Edsel Preps Vinyl Boxes for Sugar, The Beat

Not content to stick simply to expanded CDs, Edsel has announced vinyl box sets from two of the biggest artists whose catalogues they’ve licensed in 2012: Sugar and The Beat.

Bob Mould’s post-Hüsker Dü power-pop trio and the Birmingham ska sextet have earned plaudits in the music press this year, thanks in large part to lavish CD/DVD expansions of their short but influential discographies. (We’d be wrong to ignore the catalogue efforts of  Merge and Shout! Factory, respectively, in getting the cream of these catalogues onto remastered discs in the U.S., but it’s hard to beat Edsel’s releases in terms of all-around presentation and exhaustive detail.) The 20th anniversary of Mould’s Copper Blue was certainly on his mind this year, with a lengthy tour seeing him and his new trio playing the LP in full and a new disc, Silver Age, hewing closely to the Sugar formula. Meanwhile, Dave Wakeling of The Beat was on hand for much of the summer to talk to curious journalists about the underrated band and their trio of hidden gem-filled albums.

Now, Edsel is bringing both groups on wax in a big way. On The Beat’s The Vinyl Collection, four 12″ LPs collect not only the band’s three U.K. studio albums, but a collection of the band’s best extended and dub mixes. A Box of Sugar, meanwhile, collects Copper Blue, the Beaster EP, File Under: Easy Listening and – in their vinyl debuts – the B-sides collection Besides (featuring some extra tracks from the Copper Blue reissue) and a bonus live album, The Joke is Always on Us, Sometimes. There’s also a replica 45 of “Helpless” b/w “Changes” from Copper Blue.

All of these albums will be faithful recreations of the original packages, down to the inner sleeves. The Sugar box will be remastered for vinyl by FU:EL engineer Jim Wilson and will feature a 20-page book of photos and interviews.

Look for The Beat’s The Vinyl Collection in U.K. shops this Monday, November 19 and a week later in the States (Amazon U.S./U.K.), and A Box of Sugar will street December 10 (and a week later stateside, of course) (Amazon U.S./U.K.). Hit the jump to reacquaint yourselves with the track lists.

The Beat, The Vinyl Collection (Edsel FEETBOX1 (U.K.), 2012)

LP 1: I Just Can’t Stop It (released as Go Feet BEAT-001, 1980)

1. Mirror in the Bathroom
2. Hands Off…She’s Mine
3. Two Swords
4. Twist & Crawl
5. Rough Rider
6. Click Click
7. Big Shot
8. Whine & Grine/Stand Down Margaret
9. Noise in This World
10. Can’t Get Used to Losing You
11. Best Friend
12. Jackpot

LP 2: Wha’ppen? (released as Go Feet BEAT-003, 1981)

1. Doors of Your Heart
2. All Out to Get You
3. Monkey Murders
4. I Am Your Flag
5. French Toast (Soleil Trop Chaud)
6. Drowning
7. Dream Home in NZ
8. Walk Away
9. Over and Over
10. Cheated
11. Get-a-Job
12. The Limits We Set

LP 3: Special Beat Service (released as Go Feet BEAT-005, 1982)

1. I Confess
2. Jeanette
3. Sorry
4. Sole Salvation
5. Spar Wid Me
6. Rotating Head
7. Save It for Later
8. She’s Going
9. Pato and Roger A Go Talk
10. Sugar and Stress
11. End of the Party
12. Ackee 1-2-3

LP 4: The Dub Album

1. Too Nice to Talk To (Dubweiser) (12″ A-side – Go Feet FEET124, 1980)
2. Psychedelic Rockers (Dubweiser) (12″ B-side – Go Feet FEET124, 1980)
3. Doors of Your Heart (Dub) (12″ A-side – Go Feet FEET129, 1981)
4. Drowning (Dub) (12″ B-side – Go Feet FEET129, 1981)
5. Save It for Later (Extended) (12″ A-side – Go Feet FEET12333, 1982)
6. What’s You Best Thing? (Dub Style) (12″ B-side – Go Feet FEET12333, 1982)
7. Stand Down Margaret (Dub) (12″ B-side – Go Feet FEET3, 1980)

A Box of Sugar: The Complete Recordings 1992-1995 (Edsel (U.K.), 2012)

LP 1: Copper Blue (originally released as Rykodisc RCD 10239, 1992)

1. The Act We Act
2. A Good Idea
3. Changes
4. Helpless
5. Hoover Dam
6. The Slim
7. If I Can’t Change Your Mind
8. Fortune Teller
9. Slick
10. Man on the Moon

LP 2: Beaster (originally released as Rykodisc RCD 50260, 1993)

1. Come Around
2. Tilted
3. Judas Cradle
4. JC Auto
5. Feeling Better
6. Walking Away

LP 3: File Under: Easy Listening (originally released as Rykodisc LP RCD 10300, 1994)

1. Gift
2. Company Book
3. Your Favorite Thing
4. What You Want It to Be
5. Gee Angel
6. Panama City Motel
7. Can’t Help You Anymore
8. Granny Cool
9. Believe What You’re Saying
10. Explode and Make Up

LP 4-5: Besides (originally released as Rykodisc RCD 10321, 1995)

1. If I Can’t Change Your Mind (Solo Mix) (from “Helpless” CD single – Rykodisc RCD5 1024, 1992)
   
2. Try Again (from “Helpless” CD single – Rykodisc RCD5 1024, 1992)
3. Where Diamonds Are Halos (Live @ The Cabaret Metro, Chicago – 7/22/1992) (from “A Good Idea” CD single – Rykodisc RCD5 1030, 1992)
4. Armenia City in the Sky (Live @ The Cabaret Metro, Chicago – 7/22/1992) (from “A Good Idea” CD single – Rykodisc RCD5 1030, 1992)
5. Clownmaster (from “A Good Idea” CD single – Rykodisc RCD5 1030, 1992)
6. Anyone (Live @ The Cabaret Metro, Chicago – 7/22/1992) (from “A Good Idea” CD single – Rykodisc RCD5 1030, 1992)
7. JC Auto (Live) (from “JC Auto” CD single – Rykodisc VRCD 0260/2, 1993)
8. Believe What You’re Saying (Campfire Mix)
9. Mind is An Island (from  “Your Favorite Thing” CD single – Rykodisc RCD5 1038, 1994)
10. Frustration (from “Your Favorite Thing” CD single – Rykodisc RCD5 1038, 1994)
11. Going Home (from “Believe What You’re Saying” CD single – Rykodisc RCD5 1039, 1994)
12. In the Eyes of My Friends (from “Believe What You’re Saying” CD single – Rykodisc RCD5 1039, 1994)
13. And You Tell Me (from “Believe What You’re Saying” CD single – Rykodisc RCD5 1039, 1994)
14. If I Can’t Change Your Mind (BBC Session – 8/1/1992) (from Copper Blue: Deluxe Edition – Edsel EDSG-8014 (U.K.), 2012)
15. Hoover Dam (BBC Session – 8/1/1992) (from Copper Blue: Deluxe Edition – Edsel EDSG-8014 (U.K.), 2012)
16. The Slim (BBC Session – 8/1/1992) (from Copper Blue: Deluxe Edition – Edsel EDSG-8014 (U.K.), 2012)
17. Where Diamonds Are Halos (BBC Session – 8/1/1992) (from Copper Blue: Deluxe Edition – Edsel EDSG-8014 (U.K.), 2012)

LP 6-7: 

The Joke is Always on Us, Sometimes: Live at First Avenue, Minneapolis – 11/2/1994 (originally released as bonus disc with limited edition of Besides – Rykodisc RCD 10321-1, 1995)

1. Gift
2. Company Book
3. Hoover Dam
4. After All the Roads Have Led to Nowhere
5. Where Diamonds Are Halos
6. Slick
7. Going Home
8. Running Out of Time
9. Frustration
10. Changes
11. Can’t Help You Any More
12. Helpless
13. If I Can’t Change Your Mind
14. In the Eyes of My Friends
15. Clownmaster
16. Gee Angel
17. Explode and Make Up
18. The Slim

Single: Helpless b/w Changes (originally released as Rykodisc SOL-230-7, 1992)

Will You Take Any SUGAR? Win a Set of Deluxe Reissues from Edsel Records!

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNER, MARK WOLFE!

Release Round-Up: Week of July 24

Booker T. & the MGs, Green Onions (Concord/Stax)

The 1962 album from the Stax legends is expanded with two previously issued, live bonus tracks from Los Angeles in 1965.  Read more here.

David Cassidy, Cherish / Rock Me Baby (7Ts/Cherry Red)

The Partridge Family star was on top of the world when he released his first two solo albums in 1972.  They arrive on American shores today as one two-fer!  Read more here.

The Guess Who, # 10 / Road Food (Iconoclassic)

Iconoclassic’s series of expanded and remastered reissues for the Canadian rockers continues with these 1973 and 1974 RCA albums.  Read more here.

Jerry Lee Lewis, The Killer Live! 1964-1970 (Hip-o Select/Mercury)

This limited edition 3-CD set compiles a bevy of live albums from the piano pounder: “Live” At The Star Club, Hamburg and The Greatest Live Show On Earth, both from 1964; 1966’s By Request: More Of The Greatest Live Show On Earth; and 1970’s Live At The International, Las Vegas.  A full 16 bonus tracks, including 10 previously unreleased tracks, round out the set.

Rodriguez, Searching for Sugar Man: Original Soundtrack (Legacy/Light in the Attic)

Never heard of Rodriguez?  Let Legacy and Light in the Attic spin this fascinating yarn about a musician who had no idea that his long-lost LP had acquired a new lease on life: as the soundtrack to a revolution taking place oceans away.  We’ll have more on the amazing story of Rodriguez later today!

Neil Sedaka, The Show Goes On: Live at the Royal Albert Hall (Eagle Rock)

A 2006 set of hit tunes from the “Calendar Girl” and “Laughter in the Rain” hitmaker arrives on CD for the first time.

Sugar, Copper Blue/Beaster (Deluxe Edition) / File Under Easy Listening (Deluxe Edition) (Merge)

American reissues arrive from Bob Mould’s Sugar in modified form from the recent Edsel deluxe editions.   All the DVD content from the Edsel sets has been dropped, along with the BBC session tracks that featured on Copper Blue. All the other copious bonus audio content will be retained, though, with Copper Blue and the Beaster EP brought together as one 3-CD package, and FU:EL as one 2-CD set.  Read more about these Merge Records releases here.

Various Artists, Country Funk 1969-1975 (Light in the Attic)

The anthology experts at Light in the Attic have put together this fun set exploring the crossroads of – yup! – country and funk.  Expect rarities from Bobby (then Bob) Darin, Mac Davis, Tony Joe White, Bobbie Gentry and more!

GZA, Liquid Swords: The Chess Box (Get On Down)

One of The Wu-Tang Clan’s great solo albums from the group’s initial wave, Liquid Swords is expanded with a bonus disc of instrumentals and a collectible chess set package. Read more here!

The Pharcyde, Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde: Expanded Edition (Delicious Vinyl)

The underrated alternative hip-hop group gets their debut album expanded 20 years later in a three-disc set featuring a deluxe box and two extra discs of B-sides, remixes and other bonus material.

Slipknot, Antennas to Hell (Roadrunner)

The nu-metal band’s first compilation, featuring either straight hits or a bonus live disc to match. Full story is here.

Jennifer Lopez, Dance Again: The Hits (Epic)

The former American Idol judge’s comeback comes full circle with this compilation of some of the hottest dance floor fillers of the past 15 years. Have a look here.

Release Round-Up: Week of June 12

Dean Martin, Collected Cool (UMe)

Can you believe this is the first ever domestic, career-spanning Dino box set, pallies? And just in time for Father’s Day.

Sugar, File Under: Easy Listening – Deluxe Edition (Edsel)

The last Sugar LP, expanded with B-sides, the live album The Joke is Always on Us, Sometimes, and a DVD of videos and live footage.

Gilbert O’Sullivan, Southpaw: Deluxe Edition / A Stranger in My Own Back Yard: Deluxe Edition (Salvo)

The latest in Salvo’s ongoing expansion campaign for the Irish songwriter.

Kenny Loggins, Keep the Fire: Expanded Edition (Lemon)

One of Kenny’s best solo LPs gets expanded in the U.K. with two live tracks and a “clean version” of “This is It,” which we still have no idea what that is.

Release Round-Up: Week of June 5

The Beatles, Yellow Submarine (Blu-Ray) (Apple/EMI)

Take a trip back to Pepperland with the Fab Four’s animated film, now available as a feature-laden Blu-Ray Disc. The 1999 Yellow Submarine Songtrack remix album is also added to the Beatles remaster canon. (Keep a close eye on our giveaway; we’re announcing a winner very soon!)

Paul Simon, Graceland: 25th Anniversary Edition (Legacy)

A man walks down the street, sees many configurations of the Graceland reissue (namely a CD/DVD featuring newly released outtakes and the new documentary Under African Skies – also separately available on DVD and Blu-Ray – and a four-disc box set which adds an entire 1987 concert from the Graceland tour on DVD) and gets pretty darn excited.

David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars: 40th Anniversary Edition (EMI)

Ziggy falls to earth once again, albeit just as a newly-remastered CD with no bonus content; the bonuses are on the LP/DVD combo, which features out-of-print and unreleased surround mixes.

Jerry Goldsmith, Star Trek: The Motion Picture – Limited Edition (La-La Land Records)

Available to order later today (around 4 p.m. EST), this three-disc edition is the definitive word on Jerry Goldsmith’s iconic score for the first Trek film, with the complete score, alternate and rejected cues, the original LP program and many other audio treasures. (If you haven’t yet, do check out the first part of our interview with the set’s co-producer Mike Matessino, and check back for part two later this week!)

Michael Jackson, I Just Can’t Stop Loving You (CD Single) (Epic/Legacy)

Available only at Walmart stores in the U.S., this CD single, backed with the unreleased demo “Don’t Be Messin’ ‘Round,” kicks off the Bad 25 campaign.

Maroon 5, Songs About Jane: 10th Anniversary Edition (A&M/Octone)

Weeks away from the release of their fourth studio album, a double-disc version of Maroon 5’s first breakthrough album, featuring demos and unlockable video content, is now available.

Sugar, Beaster: Deluxe Edition (Edsel)

The latest in the Sugar reissue campaign (seminal debut Copper Blue was reissued last week) is an expansion of the band’s second release, an EP, with a bonus DVD of performance clips.

Heart, Strange Euphoria (Epic/Legacy)

A 3 CD/1 DVD box chronicling the highs of Ann and Nancy Wilson’s lengthy careers, with hits and rarities in equal measure.

Lenny Kravitz, Mama Said: 21st Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Virgin/EMI)

Kravitz’s sophomore album, featuring hit single “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over,” expanded with non-LP B-sides, live material and archival demos.

America, Perspective / In Concert, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Close Up the Honky Tonks, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Are You Ready! (BGO)

Some hidden gems from some of the best ’70s and ’80s rockers, all of which are either rare or new to CD.

Kylie Minogue, The Best of Kylie Minogue (EMI Catalogue)

A simple, compact collection of Kylie hits. A special edition features a DVD of music videos.

Black Sabbath, Iron Man: The Best of Black Sabbath (Sanctuary U.K.)

A bare-bones Sabbath compilation.

The Association, The Complete Warner Bros. and Valiant Singles Collection (Now Sounds)

Every last one of The Association’s singles for the Valiant and Warner Bros. labels are collected on two CDs!  Watch for full coverage of this collection soon!

Mould vs. Mould: Sugar Catalogue to Be Expanded in U.S., Too

First it was The English Beat – now, Bob Mould’s power-pop outfit Sugar, whose discography is getting the expanded treatment starting next week, is seeing a dueling reissue campaign in both England and the United States.

While Copper Blue, Beaster and File Under: Easy Listening are getting expanded CD/DVD issues from Edsel, Merge Records – for whom Mould will release a new album in the fall – will handle expansions of the albums a bit differently. All the DVD content on the U.S. reissues has been dropped, along with the BBC session tracks that featured on Copper Blue. All the other audio content will be retained, however, and over two packages; Copper Blue and the Beaster EP will be released in one three-disc package, and FU:EL in another on two discs.

For audiophiles, vinyl reissues of the original albums, featuring the extra audio content as additional downloads, will also be available. All these titles are due out July 24. Hit the jump to order your copies and check out the modified track lists.

Sweet As Sugar: Bob Mould’s Other Trio Gets Expanded Treatment

While Bob Mould has gained rock immortality as one third of the criminally underrated alt-rock outfit Hüsker Dü, his work as frontman for alt-rockers Sugar in the 1990s deserves its own recognition. In May and June, the hard workers at Demon/Edsel will give Sugar its due in the form of expanded, remastered editions of their entire catalogue.

After the split of Hüsker Dü in 1988, Mould locked himself away in a Minnesota farmhouse, attempting to write new material and purge himself of the substance addictions he had developed over the years. He succeeded on both fronts, releasing two solo albums, the abnormally subdued Workbook (1989) and the familiar, loud Black Sheets of Rain (1990).

In 1992 he formed Sugar with former Mercyland bassist David Barbe and ex-Human Sexual Response drummer Malcolm Travis. Their familiar, Mould-esque style of post-punk and power-pop bought them commercial and critical acclaim in the U.K., with all three of their major releases cracking the Top 10 and debut album Copper Blue crowned NME‘s Album of the Year.

The band’s tenure was short-lived: Barbe sought to spend more time with his family and working on his own material, so the band parted in 1996. Mould continues to record and perform today, and will embark on a European tour commemorating Copper Blue this summer.

To commemorate this, Edsel will reissue Copper Blue, the 1993 EP Beaster and 1995’s File Under: Easy Listening as expansive CD/DVD sets. Both studio albums are augmented with extra material including B-sides, remixes and BBC sessions as well as bonus live concerts on a second CD. (The Copper Blue-era concert, recorded at Chicago’s Cabaret Metro, was partially utilized for CD single B-side material, while the 1995 First Avenue show in Minneapolis was released as The Joke is Always on Us, Sometimes, a bonus disc included with limited pressings of the band’s Besides rarities compilation. All sets will include bonus DVDs featuring music videos, live footage and television appearances on both sides of the Atlantic, including several bits from MTV’s popular alternative show 120 Minutes.

Edsel will also release the band’s most popular single, “If I Can’t Change Your Mind,” with the B-side “Clownmaster” on a special limited 7″ single for Record Store Day in England. Only 750 copies will be made.

The reissues will be released one week at a time starting May 28. Hit the jump for Amazon U.K. links and full track lists.