The first three Blancmange albums – Happy Families (1982), Mange Tout (1984) and Believe You Me (1985) – will be reissued on CD and vinyl LP in December.
Lead vocalist Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe’s gently surreal, quintessentially English sensibilities set them apart from their synth-pop contemporaries from the start – Mute Records founder Daniel Miller memorably called them the “Maiden Aunts of techno”. As did their embrace of Middle Eastern melodies and Indian instrumentation on tracks such as the hits ‘Living On The Ceiling’ and ‘Don’t Tell Me’, which featured master tabla player Pandit Dinesh and Deepak Khazanchi on sitar.
The vinyl editions are straightforward reissues, newly remastered, in various colours of transparent vinyl (Happy Families, orange; Mange Tout, green; Believe You Me, yellow).
Vinyl and CD on the artist shop come with signed cards
The CD versions each feature bonus tracks including B-sides, extended versions and remixes. While they aren’t as comprehensive as the 2017 media book sets – all of which were 3CD sets crammed with rarities – Happy Families and Mange Tout both feature tracks previously unavailable on CD. Happy Families includes remixes of ‘Living On The Ceiling’ by Richard Norris (previously available on 2019 RSD vinyl) and Roman Flügel (first released on a 2020 twelve-inch). Meanwhile, Mange Tout includes a Honey Dijon remix of ‘Blind Vision’ which was first released on another twelve-inches in 2020. Alas, Believe You Me doesn’t feature anything that hasn’t been released on CD before. At £6.99 on the artist shop – with a signed card – this is Blancmange for a trifle.
All three albums are reissued on 4 December 2026 via London.
The Nutty Boys’ Stiff Records years back on no-frills CD or vinyl
Madness will reissue their first five albums – One Step Beyond… (1979), Absolutely (1980), 7 (1981), The Rise & Fall (1982) and Keep Moving (1984) – on vinyl and CD in January.
The reissues track their progression from 2 Tone upstarts to one of the nation’s most beloved groups, a period which saw them score an astonishing 16 UK Top 10 singles. All five albums will be available on vinyl (either 180gm black or 180gm coloured) and CD. The vinyl reissues will all feature new remasters, “cut from transfers of the original quarter-inch master tapes” (done in 2014) with the CDs using previous mastering.
Vinyl replica mini-LP CDs
The main selling point for these appear to be ‘paper sleeve’ mini-LP replica artwork for the CDs, which also include inserts with full lyrics and the coloured vinyl which will be one-time pressings.
Fab orchestral gear back on the shelves • CD and LP
Three of George Martin’s ’60s albums of orchestral arrangements of pop songs – Off The Beatle Track (1964), Help! (1965) and …And I Love Her (1966) – will be reissued on CD and vinyl to mark what would have been the legendary producer’s 100th birthday.
All three titles have been overseen by Martin’s son, Giles, and remastered from the original master tapes. The releases mark the first time that they’ve been reissued on vinyl for decades as well as their first CD release in the UK.
Off The Beatle Track was the first album that Martin released under his own name and, as the title suggests, was a collection of Lennon & McCartney covers. The album was released at the height of Beatlemania and Martin called upon no other than John Lennon for a witty sleeve note that began, “George Martin is a tall man”, before giving the producer his dues. This marks its first vinyl reissue since C5 Records put it out in 1988.
Help! was released in the US in September 1965, with a UK release following in mid-November. Intriguingly, the US version used working titles of Beatles songs, including ‘Auntie Gin’s Theme’ (‘I’ve Just Seen A Face’), ‘That’s A Nice Hat (Cap)’ (‘It’s Only Love’) and ‘Scrambled Egg’ (‘Yesterday’), leading to speculation that Martin’s versions were recorded before the Beatles finalised the songs – over to you Beatle sleuths! The version reissued here – its first time on vinyl since the mid-’60s – follows the UK tracklisting. For this album, Brian Epstein was on (rather more sober) sleevenote duties.
The following year, Martin cast his net a little further with …And I Love Her, adding easy listening arrangements of songs made famous by artists such as The Rolling Stones (‘Time Is On My Side’), The Righteous Brothers (‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling’) and Petula Clarke (‘Downtown’) to a further six Beatles covers. It also features ‘All Quiet On The Mersey Front’, a track Martin wrote for the Ferry Cross the Mersey soundtrack. The album hasn’t been reissued in the UK since its original release.
Off The Beatle Track, Help! and …And I Love Her are out on 6 November via Parlophone.
Cyndi Lauper will celebrate the 40th anniversary of her hit album True Colors with an expanded reissue, out as a 2LP set in December.
The pressure was on for Lauper’s second album. Her first, She’s So Unusual, had been a phenomenal success, selling a reported 16 million copies worldwide thanks to the smash hits ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’ and ‘Time After Time’. On its September 1986 release, True Colors saw her toning down the wacky, effervescent pop and synth ballads for a more mature sound. The title track was a case in point, an anthemic power ballad that became her second US No 1 and still resonates today.
“I’m grateful to the fans for embracing the range on the True Colors album – from ‘True Colors’ to ‘Boy Blue’ to ‘Change of Heart’ and my ‘What’s Going On’ cover,” Lauper says. “Yea, I took some risks. I wanted to grow. I was always hoping to become a great artist. To be remembered as someone who tried to push the boundaries a little. I’m lucky to have had partners and fans who embraced what I was doing. You start out wanting to make good music and you hope, also, to make a difference in people’s lives and do something forward in music. I didn’t know if I could, but I tried and people heard me. Thankfully.”
The 2LP edition will be pressed on “limited-edition” (no word on numbers) rainbow sprinkle vinyl and adds a previously unreleased song, ‘The River Cried’ to the original album as well as 11 tracks from Lauper’s show at Le Zenith, Paris, that was originally released on the 1987 VHS Cyndi Lauper In Paris.
The digital release is out now and adds another previously unreleased bonus track – Lauper’s cover of The Beatles’ ‘Across The Universe’ and a further six songs from the Paris gig. No CD version appears to be planned, which seems like an oversight considering that previous CD reissues have lacked any bonus material. Maybe Sony is still be recovering from the negative feedback received back in 2014, when She’s So Unusual was reissued as a 2CD deluxe edition, complete with a “reusable sticker set” and 3D backdrop and incomplete with ad hoc bonus tracks.
True Colors – 40th Anniversary Edition 2LP is out on 4 December 2026 via Sony Legacy.
7LP+7” or 4CD box set includes 16 previously unreleased tracks
Billy Bragg & Wilco have announced an expanded collection of their Mermaid Avenue sessions, out in December.
The collaboration came about when Woody Guthrie’s daughter, Nora, contacted Bragg in 1995 about writing music for a selection of completed lyrics that her father had never set to music. Bragg approached Wilco – who had just released their second album, the rootsy Being There – to take part in the project. Though Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy was initially sceptical, the enthusiasm of multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett eventually won out and over sessions in Chicago and Dublin from 1996-’97, the songs that made up 1998’s Mermaid Avenue came together. As well as Wilco’s John Stirratt (bass) and Ken Coomer (drums), they were joined by guests including Natalie Merchant, Eliza Carthy and blues guitarist Corey Harris.
Mermaid Avenue was a revelation, with Bragg and Wilco choosing lyrics that showed a different side of Guthrie to his political work, from winking wordplay (‘Hoodoo Voodoo’, ‘Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key’) to romance (‘Hesitating Beauty’, ‘She Came Along To Me’). The gorgeous ‘California Stars’ is still a staple of Wilco’s gigs today. There was also a playfulness to the music, where some might have been overly reverent. “I think there was a real suspicion of roots music and nostalgia in the band at the time we made Mermaid Avenue that helped us to be a bit more irreverent and unburdened by Woody’s legacy and the weight of the historical context than we had any right to be,” Tweedy wrote in his autobiography, Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back).
Two years later, a second volume emerged, featuring leftovers from the first album along with a clutch of new recordings, with highlights including Wilco’s gospel-tinged ‘Airline To Heaven’ and Bragg’s firecracker ‘All You Fascists’. In 2012, a third volume was added to the collection Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions, with gems such as Wilco’s mournful ‘When The Roses Bloom Again’ and Bragg’s bolshy ‘My Thirty Thousand’ emphasising the amount of quality material cooked up during the sessions.
And now there’s more. The expanded edition of The Complete Sessions adds an extra volume, entitled Alternates & Demos featuring 18 tracks, only two of which have been previously released – a live version of ‘California Stars’ and a Tweedy solo take on ‘At My Window Sad And Lonely’ (both of which are likely the versions included on Wilco’s 2014 rarities set Alpha Mike Foxtrot). Though the tracks are mostly demos and alternate versions of songs released across the three existing volumes, ‘Psalm’ and ‘Long & Hard’ look to be previously unheard songs and there’s also a newly unearthed Guthrie home demo of ‘Hesitating Beauty’, which ends the set.
The Complete Sessions is available as either a 7LP+7″ or 4CD deluxe set, both of which feature new sleevenotes from author Bob Mehr (Trouble Boys: The True Story Of The Replacements). The 7LP+7” set is pressed on 180gm vinyl and comes in a slipcase, while the 4CD set comes in a “5.5-inch portfolio book”. Though the 2012 set featured a DVD including the revealing making-of documentary Man In The Sand, there is no Blu-ray in this set.
The three original volumes will also be reissued individually on 180gm vinyl in a variety of colours – a boon for fans as prices of previous pressings have shot up (Vol I has had two pressings, the others one each). The first volume is available in four colours – black, white (indie retailers), red (Craft Recordings site exclusive) and red (Barnes & Noble exclusive). Vol II comes in three colours – black, white (indies) and yellow (Craft). And Vol III will be available ein black, white (indies) and salmon (Craft)
Mermaid Avenue – The Complete Sessions is out on 11 December 2026 via Craft Recordings.
Expanded with new mix of previously released 1982 Hammersmith show
UFO have announced an expanded reissue of their 1982 album, Mechanix, due December.
Sessions for Mechanix began in the lavish Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, before the album was completed in The Manor, Shipton-on-Clerwell, Oxfordshire. UFO’s latest recruit, multi-instrumentalist, Neil Carter (formerly of Wild Horses), was now fully bedded in and more creatively involved during the sessions. The band embraced a poppier sound – not least on the cover of Eddie Cochran’s ‘Something Else’ – which was later seen as a factor in the departure of founding member, bassist Pete Way, who left after touring the record to form Fastway with former Motörhead guitarist ‘Fast’ Eddie Clarke. Despite the upheaval, Mechanix became the band’s highest charting album in the UK, reaching No 8.
The latest in the band’s well-received reissue series, Mechanix will be available as either a 2CD digipak set or as a 3LP vinyl in a trifold sleeve. Both versions include the original album, newly mastered from the original tapes by engineer Brian Kehew, and a new mix of 11 tracks from the band’s 28 January 1982 show at Hammersmith (previously available on 2009’s The Official Bootleg Box Set 1975-1982 (2009) and 2013’s At The BBC – On Air 1974-1985). The CD set includes two tracks missing from the vinyl – Heel Of A Stranger (originally the B-Side of ‘Let It Rain’) and the single edit of ‘Back Into My Life’.
The set includes sleevenotes from Michael Hann featuring new interviews with Phil Mogg, Andy Parker, and Neil Carter, alongside previously unseen contemporary photographs. It’s neater than the 2009 reissue, which included the bonuses ‘Heel Of A Stranger’ and three songs recorded in March 1983, during the tour for the following album, Making Contact, but fans might’ve hoped that the vaults would contain some previously unheard material.
Mechanix is reissued on 4 December 2026 via Chrysalis.
Well-priced 2CD or 2LP expanded set includes piano and vocal versions
Elton John has announced an expanded 50th anniversary edition of his 10th studio album, RockOf The Westies, out in November.
Rock of The Westies was released in October 1975 – incredibly, less than five months after Captain Fantastic & The Brown Dirt Cowboy. It was recorded after John shook up his tried-and-tested band in search of a fuller sound. Davey Johnstone (guitar) and Ray Cooper (percussion) remained, while drummer Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee Murray were let go. John recruited Kenny Passarelli (bass), Roger Pope (drums) James Newton Howard (keyboards) and Caleb Quaye (guitar). He wasn’t messing around – amazingly, the new band’s first gig was headlining Wembley Stadium, with support including The Beach Boys, and weeks after first playing together, Rock Of The Westies sessions began at Caribou Ranch.
John wanted a heavier sound and he got it on the tough grooves of ‘Dan Dare (Pilot Of The Future)’, ‘Grow Some Funk Of Your Own’ and ‘Street Kids’, as well as the epic funk-rock opener ‘Medley: Yell Help / Wednesday’ featuring LaBelle on backing vocals. And the ballad ‘I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford)’ showed that lyricist Bernie Taupin’s fascination with Americana hadn’t wavered.
The 2CD and 2LP vinyl expanded editions feature the original plus piano and vocal versions of the entire album. While it has been confirmed that the 2CD edition uses the 2017 remaster, it’s not yet been confirmed that the same apples to the vinyl.
From the first taster, ‘Street Kids’, the piano and vocal versions look to be isolated tracks, rather than John demos. “I listened to the whole album again this year, stripped back to just the piano and vocals,” says John. “On ‘Street Kids’ there is a single, long piano riff throughout the whole song. And there’s absolutely not a single mistake on there. After all these years, I am still very proud of the quality of the musicianship on this record.”
The 2CD edition comes in a digipak with a 24-page booklet including new sleevenotes and archive photos. The 2LP gatefold set is pressed on ‘sea blue’ and ‘electric blue’ vinyl and includes a 16-page booklet (presumably reconfigured from the 2CD set). There is also a single LP edition available exclusively on John’s website pressed on “blue jay, baby blue and sunshine yellow tri-colour effect vinyl”.
In case you are wondering about a possible SDE blu-ray edition, no Atmos mix of this album has been created for this campaign. Interestingly, the front cover image has been colour adjusted slightly for this release.
Rock Of The Westies 50th Anniversary Edition is out on 20 November via UMR.
4CD or 2LP deluxe treatment for ‘Unbelievable’ hitmakers‘ debut
Cherry Red have will release expanded editions of EMF’s 1991 debut album Schubert Dip, in December, in 4CD and 2LP coloured vinyl editions.
Success came quickly for EMF. The indie-dance group formed in late 1989 in the Forest Of Dean and a year later they were in the UK Top 10 with the inescapable ‘Unbelievable’. The track would eventually reach No 3 in the Britain, was a Top 10 hit all over Europe and – even more incredibly – ended up reaching No 1 in the US. The band consolidated this success as ‘I Believe’ followed ‘Unbelievable’ in the top 10 in the UK and ‘Lies’ went top 20 in the USA. While they were never to hit those heights again, Schubert Dip was a hit, selling over a million in the US alone.
4CD set in a clamshell box
The clamshell box 4CD edition features the original album plus remixes, edits, live cuts and a 13-track set of previously unreleased demos recorded at Bath Moles Studio in May 1990. The 2LP set is pressed on translucent orange and green vinyland includes the original album plus a disc of selected remixes from the 4CD set. Both editions include a booklet with rare imagery, lyrics and sleevenotes with quotes from guitarist Ian Dench and lead singer James Atkin. This marks the first time that the album has been reissued with any bonus tracks at all.
Schubert Dip is out on 4 December 2026 via Cherry Red.
Sony will release the promotional compilation The World According To Clash in November.
The World According To Clash was originally put together by the band’s US label, Epic, back in 1982 and distributed to radio stations across the States just prior to the release of Combat Rock. Over time, the set – an all killer, no filler compilation featuring 11 of the band’s most enduring songs – has become sought-after among Clash completists.
OLD (left) and NEW (right) covers. An improvement? Leave a comment…
But puzzlingly, rather than a straight reissue of the original promo, which would at least have felt like a charming curio – Sony have rejigged the title, the tracklisting and changed the artwork. So ‘Magnificent Dance’, ‘This Is Radio Clash’ and ‘Police On My Back’ have been excised from the running order and replaced by ‘The Magnificent Seven’, ‘The Guns Of Brixton’ and ‘Spanish Bombs’ – perhaps an improvement in terms of the quality of the songs, but one that leaves the whole premise of the reissue a little moot. As does the change of artwork – rather than the bootleg-like original, a black and white image of the group has been photoshopped onto what looks suspiciously like an AI-generated illustration of a map of the world (see what they did there). It’s all rather underwhelming, neither-fish-nor-fowl compilation which doesn’t bode well for any 50th anniversary editions of The Clash’s catalogue.
Still, it’s available on CD (with poster of the new cover) and LP – pressed on either red (via indies) or orange vinyl.
The World According To The Clash is out on 13 November 2026 via Sony Legacy.
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Clash, The
The World According to The Clash - orange vinyl LP
4CD or two 2LP sets • No physical release of Dolby Atmos mix
Peter Gabrielhas announced a new studio album, o\i, to be released in November.
As the name suggests, o\i is a companion piece to 2023’s i/o. Ten of the new album’s 13 tracks have already been released as digital singles this year as part of Gabriel’s ‘full moon’ project (a video message and new track each full moon). ‘Who Are We Talking To?’, ‘Yes, It Will Go On’ and ‘Sacrament’ have yet to be released, though fans have speculated that ‘Who Are We Talking To?’ is a new version of ‘Radio Everyone’, a 2015 song composed for a United Nations campaign.
Like its predecessor, o\i is available in two mixes – ‘Bright-Side’ (mixed by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent) and ‘Dark-Side’ (mixed by Tchad Blake, with the exception of ‘Who Are We Talking To?’, which is mixed by Mike Elizondo). The 4CD set features both mixes (as with the last album, you cannot buy either separately on CD) while ‘Bright-Side’ and ‘Dark-Side’ are currently only available on vinyl as separate 2LP sets.
At the time of writing, there are four variants of each of the 2LP sets. ‘Bright-Side’ will be available on either black, opaque green, neon green or translucent green vinyl. ‘Dark-Side’ will be out on either black, neon pink, neon vinyl or translucent purple vinyl.
Following his Grammy win for the Dolby Atmos of i/o, Hans-Martin Buff is again responsible for the Atmos mix (aka the ‘Inside-Mix’) which will be available digitally, though no physical release has been announced. i/o was released as a 2CD+blu-ray edition and later, a box set including both mixes on CD and vinyl, plus the Atmos mix on Blu-ray, but there’s no such set scheduled for o/i at the moment.
“This record has been more of a marathon than a sprint,” says Gabriel. “It’s the longest album I have ever put out with 13 tracks that complete the i/o / o\i 25-track joint project.” Indications from streaming sites suggest the album is 82 minutes long, too long to fit on a single CD, which explains the 4CD set. If it’s a bit disappointing having to buy four CDs to own both mixes of the album, the pricing is good and the packaging sounds better than the flimsy, spine-crushing 2CD+blu-ray of i/o, because the o\i4CD is described as a “hardcover book” edition (let’s hope that’s accurate).
4CD set features both Bright-Side and Dark-Side mixes.
“The songs are a mix of thoughts and feelings,” Gabriel goes on. “I have been thinking about the future and how we might respond to it. We are sliding into a period of transition like no other, most likely triggered in three waves; AI, quantum computing and the brain computer interface. Artists have a role to look into the mists and, when they catch sight of something, to hold up a mirror.
“We are not, and have never been, the exclusively self-determining, independent beings that we imagine we are. We have had a sense of entitlement that everything exists for our benefit – that we’ve been given the run of the world to exploit as we see fit.
“We are something else, a part of nature, a part of everything and when we feel that connection, shake our booty and give and receive a little love, it can help us find our proper place – and put a big smile on our faces. “This is how I see the lumpy bits – i/o: the inside has a new way out and o\i: the outside has a new way in.”
Billy Joel’s fourth album, 1976’s Turnstiles, will be released as a 4CD+Blu-Ray expanded edition in December.
Turnstiles marked a coming of age for Joel. The native New Yorker had been living in Los Angeles since moving there in 1972 after his debut album, Cold Spring Harbour, flopped. His following two albums Piano Man and Streetlife Serenade were modest hits but established Joel as a writer to watch. When initial sessions for his fourth album with producer Michael Stewart didn’t catch fire, his label Columbia set him up with Chicago’s James William Guerico and a band featuring Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson from Elton John’s backing group.
Halfway through recording, an increasingly homesick Joel abandoned the sessions and returned to New York, where he seized the moment, producing himself and using his touring band. His home city became his muse, informing much loved songs such as ‘New York State Of Mind’, ‘Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)’ and ‘Summer Highland Falls’. The album also included a couple of kiss-offs to his West Coast life, ‘Say Goodbye To Hollywood’ and ‘I’ve Loved These Days’. Turnstiles wasn’t an immediate hit, but a slow burner, and set the scene for his commercial breakthrough, 1977’s The Stranger.
The 50th anniversary edition of Turnstiles will feature 67 audio tracks (54 of which are previously unreleased), a Dolby Atmos Mix of the album and 32 video performances (24 previously unreleased). Considering the most bonuses that fans had previously got on a Turnstiles reissue were three video clips on a 1998 enhanced CD version, this represents a leap forward in Joel archive material. Among the bonus material is a live recording of the previously unreleased ‘Oklahoma’ and a demo of the album’s lead single, ‘James’, which is available to hear now.
Turnstiles – 50th Anniversary Edition breaks down like this:
CD1: demos, live recordings and studio outtakes
CD2: The original Turnstiles plus previously unreleased alternate versions and a newly released 1976 radio interview
CD3: A complete performance at New York City’s Bottom Line, from 10 June 1976, “newly restored from multiple audio sources”
CD4: The soundtrack to Billy Joel Tonight
Blu-Ray: Newly transferred, edited, restored and mixed Billy Joel Tonight 1977 TV special, plus rehearsal footage, production inserts, rare performances, and rare archival material. Dolby Atmos mix of the original Turnstiles album, mixed by Bradshaw Leigh and mastered by Ted Jensen and Adam Grover at Sterling Sound.
The package also includes a 40-page hardback book featuring previously unseen photographs, archival material and sleevenotes from David Fricke and John Jackson.
Joel has also announced a vinyl reissue of Turnstiles, pressed on ‘subway token gold’ vinyl, which will be available for National Album Day on 17 October.
Fans of this album should be over the moon with so much great content on this 4CD+blu-ray reissue at such a competitive price point. Even the vinyl is offers great value.
Turnstiles – 50th Anniversary Edition is out on 11 December via Sony Legacy.
Say Goodbye To Hollywood (alternate band take) (4:44)
I’ve Loved These Days (alternate orchestral mix) (4:33)
Conversation with Ed Sciaky, Philadelphia, June 18, 1976 (23:13)
CD3 – Live At The Bottom Line New York, Ny – June 10, 1976
Prelude/Angry Young Man (5:13)
Somewhere Along The Line (3:09)
Summer, Highland Falls (3:44)
Piano Man (5:39)
Root Beer Rag (3:10)
James (3:46)
Travelin’ Prayer (5:30)
New York State Of Mind (6:39)
The Entertainer (3:51)
The Ballad Of Billy The Kid (8:30)
I’ve Loved These Days (4:38)
Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway) (5:29)
Captain Jack (7:08)
All You Wanna Do Is Dance (3:30)
Ain’t No Crime (3:08)
Weekend Song (4:18)
Souvenir (1:53)
CD4 – Billy Joel Tonight
Prelude/Angry Young Man (5:09)
Somewhere Along The Line (3:01)
Summer, Highland Falls* (3:07)
Piano Man (5:32)
Handball (5:11)
James (3:39)
Travelin’ Prayer (6:53)
New York State Of Mind* (8:21)
The Entertainer (4:19)
You’re My Home (3:21)
Root Beer Rag (3:17)
Roberta (4:01)
The Ballad Of Billy The Kid* (5:22)
I’ve Loved These Days (4:22)
Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway) (5:00)
Captain Jack (6:52)
Souvenir* (2:19)
Recorded live December 5 & 6, 1976 at Palmer Auditorium, Connecticut College, New London during the live video taping of “Billy Joel Tonight.”
Blu-Ray
Billy Joel Tonight, The Concert. Recorded live December 5, 1976 at Palmer Auditorium, Connecticut College, New London
Prelude/Angry Young Man*
Somewhere Along The Line
Summer, Highland Falls
Piano Man*
Handball*
James (includes Still Crazy After All These Years” by Paul Simon)
Travelin’ Prayer (includes “Jungleland” by Bruce Springsteen)
New York State Of Mind*
The Entertainer*
You’re My Home*
Root Beer Rag
Roberta
The Ballad Of Billy The Kid
I’ve Loved These Days
Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)*
Captain Jack*
Worse Comes To Worst
Ain’t No Crime
Weekend Song
If I Only Had The Words To Tell You
Souvenir
Rehearsals and production inserts. Recorded live December 6, 1976 at Palmer Auditorium, Connecticut College, New London
Stop In Nevada (incomplete rehearsal) (includes “Behind Closed Doors” by Kenny O’Dell)
She’s Got A Way
Say Goodbye To Hollywood
Streetlife Serenader
The Great Suburban Showdown
All You Wanna Do Is Dance
I’ve Loved These Days
Honky Tonk Women (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards)
Covers Medley:
You Are So Beautiful (Billy Preston/Bruce Fisher)
Born To Run (Bruce Springsteen)
Hey Mister, That’s Me Up On The Jukebox (James Taylor)
Tell Me Why (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Bennie And The Jets (Elton John/Bernie Taupin)
Souvenir
Nocturne* (include “Clair de Lune” by Claude Debussy)
All performances previously unreleased except where noted (*), included in the original 1977 TV Special Billy Joel Tonight
Dolby Atmos mix of Turnstiles
Say Goodbye To Hollywood (4:36)
Summer, Highland Falls (3:15)
All You Wanna Do Is Dance (3:40)
New York State Of Mind (5:58)
James (3:53)
Prelude/Angry Young Man (5:17)
I’ve Loved These Days (4:31)
Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway) (5:12)
Mixed in Dolby Atmos by Bradshaw Leigh
Mastered by Ted Jensen and Adam Grover at Sterling Sound
Side A
Say Goodbye To Hollywood (4:37)
Summer, Highland Falls (3:19)
All You Wanna Do Is Dance (3:45)
New York State Of Mind (6:01)
Side B
James (3:56)
Prelude/Angry Young Man (5:16)
I’ve Loved These Days (4:35)
Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway) (5:14)
Declan MacManus knew he was good. But who was he going to be?
This 5CD, 49th anniversary edition – clever stuff, getting in there before the inevitable deluge of punk 50th sets next year – of his debut album, My Aim Is True, allows us to listen in as he figures it out. Of the 104 tracks here, 52 are previously unreleased, including bedroom demos, studio outtakes and live performances.
“I’ve thought about issuing these unreleased songs on a few occasions,” Costello writes in the sleevenotes, “only to conclude that I still needed to cover my tracks. That was 20, 30, 40 years ago, when I still had something to hide or anything to lose. Now time is a-wasting.”
He needn’t have worried. The unreleased songs here – chiefly on discs two and three – are a long way from the juvenilia that might be expected from such an exhaustive archive trawl. They’re fully-formed and expertly crafted, performed with passion and precision. While previous editions of My Aim Is True have hinted at the paths – or parallel careers – this preternaturally talented songwriter could’ve taken, had he not become Elvis Costello, this new set truly opens them up.
He’d already given DP Costello a crack of the whip. This was the name by which he hit the London folk clubs for solo shows from the mid-70s. This son-of-a-gun opened setlists with three, count-’em, Hank Williams songs, before hitting the Jimmie Rodgers, George Jones and Gram Parsons hard. Meanwhile, formative inspirations – The Band, Little Feat, Randy Newman – were making their presence felt. Unsurprisingly then, many of the songwriting demos collected here on discs two (The Blue Print) and three (Stranger In The House) suggest that Costello could easily have straightened his bolo tie and arrived on the scene as an early adopter of what we’d now call Americana.
When he returned to ‘I Turn Around’ during the Imperial Bedroom sessions, it became a “peppy toe-tapper” (his words). The version that opens The Blue Print – recorded, like the majority of the disc, in the upstairs function room of The Hope & Anchor, Islington – lopes forward as if it was recorded in the basement of Big Pink while Costello sings of a distinctly Robbie Robertson-ish world of tallymen who offer jobs “selling hooked meat by the pound”, sweethearts chasing the late express and a “counterfeit lover” who’s “a barstool refugee”. Later in the set, ‘Don’t Put A Levy On My Love’ fishes in similar waters (Cripple Creek, presumably). But The Band’s influence isn’t limited to Costello’s writing. In his 2015 autobiography Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, Costello claims that Rick Danko’s voice “was the one that made me think maybe I could make a noise like that” – a claim borne out by a version of ‘Blame It On Cain’ recorded in his bedroom (previously available on the 2001 Edsel 2CD set) in which Costello manages to sound uncannily like both Danko – on the chorus’ opening line – and Richard Manuel, on the pay-off, “But we need somebody to burn”.
The Blue Print continues with another unreleased song, ‘Losing You’, this time positioning Costello as a word-spewing troubadour along the lines of a young Springsteen, his delivery flecked with vocal ticks – uhms and ahs, as if he’s impatient to get the lyrics out. But just when you think you’ve got the measure of the hyperactive wordplay, the chorus packs a sucker punch. “Losing you is just a memory, memories don’t mean that much to me,” he sneers; classic angry young man stuff – but then, a pause, before he tenderly drawls, “Now you’re here,” turning everything on its head. ‘Citizen Junction’ is cut from the same cloth, though less successful – still, Costello didn’t let its striking first verse go to waste, recycling it on Get Happy’s ‘King Horse’. Elsewhere, ‘Play It Safe’ and ‘I Can’t Turn It Off’ are further examples of Costello’s – wholly understandable – crush on the young boss of Asbury Park (check out the way he sings, “I see those clowns running all over town,” on the latter, straight outta ‘Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)’).
But if there’s a song here that Springsteen would’ve given his knitted beanie for, it’s ‘Radio Soul’. Costello bristles with energy as he hymns the the “late night stations playing music that would turn you to sin”. It gives a sense of rock ’n’ roll as a transformative force, as a way of escaping the grey troubles of life and unlocking something vital hidden deep in your soul. He sings of a girl, dressed up prim and proper for a dance, but when the radio plays “them sad old song, she really, really hurts”. There’s a point, towards the end of the third verse (“But for myself I don’t work too much, least not since I was told…”) that calls to mind the “Right now, I can’t read too good, don’t send me no letters no” denouement of Dylan’s ‘Desolation Row’. As ever with Costello, it doesn’t feel like an accident – just as ‘Desolation Row’ can be seen as a sanctuary for those who have rejected the bleak realities of society, the radio offers a place of “sound salvation” for those willing to tune in. Costello returned to the song for ‘Radio Radio’ a few years later – he got it right first time.
Meanwhile, a clutch of songs on The Blue Print lean into Costello’s love for soul and R&B, suggesting he could’ve held his own as, say, an in-house writer at Hi Records. ‘I Hear A Melody’ – previously released on the 2007 deluxe edition – is a gospel-tinged gem, given a typically Costello twist when he hooks you in with the premise of the title before revealing he can’t find a truth in it, singing ruefully, “But I know it’s not right”. There’s more evidence elsewhere of his soulfulness – in the lovely, sighing melody of ‘Walk On’ or the wounded ‘Alison’ prototype ‘Imagination (Is A Powerful Deceiver)’.
The Blue Print also includes a bunch of songs that suggest Costello would’ve been equally at home knocking out hits on Tin Pan Alley, from the poignant ‘Poison Moon’ to the old-timey swing of ‘Mercury Wings’. Again though, he can’t resist a lyrical sting in the tail – the jaunty vaudeville of ‘Wave A White Flag’ coulda been a Broadway showstopper, were it not for the unrelentingly bleak lyrics of domestic abuse.
Hand written lyrics feature in the book
Disc three, Stranger In The House, offers more previously unreleased evidence of Costello’s burgeoning brilliance. Who among his contemporaries had the sheer songwriting nous to write something approaching ‘Just Like A Jukebox’ – an ingenious song from the perspective of a frustrated lounge singer – let alone file away an immaculate demo of it indefinitely? It’s the sound of jaded resignation, of dreams dying on the vine, made even more powerful by the fact that at the point it was written, its author could still imagine himself ending up in the same boat. Then there’s the disc’s title track, a tears-in-yer-beers country song so note-perfect that he’d end up recording it with George Jones a couple of years later – here we get both the previously released My Aim Is True outtake version and a touching, lo-fi take recorded with backing vocals from singer-songwriter Charlie Dore.
We’re given more evidence of Costello’s fascination with all things American with a cache of tracks from his mid-70s stint as the frontman of pub rockers Flip City. ‘Exiles Road’ sets a tale of Costello’s grandfather’s seafaring escapades to a Grateful Dead shuffle (half-inching the riff from ‘He’s Gone’) – there’s even a Garcia-esque softness to the vocal, but ultimately, it’s a curio which leans too heavily on its source. ‘Sweet Revival’ is more evidence of Costello’s infatuation with The Band, but at least it’s good fun, which is more than can be said for Flip City’s cover of one of Dylan’s dreariest songs, ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’.
Stranger In The House also offers early versions of tracks that would end up on My Aim Is True, including a couple of unreleased gems in a swinging bedroom demo of ‘Miracle Man’ and an early version of ‘(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes’ played as a sort of stuttering polka.
McManus had the talent, the know-how and the songs to be anything he wanted – as The Blue Print and Stranger In The House – show us in spades. But it took a little cosmic interference for him to take all of that and end up with Elvis Costello.
On 12 August 1976, the 21-year-old pulled a lunchtime sickie from his job operating the IBM computer at the Elizabeth Arden office in North Acton. Freedom secured, he took a tube to the office of Stiff Records. He’d seen an ad for their upcoming first single – ‘So It Goes’ by Nick Lowe, formerly of his old favourites, Brinsley Schwarz, and identified potential kindred spirits. McManus left a demo tape at the front desk, just as he had with every other label in town. But on the walk back had a stroke of luck as he bumped into Lowe himself. Within weeks, he signed to Stiff; a month later, he was in the studio recording demos with US country rockers Clover as his backing band and Lowe producing – things were finally moving.
And fast… by early 1977, My Aim Is True was recorded, the result of a further three sessions with Clover and Lowe. If you’ve got this far, you’ll know it’s one of the great debut albums of its time, a thrilling collision of whip-smart songwriting, heart-on-sleeve vocals and musicianship that was way ahead of the punk pack. ‘(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes’ somehow combined a lyric about a Faustian bargain – for sex, creative genius, love? – with one of those melodies of his that seems to flow effortlessly, hitting your heart before your head can catch up. The gorgeous ‘Alison’ invented a new genre of love song (if it’s about love at all that is), sung from the perspective of a somebody projecting their feelings onto what could be a near-stranger – what right does he have to decide her problems… what kind of imagination comes up with that line about fingers in the wedding cake? You’ll have your own favourites, of course – the original album is here (with the addition of the peerless noir of ‘Watching The Detectives’ at the end) on disc one, remastered from the original masters.
Album in the bag, the transformation into Elvis Costello began. First with Stiff founders Jake Riviera and Dave Robinson foisting a new name upon him. “I can’t recall if my initial reaction was shocked silence or laughter, but they were quite serious. If this was a test of my resolve, perhaps I passed,” Costello writes in the sleevenotes. Next up, the thick black horn-rim glasses, initially without prescription lenses. And finally, a cheap borrowed suit and Barney Bubbles’ retro artwork – all of which would fix Costello as some kind of Buddy Holly throwback. “It seemed the squarer I looked, the better the camera liked it,” writes Costello. “I had the beginnings of a character that I could inhabit and embellish as a way to keep people out of the zone in which I did the actual work.”
With Elvis Costello born, next came the backing band. Disc four of the set is devoted to the early days of Costello’s crackerjack backing band The Attractions – Steve Nieve (keys), Bruce Thomas (bass) and Pete Thomas (drums). Not that there appeared to be much bedding in needed – over a series of soundchecks, radio and TV sessions and live performances, we hear the band become an explosive force of nature, simultaneously egging Costello on. “We didn’t come 4,000 miles to watch people sit down,” Costello threatens the crowd at a November 1977 show at the Old Waldorf, San Francisco, “I wonder if any of you can still dance,” before launching into a raucous ‘Pump It Up’. Other highlights among the unreleased material are a powerhouse ‘Mystery Dance’ from their return trip to the US the following summer and a swaggering, organ-heavy ‘Waiting For The End Of The World’ from a December ’77 show.
The final disc of the set, Covered In Clover, features a triumphant 2007 run-through of My Aim Is True plus an encore with Costello backed by John McFee (guitar), Sean Hopper (keys) and Johnny Ciambotti (bass) of Clover, plus Pete Thomas. It’s terrific fun, but it’s unlikely you’ll be going back to it too often. Those early discs, though – the songs that turned Declan McManus into Elvis Costello – that’s a different story. In the following decades, he’d explore all the musical avenues those demos suggest and many more, but when it came to his debut, he chose wisely. When he said his aim was true, he wasn’t kidding.
Review by Jamie Atkins. The My Aim is True 5CD super deluxe edition is out now.
Career-spanning compilation on 2CD or green coloured LP
The Essential Nick Heyward, a new compilation covering Heyward’s solo and Haircut One Hundred material will be released in November.
It will be the first Heyward and Haircut One Hundred compilation since 2009’s 2CD Favourite Songs: The Best Of and the first covering Heyward’s entire career to be released on vinyl (green coloured). This set differs from previous comps by leaning more heavily on Heyward solo material, featuring songs right up to 2017’s Woodland Echoes.
In terms of Haircut tracks, it includes all four of their Top 10 singles – ‘Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)’ (No 4, 1981), ‘Love Plus One’ (No 3, 1982), ‘Fantastic Day’ (No 9, 1982) and ‘Nobody’s Fool’ (No 9, 1982) – as well as two recent reunion singles ‘The Unloving Plum’ (2024) and ‘Dynamite’ (2025), which both featured on the June 2026 album Boxing The Compass. The solo material includes six Top 40 singles, including ‘Whistle Down The Wind’ (No 13, 1983), ‘Take That Situation’ (No 11, 1983) and ‘Blue Hat For A Blue Day’ (No 14, 1983).
The Essential Nick Heyward on green vinyl
The 2CD set offers a significantly deeper dive with 31 tracks, compared to 14 on the vinyl. The release of The Essential coincides with the publication of Heyward’s autobiography Fantastic Days, which is out in November on New Modern books.
The Essential Nick Heyward is out on 27 November 2026 via Demon Music.
Alf’s 21st century studio albums return on vinyl and 2CD sets
Alison Moyet’s studio albums from 2002-2017 – Hometime, Voice, The Turn, the minutes and Other – will be reissued on vinyl and as 2CD digipaks next month.
Released in 2002, Hometime was Moyet’s first album for Sanctuary following a contractual dispute with former label Sony. It was the beginning of a new phase of Moyet’s career – no longer confined by the commercial expectations of a major label, Moyet was free to make the album she wanted. “It’s an adult album but it’s not mainstream,” Moyet told The Guardian, “There’s some blues on it, some chanson, some heavy strings. It’s the best album I’ve ever made. A lot of people will love it but it’s not Radio One.” Moyet was vindicated when it was a hit, selling 250,000 copies. This latest reissue is pressed on ‘clear smoke and grey’ vinyl, while the 2CD set replicates Cooking Vinyl’s 2015 deluxe edition.
Two years later, Moyet teamed up with Anne Dudley forVoice, an album of covers with orchestral backing. Moyet tackled songs by writers including George & Ira Gershwin (‘The Man I Love’), Elvis Costello (‘Almost Blue’) and Arthur Hamilton (‘Cry Me A River’). The set has only been issued on vinyl once previously – by Cooking Vinyl in 2015 – a pressing that now fetches three-figure sums. This time, it will be available on white marbled vinyl. Again, the 2CD set has the same tracklisting as the 2015 Cooking Vinyl reissue.
In 2006, Moyet performed in the Dawn French-starring, Kathy Burke-produced play Smaller, for which she wrote three and performed songs – ‘World Without End’, ‘Home’ and ‘Smaller’. These gave her the momentum for The Turn, an album of polished, grown-up pop which was brought to life by Moyet’s emotive performances. Again, its only vinyl reissue was in 2015, so fans will welcome this new pressing, on ‘yellow and black smoke’ coloured vinyl. Once more, the 2CD tracklisting mirrors the 2015 deluxe.
Moyet’s eight studio album, the minutes (2013) marked a return to her synth-pop roots and reached No 5 in the UK chart, her highest-position since 1987’s Raindancing. It was last reissued on vinyl (white, with obi strip) as part of the HMV centenary celebrations; this time it’ll be pressed on turquoise marble wax. The 2CD set marks the first time an expanded edition of the album has been released and will feature a pair of Guy Sigsworth remixes, four tracks live from Bush Hall and Minutes And Seconds – Live, a career-spanning live set previously issued as a standalone live album in 2014.
Finally,Otherwas released in 2017 and continued in the same same smart, electro-pop vein as the minutes. It’s not been reissued on vinyl since its initial release, this time it’s on ‘red and smoke’ vinyl. Again, this will be the first time it’s been expanded to a 2CD set – an additional disc features the 2018 live album, The Other Live Collection.
All of these are available via Moyet’s official store which is offering bundles with a signed print.
These Alison Moyet reissues 2002-2017 are released on 25 September 2026
Hole will reissue their three albums – Pretty On The Inside, Live Through This and Celebrity Skin – on vinyl later this year.
Debut album Pretty On The Inside was released in 1991 and featured Hole’s original line-up of Courtney Love (vocals, guitar), Eric Erlandson (guitar), Jill Emery (bass), and Caroline Rue (drums). Produced by Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth and Don Fleming, the album captured Hole at their rawest and most abrasive, but beneath the grinding noise, songs such as ‘Teenage Whore’ (which reached No 1 in the UK indie chart) showed a knack for melody.
Three years later, Live Through This saw the Love and Erlandson songwriting team lean into an alt.rock sound while retaining their visceral edge. Emery and Rue were replaced by Kristen Pfaff (bass) and Patty Schemel (drums) and singles ‘Miss World’, ‘Doll Parts’ and ‘Violet’ became outsider anthems. Love raged against a misogynistic media, abusive ex-partners, expectations placed on women and was frank about her husband Kurt Cobain’s downward spiral. Four days after the album was released, Cobain died by suicide.
Hole returned in 1998 with Celebrity Skin and another wholesale change-up of their rhythm section – enter Melissa Auf der Mer (bass) and Deen Castronovo (drums). This time around, they embraced a polished, grungy take on power-pop on hit singles ‘Celebrity Skin’, ‘Malibu’ and ‘Awful’. The shift resulted in their most successful album, reaching No 9 in the US and No 11 in the UK.
The new series of vinyl reissues have been overseen by Erlandson, and are available on 180g black vinyl with special ‘RSD Essentials’ coloured vinyl versions available via indie retail.
Pretty On The Inside is officially a 35th anniversary reissue. It’s newly mastered and the only album of the three also reissued on CD. A 2LP gatefold version is available via D2C pressed on ‘Starbelly Splatter’ coloured vinyl. The second disc is a reissue of the ‘Teenage Whore’ 12”
Live Through This and Celebrity Skin are also available on Zoetrope vinly (also D2C-only) and to make this whole campaign even more confusing Live Through This is also reissued as a pricey ‘Definitive Sound Series’ edition, which is an all-analogue one step pressing, with ‘tip on’ sleeve limited to 3,000 units.
The release dates are all over the place. The audiophile version of Live Through This, mentioned above, is released on 28 August, the black vinyl editions are out on 18 September and the coloured vinyl RSD Essentials versions are issued on 23 October 2026.
Pre-order the Live Through This Definitive Sound Series vinyl via Rough Trade UK or Rough Trade USA. Check your local uDiscoverMusic sites for D2C options.
Classic debut expanded • Good value 5CD and Blu-Ray set
The Frank Zappa estate have announced a 60th anniversary super deluxe edition of his debut album with The Mothers Of Invention, Freak Out!.
In keeping with the Zappa estate’s recent run of 50th anniversary releases – Waka/Wazoo, Over-Nite Sensation, Apostrophe (‘), One Size Fits All and Bongo Fury – the reasonably-priced set is packaged in a neat clamshell box and features the original album, studio outtakes, demos, rehearsals, live tracks over multiple CDs, plus a Blu-ray featuring various mixes.
As with many Zappa releases, unpicking what’s already out there is tricky, with the period around Freak Out! already covered by a bunch of releases. Released in 1985 as part of The Old Masters: Box One, Mystery Disc was a compilation of early Mothers material compiled by Zappa himself. The following year a second volume appeared as part of the next Old Masters box and in 1998, Rykodisc combined the two to make a single Mystery Disc (reissued in 2012 by Zappa Records).
Joe’s Corsage appeared in 2004, a collection of early Mothers demos, interviews and live tracks recorded in late 1965 and early 1966. Two years later, the Zappa estate released The MOFO Project/Object, available as either a 4CD or 2CD set (the 2CD features seven tracks not on the 4CD – go figure). If you could prise the CDs from the packaging of the 4CD set, it was designed as an ‘audio documentary’ of the making of the album, by way of backing tracks, alternate mixes and edits, outtakes, live recordings and interview excerpts.
So what’s new on the 5CD+Blu-Ray Freak Out! (60th Anniversary) set?
Disc one features a new remaster of the original stereo mix by John Polito of Audio Mechanics. Disc Two has the first official release of the pre-master mix, an early version of the album from April 1966, newly mastered. And disc three features the original 1966 mono mix, first time available since 1969. Three songs – ‘How Could I Be Such A Fool’, ‘Who Are The Brain Police?’ and ‘It Can’t Happen Here’ – are taken from mono mix tapes in Zappa’s vault, the remainder are taken from a needle drop, mastered by John Polito.
Discs four and five are where things start to get complicated, they include:
The entirety of the two shows the Mothers performed opening for Lenny Bruce at the Fillmore, San Francisco, on 24 and 25 June 1966. Tracks from these shows have previously turned up on Mystery Disc (‘Band Introductions At The Fillmore West’ and ‘Plastic People’) and the 4CD MOFO. (‘Motherly Love’, ‘You Didn’t Try To Call Me’, I’m Not Satisfied’ and ‘Hungry Freaks, Daddy’).
Two tracks from a show that Zappa sleuths have surmised is the Fillmore, San Francisco, 24 February 1966. The version here of ‘The Downtown Talent Scout’ was previously released on You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore Vol 5 (1992).
Full, seven-song rehearsal tape from early 1966 – snatches of conversation and ‘How Can I Be Such A Fool’ appeared on Mystery Disc, but this the first time the other tracks have been released.
Eight demos recorded on 20 October 1965 at Original Sound Studio. Three of them – ‘I’m So Happy I Could Cry’, ‘Go Cry On Somebody Else’s Shoulder’ and ‘How Could I Be Such A Fool’ were on Joe’s Corsage. Meanwhile, a brief section of the ‘Trouble Every Day’ demo was used in ‘Watts Riot Demo/Fillmore Sequence’ on the 2CD MOFO. All other tracks previously unreleased.
Five previously unreleased mono vocal reference mixes.
Three tracks from the final night of recording, the ‘freak session’. ‘Freak Out Zilofone’ was on the 2CD MOFO, the others appear to be unreleased, but time will tell. Any Zappa fans in the know, comment below.
The Blu-Ray will feature Atmos and 5.1 mixes alongside, 192/24 and 96/24 high-res audio of the album, plus the contentious-sounding bonus track ‘Groupie Bang Bang’.
The set also includes a booklet and a reproduction of the double-sided fold-out ‘Freak Out! Hot Spots Map’ by Zappa himself that was originally included in the November 1966 issue of the Los Angeles Free Press.
Freak Out! (60th Anniversary) is also available as a 5LP vinyl set, which includes the 1966 pre-master mix, the 1966 mono mix and a single-disc which collects highlights from CDs 4 and 5 of the super deluxe edition. There’s also a 2LP multi-coloured edition featuring the original 1966 stereo mix, which is currently only available from Zappa’s official shop.
Freak Out! (60th Anniversary) is out on 25 September 2026.
Belfast punks’ second album expanded • 3CD+DVD • 2CD • 2LP Vinyl
Stiff Little Fingers will release an expanded edition of their second album 1980’s Nobody’s Heroes, next month.
Nobody’s Heroes was the Belfast band’s first album for Chrysalis and the first to feature the classic SLF line-up of Jake Burns (guitar and vocals), Henry Cluney (guitar), Ali McMordie (bass) and new drummer Jim Reilly. Expectations were high following the classic debut, 1979’s Inflammable Material, but tracks such as the single ‘Gotta Gettaway’ and Specials cover ‘Doesn’t Make It Alright’ helped it reach No 8 in the UK chart.
In keeping with last year’s acclaimed Inflammable Material reissue, Nobody’s Heroes will be available over three physical formats – a 3CD+DVD set, a 2CD edition and a 2LP edition.
3CD+DVD deluxe set
The limited edition 3CD+DVD book-style set includes a new remastered version of the original album with six bonus tracks, a disc of BBC sessions (all previously available), and a previously unreleased 17-track live set recorded in Rotterdam in April 1980. Meanwhile, the DVD includes five performances taken from Top Of The Pops and Something Else.
The 2CD edition replicates the first two discs of the 3CD+DVD set. The 2LP edition features the remaster of the original album on the first LP and the BBC sessions on the second.
Nobody’s Heroes will be released on 18 September 2026 via Rhino.
Reissue of 1986 classic, cut from original tapes at half-speed
The Talk Talk reissue series continues with a half-speed mastered edition of The Colour Of Spring, out in September.
Talk Talk’s third studio album, The Colour Of Spring saw Mark Hollis steer them decisively from the synth-pop that had made their name to a more experimental and organic sound. Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene spent the first four months of 1985 writing material, with Hollis heavily influenced by classical composers such as Bartok, Debussy and Satie. When it came to recording, the decision was made to ban synths and a host of session players were drafted, including Steve Winwood, Danny Thompson and Robbie McIntosh. The results were sublime, a genre-defying sound that marks the mid-point between the pop sensibilities of the band’s earlier work – for all the talk of impressionist classical arrangements, it included the global hit single ‘Life’s What You Make It’ – and the ethereal melancholy that would come with Spirit Of Eden and Laughing Stock.
In keeping with the recent reissues of It’s My Life and Spirit Of Eden, the original tapes were used for this reissue. It was cut at half-speed by Matt Colton at Metropolis Studios on 180gm vinyl and overseen by drummer Lee Harris and Mark Hollis’ son, Charlie. As with the previous reissues in the series, it comes with a neat obi strip.
The Colour Of Spring will be released on 4 September on Parlophone. You can support SDE by pre-ordering this from the SDE shop using this link or the button below.
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Most comprehensive collection yet of a formative year – 22 tracks, 10 previously unreleased
The David Bowie estate have announced The Shel Talmy Recordings, the most complete collection yet of the tracks Bowie recorded with the legendary producer in 1965. It includes the previously unreleased ‘I Want Your Love’, which you can hear below.
When Bowie’s June 1964 debut single – ‘Liza Jane’, credited to Davie Jones With The King Bees – failed to set the charts alight, the band was dropped by Decca and split up. The 17-year-old Bowie picked himself up and joined The Manish Boys in July and spent much of the summer performing around the south-east of England. In December 1964 the band embarked upon their first UK tour, as unbilled support to Gene Pitney, and in the new year manager Leslie Conn arranged for Shel Talmy to produce their first single, a cover of the Bobby Bland track ‘I Pity The Fool’ backed with a Bowie original, ‘Take My Tip’.
The session took place on 15 January 1965 at IBC Studios, Portland Place, London. Talmy was hot property following his success with The Kinks and The Who and called upon session ace Jimmy Page to arrange and play guitar (apparently using his fuzz box for the first time). Despite a performance on the BBC 2 show Gadzooks! It’s All Happening, the single flopped and Bowie left The Manish Boys in May. A week later, he joined blue trio The Lower Third and on 20 August 1965 released his first single with them, ‘You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving’ b/w ‘’Baby Loves That Way’ (both Bowie compositions) – again produced by Talmy, this time featuring Nicky Hopkins on keyboards.
The 22-track CD features recordings made throughout that period with Talmy, including 10 previously unreleased tracks – an upgrade on compilations such as 1991’s Early On (1964-65). The vinyl version has 11 tracks, six of which are previously unreleased, and is available as either red or black pressing. A vinyl edition with an alternative cover (a less compelling image from the same shoot), limited to 1,965 copies, is available from HMV and Record Store Day shops.
The Shel Talmy Recordings is out on 18 September 2026 via Parlophone.
First three albums on coloured vinyl, newly mastered
The first three albums by goth rockers The Mission have been newly mastered and will be reissued on vinyl this October.
In the summer of 1985, Wayne Hussey (singer, guitars) and Craig Adams (bass) left The Sisters Of Mercy, recruited drummer Mick Brown (Red Lorry Yellow Lorry) and guitarist Simon Hinkler (Artery) and formed The Sisterhood. Following a European tour supporting The Cult, the band changed their name to The Mission and released a couple of EPs – I and II (later compiled on The First Chapter). Debut album, God’s Own Medicine followed in November 1986, reaching No 14 in the UK charts and establishing them as a force to be reckoned with in their own right. The John Paul Jones-produced follow-up Children was released in 1988 and embraced an anthemic rock sound with psych and folk twists – it reached No 2 in the UK chart and saw them headline an arena tour. Two years later, Carved In Sand upped the stadium rock ante and led to a Glastonbury headline slot.
All three albums have been newly mastered by George Shilling and will be issued as “limited edition, one-time fan pressings” (no word yet on quantities of each run) on coloured vinyl with deluxe packaging. God’s Own Medicine will be on aqua blue (A-side)/purple vinyl (B-side) with an embossed gatefold sleeve. Children will be on gold/black vinyl and, again, an embossed gatefold sleeve with spot gloss finish. And Carved In Sand will be on black/oxblood vinyl in a gloss laminated sleeve. The albums have been unavailable on vinyl since 2017 and are only available through the band’s online shop. Standard versions of each album in single sleeves are forthcoming, with release dates yet to be confirmed.
God’s Own Medicine will be the most interesting of these reissues for fans, as the running order now reflects the band’s original intentions and – for the first time on vinyl – the full-length version of ‘Love Me To Death’ is included. Wayne Hussey explains: “It made sense for the album’s arc that ‘Stay With Me’ should be near the end of the album. But, once it was released as a single, there was no way Mercury would let it stay on Side Two, so we had to swap it for ‘Severina.’ Of course, ‘Severina’ was really a great powerful song where it had originally been intended. That swap made the rest of the album seem a little wrong, so we swapped ‘Dance On Glass’ and ‘And The Dance Goes On’ as well. It wasn’t the biggest problem in the world – at least all the songs were there – but it has frustrated us all a little over the years. It’s great to have it out correctly now.”
God’s Own Medicine, Children and Carved In Sand will be released on 30 October 2026.
