Release Round-Up: Week of July 3

Jellyfish, Live at Bogart’s (Omnivore)

A fine 1991 gig from the criminally underrated power pop band, captured on CD and three sides of vinyl.

Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits (Audio Fidelity)

The Bard’s first compilation gets the 24K gold disc treatment.

Elton John, Classic Album Selection (Universal U.K.)

Elton fans have a neat little budget compilation of studio albums to look forward to (from 1970’s self-titled album to 1973’s Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player).

Small Faces, Odgens’ Nut Gone Flake: Deluxe Edition (Snapper Music)

A triple-disc expansion of the seminal 1968 album, featuring mono and stereo mixes as well as an assortment of treasures from the vault.

Ray Parker, Jr. and Raydio, Two Places in the Same Time / A Woman Needs Love / The Other Woman / Woman Out of Control: Expanded Editions (Funkytowngrooves)

Raydio’s last two albums, and the “Ghostbusters” hitmaker’s first two solo efforts (including the excellent, undeservedly-forgotten hit “The Other Woman”), newly remastered and expanded.

The Searchers, Hearts in Their Eyes: Celebrating 50 Years of Harmony and Jangle (Sanctuary/Universal)

From Liverpool’s other ’60s hitmakers, a four-disc set of hits and rarities.

Bronski Beat, The Age of Consent/Hundreds and Thousands / Communards, Commundards / Red/Storm Paris: Deluxe Editions (Edsel)

Jimmy Somerville’s one album with the Bronski Beat and subsequent two with his own group the Communards get the double-disc expansion treatment in the U.K. from Demon Music Group.

George McCrae, Rock Your Baby: Expanded Edition (Big Break Records)

A disco classic gets the usual expanded treatment from BBR.

Needles and Pins: Searchers Box Set Finally Back on Schedule

Back on July 26, 2010, we reported on Sweets, Spice, Sugar, Pins and Needles, a 4-CD, 120-track boxed retrospective dedicated to The Searchers, the second-most famous band to emerge from Liverpool during the British Invasion!  We wrote:

One of the best and most successful bands to come out of Liverpool, The Searchers may have toiled in the shadow of that other band from Liverpool, but hits like “Sugar and Spice,” “Pins and Needles” and “When You Walk in the Room” remain some of the strongest recordings to come out of the mid-1960s. Now, Universal U.K.’s Sanctuary arm is bestowing the band with the lavish box set treatment. Entitled Sweets, Spice, Sugar, Pins and Needles, the box turns the spotlight on 120 tracks over four discs. Those tracks include rough demos, BBC recordings, solo turns by group members and material from the late-1970s power pop discs released here in the USA on the Sire label, not to mention all of those classic hit singles.

This box comes hot on the heels of a recent single-disc anthology which saw the band back in a Top 10 position on the British pop charts, but it should satisfy fans both abroad and stateside. The Searchers may have suffered for a lack of original songwriting, but the cover versions they chose were almost uniformly top-notch, whether emanating from the East or West Coasts of America. Sun-kissed songs like Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono’s “Needles and Pins” and Jackie DeShannon’s “When You Walk in the Room” both were reworked a la Merseyside, while the Brill Building catalogs of Pomus and Shuman (“Sweets for My Sweet”) and Leiber and Stoller (“Love Potion No. 9”) were likewise beneficiaries of the Searchers’ hitmaking prowess. Release date information and the track listing for Sweets, Spice, Sugar, Pins and Needles hasn’t been revealed to the public yet (although favorable reviews have shown up at both Record Collector and Mojo), but watch this space for such news when it arrives.

Well, it’s taken almost two years, but The Searchers’ box set has finally been confirmed with a release date of June 25 as well as a new title: Hearts in Their Eyes.  Hit the jump for the full specs including a track listing with discography!

British Invasion, Redux: New Sets Due from The Searchers and Petula Clark

While the original British Invasion is now just a few years south of 50, its music continues to endure. The Second Disc is pleased to report on a trio of new releases coming our way from two of the U.K.’s seminal artists, The Searchers and Petula Clark.

One of the best and most successful bands to come out of Liverpool, The Searchers may have toiled in the shadow of that other band from Liverpool, but hits like “Sugar and Spice,” “Pins and Needles” and “When You Walk in the Room” remain some of the strongest recordings to come out of the mid-1960s. Now, Universal U.K.’s Sanctuary arm is bestowing the band with the lavish box set treatment. Entitled Sweets, Spice, Sugar, Pins and Needles, the box turns the spotlight on 120 tracks over four discs. Those tracks include rough demos, BBC recordings, solo turns by group members and material from the late-1970s power pop discs released here in the USA on the Sire label, not to mention all of those classic hit singles.

This box set comes hot on the heels of a recent single-disc anthology which saw the band back in a Top 10 position on the British pop charts, but this box set should satisfy fans both abroad and stateside. The Searchers may have suffered for a lack of original songwriting, but the cover versions they chose were almost uniformly top-notch, whether emanating from the East or West Coasts of America. Sun-kissed songs like Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono’s “Needles and Pins” and Jackie DeShannon’s “When You Walk in the Room” both were reworked a la Merseyside, while the Brill Building catalogs of Pomus and Shuman (“Sweets for My Sweet”) and Leiber and Stoller (“Love Potion No. 9”) were likewise beneficiaries of the Searchers’ hitmaking prowess. Release date information and the track listing for Sweets, Spice, Sugar, Pins and Needles hasn’t been revealed to the public yet (although favorable reviews have shown up at both Record Collector and Mojo), but watch this space for such news when it arrives.

Under the pen name Fred Nightingale, Pye Records staff producer Tony Hatch wrote and produced one of The Searchers’ most enduring hits, “Sugar and Spice.” But Hatch’s biggest claim to fame may be the landmark recordings he wrote and produced for Petula Clark, often in tandem with then-wife and collaborator Jackie Trent, and sometimes with Petula herself. Clark was to Hatch what Dionne Warwick was to Burt Bacharach, or Nancy Sinatra to Lee Hazelwood: a muse and perfect interpreter. The Petula Clark Newsletter is reporting some most exciting news: Collector’s Choice is said to be preparing an entry for Petula in its acclaimed Complete Singles series. Past volumes have seen the singles of Paul Revere and The Raiders, Tommy James and The Shondells, Jan and Dean, and Gary Lewis and The Playboys collected; Clark’s large, diverse body of work is the perfect candidate for this expansive treatment.

The 2-CD set will comprise all of Petula’s American singles released on the Warner Bros. label, with many tracks different than their album counterparts. The B-sides frequently featured Clark’s own compositions, with strong production from Hatch and company. (Hatch isn’t the only producer represented, however.) Like Collector’s Choice’s past complete singles sets, this should be a must-buy for any fan of the era. It’s currently unknown whether Warner-era EPs, promos or other ephemera will be included. But the label has offered exclusive Clark releases in the past, including last year’s collection of Christmas recordings and a love songs compilation, and neither release disappointed, so this set is likely to be filled with whatever material is available. The release date is rumored to be this fall, and more updates will be posted as they arrive.

But this isn’t the only exciting news for Petula Clark fans. Clark actually began her recording career in 1949 while in her teenage years, reinventing herself as the exciting mod girl of “Downtown” and “I Know A Place” under Hatch’s aegis in Swinging London circa 1964. After her impressive run of hit singles concluded, Clark remade herself yet again, turning her talents to the musical theatre stage. While in recent years she has starred in such productions as Blood Brothers and Sunset Boulevard, and even written a musical of her own (Someone Like You), Petula’s first stage triumph was headlining a 1981 London revival of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. While CBS/Epic recorded the production, it’s remained unreleased in the compact disc era. Joe Boy Records, typically devoted to the “Rehab Soul Movement,” has unearthed this long-lost LP and will be releasing it via “Pet Sounds International” on September 27 in the United Kingdom. As Maria, the role originated by Mary Martin and immortalized on film by Julie Andrews, Petula sings on 10 of the album’s 18 tracks. Other cast members include June Bronhill, Michael Jayston and Honor Blackman. As a special bonus, the CD will include both sides of the Epic single pressed to celebrate Petula’s run in the show: “Edelweiss,” from the musical, b/w the non-LP side “Darkness.”  The B-side is especially rare, and a welcome surprise.

Hit the jump for a look at Petula Clark’s Warner Bros. singles, plus the track listing and discographical information for Petula’s The Sound of Music!