Tangled Up in Bob: Dylan To Be Boxed Again?

The music of Bob Dylan is widely credited with introducing the concept of the box set to the CD era with the 1985 release Biograph (Columbia C3K 38830, reissued as C3K 86568). Further Dylan box sets have followed including 1991’s The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare and Unreleased): 1961-1991 (Columbia C3K 47382, reissued as C3K 65302), 2003’s limited edition catalog reissue box simply collecting 15 individually-available hybrid Super Audio CD editions of his catalog (Columbia 90615), and most recently, the career-spanning Dylan (Columbia 88697 11420 2-S1).

Well, in an interview on Wednesday with John Fleming, arts critic for Florida’s St. Petersburg Times, Sony/Legacy reissue guru Didier C. Deutsch let slip a bit of Bob-related reissue goodness that The Second Disc couldn’t allow to remain unnoticed. Deutsch was being interviewed about Sony’s terrific new Masterworksbroadway.com website, dedicated to reissues of the Sony catalog of Broadway cast recordings (culled from the libraries of Columbia, RCA, Arista and other associated labels) and a well-designed site worth checking out for reissue enthusiasts. While Deutsch has his eye on developing new reissues from this rich library of cast albums, he told Fleming of his most recent project for Sony: a 40-CD Bob Dylan box set.

Nothing else about this project is known, although it’s fair to guess that it may be a catalog collection a la controversial, recently-announced sets from Elvis Presley and Miles Davis, with a hefty pricetag to boot. But with Bob Dylan involved, there may be some twists in the offing, and this may finally mean remastering has been completed for the rest of the former Mr. Zimmerman’s extensive catalog. The Second Disc promises to be among the first to report back as soon as new developments on this potentially-exciting project arrive.

On the Radio

In the past week, The Second Disc has had a lot to say, whether it was about Prince, Scott Walker, Huey Lewis and The News or a few others. Every now and then, it’s nice to turn the lens around to you, the reader, because we all have different songs and artists filling our head at any given time.

We lead you to the weekend by throwing to another bit of open-ended discussion. Most of us were likely, in the words of Journey, raised on radio. For many of us, the dial in our car dashboard or the boxy stereo on our back porch was the gateway to the music we still desire today.

Yes, the radio has seen better days. Video easily supplanted it in the 1980s, and our increasing digital dependency has impacted our listenership over time. With the advent of cloud-based music systems or something like iTunes, the notion of terrestrial radio probably doesn’t grab you like it once did.

But the great thing about technology is that sometimes it can unlock memories we almost forgot we had. Not too long ago, I was making my usual daily rounds on Pandora, and a familiar-sounding track came on: Howard Jones’ “Everlasting Love,” a decent-sized hit from 1989. When that chorus kicked in, somehow, something was unlocked in my head. Nothing major, but a realization that, years and years ago, before I knew much about reading or writing, I had heard that song on a radio.

I don’t know how or why I decided to pull that memory out of the subconscious, but I did. And it was a good feeling. Everyone has days like that, where a song pulls you back to a particular moment and makes you remember something you may not have before. And it’s a wonderful feeling, isn’t it? A reminder that, in spite of the twists and turns life may throw us, there’s always that one song ready to change our minds and hearts.

As we head into a new weekend, The Second Disc asks you, the valued reader, to reflect on a song that brings you back to a memorable moment. If you like, do share it in the comments, and allow us to create or unlock some memories of our own.

Friday Feature: “Batman (1989)”

And one last foray into the Prince catalogue on The Second Disc with what is arguably one of the dopiest entries in his catalogue. To some, it seems like a total work for hire, a hatchet job, a cash-in – and while that may be the case, it’s kind of a fun listen.

That’s right: Prince’s album devoted to the 1989 film Batman.

The story goes that star Jack Nicholson was the one who suggested Prince to director Tim Burton. After editing two scenes to a temp track of Prince tunes (“1999” for the sequence in which the Joker and his goons wreck a museum and “Baby I’m a Star” for the parade sequence), Burton agreed, and asked Warner Bros., the film’s distributor, to make some calls to Warner Bros., Prince’s label.

Get your “Batdance” on after the jump.