak, Baby”
What do Deep Purple, The Move, Hawkwind, Fleetwood Mac and The Yardbirds all have in common? Though each of those five bands carved out distinct musical identities, all incorporated elements of psychedelia in their early hard-rock explorations. A new 3-CD box set from Cherry Red’s Grapefruit imprint offers an in-depth chronicle of the music that planted the seeds of progressive rock and metal. I’m a Freak, Baby is, as per its subtitle, A Journey Through the British Heavy Psych and Hard Rock Underground Scene 1968-1972. As with the best journeys, it offers…
Where The Good Times Are: Ace Collects “Beat Girls”
We recently filled you in on the ninth volume of Ace Records’ long-running series, Where the Girls Are. Today, we spotlight two companion volumes dedicated to Beat Girls of the 1960s! Pye Records, home of Petula Clark and The Kinks, practically defined the British “big beat” sound of girl-pop with its urbane, sophisticated productions. Scratch My Back! Pye Beat Girls 1963-1968 offers a cross section of the label’s brashest sounds with 24 well-selected nuggets from artists both familiar and lesser-known. The collection takes its title from a snarling, fuzz guitar-laden song by…
Release Round-Up: Week of August 12
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Anthology (BMG) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The new 3-CD/DD release of Emerson, Lake & Palmer – The Anthology rounds out this first wave of titles from BMG including reissues of Emerson Lake & Palmer, Tarkus and Pictures at an Exhibition. Produced by Greg Lake, this career-spanning set has 39 tracks from the years 1970 to 1998, the choice of material approved by all three band members. It’s housed in a deluxe casebound book format with Chris Welch’s…
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When A Girl’s In Love: Ace Goes “Where The Girls Are”
Nine volumes in, and Ace’s Where the Girls Are series is still turning up hidden-gems from the girl group era! As is often the case with this series, the names behind-the-scenes are often more familiar than those headlining the record. Where the Girls Are Volume 9 , released earlier this year, features 25 more tracks from America in the 1960s – the golden age of girl groups and “girl pop” – in their original mono versions. Future Philly soul architect Leon Huff penned The Sweet Three’s effervescent “That’s the Way It Is (When…
Bad Boy for Life: New Five-Disc Box Celebrates East Coast Hip-Hop Label
In the late ’90s and early ’00s, East Coast rap was dominated by one label: Bad Boy Entertainment. Now, their first 20 years will be celebrated in a five-disc box set later this summer. First reported by Billboard, Bad Boy Presents The 20th Anniversary Box Set features 80 curated tracks spanning from the label’s first release, Craig Mack’s “Flava in Ya Ear,” up to 2014. Longtime Bad Boy associate and current president Harve Pierre produced the set, and journalist Michael A. Gonzalez provides notes within the 64-page booklet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXu9av3gofs The Bad Boy…
More Powerful Than A Locomotive: DC Celebrates Musical Legacy with New Collection
Superheroes and comic book characters have become a larger force in pop culture over recent years with many comic-book based properties racing to the top of list box-office winners each year, and over ten comic book-related television shows scheduled to air this fall on various networks. DC Comics, home to Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and dozens of others, has been a big part of that. Next week also sees the annual San Diego Comic Con taking place, the largest comic and pop culture gathering in the U.S. To tie in with that…
Lost Era of London Celebrated On Croydon Municipal’s “Soho Continental”
Next stop: bohemian London, circa the 1950s and 1960s. That’s the itinerary for Croydon Municipal’s latest release in conjunction with Cherry Red, Soho Continental. This 25-track collection conjures the period in which Soho was dotted not with chain stores and restaurants but with coffee bars, cocktail spots and trattorias populated by artists of every stripe and ethnicity. As co-compiler Martin Green points out in his liner notes, “this album reflects the international sounds emanating from the area’s bustling spaghetti houses, Spanish bars, Parisian-styled nightclubs, Maltese gambling dens and Swedish massage parlors.” That…
Cash, Robbins, Jones, Arnold Feature On Ace’s “More Country Hits”
Ace Records has recently continued its Golden Age of American Popular Music Series with another volume dedicated to the sounds of country-and-western. More Country Hits follows The Country Hits, released in 2008, and like that volume, presents a collection of country classics that crossed over to the pop side on the Billboard Hot 100. Many familiar names from the first collection show up here, too, including Johnny Horton, Johnny Cash, Faron Young, Ray Price, George Jones, Skeeter Davis, Marty Robbins and an artist close to our hearts here at Second Disc HQ,…
At The Groovy Cellar: RPM Reveals “Another Splash of Colour: New Psychedelia in Britain 1980-1985”
Mention psychedelia and chances are you’re transported to a certain patchouli-scented period in the late 1960s, a hazy period of high times and boundary-breaking musical creativity. The spirit of psychedelia didn’t die with the advent of glam, hard rock or disco, however, though it may have been submerged for a time. In 1981, the 13-track album A Splash of Colour chronicled Great Britain’s “New Psychedelia” with ’60s-influenced cuts from The Mood Six, Miles Over Matter, The High Tide, The Marble Staircase and others. Cherry Red’s RPM label has recently reworked and reconfigured…
Let’s Do It Again: Ace Collects Funk Brother Jack Ashford’s “Just Productions”
Jack Ashford’s story is about how a Philadelphia jazz man ended up in Detroit, playing on hundreds of the greatest R&B recordings ever made. The percussionist’s unforgettable work with Motown’s Funk Brothers has been oft-chronicled, but on a recent compilation, Ace Records’ Kent imprint has turned its attention to Ashford’s producing and songwriting work away from Hitsville, USA between the years of 1968 and 1977. Just Productions features 24 sizzling slices of ultra-rare Detroit soul (including six previously unreleased tracks) crafted by Ashford’s company of the same name for the city’s various…
Release Round-Up: Week of April 29
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Various Artists, Here Today: The Songs of Brian Wilson (Vinyl) (Ace) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Ace brings its acclaimed 2015 Here Today: The Songs of Brian Wilson compilation to 180-gram white vinyl in a slimmed-down form (12 tracks vs. 25 on the CD) with all of Ace’s deluxe hallmarks of packaging and annotation! The album features Darian Sahanaja of The Brian Wilson Band and The Wondermints along with Kirsty MacColl, Carmen McRae, The Tokens, The Castells, Nick DeCaro, Betty Everett, Bobby Vee and…
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And All That Jazz: The “Now!” Series Goes to Broadway
The long-running Now That’s What I Call Music! series is adding another volume in about two weeks and this one is a little different from its normal fare. Now That’s What I Call Broadway! is an 18-track compilation rounding up tracks musical theater tracks from the last 40 years and is due to hit stores on April 29. While the Now! series is primarily focused on contemporary pop music from the Top 40 charts, it has had several detours into slightly other genres, like volumes focused on Disney songs and Halloween songs. This will mark the first…
Not Like Everybody Else: “Kinked!” Kollects Kinks Kovers (And Sessions, Too!)
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 even previously unissued tracks. Chockablock with rarities, it’s divided into two sections by…
Release Round-Up: Week of April 15
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Phil Collins, No Jacket Required and Testify: Deluxe Editions (Atlantic/Rhino) No Jacket Required 2-CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada No Jacket Required LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Testify 2-CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Testify LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Phil Collins’ No Jacket Required, originally released in 1985 and still the artist’s most commercially successful album, is expanded to 2 CDs with the addition of thirteen bonus tracks: ten new-to-CD live performances and three demos. Phil…
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Some Velvet Morning: Ace Salutes Lee Hazlewood on “Shazam!”
The title of Ace’s new entry in its Songwriter Series – Shazam! – doesn’t refer to Captain Marvel’s magic word or Gomer Pyle’s favorite expression. Rather, the new compilation CD is titled after Duane Eddy’s (naturally) twangy western gallop “Shazam!” penned by Eddy and maverick producer Lee Hazlewood and released in 1960. (Okay, Duane and Lee likely did take its name from C.C. Beck and Bill Parker’s popular comic book superhero!) Shazam! and Other Instrumentals Written by Lee Hazlewood is far from the first Ace release celebrating the Hazlewood oeuvre; the label has…
RPM Is “Looking Stateside” with Sons of Champlin, Knickerbockers, Joe Tex, Chuck Jackson, More
Cherry Red’s RPM Records label has been doing a lot of Looking with its series of themed mini-box sets dedicated to such pop subgenres as freakbeat, mod, and girl group soul. The latest set in the Looking series, established in 2011, is Looking Stateside. This volume is dedicated to U.S. R&B Mod, Soul and Garage Nuggets, and contains 80 such selections on its three packed CDs. Though limited to American recordings, the focus is otherwise diverse. As the compilers explain in the thick booklet of liner notes, the box spotlights “turn-of-the-decade R&B,…
Release Round-Up: Week of March 25
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 Artists, Kinked! Kinks Songs and Sessions 1964-1971 (Ace) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon…
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De-Luxe: Cherry Red Chronicles The Sound of Shoegaze On “Still in a Dream” Box Set
Noise-rock, dream-pop, post-punk, drone-rock, neo-psychedelia…all of these musical subgenres and more became components of the shoegaze sound. The term itself was rather derisively coined by the press to describe a certain group of musicians’ tendencies to stare down at their feet while performing – partly out of introspection, partly out of necessity to operate guitar effects pedals. But the “shoegaze” term stuck, and so did the music. Still in a Dream: A Story of Shoegaze, a lavish, hardcover book-style 5-CD box set, arrived last month from Cherry Red Records. It celebrates the…
Find Out What’s Happening: Ace Explores “Where Soul Meets Country” On New Collection
Between 2012 and 2014, Ace issued three volumes of Where Country Meets Soul. All three volumes featured many of the greatest soul singers of all time tackling country-and-western repertoire. Now, the label has revisited the country-soul territory – in reverse! Out of Left Field: Where Soul Meets Country presents 24 sizzling R&B songs as sung by country’s greatest performers, and most are surprisingly comfortable fits. Stax thought it was onto something when it ushered Daaron Lee into the studio to re-record one of the label’s own hits, Johnnie Taylor’s “Who’s Making Love,” in…
From Memphis To New Orleans: Ace Collects Stax, DeLuxe Rarities
Bring on the B-sides! Despite its title, the massive, indispensable box set The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1964-1968 concentrated on A-sides, presenting only a fraction of the labels’ valuable flips. The box left many worthy B-sides overlooked in the CD era, but Ace Records’ Kent imprint has redressed that situation with the release of The Other Side of the Trax: Stax-Volt 45 RPM Rarities 1964-1968. All but one of the 24 tracks on this new compilation are all making their official CD debuts – which is even more unbelievable considering the caliber of…
When I Say Groove: Ace Explores “Detroit Soul,” “South Texas Rhythm ‘n’ Soul” On Recent Compilations
When it comes to chronicling the various regional iterations of rock and soul, Ace Records has few equals. The U.K. label’s Kent imprint has two recent, rarities-packed collections touching on two American locales and their contributions to popular music. Dave Hamilton’s Detroit Soul Volume Two brings together 24 tracks spanning the 1960s-1980s from Hamilton’s small but prolific Motor City studios. Hamilton had been a presence on the Detroit musical landscape since the late 1940s, and continued to churn out music for decades after. The first volume of this series arrived in 2011,…
Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention
September 25, 2026
