Holding the Music in Your Hands ®
Tears For Fears / Songs For A Nervous Planet CD, Vinyl, Blu-ray
Tears For Fears release a ‘hybrid’ live album, Songs For A Nervous Planet. Hybrid because it includes four brand-new studio tracks. The SDE-exclusive blu-ray with Steven Wilson mixes has some final availability this week and the companion concert film is coming to a cinema near you (check out tearsforfearsfilm.com).
Paul McCartney is releasing a second batch of Wings era albums as limited edition Japanese mini-LP SHM-CDs (compatible with all CD players).
These are sometimes called ‘paper sleeve’ editions and and each are presented as vinyl replica CDs with the usual exacting standards from Japan including OBI-strip, extra booklet with Japanese lyrics, ‘rice paper’ sleeve for disc protection and re-sealable outer clear sleeve. The albums in question are:
These editions really normally are incredible and match the originals in amazing detail, so Venus and Mars has the two posters, stickers, inner sleeve etc., and Wings Over America has the poster and three inner sleeves (even though there’s only two CDs).
Masterings are all as per the original Archive Collection releases, so 2014 for Venus and Mars and Wings at the Speed of Sound, 2013 for Wings Over America and 2012 for Thrillington (which was in the Ram box). No one seems to know about Wings Greatest. The official line from the label is “Remaster taken from latest remastered album” (?). All the CDs are ‘album-only’ with no bonus tracks.
As with batch one (now sold out) these are extremely limited, but the SDE shop has secured a guaranteed allocation and is offering them only as a 6CD bundle, which you can order via this link or the buttons below. Strictly one bundle per customer please (multiple orders will be cancelled).
All five are released on 16 December 2024.
Venus And Mars
Released in 1975, Venus And Mars was the first of two albums to feature what many (Paul included) regard as the perfect Wings line-up, with the McCartneys and Denny Laine now joined by guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and drummer Joe English. Recording was done in New Orleans and Los Angeles.
2014 remaster. Includes miniature 2 x poster, 3 x sticker, inner-sleeve and the booklet featuring the Japanese translations of the lyrics.
At Speed Of Sound
Released in 1976, Reinforced by months on the road, the cohesion of a settled line-up was much in evidence on Wings At The Speed Of Sound, the band’s fifth album. So much so, that each band member had at least one lead vocal performance, including Linda’s ‘Cook Of The House’ and Denny Laine’s ‘Time To Hide’. Made at Abbey Road Studios, it was Paul’s first album to be recorded in Britain since Red Rose Speedway. Two more hardy perennials emerged in the shape of ‘Let ’Em In’ and ‘Silly Love Songs’. The album was another massive success, peaking at Number 2 in the UK (where it was the fourth biggest album of the year) and topping the charts in the US, spending nearly a year in the Top 100.
2014 remaster. Includes inner-sleeve and booklet featuring the Japanese translations of the lyrics.
Wings Over America
Released in 1976, selected from 90 hours of recordings, Wings Over America is a faithful account of the 1975-76 world tour that captures the band at its peak. It was taped at several of the US shows, but mixed as if it were a single performance. Paul combined old Beatle favourites with highlights from a solo catalogue that was now achieving real stature. Though an expensive triple disc on vinyl (it had been planned as a double, but a rival bootleg version encouraged Paul to expand it) sales were remarkable and it remains one of very few live albums to make Number 1 in America – incidentally becoming the band’s fifth Number 1 album in a row.
2013 remaster. Includes miniature poster, booklet, 3 x inner-sleeve and booklet featuring the Japanese translations of the lyrics.
Thrillington
Released in 1977, The mysterious Thrillington was an instrumental cover version of Wings’ 1971 album RAM, recorded that same year at Abbey Road Studios, under the pseudonym of Percy “Thrills” Thrillington. Paul produced the album while Richard Hewson (who had previously worked on The Beatles’ Let It Be) arranged and conducted. Thrillington was shelved following the formation of Wings and finally appeared, after a teaser ad campaign in the press, in 1977.
2012 remaster. Includes inner-sleeve and booklet featuring the Japanese translations of the lyrics.
Wings Greatest
Released in 1978, Wings Greatest was the first official retrospective of Paul’s post-Beatles career and included many of his single-only releases since 1970 including ‘Live And Let Die’, ‘Hi Hi Hi’ and ‘Mull Of Kintyre’. Despite there being enough hits to fill a double album, the decision was made to slim it down to one disc, even at the expense of a US Number 1, ‘Listen To What The Man Said’.
Remaster taken from latest remastered album. Includes inner-sleeve and booklet featuring the Japanese translations of the lyrics.
Nick Heyward’s debut album, North of a Miracle, is being reissued early next year.
Produced by Geoff Emerick, the 1983 album features the hit singles ‘Take That Situation’, ‘Whistle Down The Wind’, ‘Blue Hat For A Blue Day’ and ‘On A Sunday’.
An expanded 3CD deluxe edition features a new mastering of the album (using the original stereo tapes) annd two discs of bonus material. CD 2 offers twelve-inch mixes, instrumental versions and non-album B-sides while CD 3 (“Recordings 1984”) features Heyward’s 1984 single releases ‘Love All Day’ and the brilliant ‘Warning Sign’ (in all its versions) and three previously unreleased tracks: ‘Teach Till You Reach’ (a single that never was), ‘Give Love More Time’ (an alternate instrumental version of ‘Love All Day’), and ‘Kiss Those Tears Goodbye’ (an unfinished recording featuring the backing vocals only).
The 3CD set comes in seven-inch packaging and features notes from Daryl Easlea, based on a brand-new interview with Nick Heyward. There’s also a 180g half-speed mastered vinyl edition which features an OBI-strip and comes with an insert and a poly-lined sleeve.
North of a Miracle is released on 31 January 2025 (was 17 January), via Demon Music.
Official Nick Heyward shop highlights
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Pet Shop Boys will release ‘New London boy’, a “fifth and final” single from Nonetheless, in November.
It is being promoted alongside their cover of David Bowie’s ‘All the young dudes’ and, in an exciting development, there will actually be two CD singles for this release (when’s the last time any band issued two CD singles for one song?).
The first CD – with Neil cover – features a radio edit of ‘New London boy’, a new song ‘Beauty has laid siege to the city’ and two remixes of ‘All the young dudes’.
The second ‘remixes’ CD single – with Chris cover – includes two further remixes of ‘All the young dudes’, a remix of ‘New London boy’ and – finally – ‘Clean Air Hybrid Electric Bus’ the bonus track from the Japanese CD of Nonetheless.
Both CD singles are packaged gatefold card wallets, printed on uncoated board, which is consistent with all the CD singles from Nonetheless.
‘New London boy’ / ‘All the young dudes’ will be released on 15 November 2024.
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Having secured a deal with Apple Corps for Peter Jackson’s The Beatles Get Back and then the restored version of Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s 1970 Let It Be, Disney+ continue their association with the Fab Four by announcing Beatles ’64, an “all-new” documentary that captures The Beatles first visit to America.
The film is directed by David Tedeschi and produced by legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese. That pair have collaborated previously, with Tedeschi editing 2011 George Harrison biopic Living in the Material World and editing and executive producing the more recent Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story, both of which were directed by Scorsese. They were also both involved in the 2016 HBO mini-series Vinyl.
On 7 February 1964, The Beatles arrived in New York City and were famously mobbed by fans at Kennedy Airport. Beatlemania swept NYC and the entire country as the band performed on ‘The Ed Sulilvan Show’ and travelled to Washington for their first American concert. All of this has been documented before, of course, via Albert and David Maysles’ superb What’s Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A. which later became The Beatles: The First US Visit when re-edited in the early 1990s.
Unsurprisingly, Beatles ’64 will include footage shot by Albert and David Maysles, restored in 4K by Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post, in New Zealand. Also, the live performances from The Beatles first American concert at the Washington, DC Coliseum and their Ed Sullivan appearances, have been ‘demixed’ by WingNut Films and remixed by Giles Martin, which will undoubtedly generate speculation about a future vinyl and CD release. The music and footage in Beatles ’64 are augmented by newly filmed interviews with Paul and Ringo, and Beatles fans.
Beatles ’64 starts on Disney+ on 29 November 2024. A week earlier, Capitol/UMe will release a vinyl box set called 1964 US Albums in Mono. You can read more about that on this post.
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Bronski Beat / The Agent of Consent CD, Vinyl, Blu-ray
London Records reissue Bronski Beat’s classic 1984 debut The Age of Consent for its 40th anniversary. Formats are 4CD+DVD deluxe edition and a now sold out SDE-exclusive blu-ray audio with the album and plenty of bonus material.
This Kevin Ayers box includes all of the surviving BBC sessions and In Concert appearances recorded by Kevin during this period, including a previously unreleased John Peel concert from 1970 and other tracks featuring Soft Machine, Bridget St. John and Gong.
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First time on vinyl for the ‘music-only’ version of Pete Townshend’s last studio album (issued in 1993). Miles Showell at Abbey Road has handled the half-speed mastering. 1989’s The Iron Man is also issued this week.
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Red Box had two hits in the UK from their 1986 album The Circle & The Square – ‘Lean on Me (Ah-Li-Ayo)’ and ‘For America’ and then promptly disappeared. That’s not the whole story of course, and this 4CD box fills in the gaps with the help of frontman Simon Toulson-Clarke who “undertook a deep dive into his archives” and discovered eleven previously unreleased demos from 1980-1982. You get both studio albums on CDs 1 & 2, remixes on CD 3 and those demos on CD 4.
Simple Minds’ 1984 album Sparkle in The Rain was reissued back in 2014 as a 4CD+DVD super deluxe edition. Long out of print, that box set is being made available again, newly presented, but without the DVD.
The album features the classic hits, ‘Waterfront’, ‘Up On The Catwalk’ and ‘Speed Your Love To Me’ and the box set features the original album on CD 1, a selection of B-sides and rarities on CD 2 and then what was a previously unreleased Glasgow Barrowlands concert across the last two CDs. My interview with Jim Kerr back in 2014 was used for Simon Cornwell’s sleeve notes the booklet. These notes are repeated in the new box.
The audio mastering is identical to the previous release but as you can see from the above image the 2024 Sparkle in the Rain box is offered in more compact packaging. There will also be an opaque blue vinyl edition released at the same time as the CD box.
Sparkle in the Rain will be released on 22 November 2024, via Virgin/UMR.
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Following the box set release back in August, the blu-ray edition of The Alan Parsons Project’s 1978 album Pyramid is now available as a standalone release and features Alan Parson’s new Dolby Atmos Mix.
The group’s third studio album – a concept album centred on the pyramids of Giza – was originally released in May 1978. It was It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios with a variety of different lead vocalists employed including John Miles, Colin Blunstone, Lenny Zakatek, David Paton, Jack Harris and Dean Ford. Session musicians included guitarist Ian Bairnson and drummer Stuart Elliot, with arrangements by Andrew Powell.
The album sold in excess of two million copies, achieving platinum and gold status in numerous territories including the USA, Germany and Canada.
As well as the first ever Dolby Atmos Mix of an Alan Parsons Project album athe Pyramid blu-ray also features a 5.1 Surround Sound Mix (also by Alan Parsons) and a hi-res stereo remaster by Miles Showell.
Audio streams:
The blu-ray is multi-region and comes with a booklet containing sleeve notes featuring quotes from Alan Parsons, the Woolfson family and the musicians, full lyrics and Alan Parsons’ thoughts on Dolby Atmos and 5.1 Surround Sound.
It’s released on 13 December 2024 via Cooking Vinyl and is available to pre-order via the SDE shop using this link or the button below.
Pink Floyd / The Dark Side of the Moon UV clear vinyl UV clear vinyl picture disc
Extortionately priced originally, this Pink Floyd vinyl does look amazing and is now worth picking up at this price.
Oasis / Definitely Maybe 4LP box set 4LP vinyl box
£42
The outer box is a bit flimsy, still hard to complain when this isn’t much more than £10 per vinyl record.
Faces / Faces at the BBC 8CD+blu-ray 8CD+blu-ray
£97
Marillion / Fugazi 4LP vinyl box 4LP vinyl box
£22
Neil Young / Archives Vol II 10CD box 10CD box
£88
This is the 10CD ‘retail’ version of the second volume of Neil Young’s Archives series.
Depeche Mode / Memento Mori 2LP vinyl 2LP vinyl
£17
Ultravox / Lament 5LP clear vinyl box 5LP clear vinyl
£52
Midge Ure / The Gift 4CD deluxe 4CD set
£18
Paul McCartney / One Hand Clapping 2LP vinyl
£36
Not particularly cheap for a 2LP set but not bad for Paul McCartney vinyl! Lovely packaging.
The Style Council / Long Hot Summer 3LP vinyl
£45
3LP Style Council anthology that features two unreleased tracks: a demo ‘My Ever Changing Moods’ with strings, and an extended version of ‘Dropping Bombs On The Whitehouse’.
Yes / Fragile 4CD+blu-ray+LP 4CD+blu-ray+LP
£57
Cat Stevens / Tea for the Tillerman 5CD+blu-ray+2LP
£33
How low can this box go? Originally around £150 it’s now virtually being given away when you consider the content is five CDs, two LPs, a blu-ray and loads of ‘stuff’ (see the SDEtv unboxing).
Frank Zappa / Apostrophe (‘) gold vinyl LP gold vinyl LP
£26
Good discount on this very recent reissue.
War / The World is a Ghetto: The Complete Sessions 4CD 4CD set
£33
Overseen by original producer Jerry Goldstein, this 4CD set includes the original album, and each of the six songs from the original album in the original jam recordings.
U2 / The Joshua Tree 4CD box 4CD super deluxe
£63
4CD super deluxe of U2’s classic 1987 album.
Bob Dylan / Another Budokan 2LP vinyl 2LP vinyl
£25
This alternative version of the Budokan album includes 14 previously unreleased recordings. It features all the songs that didn’t make the original release, plus the best alternate versions. The vinyl comes in a gatefold sleeve with a Japanese OBI-strip and a 4-panel insert with liner notes.
The Who / Who’s Next 4LP box 4LP (with Live in San Francisco)
£37
Motley Crüe / Shout at the Devil super deluxe box set
£48
Big reduction for this 40th anniversary box.
The Rolling Stones / Rolling Stones in Mono 16LP coloured vinyl 16LP coloured vinyl
€234
John Lennon / Mind Games 6CD+2xblu-ray 6CD+2xblu-ray deluxe
€104
Peter Gabriel / i/o 4LP+2CD+blu-ray collector’s box 4LP+2CD+blu-ray collector’s box
€81
Great price for the i/o box set.
Dexys Midnight Runners / Too-Rye-Ay 3CD deluxe 3CD
€24
The Police / Synchronicity 6CD super deluxe 6CD super deluxe
€75
This remains the best box set of 2024.
The Beatles / ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ albums 6LP box 6LP vinyl
€99
Two 3LP sets in rigid board outer box.
Neil Young / Official Release Series Discs 22, 23+,24 & 25 9LP vinyl
€83
Great deal for this 9LP set and massively cheaper than buying them individually.
The Rolling Stones / 7″ Singles 1963-1966 7″ box set
€79
The Beatles / Revolver 5CD super deluxe 5CD super deluxe
€62
The lack of blu-ray still rankles, but this is still one of the best albums ever made and this box set needs to be in your collection.
Bruce Springsteen / Born in the USA red vinyl Red vinyl LP
€23
This 40th anniversary gatefold red vinyl comes with an exclusive booklet and a lithograph.
Sade / This Far 6LP vinyl box 6LP vinyl box
€135
Sade’s six studio albums on vinyl, in a box.
The Band / Stage Fright 2CD+blu-ray+LP+7″ super deluxe 2CD+blu-ray+LP+7″ super deluxe
$47
Pete Townshend and Elton John are amongst two artists who have collaborated on what is being called a ‘literary and musical reinvention’ of Herman Hesse’s classic novel Siddhartha.
The German-Swiss writer’s 1922 novel deals with the spiritual journey of self-discovery of a man named Siddhartha during the time of the Buddha, and it has now been reimagined in print and as a record.
Rachel Fuller (who’s married to Pete Townshend) has reimagined the story as a graphic novel with artwork by Emelia Wharfe. But there will also be a double vinyl album version which sees the story narrated by the late Christopher Plummer, and features performances by Pete Townshend, Sir Elto John, Nakhane, Emeli Sandé, Layton Williams, Sunidhi Chauhan and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and choir. The album features additional music and lyrics by Pete Townshend.
Inevitably, as well as the hardcover book and the 2LP vinyl, there will be a deluxe edition that brings music and book together. This is only available via the official shop. If you don’t opt for the deluxe version, the standard book has a QR code which gives access to the audio.
Alongside these products will be a new podcast series featuring conversations with guests including Pete Townshend and members of the album cast, together with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and choir, will perform the music at a special concert at Theatre Royal Drury Lane on 6 November.
The book, album and deluxe edition are released on 7 November 2024.
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The pre-order window for the Thompson Twins Into The Gap SDE-exclusive blu-ray is about to close.
#29 in the ongoing SDE Surround Series, this blu-ray audio features a brand new David Kosten Dolby Atmos Mix of the classic 1984 album, plus 5.1 mix, instrumentals and more. The audio streams are as follows:
The blu-ray also includes 30 stereo bonus tracks, as follows
Do not miss out. The blu-ray audio will ship with a free and collectible SDE slipcase and the pre-order will close tomorrow, 8 October 2024. Availability cannot be guaranteed after that date. The blu-ray is available only via the SDE shop. You can pre-order via this link or by using the buttons below. Blu-ray + vinyl bundles are available.
1 Tears For Fears / The Tipping Point
2 xPropaganda / The Heart is Strange
3 Gilbert O’Sullivan / Driven
4 Shakespears Sister / Hormonally Yours
5 Brian Eno / ForeverAndEverNoMore
6. Orbital / Optical Delusion
6.5 Various Artists / Concert For George
7 Ten Years After / A Space in Time
8 Bob Dylan / Time Out Of Mind (2022 Remix)
9 Tears For Fears / The Hurting
10 Mike Oldfield / Tubular Bells
11 Suede
12 ABC / The Lexicon of Love
13 Duran Duran / Danse Macabre
13a Duran Duran / Danse Macabre De Luxe
14 Trevor Horn / Echoes – Ancient and Modern
15 Soft Cell / Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
16 Def Leppard / Diamond Star Halos
17 Paul Young / No Parlez
18 Mark Knopfler / One Deep River
19 Wham! / Fantastic
20 Wham! / Make It Big
21 Keane / Hopes and Fears
22 Luther Vandross / Never Too Much
23 Crowded House / Gravity Stairs
24 Ultravox / Lament
25 Tori Amos / Unrepentant Geraldines
26 Bronski Beat / The Age of Consent
27 Thin Lizzy / 1976
28 Tears For Fears / Songs For A Nervous Planet
Bon Jovi’s self-titled debut album is being reissued as an expanded 2CD set to mark its 40th anniversary.
The 1984 album has been remastered, and there’s nine bonus tracks on CD 2, with five of them previously unreleased.
The second disc features the ‘evolution’ of the single ‘Runaway’ the band’s first top 40 hit in America. In similar reminiscent of Peter Gabriel’s So DNA bonus material, the listener goes from Jon’s original cassette writing demo to an extended version with a previously unheard second guitar solo.
The four live performances from the band’s shows in Tokyo, have been newly mixed for this release.
Bon Jovi 2CD set will be issued on 22 November 2024, via UMR.
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Rory Gallagher / The BBC Collection CD, Vinyl
Universal Music release Rory Gallagher The BBC Collection, a 20-disc set described as “the definitive collection of Rory Gallagher’s recorded performances at the BBC”. Watch the SDEtv unboxing.
Paul Heaton’s new album is produced Ian Broudie and features 12 new original songs, performed by Paul and his band and a number of special guest singers.
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In a rather unusual move, The Beatles 1964 album A Hard Day’s Night is being reissued on coloured vinyl for National Album Day.
I say unusual, because normally Apple Corps and Universal shun Fab Four coloured vinyl reissues and events such as Record Store Day and National Album Day – perhaps the thinking was such gimmicks are beneath them – but not any more, it seems. The thaw came last year with the coloured vinyl versions of both the ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ albums along with the ‘Now and Then’ single, which they went to town with, in terms of coloured vinyl variants (three seven-inch singles and one 12-inch).
The A Hard Day’s Night re-release is justified because it’s the album’s 60th anniversary (which was actually back in July) and the record will be pressed on 180g white vinyl. For the first time in a long while, a Beatles reissue doesn’t feature audio newly remixed by Giles Martin. The press release makes so mention of the mastering so we can only presume it’s the 2009 stereo remaster.
Another interesting aspect to this reissue is that it is not available to pre-order anywhere. You can only buy it on National Album Day – on the 19th October – and after that date.
Tears For Fears have released – let’s just say ‘made available’ – the song Astronaut from their forthcoming album Songs For A Nervous Planet. It’s one of four studio tracks on what is of course primarily a live album. The song was written by Roland Orzabal and Charlton Pettus and features backing vocals by Lauren Evans. It was produced by the band and Charlton Pettus. Let us know what you think of ‘Astronaut’.
By the way, the pre-order window for the limited SDE-exclusive blu-ray of the album closed a while back, but if you are after a copy you can add yourself to the waiting list by visiting the product listing on the SDE shop and clicking the ‘tell me if you get more stock’ button (if you don’t see this button, please try an alternate browser). We’ll inevitably get some cancellations and so there will almost certainly be some availability, in a few weeks, when it’s released (on 25 October).
Sticking with Tears For Fears, don’t forget about the concert film Tears For Fears Live (A Tipping Point Film). It’s coming to cinemas worldwide on Thursday, Oct 24 and Saturday, Oct 26. For tickets and locations visit https://tearsforfearsfilm.com/. Below is a taster: Head Over Heels.
Jethro Tull’s 2003 Christmas album has been remixed and expanded for a reissue in early December. The Jethro Tull Christmas Album, now has the subtitle ‘Fresh Snow At Christmas’ and will be available as a 4CD+blu-ray deluxe set or on double vinyl.
The album includes new interpretations of seven Tull songs, including 1968’s ‘A Christmas Song’ (the B-side of the single, ‘Love Story’). This festive offering was also the last studio set to feature longtime guitarist Martin Barre, who composed the closing instrumental ‘A Winter Snowscape’.
“Some of the tracks are not necessarily Christmas songs; they’re more seasonal so that gives a broader window,” says Ian Anderson. “And then there are a couple of them that I quite often play in the middle of summer and say, ‘It’ll soon be Christmas – it’s in the diary. So let’s kick it off now.’ And that’s part of what I’ve done over the years since October of 1968 when I went into record ‘A Christmas Song’. So, yes – it goes back a long way.”
Bruce Soord (of The Pineapple Thief) has remixed the album in stereo, 5.1 and Dolby Atmos and this deluxe set also offers Christmas Live At St. Bride’s 2008 (also newly mixed by Soord) and the previouslly unreleased The Ian Anderson Band Live At St. Bride’s 2006.
The blu-ray obviously features the Atmos and 5. 1 mixes of the studio album but also contains hi-res stereo mixes of the album and both live recordings.
The 2LP set features the new stereo remix of The Jethro Tull Christmas Album and marks the debut of this album on vinyl. There’s a special clear vinyl edition called ‘Pearlescent Sunrise’ available via some retailers.
The Jethro Tull Christmas Album: Fresh Snow At Christmas will be released on 6 December 2024 via InsideOut Music.
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SDEtv takes a first look at the forthcoming Rory Gallagher box set called The BBC Collection. This features 18 CDs and two blu-rays.
The BBC Collection is released on 11 October 2024, via UMR.
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Yes, it’s that time of year again! Does anyone really need another compilation of festive pop songs? Probably not, but we’re getting one anyway and there’s some mild interest here, in that the new NOW That’s What I Call Christmas compilation is adopting the Yearbook approach, with 3LP coloured vinyl editions and two 4CD sets, including a deluxe hardcover book edition.
Beyond that it’s fairly much what you’d expect, albeit quite generous with 87 Christmas songs on the 4CD sets including Wham!, Boney M., Shakin’ Stevens, Cliff, Chris Rea (stuck in his car, again), the Pretenders, Elton, The Pogues with Kirsty MacColl, Greg Lake, Mud, Jona Lewie, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Pet Shop Boys, Paul Young, The Flying Pickets, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and more!
As a big Kate Bush fan it’s disappointing that ‘December Will Be Magic Again’ (either in ‘Bongo’ or standard versions) is missing, but we know Kate’s music doesn’t often get approved for licensing. That is particularly stupid in this case, it has to be said. So her publishers say something like: “Kate, you know that song you wrote for people to listen to and enjoy at Christmas?”. “Yes…”. “Is it okay if ‘NOW’ put it on a Christmas compilation, for people to listen to and enjoy at Christmas?” Kate: “No”. “Er, okay…”.
NOW That’s What I Call Christmas will be released on 1 November 2024.
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In November, Joan Armatrading will release How Did This Happen And What Does It Now Mean, the British singer-songwriter’s 21st studio album.
The album – entirely written, produced, programmed and engineered by Joan herself – features ‘I’m Not Moving’. Joan wrote this track immediately after witnessing some alarmingly confrontational public behaviour by a young person. She explains the scenario:
He was like ‘I’m going to kill everybody! I’m not moving! You can get the police! You can’t move me!’ All the lyrics just flowed, in one, and I knew it had to have an aggression, because that’s how he was. I did a version of it that was a little bit milder, but you could tell that wasn’t it.
Joan Armatrading
The album was recorded this year and features two instrumemtals, showcasing Armatrading’s talents as a guitarist.
How Did This Happen And What Does It Now Mean is released on 22 November 2024, via BMG. Signed CD and vinyl editions are available via the Joan Armatrading official shop.
Joan Armatrading Shop Highlights
UFO’s seventh album Obsession will be reissued in November as vinyl and CD deluxe editions.
The 1978 album was the last to feature Michael Schenker, until his return to the band in the ’90s. For this re-release the album has been newly mastered from the original production tapes transfers (at AIR Mastering).
Both 2CD and 3LP vinyl editions offer a previously unreleased 2024 Mix of Live at The Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, which originally featured within the classic Strangers In The Night live album. This has been newly mixed by engineer Brian Kehew, from the original multi-track tapes.
The 180g vinyl package comes in a tri-fold sleeve. Notes are by Michael Hann featuring interviews with Phil Mogg, Andy Parker and Michael Schenker.
Obsession will be released on 22 November 2024, via Chrysalis.
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SDE’s Paul Sinclair on the Thompson Twins’ 1984 album, Alex Sadkin and more…
Into the Gap is reissued on CD and vinyl on 8 November and on SDE-exclusive blu-ray on 6 December 2024. All formats via BMG.
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