Release Round-Up: Week of July 17

America, Perspective/In Concert (BGO)

Two out-of-print albums from Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell circa 1984 and 1985 are now available as a two-for-one CD from the U.K.’s BGO label!  Read more here.

Donny Hathaway, Live + In Performance (Shout! Factory)

The Shout! Factory label combines two of the late soul man’s live albums (the first, from 1972, and the second, a posthumous set from 1980) in one package, newly remastered by Steve Hoffman.  Read more here.

Elton John vs. Pnau, Good Morning to the Night (Mercury/Casablanca)

Sir Elton opened up his vaults to Australian dance-pop duo Pnau, and the result is this club-ready collection of mash-ups!  Eight new songs have been created from Elton favorites as well as deep tracks.  Read more here.

MC Squared, Tantalizing Colours: The Reprise Recordings (Now Sounds)

Now Sounds unearths a long-lost album from a psychedelic band including session vets Randy Sterling and Jim Keltner, circa 1968!  The label describes the band as “sounding like a unique hybrid of The Mamas and the Papas and Jefferson Airplane,” which strikes us as about right!  Watch for Joe’s run-down soon.

Melba Moore, This Is It: Expanded Edition (Funky Town Grooves)

Melba Moore’s 1976 collaboration with producer Van McCoy is expanded with two bonus tracks!

Sam Phillips, Martinis & Bikinis (Omnivore Recordings)

Sam Phillips’ classic pop-inspired 1994 LP, produced by T Bone Burnett, arrives on CD and vinyl with four bonus tracks!  Keep an eye open for Joe’s review tomorrow.  Read more here!

Various Artists, Pete Waterman Presents the Hit Factory (Sony U.K.)

This affordably-priced box set rounds up eighties classics from Bananarama, Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Rick Astley, Cliff Richard and Samantha Fox, among others from the famed PWL label!  Read more here.

Funky Town Preps Reissues From GQ, Melba Moore, Evelyn “Champagne” King and More

And the great soul music just keeps on comin’.  Our friends at Funky Town Grooves have announced quite a slate of dance classics sure to keep your feet moving this May.  The varied line-up has been drawn from the vaults of Sony (CBS, Arista and RCA) and EMI (Capitol) and includes both artists new to the label and returning favorites.  In addition, a number of titles are making their first-ever CD debuts and some editions have been expanded with rare dance mixes.  Intrigued?

Ron Banks of The Dramatics sees his 1983 CBS effort Truly Bad rewarded with its first CD release.  On Truly Bad, Banks applies classic soul vocals over modern keyboards and drums.  “Let Love Flow” is a beautiful slow groove while “Make It Easy On Yourself” is a cover of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David standard.  Another CD debut is Beau Williams’ Bodacious.  Williams was another underrated talent from the Capitol soul stable and Bodacious again marries strong vocals to a slick, beat-laden modern production.  Paul Laurence’s 1985 Capitol LP Haven’t You Heard gets the expanded treatment from Funky Town with four rare single cuts, and Melba Moore’s 1986 A Lot of Love, also on Capitol, continues the label’s series of Moore reissues.  A Lot of Love is bolstered by five rare mixes including duets with Freddie Jackson and Kashif.

Like Melba Moore, Evelyn “Champagne” King has been celebrated of late with reissue love from not only Funky Town but also the fine folks at Big Break Records.  Funky Town takes on King’s 1979 RCA Victor LP Music Box and expands it with three 12-inch mixes and one 7-inch.  Also from RCA’s archives comes Fonzi Thornton’s 1983 Pumpin’, which boasts three alternate versions, and Esther Williams’ Inside of Me (1981).

GQ’s 1981 Arista LP Face to Face is also due, adding the non-LP track “Try Smurfin’.”  Face to Face is another stellar blend of Chicago soul and disco beats from the Bronx group.

Hit the jump for full track listings and discographical information as well as pre-order links for the entire Funky Town slate for May!  The release dates may vary by title, and while we have provided Amazon links below where available, all titles can also be obtained direct from the source.  Just pay a visit to Funkytowngrooves.com!

More of Melba: Moore’s Epic Debut Due from BBR

By 1978, Melba Moore had already established herself as a multifaceted musical force. After making her Broadway debut as Dionne (“White Boys”) in the original Broadway company of Hair, she picked up a Tony Award in 1970 for her performance in Purlie, where she introduced the showstopping “I Got Love.” In 1978, she was starring in New York opposite the legendary Eartha Kitt in Timbuktu! and ready to resume her solo recording career. With stints on the Mercury and Buddah labels behind her, she signed with Epic, and the label dispatched her to Philadelphia’s famed Sigma Sound Studios. There, the team of Gene McFadden and John Whitehead produced the aptly-titled Melba (not her first release to bear that title). With McFadden and Whitehead at the controls, Melba Moore embraced the disco generation head-on.

Back in November, Mike reported on Funky Town Grooves’ extensive reissue campaign devoted to Moore’s successful EMI/Capitol period of 1981-1986, and also on PTG’s reissue of Closer, her final effort for Epic in 1980. Now, that PTG release is bookended with Big Break Records’ expanded and remastered reissue of Melba, due in the U.K. on February 14.

The album leads off with a nearly eight-minute cover of the Bee Gees-penned “You Stepped Into My Life,” which rose to No. 5 on the U.S. dance chart and No. 12 on the R&B chart.  (A shorter version was released as a single, as well.) The second single, “Pick Me Up, I’ll Dance” became another uptempo club sensation, and Moore revisited Archie Bell and The Drells’ “It’s Hard Not to Like You,” not coincidentally co-written by McFadden and Whitehead. The album itself peaked at a respectable No. 35 on the R&B album chart.

Click on the jump for everything you need to know about BBR’s expanded reissue of Melba!

A Wave of Melba Moore Reissues Coming in 2011

Fans of R&B singer and Tony winning actress Melba Moore have got some good news coming their way: nearly all of her LPs from the ’80s are coming out on CD between now and March.

Moore, the daughter of jazz bandleader Teddy Hill, rose to prominence on Broadway as a cast member in Hair and won a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in Purlie in 1970. Five years later, she began a recording career on Buddah and Epic – but it wasn’t until the early ’80s and a switch to Capitol that her career started to smoke. Most of these records and singles, including the U.S. dance hit “Love’s Comin’ at Ya,” were produced by Kashif, one of the writers/producers behind Whitney Houston’s debut album.

One record has already been released; PTG Records has done a straight reissue of Moore’s swan song for Epic, Closer (1980). Between January and March of 2011, however, Funky Town Grooves will release the first five of Moore’s LPs for Capitol, each with bonus B-sides and remixes. Closer can be ordered on Amazon now and the others are already up for pre-order on FTG’s site.

The track lists are after the jump, as always.