Run for Cover: Basia’s Debut LP to Be Expanded by Cherry Pop

One of the Cherry Pop reissue label’s newest titles for May is a greatly-expanded edition of Time and Tide, the solo debut album by Polish singer/songwriter Basia.

Basia Trzetrzelewska first caught the public eye in England as the lead singer for sophisti-pop band Matt Bianco alongside vocalist Mark Reilly and keyboardist Danny White. Their similarities to Sade and Everything But the Girl, as well as their Top 30 hits “Get Out of Your Lazy Bed” and “Half a Minute,” earned them widespread acclaim, but Basia and White would soon strike out on their own. Signing to the Portrait/Epic labels on either side of the Atlantic, Basia’s 1987 debut, Time and Tide, was one of those albums by a European act that is far more successful in America, selling a million copies and spinning off several hit songs on the Adult Contemporary chart (“Promises,” “New Day for You”) and a Top 40 crossover hit in the title track.

The ensuing years would find even more success for Basia, with the album London Warsaw New York (1989) and another Top 40 hit, “Cruising for Bruising.” Though her presence in the industry would recede by the end of the 1990s, she did make a comeback in Europe in the 2000s, first with another album with Matt Bianco and then with her solo comeback, That Girl Again, in 2009.

Cherry Pop’s expanded edition of Time and Tide features 19 bonus tracks over two discs, including all the B-sides, instrumentals and remixes officially released to promote the record. The booklet also features new interviews with Basia, Danny White and engineer Phil Harding. It’s also worth noting, as noted in our recent interview with him, that Vinny Vero, noted reissue producer and friend of The Second Disc, counts Time and Tide as his newest project for the Cherry Pop label.

The expanded Time and Tide hits shops in the U.K. on May 27. After the jump, you’ll find pre-order links and the official track list.

In The Street, Again: Big Star’s “Nothing Can Hurt Me” Arrives On CD, LP and Digitally

When Magnolia Pictures releases the documentary Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me to cinemas, On Demand and iTunes on July 3, it will be the culmination of a years-in-the-making adventure to bring the story of Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel’s band to the big screen.  The commercial impact of Big Star was as minimal as its influence over an entire generation of musicians was enormous, but the legacy of the power pop heroes still blazes brightly today.  Following the 2009 release of Rhino’s definitive box set Keep an Eye on the Sky, it would have been easy to believe that the last word on Big Star had been written.  After all, the 4-CD box set towered over a catalogue that originally only consisted of three studio albums.  But Omnivore Recordings has augmented that small but significant group of recordings with stellar releases like the 2011 Record Store Day edition of the Third [Test Pressing Edition] and Alex Chilton’s Free Again: The “1970” Sessions in January 2012.  Now, following a limited edition colored vinyl release for Record Store Day, Omnivore has announced the release of the soundtrack to Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me for June 25.

The 2012 SXSW Film Festival selection tells the story of the ultimate cult band, chronicling Alex Chilton’s ascent to fame as lead singer of The Box Tops through the recording of Big Star’s three albums, to the 1978 death of Chilton’s collaborator Chris Bell.  Its  landmark soundtrack features a lineup of 21 tracks.  These unheard versions of classic Big Star songs – vintage unissued mixes, alternate takes, demos, and new mixes created specifically for the film – plus one “fly-on the-wall” track of studio chatter add up to a treasure trove for fans and collectors alike. The project was overseen by the documentary’s executive producer, John Fry, at the legendary Ardent Studios in Memphis.  Nothing Can Hurt Me will be available on single-disc CD, double-LP vinyl in a gatefold sleeve with a download card included, and digitally.

Hit the jump for more details including the full track listings and pre-order links!

Review: Dust, “Dust/Hard Attack”

Everybody has to start somewhere.  For producers Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise (KISS), Stories bassist Kenny Aaronson, and Marc Bell, a.k.a. Marky Ramone, a major chapter of their starting chapter was Dust.  Wise (guitar/vocals), Aaronson (bass/steel, dobro and bottleneck guitars) and Bell (drums) joined with producer/songwriter Kerner to create two albums for Neil Bogart’s Kama Sutra label in 1971 and 1972 that proved Americans could give their British brethren a run in the heavy-rock sweepstakes.  The music of Dust can be fairly be labelled as hard rock or proto-metal, but the New York power trio’s pair of albums also take in pop and blues influences and would probably best be described now as in a classic rock vein.  But you can decide for yourself, as these formative albums have been remastered and paired on one CD from Legacy Recordings (88883 70289 2).  Dust/Hard Attack is oddly presented with the second album first, perhaps to emphasize the edgier side of the band which was explored more fully on the sophomore set.

A snarling attitude is evident on these ferocious tracks.  In four separate notes contained in the nicely illustrated booklet, each key figure in the Dust story reflects on the Brooklyn group’s background and shot at success.  Kenny Kerner laments that Kama Sutra wasn’t a “rock label,” depriving Dust of the chance to become a “Supergroup.”  Indeed, Dust made unlikely company for Sha Na Na.  Marky Ramone confesses that the band was influenced by “what was happening in Britain, but there really weren’t any bands in America doing what we did at the time.”  Richie Wise admits a Brit influence, too, but perhaps a surprising one: The Beatles.

Hit the jump for more on Dust!

We Rock! “Sacred Heart”-Era Dio Show Remastered for CD, DVD, Blu-Ray

A reissue of Magica isn’t all Dio fans have to look forward to this summer on the catalogue front: Eagle Rock is remastering and expanding a 1986 live show from the legendary metal band across multiple formats.

Finding the Sacred Heart: Live in Philly 1986 captures Dio’s full show from Philadelphia’s grand departed arena, The Spectrum, on June 17, 1986. The band’s most recent studio album, Sacred Heart, had been out for almost a year, but this leg of the tour featured the first of many lineup changes, with guitarist Craig Goldy replacing Vivian Campbell. This lineup of Ronnie James Dio, Goldy, bassist Jimmy Bain and drummer Vinny Appice would record 1987’s Dream Evil.

This tour, which featured a monstrous stage show with laser light effects and an animatronic dragon attack, was first chronicled through the videocassette Sacred Heart: The Video in 1986, which featured an edited version of this concert. (That program was released on DVD by Rhino in 2004.) For this release, though, Eagle Rock has remastered the entire show from its original audiovisual elements, reinstating five full songs to the show’s running time and re-sequencing it in the proper order. Some archival bonus material will also be included, including interviews with the late Dio and his new guitarist Goldy.

Finding the Sacred Heart is available on DVD, Blu-Ray and double-disc CD on May 28. Hit the jump to pre-order your copies and check out the track list!