Feels So Good Again...

Dionne Warwick will release her 28th studio album Feels So Good in May 2014. But in the meantime, here are some excellent reissues that are coming out on January 20th.

Nobody would contest the assertion that Dionne Warwick is one of the finest singers in popular music. Throughout the 1960s her collaborations with Burt Bacharach and Hal David provided the world with some of its greatest musical moments, and some of its most memorable hits. Ten years of studio and live work are embraced in this series from Edsel which restores Dionne’s first sixteen albums to catalogue here in the UK – in many cases, for the first time in decades – across four packages, all extensively annotated by Tony Rounce and lavishly illustrated, and with many of the bonus tracks receiving their first ever release outside of the US and Japan.



Disc: 1

1. This Empty Place
2. Don't Make Me Over
3. I Cry Alone
4. Wishin' and Hopin'
5. I Smiled Yesterday
6. Zip - A
7. Make The Music Play
8. If You See Bill
9. It's Love That Really Counts - In The Long Run
10. Unlucky
11. Make It Easy On Yourself
12. The Love Of A Boy
13. Anyone Who Had A Heart
14. Shall I Tell Her
15. Getting Ready For The Heartbreak
16. Oh Lord, What Are You Doing To Me
17. Any Old Time Of Day
18. Mr. Heartbreak
19. Put Yourself In My Place
20. I Could Make You Mine
21. Please Make Him Love Me

Disc: 2

1. A House Is Not A Home
2. People
3. They Long To Be - Close To You
4. The Last One To Be Loved
5. In The Land Of Make Believe
6. Reach Out For Me
7. You'll Never Get To Heaven - If You Break My Heart
8. Walk On By
9. Get Rid Of Him
10. Make The Night A Little Longer
11. Unchained Melody
12. Who Can I Turn To - When Nobody Needs Me?
13. How Many Days Of Sadness
14. Is There Another Way To Love You?
15. Where Can I Go Without You
16. You Can Have Him
17. Wives And Lovers
18. Don't Say I Didn't Tell You So
19. Only The Strong, Only The Brave
20. Forever My Love
21. That's Not The Answer



Disc: 1

1. In Between Heartaches
2. Here I Am
3. If Ever I Make You Cry
4. Here I Go Again - Looking With My Eyes
5. Once In A Lifetime
6. This Little Light Of Mine
7. Don't Go Breaking My Heart
8. Window Wishing
9. Long Day, Short Night
10. Are You There - With Another Girl
11. How Can I Hurt You?
12. I Loves You Porgy
13. I Love Paris
14. C'est Si Bon
15. Message To Michael
16. A House Is Not A Home - French version
17. Walk On By
18. Oh Yeah Yeah Yeah
19. The Good Life
20. La Vie En Rose
21. You'll Never Get To Heaven - If You Break My Heart
22. What'd I Say"

Disc: 2

1. Go With Love
2. What the World Needs Now Is Love
3. I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself
4. Here Where There Is Love
5. Trains And Boats And Planes
6. Alfie
7. As Long As He Needs Me
8. I Wish You Love
9. I Never Knew - What You Were Up To
10. Blowin' In The Wind
11. Summertime
12. You'll Never Walk Alone
13. My Favourite Things
14. Something Wonderful
15. Medley: One Hand, One Heart/With These Hands
16. The Way You Look Tonight
17. He Loves Me
18. I Believe In You
19. Baubles, Bangles and Beads
20. Anything You Can Do
21. My Ship



Disc: 1

1. I Say A Little Prayer
2. Walk Little Dolly
3. The Beginning Of Loneliness
4. Another Night
5. The Windows Of The World
6. There's - Always Something There To Remind Me
7. Somewhere
8. You're Gonna Hear From Me
9. L.O.V.E
10. What's Good About Goodbye
11. As Long As There's An Apple Tree
12. Up, Up And Away
13. You're My World
14. Valley Of The Dolls
15. Silent Voices
16. Do You Know The Way to San Jose
17. For The Rest Of My Life
18. Let Me Be Lonely
19. Where Would I Go
20. Walking Backwards Down The Road

Disc: 2

1. Taking A Chance On Love
2. Dedicato All' Amore
3. La Voce Del Silenzio
4. Promises, Promises
5. This Girl's In Love With You
6. Little Green Apples
7. Where Is Love?
8. Who Is Gonna Love Me?
9. Whoever You Are, I Love You
10. Where Am I Going?
11. Wanting Things
12. Lonely in My Heart
13. Yesterday I Heard The Rain
14. Dream Sweet Dreamer
15. The April Fools
16. Slaves
17. Odds and Ends
18. Our Ages Or Our Hearts
19. If You Let Me Make Love To You Then Why Can't I Touch You?

Disc: 3

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling
2. I'm Your Puppet
3. People Got To Be Free
4. You're All I Need To Get By
5. We Can Work It Out
6. A Hard Day's Night
7. Do Right Woman - Do Right Man
8. I've Been Loving You Too Long - To Stop Now
9. People Get Ready
10. Hey Jude
11. The Weight
12. Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever
13. The Love Of My Man
14. Hurt So Bad
15. Someday We'll Be Together
16. Everyday People
17. Stand
18. Games People Play
19. MacArthur Park
20. Medley: Reach Out and Touch - Somebody's Hand/All Kinds Of People
21. Give A Damn
22. To Be Young Gifted and Black
23. Put A Little Love In Your Heart



Disc: 1

1. The Wine Is Young
2. I'll Never Fall In Love Again
3. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
4. Loneliness Remembers
5. Something
6. Paper Mache
7. Knowing When To Leave
8. Let Me Go To Him
9. Didn't We?
10. My Way
11. 11 Check Out Time
12. 12 Yesterday
13. We've Only Just Begun
14. Here's That Rainy Day
15. The Green Grass Starts To Grow
16. They Don't Give Medals - To Yesterday's Heroes
17. Walk The Way You Talk
18. Going Out Of My Head
19. I Got Love
20. Who Gets The Guy
21. Amanda
22. He's Moving On
23. California
24. They Say It's Wonderful
25. If I Ruled The World
26. Let It Be Me - Je T' Appartiens

Disc: 2

1. Only Love Can Break A Heart
2. Make It Easy on Yourself
3. They Don't Give Medals - To Yesterday's Heroes
4. I Just Have To Breathe
5. The Balance Of Nature
6. If You Never Say Goodbye
7. They Long To Be - Close To You
8. My First Night Alone Without You
9. Be Aware
10. Love Song
11. One Less Bell To Answer
12. If We Only Have Love
13. Hasbrook Heights
14. You're Gonna Need Me
15. I Think You Need Love
16. You Are The Heart Of Me
17. I Always Get Caught In The Rain
18. Don't Let My Teardrops Bother You
19. (I'm) Just Being Myself
20. Come Back
21. Don't Burn The Bridge - That Took You Across

All are available to pre-order on Amazon UK for just 9.99 each! That comes down to less then 3 pounds per album. I am so gonna need these! However, for some reason her last three albums for Warner Bros are not included in this package, even though her first two are (Then Came You and Track of The Cat from 1975, as well as 1977's Love At First Sight are missing). After those five albums for Warner Bros, Dionne signed with Arista and released her comeback album Dionne in 1979. Hopefully the missing Warner albums will also be reissued to complete this part of her career...

Get Into It - Soon...

Kylie Minogue has officially announced details of her new single - "Into The Blue" will be released on March 16 via Parlophone. The single will have it's radio premiere on January 27th!

"2013 was a year of big change, planning and preparation for me and I'm so excited that 2014 is finally here so I can share this new music," she said in a statement. "Into The Blue' is really special to me as it encapsulates a lot of what I've been feeling - I can't wait for it to be out there." 



The track was written by Kelly Sheehan (Mary J Blige, Rita Ora, Beyoncé) and heads up her 12th studio album, which follows later this year and includes production from Pharrell Williams, Greg Kurstin, Metrophonic, Cutfather, MNEK and Ariel Rechtshaid.

The full press release:

KYLIE IS BACK ON THE DANCEFLOOR!

HER BRAND NEW SINGLE “INTO THE BLUE” WILL BE RELEASED ON 16TH MARCH 2014

NEW STUDIO ALBUM COMING LATER THIS YEAR

“Into The Blue” will be the first track taken from Kylie’s highly anticipated new album to be released later this year.

The song, a euphoric return to the dance-floor after 2012’s, “Abbey Road Sessions”, was written by Kelly Sheehan (Mary J Blige, Rita Ora, Beyonce).

Kylie spent 2013 recording her new album in both the U.S. and the UK with a host of producers including, Pharrell, Greg Kurstin, Metrophonic, Cutfather, MNEK and Ariel Rechtshaid. The new album will be Kylie’s 12th studio record and the first album of new material since 2010’s “Aphrodite”.

Kylie said: “2013 was a year of big change, planning and preparation for me and I’m so excited that 2014 is finally here so I can share this new music . Into The Blue is really special to me as it encapsulates a lot of what I’ve been feeling – I can’t wait for it to be out there.”

Kylie has also recently joined The Voice as a coach; the first episode airs this Saturday (11th January).

“Into The Blue” will be released on 16th March 2014 on Parlophone Music.

The singer is also rumored to have recorded a track with Enrique Iglesias, which will be released on his new album in March. The song is called "Beautiful". This has not been officially confirmed, but Enrique is said to be featured on the second single from the Kylie album. Same song? Another one? There is in fact no song? Time will tell...

Either way, I am VERY much looking forward to Kylie's comeback! With a new Kylie single on the way (that supposedly sounds nothing like the dreadful "Skirt", which was her last release), I think we can safely say that 2014 is off to to a fun start. Now, Parlophone BETTER release some physical formats for the single!!!

Her Heart Belongs...

Let's take a quick trip back in time, shall we? We land in 1992, where we can watch Kylie Minogue take on a little bit of Marilyn Monroe in this rare footage:




Kylie is returning to the music scene in the very near future with a project called Into The Blue. It is not known if it's the name of the new album or the new single (or both), but above is the first photo that has surfaced from the video shoot for the single. Stay tuned... For now, here is a little blurb from a new interview with the princess:

Pharrell has worked with you on your new album. What was the most surprising him about working with him?

Well he's a very stylish man and he has this yellow diamond ring that I had to stop and tell him how amazing that was. I think with Pharrell, he could just wear anything. He could take the most uncool stuff and make it work.

What is the track on that album that's going to dominate our summer?

I can't tell you, my management would kill me! But I hope it's not one, I hope it's a couple. It's weird when you spend so long doing something you get kind of snow blinded. I love every song I've done in a certain way. There's one coming very soon and a second one coming around summertime. I'd like to be part of the summer soundtrack.

Queer As Pop...

A fun new documentary charting how the gay scene and the political and social liberation of gay men have inspired and affected the music mainstream over the last 40 years.

Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It...

The Divine Miss M. is taking on the great Mae West!

HBO Films has put in development Mae West, a movie about the true Hollywood original, with Bette Midler attached to star and executive produce. The project is the brainchild of William Friedkin (The Exorcist), who will direct and executive produce. Broadway heavyweight Harvey Fierstein, who recently penned the book for Tony-winning musical Kinky Boots, is writing the script. Also executive producing is Jerry Weintraub, who executive produced HBO Films’ Emmy-winning Behind The Candelabra.




Mae West, based on West’s autobiography Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It, chronicles West’s rise friedkinto stardom when she takes New York by storm after writing and starring in her scandalous Broadway show Sex and battles authorities over obscenity charges. Instead of taking the road of a wide-eyed Hollywood ingenue, West forged her own path, writing and starring in her own risqué plays, including her breakthrough Sex, which had her prosecuted and sentenced to 10 days in prison for “corrupting the morals of youth.” The notoriety fueled her career and didn’t stop her from tackling taboo subjects in her next plays, including 1928 hit Diamond Lil, about a racy 1890s woman, which opened the doors to Hollywood for her.



West was a late arrival, signing her first movie deal with Paramount at 39, but went on to make a string of hits, becoming one of the highest-grossing stars of the 1930s while still finding ways to push the envelope and keeping studio censors busy. Midler’s career path resembles that of West — she too made a name for herself onstage in New York (she made her Broadway debut in the chorus of Fiddler On The Roof) before segueing to features in her 30s for a successful movie career, which has earned her two Oscar nominations. Midler just started a three-week engagement at the Geffen Playhouse of I’ll Eat You Last after a successful Broadway run. Midler has been earning strong reviews for her portrayal of larger-than-life Hollywood agent Sue Mengers in the one-person play written by John Logan and directed by Joe Mantello.

Lost Shows...

I always find it very annoying when visual music material (such as live concerts and music videos) are not made available to buy on physical formats. Thankfully, a large part of concerts and clips by the artists I collect have been made available in some formats through the years.




That said, many concerts that came out on VHS or LD way back in the day remain on that format only. There are several excellent concerts that have never seen any official DVD/BR releases, which really is a shame. Here is a small selection...



Hopefully some of these will be released officially on a more up to date format! The Kylie and Diana shows have been "officially" released on DVD (meaning that some dubious companies were able to release them through loopholes - the quality tends to be below average on those releases). I have been waiting for the Pet Shop Boys concert for 15 years now, not to mention Madonna's legendary Blond Ambition show which has only been officially released on laserdisc - more than 20 years ago!

Music DVD's (like music in general) don´t sell nearly as well as they used to, "thanks" to the internet. The shows above can be watched in full on-line, and I know that there are many people that are happy doing just that. But I rarely watch things on-line, and of course the quality can't be compared to a well done DVD or Blu-Ray. Why not give us a remastered special edition of Kylie's Let's Get To It album, complete with b-sides, remixes, music videos and the concert tour? And how about some Janet Jackson special editions? She has a couple of tours that were filmed but never released and her albums are way overdue to get remastered and expanded editions.

Some artist have been doing this right - Erasure for example, who have released their early albums in a 2CD/1DVD box sets, including full length concerts. And especially for big names, releasing their concerts this way is the perfect way for fans to get remastered and rare material along with visuals. Packages like these will draw in some new audience, every big fan of the artist will buy the new release and the record companies make money on old albums and footage that otherwise just sits in the vaults. If it is possible to give artists (I use the term loosely) like La Toya Jackson special editions of their albums, then why on earth not do this for artists that actually sell???

The effort put into music releases has been on the down slide in recent years. Deluxe editions of new albums look exactly like the regular ones, physical singles have almost disappeared and very little effort is put into promotional materials. The vinyl comeback does make a little up for this but overall very little is being done to attract buyers to actually pay for their music. It seems to be the re-issue market that is offering buyers the most attractive packages (the recent Bananarama re-issues are a good example). Hopefully we will see more in the future, including ones with live DVD's being a part of the package.

I am off to warm up my fax machine - those silly record companies need a a piece of my mind ;)

Happy New Year...

2014 is here! Let's have a good one!