Release Round-Up: Week of November 10

 

The Monkees, The Monkees: Super Deluxe Edition (Rhino Handmade) (Exclusively available directly from label)

It’s Monkeemania all over again: Davy, Micky, Peter and Michael are back with a 3-CD expansion of their debut album featuring 100 tracks – 45 of which are previously unreleased!

ABBA, Gracias Por La Musica: Deluxe Edition (Polar/Universal) (Amazon U.S. Link TBD / Amazon U.K.)

ABBA is saying “Thank You for the Music” – in Spanish!  The band’s Spanish-language 1980 album Gracias Por La Música is going deluxe with 5 bonus tracks, plus a 40-minute DVD featuring vintage promo clips and previously unreleased television material.

The Kinks, Muswell Hillbillies: Legacy Edition (Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Legacy has a new edition of 1971’s Muswell Hillbillies on tap as part of its new Kinks kampaign.  It retains eight of the thirteen bonus tracks on the 2013 U.K. Deluxe Edition, dropping three BBC radio performances from The John Peel Show (“Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues,” “Holiday” and “Skin and Bone”) and the 1976 remixes of “Muswell Hillbilly” and “20th Century Man.” It then adds a separate DVD with thirteen previously-unreleased performances: two songs from a January 1972 broadcast of The Old Grey Whistle Test and eleven from BBC’s Live at the Rainbow program from July 1972.

Pink Floyd, The Endless River (Columbia)

CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

CD/DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 

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

In early 1993, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright created more than one hundred pieces of music by jamming together and recording the results.  The trio then honed the pieces at Gilmour’s studio, played them live for 2 days at Olympic Studios in Barnes with additional players (Guy Pratt on bass, Jon Carin on keyboards and Gary Wallis on percussion), returned to Astoria, and worked further with co-producer Bob Ezrin.  The resulting LP, after lyrics and vocals were added, was The Division Bell.  Rumors abounded of a separate ambient album created from the remaining ethereal instrumentals, but nothing came of it until now.  Gilmour and Mason re-entered the studio earlier this year and added further instrumentation to the tracks they originally created with the late Richard Wright.  Pink Floyd describes The Endless River as 60% new, with the other 40% drawn from those original 1993 recordings.  Gilmour describes the record as follows: “The Endless River has as its starting point the music that came from the 1993 Division Bell sessions. We listened to over 20 hours of the three of us playing together and selected the music we wanted to work on for the new album. Over the last year we’ve added new parts, re-recorded others and generally harnessed studio technology to make a 21st century Pink Floyd album. With Rick gone, and with him the chance of ever doing it again, it feels right that these revisited and reworked tracks should be made available as part of our repertoire.”

Rush, R40 (Concord/Rounder)

DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

This 10-DVD or 6-BD box set tells the story of Rush through live performance material recorded over the years,with an emphasis on the period of 2003-2013.

Whitney Houston, Live (Arista/Legacy)

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

Clive Davis has overseen this first official live release for the late, great Whitney Houston, which includes some of the diva’s most beloved onstage performances recorded between 1983 and 2009.

Queen, Queen Forever (Hollywood)

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

This new anthology features three previously unissued recordings (including “There Must Be More to Life Than This” with Michael Jackson) and other off-the-beaten path selections.

Roger Taylor, The Lot (Omnivore)

The Queen drummer’s own solo career is captured in this lavish 13-disc complete box set.

Blood Sweat and Tears, Child is Father to the Man – 5.1 Surround SACD (Audio Fidelity) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Link TBD)

Al Kooper’s long-shelved 5.1 surround mix of Blood, Sweat and Tears’ stunning jazz-rock debut finally makes an appearance on hybrid SACD thanks to Audio Fidelity!  Bob Ludwig masters Kooper’s 5.1 mix, while Steve Hoffman has remastered for the stereo presentations.

Eric Clapton, Pilgrim SACD (Audio Fidelity) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Link TBD)

Steve Hoffman remasters Eric Clapton’s 1988 studio album Pilgrim for hybrid stereo SACD!

Tears for Fears, Songs from the Big Chair: Super Deluxe Edition (Mercury)

Box Set: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

2-CD Deluxe Edition (Discs 1 & 2 below only): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Vinyl (Original Album): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Blu-ray Audio (Stereo and 5.1 Mixes): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Mercury has a variety of formats coming for Tears for Tears’ landmark 1985 album, including a 4-CD/2-DVD box set!

Ray Charles, Genius Loves Company: 10th Anniversary Limited Collectors Edition (Hear Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Hear Music repackages Ray Charles’ Grammy-winning duets album for a second time this year, retaining the two bonus tracks and DVD documentary from the previous edition and adding director Taylor Hackford’s 2004 motion picture Ray on a second DVD.

Worzel Gummidge: The Musical – Original London Cast Recording (Stage Door) (Amazon U.K.)

Stage Door Records remasters and expands the Original 1981 London Cast Recording of Keith Waterhouse, Willis Hall and Denis King’s musical comedy to CD for the first time.

Various Artists, Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes (Harvest) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

What happens when you give a notebook filled with never-before-recorded Bob Dylan lyrics to producer T Bone Burnett and a musical collective featuring Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens (Carolina Chocolate Drops), Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), Jim James (My Morning Jacket) and Marcus Mumford (Mumford & Sons)?  You get Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes, a 2014 companion to the recent issue of the original, legendary recordings made by Dylan and The Band.

 

Head Over Heels for Tears for Fears’ “Big Chair” Box Set

Following 2013’s deluxe box set reissue of Tears for Fears’ The Hurting, Universal U.K. has announced the November 3 release of a similarly-impressive box set dedicated to the group’s 1985 album Songs from the Big Chair.  This 4-CD/2-DVD box brings together a remastered edition of the original album and its single B-sides, two discs of rare period remixes and edited single versions, a DVD-Audio containing high-resolution stereo and 5.1 surround mixes courtesy of ace engineer Steven Wilson, and a DVD of promotional videos, BBC performances and a documentary film about the making of the album.  The campaign will also feature a 2-CD distillation of the box set, a new vinyl reissue of the album, and a standalone Blu-ray Audio release with the high-resolution mixes.

In assessing the catalogue of the band led by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, our own Mike Duquette wrote, “The group’s first three LPs – 1983’s The Hurting, 1985’s Songs from the Big Chair and 1989’s The Seeds of Love – are not only engaging for their songs, but for their evolution as well. The Hurting was a dark, New Wave type album heavy on introspection and psychoanalysis. This gave way to Big Chair, [which] contextualized those themes on a bigger playing field, both lyrically (not just self against self, but self against others) and sonically (keyboards now mixed with heavier guitars and fresher drum sounds). The Seeds of Love would take that evolution even further (way more live instrumentation, more big-picture lyrics).”  So, here is a lavishly expanded edition of Tears for Fears’ sophomore album of that early, triumphant trio.  Mike continued to describe Songs as “the high watermark of not only Tears for Fears, but the mid-’80s as well. It spun off a good amount of singles, but it’s a thoroughly cohesive album both musically (the track “Broken” spins off both “Head Over Heels” and “Mothers Talk,” if you know what to listen to) and aesthetically. Rather than gaze inward as on The Hurting, TFF took the current climate of fear, [the] bad economy and nuclear paranoia and sung outward about it.”

Two previous reissues preceded this super deluxe iteration of Songs from the Big Chair.  The 1999 remastered edition added seven bonus tracks including some Hurting-era leftovers.  In 2006, it was expanded once again, this time with more B-sides and remixes but sans two of the tracks from the 1999 version.  Neither of these versions was complete, however, leaving out key tracks such as the U.K. 12-inch mix of “Shout” and the remix “Everybody Wants to Run the World” created for Sport Aid in 1986.  The upcoming box set promises to include every commercially issued B-side and remix from the era.

After the jump: a closer look at what you can expect on the new box set, including the complete track listing with discographical annotation and pre-order links!

The Second Disc’s Record Store Day 2014 Must-Haves

If you’ve been following these pages for the past few weeks, you’ve likely noticed an awful lot of coverage about Record Store Day!  Well, the day is nearly here!   Tomorrow, Saturday, April 21, music fans and collectors will flock to their local independent record stores to celebrate both the sounds on those round black platters and the very concept of shopping in a physical retail environment. To many of us, both are a way of life.  We’re doubly excited this year because one special title was co-produced by our very own Mike D.: Legacy Recordings’ Ecto-Green glow-in-the-dark vinyl single containing four versions of Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters.”

Each year around this time, we here at Second Disc HQ take a few moments to count down the titles to which we’re most looking forward to picking up! I’ll take my turn first, and then after the jump, you’ll find my colleague’s picks for some of the finest offerings you might find at your local retailer! And after you’ve picked up your share of these special collectibles, don’t hesitate to browse the regular racks, too…there’s likely even more treasure awaiting you.

You’ll find more information and a link to a downloadable PDF of the complete Record Store Day list right here, and please share your RSD 2014 experiences with us below. Don’t forget to click on the Record Store Day tag below, too, to access all of our RSD ’14 coverage.  Happy Hunting!

1. Henry Mancini and His Orchestra, The Pink Panther LP (RCA/Legacy Recordings)

On April 16, 2014, the great composer/conductor Henry Mancini would have turned 90.  To mark the occasion, the all-new HenryMancini.com was launched, and Legacy announced plans for a yearlong celebration of the maestro’s enduring, engaging ouevre.  The label has major plans including an 11-CD box set of Mancini’s soundtracks as well as a newly-curated retrospective, but the festivities kick off on Saturday with the release on eye-catching pink vinyl of Mancini’s original album of music from Blake Edwards’ all-time classic comedy caper The Pink Panther.

This soundtrack album (slated for expansion later this year for the movie’s 50th anniversary) was, as per Mancini’s custom, a re-recording of the film’s major themes for the record-buying audience. In addition to the now-famous, sly ‘n’ slinky title theme with saxophone by Plas Johnson (which went Top 40 as a single; the soundtrack itself went Top 10), other highlights of the score include “It Had Better Be Tonight,” an Italian-style love song recently covered by Michael Bublé and performed in the film by Fran Jeffries (and on disc by Mancini’s chorus), and “Something for Sellers,” a great example of Mancini’s feel for what we today think of as lounge music.  Mancini’s “The Pink Panther” is currently the single most-streamed song in the entire Sony Music catalogue – a testament to the ongoing power of the gifted composer Henry Mancini.

2. Randy Newman, Randy Newman (Mono LP) (Rhino)

Prior to the release of 1968’s self-titled debut, Randy Newman was a staff songwriter for Los Angeles’ Metric Music, a West Coast answer to the Brill Building where he worked alongside the likes of Jackie DeShannon honing his skills.  The back of the LP, now being reissued for RSD in its original mono edition, read: “Randy Newman creates something new under the sun!” And while intended ironically (irony being one of Newman’s favorite weapons, always at the ready!), it wasn’t far from the truth. Produced by his childhood friend Lenny Waronker and quirky wunderkind Van Dyke Parks, Randy Newman featured some scathing social commentary sheathed in large, gorgeous orchestrations by the composer himself. Even this early on, it was evident that Randy learned something from his uncles, Lionel and Alfred Newman, two of the most illustrious composers in Hollywood history. The young Newman was the rare talent equally gifted in both melody and lyrics. “Davy the Fat Boy” and “So Long, Dad” are uncomfortably hysterical, while “Love Story” plainly tells the story of a couple from marriage to death, playing checkers all day in a Florida nursing home. Newman’s unique humor was already in full bloom, to wit this exchange from “Love Story”: “We’ll have a kid/Or maybe we’ll rent one, He’s got to be straight/We don’t want a bent one.” All of these songs were delivered in his off-hand, growl of a drawl, providing a contrast to the beautiful arrangements. When Randy Newman turned serious, the results were heartbreaking and simple (though far from simplistic): “Living Without You” or the oft-covered “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today,” which managed to be both cynical and achingly sad. A major new talent had arrived.

3. Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, Transcriptions (Real Gone Music)

Vintage music from the pre-rock-and-roll era gets an airing on Record Store Day thanks to releases such as this one, along with other key releases from Omnivore Recordings and Blue Note Records.  Here, Real Gone Music unearths 10 tracks from the King of Western Swing, four of which will remain exclusive to this vinyl release.  These have been drawn from the more than 200 songs recorded by Wills for Tiffany Music, Inc. which remained under lock and key for years.  (Wills recorded a total of almost 400 songs for Tiffany in 1946 and 1947.)  This remastered release has been painstakingly designed after an original transcription disc.  The vinyl is housed inside a replica package in the style of the actual mailers in which Tiffany discs were sent to radio stations in the 1940s – with “pre-distressed” trompe l’oeil wrinkles and wear on the record jacket and a cutaway hole infront showing the vintage Tiffany logo on the vinyl label, whichcontinues the Tiffany numbering system of assigning a recordnumber to each side. Furthering this tremendous attention to detail, the back cover also presents vintagegraphics from the period, and the records are pressed in the style of some of the original discs on 150-gram red vinyl. This release precedes Real Gone’s upcoming 2-CD set drawn from Wills’ Tiffany Transcriptions, and tracks include such songs as Cole Porter’s “Don’t Fence Me In” and Johnny Mercer’s “I’m an Old Cowhand.”  Count me in!

4. Various Artists, Live from High Fidelity: The Best of the Podcast Performances (Omnivore)

It wasn’t easy to choose from Omnivore Recordings’ great slate, including rare music from late legends Hank Williams and Jaco Pastorius, but Live from High Fidelity encapsulates the label’s dedication to preserving great music from all eras and genres.  This 14-track translucent green vinyl release is drawn a podcast hosted by L.A.’s High Fidelity Records, and features contributions from some TSD favorites like Sam Phillips, Rhett Miller of The Old 97’s, members of Spain, and most especially, appearing for the second time on this small list, Mr. Van Dyke Parks.  It’s about time podcast performances went physical, isn’t it?

5. Ronnie Spector and the E Street Band, “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” b/w “Baby Please Don’t Go” / Eric Carmen, “Brand New Year (Alternate Mix)” b/w “Starting Over (Live 1976)” singles (Legacy)

Two of Legacy’s 7-inch singles caught our fancy this year.  The label has followed up this year’s Playlist: The Very Best of Ronnie Spector with a replica 45 of “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” b/w “Baby Please Don’t Go,” on which the former Ronette is backed by none other than Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.  Arranged and produced by a certain Mr. Van Zandt – that’s Little Steven now, and Sugar Miami Steve circa this single’s original release – these 1977 sides are blazing rock-and-roll at its finest.  Billy Joel’s A-side was a stunning Phil Spector homage in its original recording; with Ronnie on lead and Clarence Clemons honking on the sax, it became transcendent.  Eric Carmen’s new “Brand New Day” also arrives on vinyl in a previously unreleased alternate mix supporting The Essential Eric Carmen, on which the song first appeared. Featuring Carmen supported by Jeffrey Foskett, Darian Sahanaja, Nick Walusko and Mike D’Amico of Brian Wilson’s band, this 2013 composition is vintage Carmen – lush, gorgeous and memorably melodic.  You won’t want to miss these.

Honorable Mentions go to Rhino’s first-ever U.S. release of Fleetwood Mac’s 1970 single “Dragonfly” b/w “Purple Dancer” and its excavation of the 1968 LP The Birthday Party from Jeff Lynne’s psych-pop pre-ELO band The Idle Race; plus Legacy’s painstakingly-recreated stereo LP of “King of Cool” Dean Martin’s romantic long-player Dream with Dean on which he’s joined by a quartet for his most intimate jazz stylings; and Sundazed’s vinyl debut of two tracks by The Sunrays, the band that Murry Wilson intended to groom in the style of his former charges The Beach Boys.  Murry’s own song “Won’t You Tell Me” features the legendary L.A. Wrecking Crew, and the band’s Rick Henn supplies new liner notes for this 45!

After the jump: take it away, Mr. Duquette!

Release Round-Up: Week of October 22

Tears for Fears, The Hurting: Deluxe Edition (Mercury/UMe)

The landmark debut album from the U.K. hitmakers celebrates its 30th anniversary with a new double-disc deluxe edition stocked with rare single-only material and a deluxe box set version with a bonus disc of John Peel sessions and the In My Mind’s Eye live concert film on DVD.

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
3CD/1DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Van Morrison, Moondance: Expanded Edition (Warner Bros./Rhino)

Though Van would rather you not buy this box, it features his classic 1970 album (newly remastered and in a new 5.1 surround sound mix on the Blu-Ray) plus three discs of session outtakes.

1CD remaster: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
4CD/1BD:  Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

The Waterboys, Fisherman’s Box: The Complete Fisherman’s Blues Sessions 1986-1988 (Parlophone)

This six-disc set features every take from the making of this celebrated album from Mike Scott’s band. A deluxe version features the original album on vinyl and a further bonus disc of songs that influenced the album – all of which will be broken down in full in a post later today!

6CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
7CD/1LP: Amazon U.K.

Ten Years After, Recorded Live: Expanded Edition / Robin Trower, State to State: Live Across America 1974-1980 / UFO, “Hot ‘N’ Live”: The Chrysalis Live Anthology 1974-1983 (Chrysalis/Rhino)

These three hard-rockin’ releases from the Chrysalis vaults are ready to purchase this week – or you can win them from us!

Ten Years After: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Robin Trower: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
UFO: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

XTC, Nonsuch: Expanded Edition (Panegyric)

The band’s 1992 album, featuring modern rock hit “The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead,” features a new stereo and surround mix by Steven Wilson, plus a host of audiovisual extras.

CD/DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
CD/BD: Amazon U.K.

Sparks, New Music for Amnesiacs: The Ultimate Collection (Universal U.K.)

One of the pioneering acts in quirk rock have a swag-filled five-disc career-spanning box set tangible object in the market. (Amazon U.K.)

Woody Guthrie, American Radical Patriot (Rounder)

A stunning 6CD/1DVD/1LP box set includes, for the first time, all of Guthrie’s historic recordings for Alan Lomax, plus scores of rarities – including a rare early Bob Dylan recording, too. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Queen, The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert: Deluxe Edition (Eagle Rock)

The life of the late Queen frontman was celebrated in one of the greatest benefit concerts of all time – and this expanded version features, for the first time on DVD or Blu-Ray, tribute performances from the first half of the concert.

3DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Matt Monro, The Rarities Collection (Parlophone)

Three discs of rarities from the legendary crooner; most were originally released on The Rare Monro and/or Matt Uncovered: The Rarer Monro, but many have been sonically upgraded, with more rarities included herein! (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Laura Nyro, Smile: Expanded Edition (Iconoclassic)

Nyro’s 1976 release, issued after a four-year absence, is expanded with three rare demos. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Donna Summer, Love to Love You Donna (Verve)

Classic Donna Summer tracks, newly remixed by modern dance acts and producers, plus an unreleased collaboration between Summer and longtime producer Giorgio Moroder.

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

TLC, 20 (Epic)

A new compilation from the acclaimed ’90s R&B girl group features a new track, “Meant to Be,” penned by R&B singer Ne-Yo. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Tears for Fears’ “The Hurting” Revisited As a Box Set

Looks like our Tears for Fears wishes have come true: the U.K. synthpop band’s first album is getting greatly expanded as a deluxe edition and box set this year to mark its 30th anniversary.

As we’d detailed around the anniversary of the album, there was certainly more than enough to go around for bonus material: many of the singles were different from what ended up on record, the typical non-LP B-sides and remixes, even a live show recorded on video. Happily, it looks like nearly all of that plus more will be included on the set, available in double-disc and four-disc (three CDs and one DVD) formats.

The first bonus disc collates all of those studio bonus tracks from the “Suffer the Children,” “Pale Shelter,” “Mad World” and “Change” singles (plus an alternate version of “Suffer the Children” released on a 1989 promo disc). The extra CD and DVD exclusive to the box set will collect live material: previously unreleased 1982 BBC radio sessions with John Peel and David Jensen alongside two live B-sides on the third disc, and the In My Mind’s Eye live feature – recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon and featuring not only nearly all the selections from The Hurting but four tracks that would form half of the band’s worldwide breakthrough Songs from the Big Chair (“The Working Hour,” “Mothers Talk,” “Broken” and U.S. Top 5 hit “Head Over Heels”).

The box will also include a replica of an original tour program and liner notes with new interviews by TFF founders Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith (currently at work on their first new album since 2005). The first 500 customers who pre-order the box set through Universal get a bonus reissue of the “Change” 7″ single in its original “fishnet” sleeve.

Both versions are out in the U.K. October 21. Hit the jump to place your orders (thus far, only Amazon U.K. links for the four-disc variant exist) and check out the track list!

Reissue Theory: Tears for Fears, “The Hurting: 30th Anniversary Edition”

Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we spotlight notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. Thirty years ago today, one of the best synth-rock bands of the 1980s released their first full-length album – as good a time as any to champion the career of Tears for Fears!

“Is it an horrific dream?
Am I sinking fast?”

– “The Hurting,” Tears for Fears

From the beginning of the first side of Tears for Fears’ debut LP, it’s honestly kind of hard to predict where they’d end up. Maybe that’s the secret to their intrigue all these years later – if not the catchy melodies and dense lyrics of their body of work.

On March 7, 1983, Phonogram Records in the U.K. issued the band’s first full-length record, The Hurting, and further pushed them down the path to international success. That said, TFF still don’t truly get their due as a group – which brings us to this revisitation of the record that started it all, so to speak.

Of course, the TFF story actually begins much earlier, somewhere in the late 1970s in the sleepy town of Bath, England. Teenagers Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith meet and decide to pool their mutual interests in making music. They first join a local group called Neon, who become known far more for what their members would accomplish after the group broke up. (Drummer Manny Elias and guitarist Neil Taylor would work with Tears for Fears throughout the next decade, while principal members/songwriters Pete Byrne and Rob Fisher formed the successful synth-pop duo Naked Eyes.)

Their first fully-formed group, a mod-cum-New Wave group called Graduate, nicks the lowest dregs of the charts and break up during the sessions for their second album. By that point, Orzabal and Smith are far less interested in making straightforward pop/rock and, despite their proficiency with stringed instruments (Orzabal on guitar, Smith on bass), experiment with synthesizers and more overt New Wave styles of production.

Also notable alongside the tonal shift is an increasing interest in psychology and its thematic effect on the duo’s songwriting. Orzabal, in particular, whose family life is decidedly non-traditional (his father managed local entertainers before suffering a nervous breakdown), becomes attracted to the works of Arthur Janov, whose primal scream therapy was championed by John Lennon in the immediate aftermath of The Beatles’ breakup. Directly inspired by a passage in The Primal Scream, Orzabal and Smith change their band name from History of Headaches to Tears for Fears, and pen songs full of drama and angst but with surprisingly deft musical chops to back it up, combining gurgling keyboard riffs courtesy of keyboardist Ian Stanley with muscular rock hooks and distinctive vocals from the full-throated tenor of Orzabal as well as the more introspective Smith. Elias’ strong drumming rounded out the initial lineup, although Orzabal and Smith have long been considered the major nucleus of the band, particularly after Stanley and Elias departed in the late ’80s.

Tears for Fears were signed to Phonogram in 1981 and get to work on several singles – none of which you’ll easily find on CD. The history behind those tracks – and the ones you know – are after the jump!

Reissue Theory: Tears for Fears, “Big Ideas: The Singles 1982-1993”

Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable albums and the reissues they may someday see. In honor of a recent milestone for one of the ’80s’ best synthpop bands, we present the idea of something their catalogue doesn’t have but could totally need: a box set.

Our friends at Slicing Up Eyeballs reminded us yesterday that March 7, 1983 was the day that Phonogram Records (and Mercury in the U.S.) released The Hurting, the debut album by British synth-rockers Tears for Fears. Anchored by singer/guitarist Roland Orzabal and singer/bassist Curt Smith, a pair of boyhood friends from the small English town of Bath, TFF would gain major worldwide success by the middle of the decade and enjoy a brief, deserved critical resurgence in the early 2000s for their early hits, as utilized in film and television projects.

The TFF catalogue has been generally well served on CD in the past decade or so. In 1996, after Orzabal (who had parted ways with Smith in the early ’90s) left Mercury for Epic, their parent company PolyGram issued a great B-sides compilation, Saturnine Martial and Lunatic; three years later, the Orzabal/Smith albums – The Hurting, Songs from the Big Chair (1985) and The Seeds of Love (1989) – were remastered and expanded. Big Chair received a double-disc expansion in 2006, and the sole Epic album, 1995’s Raoul and the Kings of Spain, received a great expansion by Cherry Pop Records in 2009. (That’s not even counting the many compilations released by Polygram and later Universal Music Group.)

But one catalogue accolade has eluded them for years: a proper, career-spanning box set.

Curt Was Mayfield – and Now It’s Reissued

Here’s an under-the-radar catalogue release for your consideration this week: a reissue of Mayfield, a nice little solo album by Curt Smith, one-half of synth-rock legends Tears for Fears.

Unless you’re a major ’80s pop geek, you’d probably be okay with having no idea who made up the membership of Tears for Fears. But most of our readers probably know that singer/guitarist Roland Orzabal and singer/bassist Curt Smith made the nucleus of the band that gave us “Mad World,” “Shout,” “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” and “Sowing the Seeds of Love” during the ’80s before seemingly disappearing from the radar in the 1990s.

Of course, that’s simply not the case, either. Orzabal and Smith had an acrimonious falling out, likely brought upon by the stress of consistent recording and touring for a decade (essentially since the end of both mens’ teenage years). Orzabal pushed on with the TFF moniker, releasing two incredibly underrated albums in the mid-’90s, while Smith released one all-but-forgotten album in the U.K. in 1993, reportedly to fulfill the remainder of his contract with PolyGram.

But before TFF ultimately reunited in the mid-2000s (and continue to tour overseas), Smith did engage in some musical experiments on his own. One of them was Mayfield, a 1998 project that saw Smith fronting a modest live band. (This ensemble was the first of many collaborations between Smith and guitarist Charlton Pettus, who co-wrote all of Mayfield‘s songs and worked on Tears for Fears’ Everybody Loves a Happy Ending in 2004.) As Smith himself remarks in the liner notes of the reissue, “The premise was to not use my name…and just try to rediscover the joys of playing music live.”

The record, reissued on Smith’s own KOOK Media (partly, as he admits, to satiate both fan demand and to make some money off the album, the original distributor having long since shuttered), features new artwork and one bonus track, a re-recording of the original album’s “Trees” with vocal instrumentalist Janice Whaley (best known for her work as The Smiths Project, a fascinating, a cappella cover of The Smiths’ entire discography).

The album is available through all digital retailers now, and is physically available through Amazon U.S. as a disc-on-demand title. Smith will also announce a deluxe bundle edition later this month.

You know where to find the track list.

Reissue Theory: Live Aid on CD

Twenty-six years ago today, on two different continents, the music world came together for a worthy cause: to raise awareness of famine in Ethiopia. Live Aid, a pair of concerts organized by Bob Geldof in London and Philadelphia on July 13, 1985 and broadcasted live on the BBC, ABC and MTV, was seen in person by some 172,000 people and on television by nearly 2 billion across the globe.

And, if you can believe it, none of it has ever been released on LP or CD.

Granted, it’s not entirely unsurprising. Geldof promised artists that the performances were very much a one-off, never to be seen past the initial broadcast. (That of course turned out to be untrue, with the release of a four-disc DVD set in 2004.) But you have to wonder, given not only the fiercely charitable nature of the organization as well as the capitalistic nature of the music industry, why a commemorative album was never put out to raise even more money for charities.

But if they did, this is how it might go down.

The Weekend Wround-Up: Twisted Sister, Mayfield Updates and More

• Curt Smith, vocalist/bassist for Tears for Fears, is set to reissue one of his earlier solo projects this summer. Mayfield (1998) was Smith’s second album, recorded under the same name as the record (Curt is Mayfield – get it?). It’ll feature a new track, a new recording of the song “Trees.” Smith talks about the album and other projects in this interview with social networking site Flavors.
• Demon Music Group’s Harmless imprint is releasing another compilation of rare grooves mixed by one Tom Moulton. Some of the disco legend’s earliest works are covered here, some obscure (First Choice, The Quickest Way Out), others less so (the Loose Change and TJM albums were recently reissued by Big Break Records). The track list is after the jump of this post.
• Looking for some more background on the deluxe edition of Twisted Sister’s Under the Blade? Addicted to Vinyl has you covered.
• Here’s one we totally overlooked from our friends at MusicTAP: this Tuesday, Virgin is reissuing Australian rockers Sick Puppies’ latest album, 2009’s Tri-Polar. The album will be expanded with a bonus disc featuring this year’s unplugged EP Polar Opposite, three non-LP B-sides and a new track. That’s quite a package!
• And finally, some music geek-intensive notes you may have missed: check out the Library of Congress’ National Jukebox, which features rare masters owned by Sony Music from their entire catalogue (Columbia, OKeh, Victor and other labels) up to 1925. And Rhino’s famed RMAT (Rhino Musical Aptitude Test), issued to record stores across the country long ago, is back as an app! Better get those trivia muscles flexing; it looks like there’ll be a contest soon…