Intrada Goes Ape, Expands “Congo” and “Cromwell” Scores

Expanded scores by iconic composers? Reissues of soundtrack oddities paired with newly-discovered gems? Yes, it’s certainly 2013 at Intrada! The label unveiled its first two titles for the new year on Monday: complete presentations of Jerry Goldsmith’s score to Congo and Frank Cordell’s Cromwell.

Released at the height of the mid-’90s post-Jurassic Park frenzy, Congo (which, like JP, was based on a techno-thriller novel by Michael Crichton) was the story of a team of scientists and mercenaries (and one gorilla fluent in sign language) searching for a mysterious diamond and finding a lost city populated by mysterious beasts. The legendary Jerry Goldsmith contributed a solid action score to the commercially successful picture, only about half of which was heard on the original soundtrack album. (A sort of theme song, “Spirit of Africa,” was penned by James Newton Howard and South African composer Lebo M, the latter of whom rose to fame for his work on the score to The Lion King the previous year.) Featuring several alternate cues, Congo is a must-own for Goldsmith fans.

Elsewhere, Intrada has unearthed the Oscar-nominated score to Cromwell, a 1970 drama starring Richard Harris and Alec Guinness as Oliver Cromwell and King Charles I, leaders of opposing factions during the English Civil War. Cordell, a onetime composer for the BBC and musical director for HMV Records, had his score rather unusually obscured on its soundtrack release; Capitol’s accompanying album featured the score as music bed to selections of dialogue from the film, not on its own. Intrada’s release pairs that album with the original score from stereo session masters from the EMI vaults (only recently discovered mistakenly filed under the film’s foley/dialogue tracks), bringing this score the definitive release fans have doubtlessly wanted over the years.

After the jump, you’ll find order links and full discographical detail for each title!

Little Bit O’Soul: Thelma Houston, Syreeta, Nancy Wilson, Brecker Brothers, George Duke Reissued

Soul music was alive and well in 2012, and some of the finest reissues arrived courtesy of Cherry Red’s SoulMusic Records label.  With the label already looking forward to 2013 releases from artists including Ronnie Laws, Patti Austin, Stephanie Mills, George Duke, Gwen Guthrie and Freda Payne (more on those soon), the time is right to revisit some of the year-end titles that might have fallen under the radar!

In addition to celebrating the post-Motown recordings of Mary Wells at 20^th Century Fox and The Miracles at Columbia Records, two other Motown-centric releases were highlights of the SoulMusic rollout.  The short-lived MoWest label hasn’t always gotten a lot of love, with Light in the Attic’s 2011 compilation Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love: Motown’s MoWest Story 1971-1973 an exception. In fact, Berry Gordy’s West Coast operation yielded more unissued albums than issued ones!  Yet one that did make the cut for release was Thelma Houston’s self-titled LP, the second MoWest album following the eponymous debut of New Jersey rock group Lodi.   Houston’s 1972 album makes its CD debut from SoulMusic in an expanded edition with nine bonus tracks appended to the ten original songs.  Though commercially unsuccessful, Thelma Houston was a prestige effort for MoWest, with productions and songs from many Motown staff favorites.  On the songwriting side, Patti Dahlstrom and the team of Nick Zesses and Dino Fekaris made contributions, while the album’s tracks were produced by Mel Larson and Jerry Marcellino, Al Cleveland and Eddie Langford, and Joe Porter.  Arrangements came from heavyweights like Gene Page, Michael Omartian and Artie Butler.  The eclectic album also featured a song penned by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil (“Black California”) and covers from Kris Kristofferson (“Me and Bobby McGee”) and even Anthony Newley (“There’s No Such Thing as Love”).  The bonus tracks include all four songs added to the U.K. release of Thelma Houston plus single sides.  These feature contributions from Pam Sawyer, writing with both Gloria Jones and Michael Masser, and more from the Larson/Marcellino team.  The result is a stunningly soulful, funky trek back to the days when Detroit went Hollywood.

Syreeta Wright was a MoWest labelmate of Thelma Houston for her own self-titled album Syreeta in 1972.  By 1974, Syreeta was on Motown’s Tamla label, where she recorded her third LP, 1977’s One to One, newly reissued by SoulMusic.  Though her marriage to Stevie Wonder lasted a mere year and a half, they made a dream team in the studio even after their personal union crumbled.  Wright teamed with Wonder on both Music of My Mind and Talking Book, and he returned the favor producing her first two studio albums, including the MoWest effort.  With Wonder otherwise occupied, Syreeta produced One on One herself, with her second husband, bassist Curtis Robertson Jr., and Leon Ware, who had just come off some groundbreaking work with Marvin Gaye, as co-producers.  Stevie Wonder’s one-off single production, “Harmour Love,” was added to the album at Motown’s behest.  Musicians including Greg Phillinganes, Gary Bartz and Michael Sembello all played on One to One.  But despite its all-around high quality, One to One didn’t fare well on the charts.  Syreeta later teamed with artists including The Spinners’ G.C. Cameron and Billy Preston, with whom she had a major chart success in 1980 with “With You I’m Born Again.”  She passed away in 2004, aged just 57, as a result of complications from cancer.  SoulMusic’s reissue is the album’s first CD release outside of Japan, and though there are no bonus tracks, it features a comprehensive new essay from A. Scott Galloway.

After the jump: info on new titles from the Brecker Brothers, George Duke and Nancy Wilson, plus order links and full track listings with discography for all releases!

30 Years of F#@$?!in’ Up: NOFX Unveil Career-Spanning Vinyl Box

Long-running punk outfit NOFX will celebrate three decades of recording with a lavish vinyl box set next month.

The iconoclastic group, led by punk elder statesman “Fat Mike” Burkett, has remained one of the most “pure” (for lack of a better term) American punk groups in their time together, largely eschewing press and having never signed to a major label. (Epitaph has distributed much of their catalogue, but Burkett has also operated indie label Fat Wreck Chords since 1990; that label issued NOFX’s last four studio LPs.)

The 15-LP set includes every studio album the band put out between 1988’s Liberal Animation and last year’s Self/Entitled. As a bonus, it also includes 1999’s fiery The Decline EP and a double-disc set collating all 13 of the band’s 7″ of the Month Club releases between 2005 and 2006.

The hardbound box also includes a replica of the band’s onstage banner. Limited to 2,500 copies worldwide, various configurations available at the Epitaph and Fat Wreck Chords stores feature certain colors of vinyl, as well. Look for this set to ship February 19.

30th Anniversary Box Set (Fat Wreck Chords FAT-900, 2013)

LP 1: Liberal Animation (originally released as Wassail Records NOFX-4, 1988/Epitaph Records 86417, 1991)

LP 2: S&M Airlines (originally released as Epitaph 86405, 1989)

LP 3: Ribbed (originally released as Epitaph 86410, 1991)

LP 4: White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean (originally released as Epitaph 86418, 1992)

LP 5: Punk in Drublic (originally released as Epitaph 86435, 1994)

LP 6: Eating Lamb/Heavy Petting Zoo (originally released as Epitaph 86457, 1996)

LP 7: So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes (originally released as Epitaph 86518, 1997)

LP 8: The Decline EP (originally released as Fat Wreck Chords FAT-605, 1999)

LP 9: Pump Up the Valuum (originally released as Epitaph 86584, 2000)

LP 10: The War on Errorism (originally released as Fat Wreck Chords FAT-657, 2003)

LP 11: Wolves in Wolves’ Clothing (originally released as Fat Wreck Chords FAT-711, 2006)

LPs 12-13: 7″ of the Month Club (originally released as Fat Wreck Chords 213-7 to 224-7, 2005-2006)

1. Insulted by Germans…Again
2. Fanmail
3. Arming the Proletariat with Potato Guns
4. I Am Going to Hell for This One
5. There’s No Fun in Fundamentalism
6. Fungus
7. I Am a Huge Fan of Bad Religion
8. Jamaica’s Alright If You Like Homophobes
9. No Way
10. Getting High on the Down Low
11. You’re Wrong
12. Leaving Jesusland
13. Benny Got Blowed Up

1. Teenage Punching Bag
2. One Way Ticket to Fuckneckville
3. Your Hubcaps Cost More Than My Car
4. What Now Herb?
5. California Uber Alice
6. All My Friends in New York
7. I Melvin
8. You Will Lose Faith
9. Last Night Was Really Fun?
10. Cool & Unusual Punishment
11. Civil Defense
12. Golden Boys
13. The Man I Killed

LP 14: Frisbee/Coaster (originally released as Fat Wreck Chords FAT-737, 2009)

LP 15: Self/Entitled (originally released as Fat Wreck Chords FAT-777, 2012)