Edsel is Still Mad About Belinda Carlisle with New Anthologies

After a series of great expanded CD/DVD reissues, Edsel will release not one but two career-spanning anthologies dedicated to former Go-Go’s frontwoman/pop icon Belinda Carlisle.

The Anthology collects three CDs and two DVDs worth of hits and rare content from the singer, whose late ’80s run of singles included such impressive pop gems as “Mad About You,” “Heaven is a Place on Earth,” “I Get Weak,” “Circle in the Sand” and “Leave a Light On.” While Carlisle has been relatively quiet since 2007’s all-French standards album Voila, recent years have seen her gradual return to pop music: her entry in the normally ineffective ICON series by UMe featured “Sun,” her first pop single in quite some time. Another new song, “Goodbye Just Go,” makes its debut on The Anthology.

The first two discs on the set are devoted to nearly all of Belinda’s singles from her I.R.S., Virgin and Chrysalis years (the first time Edsel has expanded its look at Belinda beyond the core albums on Virgin). A third CD features five non-LP rarities from soundtracks and compilations and a live set from Tokyo in 2013. (Edsel has already apologized in advance for the absence of long-unreleased fan favorite “In My Wildest Dreams” from the 1987 film Mannequin; “our researches in tape libraries around the globe (and with staff who worked at IRS at the time) have not so far managed to turn up a master for the track,” the label unfortunately noted.) In addition to the audio offerings, two DVDs will feature Belinda’s promo videography and live performances on various U.K. television programs, respectively.

For those looking for a more general overview, Edsel will also release The Collection, a hits-centric CD/DVD compilation. Both sets will be available March 17 in the U.K.; Amazon U.K. links and track lists are after the jump!

Action, Action, Action! Real Gone’s April Release Schedule Announced

Second Disc HQ may be surrounded by layers of detestable snow, but a new release schedule from Real Gone Music is as good as any sunshine! (Plus, these titles are due in April, by which everything will have melted…WE HOPE.)

You’ve already read about two of the label’s new April releases courtesy of Joe’s post about Doris Day earlier today, but that’s not all they’re offering. A complete singles collection by Patti LaBelle and The Bluebells – featuring the three future members of LaBelle with future Supremes member Cindy Birdsong – is forthcoming, as are chronicles of The Ohio Express on Cameo Records, Vicki Lawrence (“The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia”) on Bell, and a tempting reissue of Eddie Kendricks’ 1981 final solo LP, his only for Atlantic Records.

But we have to confess we’re a little excited about In Action: The Complete Columbia Sides and More, a new collection devoted to Keith Allison, an underrated rock legend who sat in with The Monkees on some of their best albums, and whose Columbia works were produced by Gary Usher, featuring songs written by Boyce & Hart (the iconic theme to TV series Where the Action Is), Neil Diamond and Mark Lindsay, who’d later recruit him into Paul Revere & The Raiders. In addition to being an airtight, rarity-packed set, we once again can reveal a Real Gone Music release has liner notes penned by our own Joe Marchese, featuring excerpts from a new interview with Keith himself!

So what are you waiting for? Full specs on all titles, including Jacksonville band Cowboy (a favorite of Duane Allman’s) and another Grateful Dead Dick’s Picks title, are after the jump, and all of them are released on April 1 (no foolin’!).