Release Round-Up: Week of January 28

Uncle Tupelo, No Depression: Legacy Edition (Legacy)

After at least two teasers in the form of Record Store Day releases, one of the most beloved alt-country albums is greatly expanded as a double-disc set with a host of rare and unreleased demos. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Tony Bennett, The Classics (RPM/Columbia/Legacy)

One of the most beloved singers of the 20th century is the subject of a new career-spanning compilation, available in single and double-disc iterations.

1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
2CD: Amazon U.S.

Frank Sinatra, Sinatra, with Love (Capitol/UMe)

The first in a new Sinatra series (now distributed by Universal) explores the Chairman’s romantic side, with an unreleased alternate take on “My Foolish Heart” from Sinatra’s last studio session for Reprise. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

The Gaslight Anthem, The B-Sides (SideOneDummy)

The New Jersey rockers compile their rarer tracks on a new single-disc compilation.

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Dionne Warwick, Presenting Dionne Warwick/Anyone Who Had a Heart/Make Way for Dionne Warwick/The Sensitive Sound of Dionne Warwick; Here I Am/Live in Paris/Here Where There is Love/On Stage and In the Movies; The Windows of the World/Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls/Promises, Promises/Soulful…Plus; I’ll Never Fall in Love Again/Very Dionne/Dionne/Just Being Myself (Edsel)

Sixteen Dionne Warwick albums (plus some bonus tracks) combined on four new sets from Edsel.

Presenting…: Amazon U.S. /Amazon U.K.
Here I Am…: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
The Windows…: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
I’ll Never Fall in Love Again…: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Kool & The Gang, The Force / Kool & The Gang, Everybody’s Dancin’ / Leon Haywood, Naturally (Big Break Records)

The latest from BBR includes two semi-obscure Kool & The Gang LPs (released between their biggest hit periods of the early-mid ’70s and early-mid ’80s) and a funky classic from Leon Haywood.

The Force: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Everybody’s Dancin’: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Naturally: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Hazell Dean, The Sound of Bacharach and David (Cherry Pop)

An ultra-rare promotional LP from the Hi-NRG queen, making its debut on CD. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Dory Previn (Langdon), My Heart is a Hunter (Croydon Municipal)

The debut LP from the Oscar-winning singer/songwriter (otherwise known as The Leprechauns Are Upon Me). Features new sleeve notes by Bob Stanley, author of the recent Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Privates on Parade: Original London Cast Recording (Stage Door Records)

The original cast recording to this U.K. farce (later made into a film with John Cleese) gets a CD release. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Cherry Pop Revives Hazell Dean’s Rare Burt Bacharach LP, Weather Girls’ Second Album

The sound of Hazell Dean has long been associated with the sound of Hi-NRG, the dance-pop genre in which she scored hits like “Searchin’ (I Gotta Find a Man),” “Whatever I Do (Wherever I Go)” and “Who’s Leaving Who.”  But thanks to Cherry Pop, fans can discover another side of Hazell Dean on The Sound of Bacharach and David.  This ultra-rare promotional LP, originally issued in 1981, was commercially released for the first time on CD this week in the U.K.; it hits U.S. stores next Tuesday.

The future Hi-NRG queen came to the catalogue of Burt Bacharach and Hal David via writer-producer Paul Curtis, with whom she had worked in the band Union Express and also recorded “I Couldn’t Live Without You for a Day,” his 1976 entry in the Song for Europe competition.  (Curtis holds the record as the songwriter with the most songs to make the finals of this contest in which the annual Eurovision song entry for the U.K. is selected.)  Curtis’ publishing was administered by Carlin Music, who also controlled the Bacharach/David copyrights.  Carlin’s Freddy Bienstock approached Curtis and Dean about recording an album of the duo’s famous songs to be used for placement in radio, television, films and commercials.  As Dean recalls in her new liner notes for Cherry Pop’s reissue, “I had to sing the songs very straight, no bending notes, and no ad libs.  In other words, I could not make the songs my own or put my unique vocal stamp on them.  That was very hard for me.”

Despite the challenges of recording such a project, The Sound of Bacharach and David has become a prized item among Hazell Dean’s fans over the years.  Her straightforward delivery well-served the familiar Bacharach and David compositions such as “What the World Needs Now is Love,” “Walk on By,” “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me” and “Close to You.”  (The closest thing to a “deep cut” from the B&D catalogue is “To Wait for Love,” which had previously been recorded by Tony Orlando, Tom Jones, Jackie DeShannon and Herb Alpert, among others.)  Producer/background vocalist Curtis surrounded her pristine and versatile voice with a variety of mostly stripped-down settings that sometimes echoed the original arrangements and other times updated them.  Dean today recalls The Carpenters’ vocal style as an influence on the backing vocals which she and Curtis performed themselves, and indeed, the arrangement here of “Close to You” adopts the hallmarks of Richard Carpenter’s famous chart.  Though the LP was first released in 1981, Dean notes that the album “brings back so many memories of the ‘70s,” an accurate assessment of its style.

The Sound of Bacharach and David is a most welcome addition to Cherry Pop’s series of Hazell Dean reissues, following expanded editions of such albums as Always and Heart First.  Dean’s sleevenote accompanies numerous rare photographs in the CD’s booklet as well as images of the original album.  Andy Pearce has remastered from the original vinyl, as the master tapes for this project are long lost.

After the jump: Cherry Pop returns to the catalogue of The Weather Girls!