There's a reissue riot going on and you're invited to attend. Out-print-albums are being given a second chance on CD. In-print albums are being remastered and expanded. In most cases it's a win-win situation for the consumer and the artist.
For The Ethel Merman Disco Album (Fynsworth Alley), originally released in 1979 on A&M Records, Merman, the immortal star of stage and screen, with the larger-than-life voice, actually went into a recording studio and re-recorded some of her best-loved songs ('There's No Business Like Show Business,' 'Everything's Coming Up Roses,' 'I Get A Kick Out Of You,' 'Some People,' and 'I Got Rhythm,' to name a few) to a thumping vintage disco beat and accompanying synthesizer flourishes. Some of the songs even have the required female backing vocals (provided by Marilyn Jackson and Stephanie Spruill) of the era. A slightly ominous, but campy ambience surrounds the project. Is it delight or desperation? I guess that depends on your mood and your memories of the period. The previously unreleased bonus track 'They Say It's Wonderful' comes close to being just that. Can a Thunderpuss remix of 'Alexander's Ragtime Band' be far behind?
Diana (a.k.a. Diane) Ross's post-Supremes Motown solo albums were often a mixed bag. There are classic projects such as the sensually elegant Richard Perry-produced Baby It's Me, the exuberant Ashford & Simpson collaboration The Boss, and the groundbreaking Diana, co-produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rogers of Chic fame. To Love Again (Motown) was more of a hodge-podge, the unifying element being Michael Masser's songwriting. Ross, who recorded a Masser song in 1973 (the hit single 'Touch Me In The Morning'), had established herself as an interpreter of his songs (long before Whitney Houston came along), and she did right by the songwriter. Beginning with the opening power ballad, 'It's My Turn,' co-written by Masser and Carole Bayer Sager (for a completely forgettable Jill Clayburgh/Michael Douglas movie), the album also includes Ross's renditions of over-the-top Masser co-compositions such as 'Stay With Me,' 'One More Chance,' and the title track (all co-written with the legendary Gerry Goffin), to mention a few. The original album has more than doubled in size, and continues the musical mishmash theme, drawing on recordings from various periods of Ross's erratic Motown career.
At around the same time in the early 1980s that Miss Ross's To Love Again was released, we were introduced to an unusual band from down under known as Men At Work, known for, among other things, lead singer Colin Hay's distinctive vocals and Greg Ham's sax playing. When it was first released, their debut disc Business As Usual (Columbia/ Legacy), now available in an expanded reissue, was a mega-selling chart-topper that yielded a pair of huge singles—'Who Can It Be Now?' and 'Down Under' (with the now-infamous reference to the Australian delicacy —the 'vegemite sandwich'). The quintet was willing to clown around for music video directors and made a name for themselves on MTV. Sadly, more than 20 years after winning the 1982 Best New Artist Grammy, the album sounds like nothing more than a novelty item. Men At Work's second album, Cargo (Columbia/ Legacy), which contained the single 'Overkill,' is also available in an expanded version.
Speaking of 1982, that was the year that insurgent country godfathers Green On Red released its self-titled seven song EP. Equal parts cow-punk and paisley underground (a psychedelic garage concoction), Green On Red also sounded like they owed as much of a debt to Neil Young and Crazy Horse as they did to The Dream Syndicate. The EP, along with the band's 1985 breakthrough full-length album Gas Food Lodging are now available on an expanded disc simply titled Green On Red (Restless/Rykodisc). It's interesting to be able to hear the band's three-year evolution all at once. The reissue also includes two bonus tracks, one of which, ironically, is 'Gas Food Lodging,' which was left off of the original album. A valuable musical history lesson for both the new generation of garage rockers and the alt-country crowd.
Me'Shell Ndegeocello did a stunning cover of the Bill Withers song 'Who Is He (And What Is He To You)?' on her '96 disc Peace Beyond Passion. Withers's original version is on the expanded reissue of Still Bill (Columbia/Legacy). The album is probably most notable for the trio of songs at its center—'Lean On Me,' 'Use Me,' and 'Kissing My Love'—all three of which were big hits for Withers. In fact, the chart-topping 'Lean On Me' was one of the best-selling songs of 1972, while 'Use Me' peaked at No. 2. At a time when vintage R&B and soul are undergoing a well-deserved resurgence in popularity, Still Bill (which includes two live bonus tracks) is still relevant.
Clear across the musical spectrum, listeners are given some insight into a clean-shaven, shorter-haired Willie Nelson on Crazy: The Demo Sessions (Sugar Hill). Nelson, who began his long career as a songwriter for others, recorded these demos (some of which are bare-bones versions of the songs), including 'Three Days,' 'Darkness On The Face of the Earth,' 'Things To Remember,' and 'Crazy,' between 1960 and 1966. This collection also includes 'I'm Still Here,' a previously unreleased song.
Willie Nelson undoubtedly paved the way for the influential insurgent country scene, and one band from that realm, Uncle Tupelo, has had its first three albums, No Depression, Still Feel Gone, and March 16-20, 1993 (all on Columbia/Legacy) reissued in expanded editions that include previously unreleased studio and live tracks. Uncle Tupelo's cause is also helped by the fact that founding members Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) and Jay Farrar have gone on to have successful musical careers with their post-UT work.
Speaking of country with a punk-influence, I look forward to the day that Rhino Records reissues Elvis Costello's 1981 'country' album Almost Blue. Until that time, I have three more expanded-edition Costello reissues—Armed Forces, Imperial Bedroom and Mighty Like A Rose (all on Rhino) to occupy me. All three have bonus discs with additional tracks including alternate and live versions. Armed Forces and Imperial Bedroom have long been considered to be two of Costello's most accomplished recordings and listening to them now, 24 and 20 years, respectively, after their initial releases, it's easy to understand why. Costello's songs stand the test of time and, in fact, improve with age. 'Accidents Will Happen,' 'Party Girl,' 'Moods For Moderns,' 'Two Little Hitlers,' and the cover of album producer Nick Lowe's '(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?' (especially poignant at this time) on Armed Forces, sound fresher than just about anything you'll hear on the radio today. The same, and then some, holds true for Imperial Bedroom, which contains masterpieces such as 'The Long Honeymoon,' 'Man Out Of Time,' 'Almost Blue,' 'Beyond Belief,' 'Tears Before Bedtime,' and 'Town Cryer.' The disappointing Mighty Like A Rose, Costello's second album from the Warner Brothers phase of his career (minus his band The Attractions), includes a couple more of his collaborations with Paul McCartney (see 1989's Spike), but that can't redeem this thorny effort.
The self-titled major-label debut albums by Robin Lane & The Chartbusters and Pearl Harbor & The Explosions, both released by Warner Brothers in 1980, are now available on compact disc from Collectors' Choice Music. Representing the music scenes in cities on the bay—Pearl Harbor in San Francisco and Lane in Boston, both albums contained catchy punk/new wave tunes that received airplay on college and alternative radio stations. I was living in Boston at the time and I remember hearing 'Drivin'' and 'Shut Up and Dance' by Pearl Harbor and 'Don't Cry' and 'When Things Go Wrong' by Lane all the time. These reissues provide an opportunity for new listeners to discover these underrated performers.
Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd, two members of the influential, but short-lived, seventies NYC punk band Television, didn't waste any time in releasing solo albums after the initial breakup of the group in 1978. Verlaine's self-titled album and Lloyd's Alchemy, both originally released by Elektra, and currently reissued by Collector's Choice Music on CD, maintain the garage-element of Television, and are excellent resources for those caught up in the garage-rock revival.
