Reissue Theory: The Waitresses

Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. The more-or-less official start of the Christmas season has us revisiting a band behind a popular modern holiday song and the other music they released in their brief but notable run.

“Bah humbug!/But that’s too strong/’Cause it is my favorite holiday…” Those first lines kick off one of the most unabashedly fun Christmas power-pop carols of the past 30 years, The Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping.” The rapid-fire, sing-song vocals by lead singer Patty Donohue, the well-crafted lyrics by guitarist Chris Butler, the pulsating rhythm section and a saxophone riff so good you might wish the song could be played year-round.

For most people, “Christmas Wrapping” is one of three tunes the average person remembers from The Waitresses. The other, non-Yuletide offerings include “I Know What Boys Like,” another minor hit with a catchy melody, and the theme to the cult classic TV show Square Pegs. But, as you’ll find out, there’s a lot more to The Waitresses than those three great songs – and most of it’s never been released on CD, making it a perfect notion for a Reissue Theory post.

To help kick off a season of great music – and coverage of great holiday music at The Second Disc, for sure – we present a look at the complete discography of The Waitresses after the jump.

Friday Feature: “Fantasia”

For reasons unknown to this writer, the animated output of The Walt Disney Company is not always seen as “high art.” That one can see even the Disney films of the late 1980s and early 1990s and see merely crass commercialism is shocking. The hand-drawn features Disney’s studio has been releasing since 1937 are absolute proof of “cartoons” as controlled works of art, an image Disney did everything he could to perpetuate.

No more evident was Disney’s commitment to art than with Fantasia, first released in 1940. While prior Disney shorts and features were either based on lovable, original characters (Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and the like) or oft-told fables and fantasies (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio), Fantasia sought to bring young and old audiences together through a series of sensory delights, marrying visuals with some of the greatest musical works ever created. Though the public didn’t immediately know what to make of the anthology – it didn’t turn a profit until 1969, when Disney gave in and acknowledged that youth movements found the film particularly enjoyable after recreational substance use (and re-marketed the film as such!) – its mature vision of what the animated feature could do has made it a critical delight to this very day. (Tuesday sees the film make its debut on Blu-Ray Disc.)

After the jump, we provide a discussion of some of Fantasia‘s greatest moments, both behind and in front of the camera, and the release history of the stunning musical recordings made just for the film.

Speaking of Rhino, a Black Friday Sampler for Buyers

As anyone who’s traveled the Rhino Web site today might have noticed, you will receive a free Rhino Handmade digital sampler with any purchase made on the Web site between today and Sunday. The track list is:

1. Hey Jude – Wilson Pickett (from Funky Midnight Mover: The Studio Recordings 1961-1978)
2. Porpoise Song – The Monkees (from Head: Deluxe Edition)
3. Not Right (John Cale Mix) – The Stooges (from The Stooges: Collector’s Edition)
4. Fan Tan (Stereo Mix) – Jan & Dean (from Carnival of Sound)
5. Ticket to Ride (Live) – Vanilla Fudge (from Box of Fudge)
6. Rainy Night in Georgia – Tony Joe White (from That On the Road Look “Live”)
7. Lexicon Devil – The Germs (from Live at the Starwood 12/3/1980)
8. Barbershop Tourettes – The State (from Comedy for Gracious Living)
9. Wall of Death – Richard & Linda Thompson (from Shoot Out the Lights: Deluxe Edition)
10. Coming Home – Delaney and Bonnie & Friends (from On Tour with Eric Clapton: Deluxe Edition)

Happy buying!

Rhino to Get Warm and Tender for Percy Sledge in New Box Set (UPDATED 11/26)

Rhino Handmade’s next big title is a box set devoted to Percy Sledge’s tenure with Atlantic Records.

Before he was the “King of Country Soul,” Sledge was an Alabama-born former hospital worker, playing with a soul combo on weekends. In 1966 he signed to Atlantic, and, following a break-up with a longtime girlfriend, recorded a simple, heartfelt single, “When a Man Loves a Woman.” The impassioned, off-the-cuff delivery (an entirely honest one – Sledge improvised the lyrics on the spot) helped propel the song to No. 1 around the world. Sledge enjoyed other Top 40 hits for the rest of his Atlantic tenure, but it’s “When a Man Loves a Woman” that he’ll forever be associated with.

But Rhino Handmade will offer fans the opportunity to learn more about the music of Percy Sledge. The Atlantic Recordings is a four-disc set compiling Sledge’s four albums, scores of single sides and material released in limited quantities in other parts of the world and unreleased tracks. It will be presented roughly in the order in which each track was recorded, spanning from 1966 to 1974. Highlights include all the hard-to-find non-LP B-sides and single versions, a live show from Johannesburg, South Africa in 1970, a rare Christmas single and two versions of the track that made him an immortal.

You can order it here and read the track list after the jump.

La La Land’s Year-End Releases Are a Really Big Deal

It’s not Hook, but La La Land Records has another title of John Williams’ from the same part of the alphabet in their last batch, as well as several other hotly-requested titles from some of the most beloved composers of the modern age.

A full rundown is after the jump!