Welcome to a special Sunday feature of The Weekend Stream, which takes a look at one of MTV's great live music programs thanks to a recent reissue of one of its best-known episodes. We're running a five-part deep-dive on every episode of MTV Unplugged that's currently streaming on the station's parent streaming network Paramount+! (Part 1 can be read here.) The evolution of MTV Unplugged was not unlike that of the network itself. If those first years on the air from 1989 to 1991 were
The Weekend Stream: May 24, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. This week offers a trio of classic rockers advancing a cause through new tracks, rare covers and live material, plus a new take on Peggy Lee's "Fever" and a pair of dance albums getting greatly, unexpectedly expanded. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Land of Hope & Dreams EP (Columbia) (Apple / Amazon) The Boss has been
Release Round-Up: Week of May 23
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Sheena Easton, Modern Girl: The Complete EMI Recordings Volume 1 (Cherry Pop) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Sheena Easton's latest reissue collaboration with Cherry Red covers familiar ground in a slightly new way. Modern Girl: The Complete EMI Recordings, Vol. 1 is a 5CD set that covers the bulk of the Scottish
Somewhere North of Nashville: Ace Takes Listeners to 'Springsteen's Country'
Ace Records continues its quest to offer variations on a theme by exploring country interpretations of the music of Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen's Country will collect 20 covers of The Boss, some familiar (Johnny Cash's "Johnny 99," Steve Earle's live take on "State Trooper"), some offbeat (a take on Tunnel of Love opener "Ain't Got You" by Solomon Burke, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's version of beloved outtake "From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)"), and some altogether lesser known
Jethro Tull's 'Living in the Past' Arrives in the Present with New Steven Wilson Remix
An early, classic compilation by Jethro Tull will be remixed, expanded and wildly reconstructed by engineer Steven Wilson. Still Living in the Past, available July 11 from Rhino, will reinterpret the group's odds-and-ends compilation from 1972 as a 5CD/1 Blu-ray set boasting some 35 unissued mixes and versions alongside just about every one of the 21 original tracks that appeared on the original double album. Alongside the original mixes of the non-album material that comprised Living in the
In Memoriam: Roger Nichols (1940-2025)
If you don't know the name of Roger Nichols, you know the man's songs. His compositions have been sung by Carpenters, Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Petula Clark, Jackie DeShannon, Bobby Darin, Paul Anka, The Monkees, and Nichols' most frequent lyrical collaborator, Paul Williams - just to name a few. Many of those songs have become bona fide American standards, among them "We've Only Just Begun," "Rainy Days and Mondays," "I Won't Last a Day Without You," and "Times of Your Life." He and
Come Dancing: The Kinks Close 60th Anniversary Celebration with Third and Final Compilation 'The Journey - Part 3'
Following a pair of compilations in 2023 chronicling earlier parts of their storied career, British rockers The Kinks have one more in the chamber to commemorate their 60th anniversary as a group, focusing on a period of transition and finality in the '70s, '80s and '90s. The Journey - Part 3 will offer, on two CDs or two 180-gram LPs, a dozen favorites originally released on Arista Records between 1977 and 1984, including the band's last worldwide smash, "Come Dancing." The newly remastered
I Get Misty: A Personal Reflection on Johnny Mathis' Final Concert
The music of Johnny Mathis has been a constant here at Second Disc HQ. Our very first Second Disc Records release in conjunction with Real Gone Music was Johnny's Life Is a Song Worth Singing: The Complete Thom Bell Sessions back in 2015, which inaugurated a series encompassing nearly two dozen Mathis albums and compilations to date including a multi-disc Christmas music collection and the standalone CD premieres of two "lost" albums, I Love My Lady and The Island. Joe had the privilege of
All You Can Think About: They Might Be Giants Rarities Set Comes to CD
A collection of harder-to-find material from stalwart alt-rock duo They Might Be Giants - released on vinyl last year - gets a wider availability on CD this month. The Spine Surfs Alone: Rarities 1998-2005 is available at general retail on May 30, having been available from the band's official store since earlier this spring. (A vinyl version was surprise released last November, during which the album was made available digitally through Bandcamp as well.) The set includes the balance of two
The Weekend Stream Extra: A Guide to 'MTV Unplugged' on Paramount+ (Part 1)
Welcome to a special Sunday feature of The Weekend Stream, which takes a look at one of MTV's great live music programs thanks to a recent reissue of one of its best-known episodes. We're kicking off a five-part deep-dive on every episode of MTV Unplugged that's currently streaming on the station's parent streaming network Paramount+! If the music video was the most significant concept MTV introduced back in 1981, the word "unplugged" might come in a close second. In 1989, as the cable
The Weekend Stream: May 17, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. A positively packed volume offers legends of pop, rock and country revisiting and interpreting some classic tracks; catalogue favorites from Britney to Sheena and Connie to Katrina; intriguing film scores and show tunes; and remembrances of a few legends we lost this week. Steve Perry & Willie Nelson, "Faithfully" (Dark Horse) (Apple /
Wake Me Up: New Compilation Honors Life and Career of Avicii
In his too-brief career, Swedish DJ/producer Avicii became one of the most dynamic figures of the early 2010s electronic dance boom. A new collection, sanctioned by his estate, will honor that body of work. Avicii Forever offers, on CD or two LPs, 20 tracks from his albums and EPs, including the worldwide hits "Wake Me Up," "Levels," "Hey Brother" and "The Days." The set also includes a previously unreleased track, "Let's Ride Away," featuring vocals by Elle King. Physical copies of the album
Dancing Barefoot: The Feelies Collect Old Covers for New Album
What started as a simple digital exercise for New Jersey rockers The Feelies is a new collection of some of their harder-to-find cover songs. The jangle-pop heroes will release Rewind on June 20, a nine-track affair featuring versions of cuts by The Beatles ("She Said She Said," "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey"), Neil Young ("Barstool Blues," "Sedan Delivery"), Bob Dylan ("Seven Days"), The Rolling Stones ("Paint It Black") and more. Most were recorded during the
Release Round-Up: Week of May 16
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Status Quo, Live! Deluxe Edition (Edsel) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) A deluxe edition of Status Quo's first concert album will pair the original album - never a favorite of the band's leader Francis Rossi - with the full, newly-remixed shows that it was assembled from, all under the supervision of the band.
Dyna-Mite: Cherry Red's 7Ts Label Collects Mud's Glam Oldies on "The Rak Years 1973-75"
Rob Davis, Les Gray, Dave Mount, and Ray Stiles formed Mud in 1966 and released their first single, "Flower Power," the very next year on CBS Records. But the band wasn't destined to make their name with psychedelic pop; instead, they persevered until breaking through in 1973 on Mickie Most's Rak label. By that time, they'd morphed into glam rockers with a fifties revivalist sensibility. Cherry Red's 7Ts label has already chronicled Mud's 1975-1979 albums on a 4CD box set as well as the
Hey There: Stage Door Expands John Raitt's "Songs of the Open Road"
Back in May 2020, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Stage Door Records brought some much-needed sunshine with an Original Album Series volume for Broadway baritone John Raitt (1917-2005). The 2CD volume collected Raitt's four LPs originally released between 1955 and 1960 on the Capitol and Warner Bros. labels; now, Stage Door has turned the clock back to 1947 for a first-time-on-CD expanded edition of his 1947 Decca EP Songs of the Open Road. Born in Santa Ana, California, Raitt
Thank U Very Much: Cherry Red, Esoteric Release Comprehensive "Box of Scaffold"
A poet, a comic, and a musician walk into a room... The Scaffold was hardly an ordinary band. In fact, it wasn't a band at all. Yet Roger McGough, John Gorman, and Mike McGear (a.k.a. McCartney, a.k.a. Paul's younger brother) of Liverpool released singles on Parlophone produced by Sir George Martin, had a chart-topping hit, and sold out such esteemed venues as the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's South Bank. Their thirteen-year time together outlasted The Beatles. Now, Cherry Red's
Leavin' Here: Motörhead's Earliest Classic Trio Recordings Unearthed
Motörhead's 50th anniversary will be celebrated with a fascinating find: the premiere release of the first studio sessions to feature the trio's classic line-up. The Manticore Tapes, released on June 27, will offer the first studio sessions from the late summer of 1976 with the beloved line-up of singer/bassist Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, guitarist "Fast" Eddie Clarke and drummer Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor. Though cut in a perhaps unusual location well associated with one of progressive rock's
Smile Happy: WAR's "Why Can't We Be Friends?" Deluxe Box Comes to CD
Following its release last week on vinyl for Record Store Day, the expanded 50th anniversary edition of WAR's seminal 1975 album Why Can't We Be Friends? is coming to CD and digital formats. On June 6, the 3CD box will arrive in stores via Rhino and Avenue Records. WAR's seventh album, Why Can't We Be Friends? found the large musical collective - Lonnie Jordan, Howard Scott, B.B. Dickerson, Harold Brown, Papa Dee Allen, Charles Miller, and Lee Oskar - continuing on its path blending funk,
The Weekend Stream: May 10, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. This week, classic rock icons celebrate their live history, a modern music icon gets serious, a master of horror films (and soundtracks) revisits his first non-movie music and a former folk duo open their vault. The Doors, Live in Pittsburgh 1970 / Live in Philadelphia '70 / Live in Detroit (Bright Midnight/Rhino) Pittsburgh: Apple /
Release Round-Up: Week of May 9
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Jackie DeShannon, Love Forever: Demo Recordings 1966-1968 (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Jackie DeShannon signed with Liberty Records and Metric Music in 1960 as a performer and songwriter. Her big break would come in 1964 when she would open for The Beatles on their first U.S. tour. The next year
No Substitute: Release of 1971 Gig by The Who Heralds Their Farewell Tour
Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend today announced that, just over 60 years since their first appearances, The Who will bid farewell this fall with The Song is Over, one final tour of North America. But the music is hardly stopping, so to speak: the group will also officially release a long sought-after live performance this summer. Available first as part of the band's revived Wholigan Fan Club, then as a general release on August 22, The Who's Live At The Oval 1971 will finally canonize the
Beyond Today - and Tomorrow: A Look At Liberation Hall's Recent and Upcoming Releases
The Liberation Hall label has, of late, been a haven for interesting and unusual reissues from exciting corners of the post-punk scene. (They've also been active during Record Store Day, recently releasing a box set of albums by The Blasters and an anthology of work by Clarence White of The Byrds.) Here's a look at three noteworthy releases that have been or will be in stores soon. The label in April released an expansion of the debut album by Pearl Harbor & The Explosions, a
Listen To The Warm: Real Gone's May Line-Up Includes Rare Petula Clark plus Jesse Ed Davis, Lamb, The Bottle Rockets, Béla Fleck & the Flecktones and Others
We've already told you about the Jackie DeShannon CD - Love Forever: Demo Recordings 1966-1968 - coming from Real Gone Music tomorrow, May 9. But the label has a packed line-up of other titles ranging from pop to metalcore and years spanning the 1960s to 2000s on both CD and vinyl. Keep reading for all of the details. First up is a new expanded CD reissue of Petula Clark's 2007 album Solitude & Sunshine: The Songs of Rod McKuen. Clark and McKuen first met in France in the 1960s and
Omnivore Sets Sail with Expanded Edition of Christopher Cross' Debut
A new wind reaches the sails of one of yacht rock's defining masterpieces, courtesy of Omnivore Recordings. The label will offer an expanded reissue of the self-titled debut album from Christopher Cross, the unforgettable 1979 release that became a commercial juggernaut and propelled the unlikely star to the music business' upper echelon. The CD or 2LP release will feature 11 bonus tracks including the rare non-album single "Mary Ann" and a slew of demos, six of which are made available for
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