The Year in Reissues: The 2012 Gold Bonus Disc Awards

Wow!  Was it just over a year ago when a rather dubious report began circulating (that, shockingly, was picked up by many otherwise-reputable publications) that proclaimed the death of the CD was secretly scheduled by the major labels for 2012?  Well, 2012 has come and (almost) gone, and it might have been the most super-sized year in recent memory for reissues, deluxe and otherwise, from labels new and old.  Here at the Second Disc, we consider our annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards a companion piece to Mike’s own round-up over at Popdose, and we endeavor to recognize as many of the year’s most amazing reissues as possible – over 80 worthy, unique titles.  We also hope to celebrate those labels, producers and artists who have raised the bar for great music throughout 2012. As we’re literally deluged with news around these parts, these ladies and gentlemen prove, week after week, the strength and health of the catalogue corner of the music world.  We dedicate The Gold Bonus Disc Awards to them, and to you, the readers.  After all, your interest is ultimately what keeps great music of the past alive and well.

With that in mind, don’t forget to share your own thoughts and comments below. What made your must-have list in 2012? Without further ado, let’s celebrate 2012′s best of the best. Welcome to the Gold Bonus Disc Awards!

Which releases take home the gold this year? Hit the jump below to find out!

Second Discmas 2012: And The Winners Are…

Here at The Second Disc, the holiday season is the perfect time to do what we love to do best: share the gift of music. For the second year in a row, we have we reached out to some of our favorite reissue labels and we’ve teamed with them to play Santa Claus to our awesome and faithful readers. It’s called – what else? – Second Discmas, and it’s just drawn to its close.  So, as we wish all of you a safe, healthy, happy and very merry Christmas, we’d like to congratulate the following winners.  If you see your name on this list and haven’t yet received an email and/or Facebook message from us, please drop us a line at theseconddisc-at-gmail-dot-com to claim your prize!  Without further ado…

Congratulations to;

RANDY OTTO, winner of a set of Steve Miller Band reissues from Edsel Records! (Day 1)

KEVIN BAKER, MARK SCHLESINGER and PHILIP GEHMAN, winners of Bobby Womack’s Pieces from Purpose Music Vaults! (Day 2)

ED SILVERMAN, winner of an Old 97’s prize pack from Omnivore Recordings! (Day 3)

GEORGE KOMAR, winner of a soundtrack reissue pack from La-La Land Records! (Day 4)

RON SPIVAK, winner of a “Produced by Bruce Kimmel” prize pack from Kritzerland! (Day 5)

PHILIP JAEGER, winner of a soundtrack reissue prize pack from Kritzerland! (Day 5)

CHRISTOPHER GODWIN, winner of a Sam Phillips prize pack from Omnivore Recordings! (Day 6)

MICHAEL SUSLOWICZ  and PATRICK HNIDKA, winners of Doris Day’s Complete Christmas Collection from Real Gone Music! (Day 7)

and

RYAN BRUSH, winners of our fabulous prize pack from Legacy Recordings! (Day 8)

Happy Holidays, everybody!

In Memoriam: Jack Klugman (1922-2012)

On December 24, 2012, Jack Klugman (The Odd Couple, Quincy M.E.) passed away at the age of 90.  Joe Marchese shares a personal reminiscence about this great actor, and The Second Disc celebrates the career of an actor for whom music always played a major role – on The Odd Couple (and its spin-off LP The Odd Couple Sings!), and even on a Broadway stage, where Jack once sang nightly opposite Ethel Merman in Gypsy.  Rest in peace, Mr. Klugman. 

“Don’t believe a word she said about me!”

The occasion was actress and Match Game panelist Brett Somers’ New York cabaret debut, and the remark was Jack Klugman’s.  He made the quip to me, a total stranger,  in his unmistakable, gravelly rasp as he passed by my table en route to the stage. The twinkle in his eyes hadn’t abated with the passage of time as he good-naturedly zinged his long-separated wife. I couldn’t have known then that a few years later, I would find myself working on a production of Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys in New Brunswick, New Jersey, starring the man for whom I’d had so much admiration  over the years.  Whether comically sparring with his beloved pal Tony Randall on television’s The Odd Couple or barking, “Ah, Rose!” to Ethel Merman on the Original Broadway Cast Recording of Gypsy, Jack Klugman was a larger-than-life presence.  At George Street, Klugman reprised his Broadway role of Willie Clark, rival comedian and foil to Al Lewis, portrayed in our production by Paul Dooley.

Despite that famously gruff exterior, it didn’t take long for me to learn that Jack Klugman was a sweetheart. (He’d probably hate my saying so.) Every day, he, Dooley and our director David Saint set the tone for one of the most talented ensembles with whom I’ve ever had the privilege of working, an ensemble which included Jack’s longtime girlfriend, the talented Peggy Crosby. As I recounted in 2007 for the George Street Playhouse blog, one day of the rehearsal period was particularly special for this very special couple: “Jack just beamed sharing the news of their engagement with the company, despite his great, ever-present modesty. Peggy is as beautiful as she is kind and talented, and she & Jack deserve every moment of the happiness they share together in life. Onstage, they enjoy their double entendre-laden scene with big smiles and evident pride nightly. I particularly enjoy the evenings when Nurse MacKintosh is greeted by catcalls from ardent audience members — she deserves each one!”

Jack never forgot his roots. I remember how he chided Paul Dooley and me after we had enjoyed a particularly pricey hamburger from the restaurant next door; Jack was confident that no burger could possibly be worth what we paid for it. I remember the place he held in his heart for Tony Randall.  Jack was always at the ready to tell a “Tony story” or reminisce about The Odd Couple episode in which they were paired on Password. I remember the great love he shared with his wonderful soon-to-be-wife Peggy. I remember his tenacity in giving 110% in every performance he gave at the age of 85, bounding about the stage with energy that would have challenged a much younger man. Perhaps most of all, I remember sharing a backstage handshake with Jack every night on the George Street stage, just before the curtain went up. On our first night of previews, I visited Jack in his stage right chair, in which he would relax for a few moments prior to the show’s start. I was concerned that first night about disrupting his few moments of silence pre-show, even to wish him “Good show, Jack.” The next evening, when I didn’t meet him stage right before the performance, he found me after the show: “Where were you at 8:00?” And so, each night during which I was in attendance, I walked up the flight of stairs from the green room to the backstage area, and Jack Klugman clasped my two hands as I wished him a simple, “Good show.”  Needless to say, he always delivered.  I believe that every one of us at George Street felt lucky to have Jack in our lives.

I worked with Jack one more time following The Sunshine Boys, and found myself once again impressed by his passion, his bravery, and his truly indomitable spirit.  Those recent days spent with Jack and his vivacious wife will always be days I cherish.  Jack spoke many times of his wish to have a Broadway theatre named for his friend Tony Randall. Wonderful though that would be, I’d like to cast my vote for The Tony Randall and Jack Klugman Theatre. I know that, somewhere up there, Jack is presiding over a poker game.  The racing form is nearby, the Mets are on the television, Tony’s playing a hand, and all is well with the world.

We extend our condolences to Jack’s wife, Peggy, and his children David and Adam.

On the Last Day of Second Discmas…

Here at The Second Disc, the holiday season is the perfect time to do what we love to do best: share the gift of music. For the second year in a row, we have we reached out to some of our favorite reissue labels and we’ve teamed with them to play Santa Claus to our awesome and faithful readers. It’s called – what else? – Second Discmas, and it’s going on now through Christmas!

For our final day of Second Discmas, we’ve saved some of the biggest and best for last! Unwind after a busy season by entering to win this great care package from our friends at Legacy Recordings – including Michael Jackson’s Bad 25 box, Elvis Presley’s Prince from Another Planet set, CD/DVD editions of Paul Simon’s Graceland: 25th Anniversary Edition and Rage Against the Machine’s Rage XX, and compilations including Giant Single: The Profile Records Rap Anthology and Johnny Cash’s The Greatest! Not a bad way to finish the season of giving!

As always, winning is easy! Click on the graphic up top to head over to Contest Central for the complete rules! And thanks to all our wonderful fans and associates who’ve made our dream of Second Discmas a wonderful reality!

On the Seventh Day of Second Discmas…

Here at The Second Disc, the holiday season is the perfect time to do what we love to do best: share the gift of music. For the second year in a row, we have we reached out to some of our favorite reissue labels and we’ve teamed with them to play Santa Claus to our awesome and faithful readers. It’s called – what else? – Second Discmas, and it’s going on now through Christmas!

For the seventh day of Second Discmas, we’re spreading holiday cheer with the complete Christmas recordings of a true national treasure: Doris Day!

Thanks to the wonderful people at Real Gone Music, we’re able to give TWO LUCKY WINNERS a copy of Doris’ brand-new Complete Christmas Collection!

If you don’t already know the drill by now, it’s a cinch to enter!  Just click on the graphic up top to head over to Contest Central for the complete rules! And there’s plenty more where that came from in tomorrow’s final giveaway, so enter now and wait ’til you see what we’ve got for you on Christmas Eve!

On the Sixth Day of Second Discmas…

Here at The Second Disc, the holiday season is the perfect time to do what we love to do best: share the gift of music. For the second year in a row, we have we reached out to some of our favorite reissue labels and we’ve teamed with them to play Santa Claus to our awesome and faithful readers. It’s called – what else? – Second Discmas, and it’s going on now through Christmas!

The sixth day of Second Discmas spotlights a truly original singer/songwriter: Sam Phillips!  Thanks to the great folks at Omnivore Recordings, we’re able to offer as today’s prize a special gift set featuring the recent reissue of Sam’s Martinis and Bikinis SIGNED BY SAM as well as a super-rare 2-LP white vinyl Limited Edition of the album!

If you don’t already know the drill by now, it’s a cinch to enter!  Just click on the graphic up top to head over to Contest Central for the complete rules! And there’s plenty more where that came from, so enter now and wait ’til you see what we’ve got for you!

Elmer Bernstein’s “Hud,” The Return of “Carrie” Among Latest Trio of Titles from Kritzerland

It’s been an incredibly busy morning for the Kritzerland label!  While you have the chance to win some of Kritzerland’s best releases of 2012 today only for Second Discmas, the soundtrack specialists have just announced three new limited edition albums to close out the year: a two-fer from Elmer Bernstein and Nathan Van Cleave of Hud and The Lonely Man, respectively, plus another from Alex North and Adolph Deutsch of Hot Spell and The Rainmaker, and finally, a special Encore Edition release of Pino Donaggio’s score to Carrie!  All three titles feature some incredibly rare film music, including a complete alternate recording of Bernstein’s short, unusual score to Hud, and Tennessee Ernie Ford’s rendition of the title song to The Lonely Man.

After the jump: the complete details on all three sets, including pre-order links!

And Now She Sings! Chita Rivera Solo Albums Coming to CD from Stage Door

Chita Rivera was the toast of the musical stage in 1961, reprising her New York triumph in Bye Bye Birdie in London’s West End.  Over fifty years later, the resplendent Ms. Rivera is still the toast of the musical stage, wowing audiences nightly as the decadent Princess Puffer in the Broadway revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood.  Yet the triple-threat dancer/actress/singer who originated roles in musicals including West Side Story and Chicago has made all too few trips to the recording studio outside of preserving her stage roles on original cast recordings.  And anyone who knows any of those cast albums knows that Rivera is as compelling a vocal stylist as she is an onstage presence.  In 2009, Rivera released her third and most recent solo album on the Yellow Sound label, but thanks to Stage Door Records, listeners can now revisit her first two such solo recordings.  On February 25, 2013, the label will unveil the CD premieres of 1962’s Chita! and 1963’s And Now I Sing! on one disc.  (Rivera tipped her hat to the 1963 album when titling her jazzy 2009 effort And Now I Swing!).

Rivera was starring as Rose opposite the Albert of future Hollywood Squares host Peter Marshall in the London production of Bye Bye Birdie when she entered the Philips label’s U.K. studio with arranger Alyn Ainsworth for her first-ever solo album, Chita!.  The respected bandleader oversaw a 12-track collection primarily of theatre and film songs, many of which predated Rivera’s own original-cast Broadway debut in the 1955 musical Seventh Heaven.  (Rivera, billed as Conchita del Rivero, had been a replacement in the ensemble of Can-Can prior to Seventh Heaven.)  These songs included Rodgers and Hart’s “Ten Cents a Dance” from Simple Simon (1930), Burton Lane and E.Y. Harburg’s “Old Devil Moon” from Finian’s Rainbow (1947) and Frank Loesser and Hoagy Carmichael’s “Small Fry” from the movie Sing You Sinners (1938).  Loesser and Lane were also represented with “The Lady’s in Love with You,” their 1939 standard.  Of a more recent vintage were “Love, Look Away” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song (1959) and the rollicking “Get Me to the Church on Time” from Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady (1956), plus Bart Howard’s “Fly Me to the Moon,” first recorded in 1954 by Kaye Ballard as “In Other Words.”  By the time Rivera got around to the song, it had already been recorded by a “Who’s Who” including Eydie Gorme, Peggy Lee, Nat “King” Cole, and Johnny Mathis.  (The famous Frank Sinatra/Quincy Jones rendition followed in 1964.)  And though it’s hard to picture Rivera starring in Oklahoma!, the album features her take on “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top.”

A similar approach to the repertoire was taken for follow-up album And Now I Sing!.  This time, Rivera recorded the LP on her home turf in New York under the baton of musical director Joe Cain for the Latin music label Seeco.  (A truly diverse label, Seeco’s catalogue included Cy Coleman and Eartha Kitt alongside Celia Cruz and Perez Prado.)  An accomplished trumpeter and Latin music legend who worked with artists such as Tito Puente, Seeco’s in-house arranger and A&R man Cain guided Rivera through new arrangements of songs ranging from Rodgers and Hart once more (“Isn’t It Romantic”) to Mancini and Mercer (the Academy Award-winning “Moon River”).  Rivera even put her own stamp on “Falling in Love Again,” Marlene Dietrich’s signature song.    She returned to Loesser and Lane’s songbook for their “I Hear Music,” and revisited Hoagy Carmichael’s catalogue for “The Nearness of You,” with lyrics by Ned Washington (“When You Wish Upon a Star”).

There’s more after the jump including a pre-order link and full track listing with discography!

On the Fifth Day of Second Discmas…

Here at The Second Disc, the holiday season is the perfect time to do what we love to do best: share the gift of music. For the second year in a row, we have we reached out to some of our favorite reissue labels and we’ve teamed with them to play Santa Claus to our awesome and faithful readers. It’s called – what else? – Second Discmas, and it’s going on now through Christmas!

The fifth day of Second Discmas is a celebration of all things stage and screen!  We’re offering two amazing gift sets from our friends at the Kritzerland label, a torch-bearer for film scores from Hollywood’s Golden Age as well as classic Broadway musicals.

The first prize pack features producer Bruce Kimmel’s entertaining new memoir Album Produced By…,  joined by (what else?) two albums produced by Bruce Kimmel: the revelatory remix and remaster of Stephen Sondheim’s seminal Follies: The Original Broadway Cast Recording; and Bruce’s latest album and one sure to be a holiday staple, Sandy Bainum’s This Christmas!

For fans of the silver screen, Kritzerland has also created a prize pack with two rare and out-of-print selections from its catalogue plus one title celebrating a recently departed legend.  The label’s latest sell-out, an Alfred Newman two-fer of Love is a Many-Splendored Thing and The Seven Year Itch, can no longer be purchased from Kritzerland, but it can be YOURS!  Ditto for the amazing expansion of Henry Mancini’s ravishing and unique score to The Molly Maguires!  Lastly, the late Marvin Hamlisch can be remembered with his captivating soundtrack to Romantic Comedy!

How can you make these prizes yours? Click on the graphic up top to head over to Contest Central for the complete rules! And there’s still more great free music coming your way, only at The Second Disc!

Day After Day: Your Chance to Support Release of Demos by Badfinger’s Pete Ham

The name of Pete Ham may not be familiar to everyone, but his work certainly is.  As a member of Badfinger, Ham penned “Day After Day,” “Baby Blue” and “No Matter What,” as well as a little song with Tom Evans called “Without You” which became a chart-topper for both Harry Nilsson and Mariah Carey, decades apart.  Ham tragically took his own life in 1975 at the age of 27, leaving behind a small but significant legacy in pop and rock.  Two collections of Ham’s personal demo recordings have previously been released on compact disc, 1997’s 7 Park Avenue and 1999’s Golders Green.  Now, the Ham estate is looking to add a third title to that list.  Dan Matovina, of the Pete Ham Estate, has launched a campaign via Pledge Music with the blessing of Ham’s daughter Petera for the release of Keyhole Street: Demos 1966-1967, a 2-CD, 50-track compilation.  (Ham’s wife was pregnant with Petera when he died.)

Keyhole Street is scheduled to coincide with a plaque dedication ceremony and tribute concert to be held in Pete Ham’s memory on April 27, 2013 (his birthdate) in his hometown of Swansea in Wales.  The 50 demos slated for inclusion on the new set were all recorded by Ham at the ages of 19 and 20 while a member of the Iveys, the group that eventually became Badfinger.  The songs were recorded on a two-track Sound on Sound machine at the Iveys’ London residence, and Matovina promises that the diverse material includes “elements of classic balladry, Pink-Floydian psychedelia, rock’n’roll tributes, R&B, Beach Boys type harmonies, interesting instrumentals, music hall stereotypes, an Elvis tribute, blues, humorous lyrical content, Beatle-ish tracks, and a horror film soundtrack.”  Ham was always a prolific songwriter, having written or co-written one-half of the Iveys’ Apple Records debut Maybe Tomorrow (1969) and more than half of Magic Christian Music (1970), the first release under the Badfinger name.  These early demos will offer a chance to see Ham’s style in its embryonic stage, and no overdubs have been made to Ham’s original recordings.

Here’s where you come in.  Keyhole Street will only be offered via Pledge Music, and only once its monetary goal is reached.  (As of this writing, that goal is 52% accomplished.)  The Ham Estate is offering a variety of packages for those interested in pledging, from a $10 pledge that will yield an 8-track sampler (6 songs from Keyhole Street, and two more “exclusives” including one previously unreleased track) to a $250 pledge for a copy of the finished CD, special thanks in the CD booklet, a poster and a 7-inch vinyl.  (The $500 level pledge for an Executive Producer credit and more is already sold out.)   One incentive level ($20+) adds two digital bonus tracks to the 50-track digital program.  A $30 pledge will net you the actual 50-track CD.

A special vinyl single is also being created for Pledge Music!  Hit the jump for details on “No, Let It Go” and more!