Reissue Theory: Chevy Chase

Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. This time around, we shine a light on a few unorthodox musical moments from a comedy legend.

“I’m Chevy Chase, and you’re not.” For the past couple of years, no one would dare be envious of the man once considered one of the greatest comedians of the 1970s and 1980s. Today, however, The Second Disc not only defends him from his detractors but makes a case for his deserved rediscovery through recorded music and sound.

The actor, now enjoying a mini-renaissance as the lovably dim Pierce Hawthorne on NBC’s Community, isn’t honestly that odd a topic of discussion for a music-oriented blog. Though he’s known primarily as a comedian, Chase has had some intriguing run-ins in the music world. Paul Simon fans may remember his humorous turn in the video for hit single “You Can Call Me Al” while trivia buffs may know of his stint as the drummer in a rock band called The Leather Canary circa 1967. (Chase later left the band, and its core members, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, soon renamed the band Steely Dan.) Those with a particular penchant for obscurities may know he lent his drumming skills to a psychedelic band called Chamaeleon Church on one mercifully-forgotten album on the MGM label in 1967.

Of course, we know Chase as one of the first breakout stars of NBC’s Saturday Night Live. Alongside such legends as Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin and Garrett Morris, Chase was one of the founding “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” who defined an entire generation of comedy. Chase’s turns as the first-ever unflappable Weekend Update anchor and the accident-prone Gerald Ford set multiple precedents for SNL‘s brand of comedy, and he was one of the first to branch out into film, with comedy classics like Caddyshack and National Lampoon’s Vacation under his belt. Even with a latter-day run of clunkers like his ’90s talk show and any movie he’s released after 1990, his influence is hard to deny.

With that in mind, let’s just focus on funny, especially Chase’s humor as was captured on vinyl. Check out two Chase-oriented titles that deserve a rediscovery after the jump.

Is Warner Seeing Double with Green Day Singles Box?

A doubly odd little note appeared while news gathering yesterday: a post at the Broadway World Web site noted a few upcoming box sets from Warner Music Group – the aforementioned Tim Burton/Danny Elfman box set, deluxe editions of new albums by adult contemporary stars Josh Groban and Michael Buble – and there was a strange little note at the end, for a vinyl box set devoted to pop-punk leviathans Green Day.

If that news sounded odd (or oddly familiar) to you – the band hasn’t much to promote, outside of the ongoing Broadway adaptation of their American Idiot LP, which Armstrong just starred in for a week – there’s a reason for that. Further research showed that the box – a set of 21 7-inch discs featuring singles, album tracks and B-sides from the band’s entire discography (including the early works on indie label Lookout! and some offerings from side projects The Network and Foxboro Hot Tubs) – was in fact released last year, a few months before The Second Disc existed. Why a Web site or label would intentionally or mistakenly lump a year-old box set with others that haven’t even been released yet is confusing at best.

But since this is a site dedicated to such nifty catalogue titles, and that big, bad holiday season is looming upon us, it only seems right that we pass the news along to you as a means of expanding someone’s collection for the end of the year. You can order it here and have a look at what awaits (or awaited, whichever the case may be) after the jump.

Nelly Furtado to Say It Right with First-Ever Compilation

Another female pop star of the 2000s is getting her very first compilation for the holiday rush: Nelly Furtado, the Grammy-winnning Portugese-Canadian singer who first garnered attention for her folky pop sensibilities, then for her surprise reinvention as a dancehall goddess.

Furtado first rose to the scene with Whoa, Nelly! (2000), a catchy debut LP with a lite-FM-ready sound. Sophomore release Folklore did have a few gems (including underrated first single “Powerless”) but suffered saleswise, bought on partially by her label being absorbed into another. Three years later, almost out of nowhere, Furtado joined forces with Timbaland for the wildly successful Loose, turning both singer and producer into superstars. Having released her first Spanish-language record, Mi Plan, last year, and while prepping a new disc, tentatively titled Lifestyle, for 2011, Furtado’s label has assembled this concise hits package that combines 13 singles (including six U.S. Top 40 hits) with three new tracks, including lead single “Night is Young,” to be released to digital retailers next week.

The press release states that a deluxe edition, presumably with a DVD of music videos, will be pressed as well. Thus far, Amazon’s listings only show import versions; and only a track listing from a fan site has been located. Find it after the jump.