Hits, in a Lifetime: Legacy Preps Compilation for Irish Folk Band Clannad

Everyone’s going to feel a little Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, but this year catalogue enthusiasts have a title to give them a little edge in terms of the country’s music: The Essential Clannad, a double-disc set from Irish folk band Clannad.

A family-based quintet, ormed in Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal (their name is shortened from “An Clann as Dobhair,” or “the family from ‘Dore”) Clannad remain unique in that they are one of the most successful, natively Irish bands in Europe, often singing in native Irish. Such was the case with “Theme from Harry’s Game,” a Top 5 U.K. hit from a 1982 miniseries about The Troubles. U2 used the recording to open every one of their concerts from the War to The Joshua Tree tours, and Bono would sing on the Top 20 hit “In a Lifetime” in 1985. In fact, many unique voices were drawn to collaborate with the group, including Bruce Hornsby and former Journey frontman Steve Perry.

But the band had been active many years before, releasing their first albums in the mid-1970s. From 1979 to 1980, singer/harpist Máire Ní Bhraonáin’s younger sister, Eithne, was bought into the band as a vocalist; years later, she would have success under a different name – Enya.

In the mid-2000s, after years of inactivity, the band returned to performing and will come back this year in a big way, with a new album and tour in the fall and a special concert to be broadcast on PBS for St. Patrick’s Day. A few weeks before, on March 6, this new 30-song compilation will hit stores for your listening pleasure. Check out the track list for the set after the jump.

Aces High! “The London American Label: 1957,” “Mod Jazz Forever” and “Smash Boom Bang: Feldman-Goldstein-Gotteher” Available Now

Smash!  Boom!  Bang! 

The ace compilation experts at, well, Ace Records are offering up plenty of Smash, Boom and Bang (both in impact and in label name!) for your buck with their diverse slate of February releases.  You’ll find top-drawer pop, rock and soul for connoisseurs and beginners alike among the label’s latest.  Perhaps the most unexpected is the new entry in the label’s long-running Songwriters and Producers series.  Smash Boom Bang!  The Songs and Productions of Feldman-Goldstein-Gotteher (Ace CDCHD 1317) turns the spotlight on those three named gentlemen who supplied hits for The Strangeloves, The McCoys and The Angels, not to mention the young Ronnie James Dio.

Although the surnames of Bob, Jerry and Richard didn’t have the easy ring of “Mann and Weil” or “Goffin and King,” they travelled the same New York streets.  Encouraged early on by Snuff Garrett and Wes Farrell, the F-G-G team hustled songs to a wide variety of artists across genre lines.  If you don’t know the names of Messrs. Feldman, Goldstein and Gotteher, you’ll undoubtedly know “My Boyfriend’s Back,” “Hang On, Sloopy” and “I Want Candy,” and you just might be surprised to find that all three songs were the work (either in songwriting, production or both) of the same team.  Smash Boom Bang takes its name from three prominent labels, the last of which was founded by Bert Berns.  As Berns’ tragically short-lived career has already been anthologized by Ace, this collection makes the perfect companion to those earlier two volumes.

Producers Rob Finnis and Mick Patrick have curated the set to include the most famous recordings by the team, but there are expectedly delicious rarities blended in, as well, including Dion DiMucci’s demo of “Swingin’ Street,” a F-G-G song with a barroom sing-along feel.  Even “My Boyfriend’s Back” and “Hang On, Sloopy” appear in their original, unedited versions, adding value for the collector.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there are plenty of choice “sixties girls” sounds.  Patty Lace and the Petticoats’ “Girl, Don’t Trust That Boy” is a quintessential, if largely unknown, girl group record from 1964, but it’s no surprise that the team had mastered the girl group genre, having written “My Boyfriend’s Back” the previous year.  The story behind that masterwork is still one shrouded in mystery, but Finnis goes a long way in explaining the brouhaha in his copious notes.    When The Angels fell out with F-G-G, they attempted to replicate the group’s sound on a variety of records such as The Pin-Ups’ delightful “Lookin’ for Boys,” though their mileage varied.  One standout track is Debra Swisher’s 1965 take on The Beach Boys’ “You’re So Good to Me,” with Swisher’s recording tougher than the original.  Her piercing lead vocals lend the song an entirely new dimension.  The track was arranged by one “Bassett Hand,” proving that the F-G-G team couldn’t resist a good pun!  F-G-G tried to combine the best of both worlds with The Powderpuffs’ rather humorous “You Can’t Take My Boyfriend’s Woody” (“It don’t look like much, but when he pops that clutch/You’ll think you’re in reverse!”) slyly aping the early Beach Boys style.

We continue with this hitmaking trio, plus lots more – including track listings and order links for Smash Boom Bang, Mod Jazz Forever and The London American Label 1957 – after the jump!

Our Memories of Elvis: Presley Classics Expanded by Follow That Dream Label in March

Following December’s release of expanded editions of Elvis Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas, Promised Land and Elvis is Back!, the limited-edition Follow That Dream label has announced another trio of vintage Presley titles due in March.  The On Stage: February, 1970 album (previously twinned with In Person by RCA and Legacy) will be a 2-disc, 7-inch digipak set with a 12-page booklet. In addition to the original album sequence, it will present all of RCA’s recordings from three of the shows recorded. The two-volume series Our Memories of Elvis was an early effort to bring unreleased material by The King to light.  Assembled by producer Joan Deary in 1979, the albums bore the signatures of “Colonel” Tom Parker and Elvis’ own father.  Both volumes unearthed undubbed, stripped-down Presley performances.  FTD’s 5-inch digipak edition brings together these two albums plus the unreleased third volume, as well as more mixes prepared by Deary and never heard until now.  Finally, 1960 gospel classic His Hand in Mine will receive the FTD treatment on 180-gram vinyl.  Its twenty-eight tracks on four sides include all of the master takes plus numerous alternates.  (Follow That Dream’s expanded CD of His Hand in Mine is still available, and boasts a full 53 tracks related to the album.)

Hit the jump for the full details, including track listing and discography, for this Elvis banquet!

Release Round-Up: Week of February 14

Barry White, Let the Music Play: Expanded Edition (Hip-o Select/Mercury)

What’s Valentine’s Day without a little satin soul? Numerous bonus tracks abound on a new pressing of this underrated gem of an album.

Captain Beefheart, Bat Chain Puller (Zappa)

The original, intended edition of the Captain’s lost album.

Cotton Mather, Kontiki: Deluxe Edition (The Star Apple Kingdom)

An underrated work of ’90s power-pop, expanded with a bonus disc of rarities and unreleased materials that was funded entirely through Kickstarter!

Pulp, It / Freaks / Separations: Deluxe Editions (Fire)

Before they signed to Island and caught a Britpop wave, Jarvis Cocker and company released these three albums, all newly expanded with rare and unreleased tracks.

Bryan Adams, Cuts Like a Knife / Dio, Holy Diver (Audio Fidelity)

Two classics of the ’80s newly mastered on 24KT gold CDs.

Phoebe Snow, Phoebe Snow / Joe Walsh, But Seriously, Folks… (Friday Music)

The latest audiophile vinyl offerings from our friends at Friday Music.

The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds (Mobile Fidelity)

The first MoFi/SACD pressing of a most classic of albums.