Release Round-Up: Week of April 10

Howard Jones, One to One / Cross That Line / In the Running: Remastered Edition (Dtox)

HoJo’s last set of remasters is a five disc set featuring his last three Warner-era albums from 1986 to 1992, plus two generous discs of B-sides and remixes. Parts of this era are really underrated, and if this box is as loving as the last one was, it may well earn your everlasting love.

Various Artists, Philadelphia International Classics: The Tom Moulton Mixes (Harmless)

This gorgeous four-disc set, coming from the U.K., features some of PIR’s greatest hits and deepest cuts, all mixed (or newly remixed) by disco master Tom Moulton. There’s a whole hard-to-find vintage remix album in here, along with some other great 12″ single masters.

World Party, Arkaeology (Seaview/Fontana)

Five discs of unreleased goodies from Karl Wallinger’s famed band, plus diary packaging for you to create with. (Sorry, U.K. fans, we’re actually getting this one first; the international release date is later.)

Kraftwerk, The Catalogue (MoMA Edition) (Kling Klang/Astralwerks)

The electronic icons first put their last eight remastered albums into a box in 2009. Now, to coincide with a weeklong residency at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, they’re reissuing that box through the MoMA exclusively, with new artwork.

Gilbert O’Sullivan, I’m a Writer Not a Fighter: Deluxe Edition (Salvo)

Released in the U.K. last week, Gilbert’s third album comes expanded with four additional tracks from single sides and includes the hit “Get Down.”

Bette Midler, Live at Last (Friday Music)

The Divine Miss M’s first live album (and a double, at that!) gets the red-carpet remaster treatment from Friday Music.

Madness, Forever Young: The Ska Collection (Salvo)

A compilation for everyone who might already know “Our House,” with a small helping of unreleased material for hardcore fans.

Release Round-Up: Week of January 31

Aretha Franklin, Knew You Were Waiting: The Best of 1980-1998 (Arista/Legacy)

The Queen of Soul’s comeback years, in a new anthology. Check back soon for a review from Joe as well as a Greater Hits from me stacking this set up to other compilations from this part of Aretha’s discography.

Various Artists, Golden Gate Groove: The Sound of Philadelphia Live in San Francisco 1973 (Philadelphia International/Legacy)

A sublime showcase of some of the best Philly soul in concert.

Various Artists, Giant Single: The Profile Records Rap Anthology (Arista/Legacy)

One of the most underrated hip-hop labels out there – home to Run-D.M.C. and DJ Rob Base and E-Z Rock – anthologized over two great discs.

The Tymes, So Much in Love (Real Gone)

The first-ever CD release for a ’60s classic, with four bonus tracks, no less!

Bonnie Pointer, Bonnie Pointer: Expanded Edition / Isaac Hayes, Don’t Let Go: Expanded Edition (Big Break)

The U.K. soul label’s latest expanded reissues.

Metallica, Beyond Magnetic (Warner Bros.)

A physical release for this EP of outtakes from Metallica’s last album, Death Magnetic.

Various Playlist releases (Legacy)

You know the drill on this one.

A Little Bit o’ Soul: A Busy Fall from Big Break and Superbird

Funky Town Grooves announced quite a lineup of soul classics to hit shelves this fall, as reported yesterday by The Second Disc, and we’re happy to follow up with news of the latest exciting releases coming from two Cherry Red labels across the pond, Big Break Records and Superbird.

First up, Big Break (BBR) delves further into the Philadelphia International (PIR) catalogue, dormant here in the United States but also being mined concurrently by the U.K.’s Edsel label. September 20 sees the release of Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes’ 1973 LP Black & Blue, the group’s second for the label, with the chart-topping single “The Love I Lost” anchoring a typically-strong set of Gamble and Huff productions including an unusual, jazzy take on John Kander and Fred Ebb’s Broadway classic “Cabaret.” Black & Blue will be bolstered by the inclusion of two rare single edits. October 11 will then bring the group’s PIR debut, I Miss You, which contains among its songs the indelible “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” and the Thom Bell-arranged title track. Three single edits and a live version of “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” round out its four bonus tracks. This album is better-known by its eponymous title of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, but Big Break’s edition restores the original title and artwork. Both titles’ liner notes draw from a new interview with ace Philly arranger Bobby Eli.

Also on October 11, BBR releases the latest in its Three Degrees series, which previously has seen the trio’s PIR debut and a post-PIR effort for Ariola (New Dimensions) both restored to print. International was the group’s second album for Gamble and Huff’s label, and while known on its original U.K. release by the title of its hit single “Take Good Care of Yourself,” it is restored for this edition to its original name. The CD features six bonus tracks making it truly International: five foreign language versions from the rare Japanese version of the album (including a song sung in French but released only in Japan!) and a great Tom Moulton remix of “TSOP.”

Another singer with a Philly connection, Deniece Williams, finds her When Love Comes Calling (CDBBR0017) reissued, following BBR’s expansion last month of Songbird (CDBBR0009). This 1979 album was originally released on Maurice White’s ARC label, with Williams embracing disco head-on under the supervision of producers David Foster and Ray Parker, Jr. Bonus tracks include two rare disco remixes and one single edit. Evelyn “Champagne” King is another name hallowed in dance circles. Her 1977 RCA debut Smooth Talk (CDBBR0015) follows the label’s reissue of 1980’s Get Loose (CDBBR0006) and includes smash hits “Shame” and “I Don’t Know If It’s Right.” Both songs are heard three times on this expanded reissue, including each original album version, 12” disco remix and the single edit. Yet more names familiar to Philly soul fans appear on Smooth Talk: Dexter Wansel, Bunny Sigler and Don Renaldo, while Teddy Pendergrass (of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes!) actually co-wrote one song, “Dancin’, Dancin’, Dancin’.”

Williams and King aren’t the only disco survivors to reappear on Big Break this fall. A Taste of Honey, the hitmakers behind “Boogie Oogie Oogie,” will have their first two LPs expanded on October 25: 1978’s self-titled debut LP (CDBBR0016) now contains three different mixes of “Boogie.” 1979’s second album, accurately named Another Taste (CDBBR0019), didn’t produce another big hit but carries the same exciting sound as the first set, with both produced by Fonce Mizell and Larry Mizell. Another Taste offers alternate versions of “I Love You” and “Do It Good” as bonus material.

Earth Wind & Fire had much success in the disco and funk fields, and the group remains active today and still a perennial on the summer concert circuit. BBR has unearthed the horn-driven group’s 1980 double-LP, Faces (CDBBR0014), for release on September 27. Despite being released in arguably the group’s prime, Faces has long been lost; Big Break rectifies this with an expanded edition. Faces gains three bonus tracks: single mixes of “You” (which went Top 10 R&B) and “And Love Goes On,” and the 12” remix of “Let Me Talk.”

Finally, fellow Cherry Red label Superbird offers a much sought-after album by a true legend of the soul, R&B and disco genres: Van McCoy. While McCoy may today be best-remembered for “The Hustle,” his 1975 dance craze, his CV was actually one of the most impressive in popular music, making him far more than just a one-hit wonder. After penning singles for Gladys Knight and The Pips, Brenda and The Tabulations, Ruby and The Romantics, Jackie Wilson, Barbara Lewis and others, Columbia signed McCoy for a solo LP, hoping to mold the soulful singer/producer/songwriter into a crooner of the Johnny Mathis style. Mathis had recently defected to Mercury, and so Columbia’s Mitch Miller brought McCoy into the studio in 1966 for Night Time is Lonely Time (SBIRD0032CD). On the September 27 release, you’ll hear McCoy’s smooth renditions of standards like “How High the Moon,” “I Get Along Without You Very Well” and Cole Porter’s “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye,” but he also recorded a few of his own compositions. Premier string arranger Glenn Osser, who had worked with Mathis, provided the same duty for McCoy’s long player. Night Time is Lonely Time has long been unavailable; while squarely aimed at the “adult” record market of 1966, it’s nonetheless a missing link worth seeking out for fans of the multi-faceted McCoy’s more soulful endeavors. (His career as a writer/producer has been anthologized by Ace on The Sweetest Feeling: A Van McCoy Songbook 1962-1973 and the label promises another volume in its stellar McCoy series soon.)

All Big Break titles can be pre-ordered directly from the label here, while Superbird’s Van McCoy reissue can be pre-ordered here. Like all Cherry Red titles, however, they can also be ordered from the usual suspects!  Hit the jump for full track listings and discographical information for each title.

Wake Up, Everybody: Edsel Reissues Seven from Philadelphia International

When Sony Music Entertainment reacquired the rights to the full Philadelphia International Records (PIR) catalog in 2007 (after losing control of the post-1976 output in 1984 to EMI), hopes were high that much of that storied hit factory’s catalogue would finally be reissued on CD. Arguably the 1970s’ answer to Berry Gordy’s Motown empire, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff’s label boasted a top-notch roster: Lou Rawls, The O’Jays, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Teddy Pendergrass, The Three Degrees and the smokin’ hot house band MFSB, just to name a few. But after a promising start (rarities compilation Conquer the World, the outstanding box set Love Train: The Sound of Philadelphia, which also took in non-PIR artists sharing the Philly sound, and a few album reissues under the Total Soul Classics banner), the releases dried up, and to date, the only other exploitation of the catalogue has come via scattered entries in series like The Essential and Playlist.

Thankfully, Britain’s Edsel Records has picked up the slack. Edsel had previously released a number of PIR titles on CD in the early part of the decade, but they have reactivated their already-impressive reissue program in 2010 with a number of new releases designed for both the deep Philly fan and the novice listener. All seven titles released to date boast liner notes by soul authority Tony Rounce and some are making their first-ever CD debuts. Hit the jump to find out which albums are in the series, along with full discographical info and track listings, Second Disc-style!