Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing weekly review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there’s plenty of great new/old music to usher you into the weekend. Our latest round-up may be on April Fool’s Day, but it’s no joke: remixes by Madonna, rarities by Burt Bacharach and Peggy Lee, a White Stripes live set and the first major Barry White production are all here. Happy streaming! Madonna, Nothing Really Matters (Remixes) (Warner/Rhino) (iTunes / Amazon) Madonna closed the Ray of Light album cycle with…
Shock Your Mama: Cherry Pop Reissues, Expands Debbie Gibson’s “Body Mind Soul”
Debbie Gibson began 1992 by stepping into the role of Eponine in Broadway’s Les Miserables, inaugurating a stage career that’s since encompassed three more Broadway shows and many more regionally and abroad. While appearing nightly at the Imperial, the singer-songwriter was still juggling the demands of a pop career. In June, three months after wrapping up her stint in Les Mis, Gibson was back in the studio. Her fourth and final album for Atlantic Records, Body Mind Soul was released in January 1993. It’s recently returned from Cherry Red’s Cherry Pop imprint…
Release Round-Up: Week of October 21
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! Lou Reed, Words and Music – May 1965 (Light in the Attic) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Black Vinyl LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Yellow Vinyl LP: Light in the Attic Store Cassette: Light in the Attic Store CD/2LP/7″ Vinyl Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Light in the Attic Store Light in the Attic launches The Lou Reed Archive Series with Words & Music, May 1965. Available on CD, cassette, and multiple vinyl formats, Words…
The Weekend Stream: April 30, 2022
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing weekly review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there’s plenty of great new/old music to discover! This week’s got live favorites from The Boss, a Record Store Day rarity, a ’90s tribute album to some rock legends and much more. Bruce Springsteen, The Live Series: Songs of Location (Columbia/Legacy) (Apple Music / Amazon) The Thrill Hill Archives have occasionally made some themed Bruce Springsteen playlists available to stream, drawn from various live archival releases issued through Nugs.net. The…
One Step Ahead: Cherry Pop Reissues, Expands Debbie Gibson’s “Anything Is Possible”
Cherry Pop has continued its series of reissues from Debbie Gibson’s Atlantic catalogue with a deluxe 2-CD expanded edition of the singer’s 1990 album Anything Is Possible. The original 16-song album has gained 17 bonus tracks in its most comprehensive presentation yet. The singer-songwriter burst onto the scene with 1987’s Out of the Blue, yielding a number of worldwide hits including Billboard top 10 entries “Foolish Beat” (No. 1), “Only in My Dreams” (No. 4), “Out of the Blue” (No. 3), and “Shake Your Love” (No. 4), all of which she wrote…
The Weekend Stream: November 27, 2021
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing weekly review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there’s plenty of great new/old music to discover! Despite the Thanksgiving holiday (and recovery period from Record Store Day Black Friday) there are some surprises for lovers of rock, soul and soundtrack obscurities – check it out below! Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Live, New York, 1981 (Blackheart/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify) If you can believe it, there’s almost no official representation of Joan Jett & The Blackhearts in…
The Weekend Stream: October 16, 2021
Prince, Do Me, Baby (Demo) (NPG/Warner) (iTunes / Amazon / Spotify) A surprise release on Thursday for the 40th anniversary of Prince’s Controversy (1981), the Prince Estate has issued a demo recording of “Do Me, Baby,” recorded during the studio sessions for Prince’s self-titled sophomore album in 1979. (As such, it sounds less like a demo and more like a studio version in league with that album.) It’s a fascinating recording that again highlights The Purple One’s genius – and it’s also available physically through The Artist’s official store, on a one-sided,…
Barnes and Noble’s Vinyl Weekend Begins TODAY with Exclusive LPs from The Doors, The Hollies, Bread, Linda Ronstadt, Otis Redding, Classic Broadway Musicals
Today, Vinyl Weekend kicks off at Barnes and Noble locations around the United States. This promotion sees the release a number of exclusive vinyl titles including classic albums, compilations, and cast recordings. These titles are typically available even at locations that (shudder) no longer have full music departments, and should also be available at BN.com. We’re spotlighting the catalogue-related titles and more below. Click here to locate a B&N near you. Bread, Anthology of Bread (White Vinyl) (Elektra/Rhino) The 1985 compilation (based on the 1977 U.K. release The Sound of Bread) features…
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…
Release Round-Up: Week of September 29
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! David Bowie, A New Career in a New Town (1977-1982) (Parlophone) 11CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K. 13LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K. The third release in Parlophone’s series of chronological box sets dedicated to the music of David Bowie, A New Career in a New Town (1977-1982) closes the book on the legendary artist’s RCA career. It follows 2015’s Five Years (1969-1973) and 2016’s Who Can I Be Now? (1974-1976), offering material from five major studio and live albums: Low (1977), “Heroes” (1977), Stage (1978), Lodger (1979) and Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980). Low, “Heroes” and Lodger are, of course, referred to as the “Berlin”…
Out of the Blue: Debbie Gibson Singles Collection, Box Set Coming Soon
Three decades ago, a 17-year-old girl from Brooklyn quite literally came from out of the blue with an infectious blend of pop that was all her own. Now, two different labels are celebrating Debbie Gibson’s classic catalogue with a double-disc collection and a no-holds-barred box set. Gibson, the third of four girls born to a family of music lovers, was writing and recording her own material before she reached her teens. In 1986, her demo “Only In My Dreams” earned her a development deal at Atlantic Records, who encouraged her songwriting and…