Two of my favorite dance, soul and pop re-issue labels are Cherry Red and Omnivore Recordings. Matt Ingham at Cherry Red in London and four-time Grammy-winner Cheryl Pawelski at Omnivore are passionate about great music and recordings that are re-issue worthy. Best of all, fidelity matters to both of them, as do comprehensive and intelligent liner notes.
Here are a bunch of my favorite newly issued releases on the two labels:
I See You Live on Love Street: Music From Laurel Canyon, 1967-1975 (Cherry Red/Grapefruit). A three-CD box that covers California folk-rock artists who roosted in this fabled mountainous area of the Hollywood Hills in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The four-hour, 72-track set traces the scene's evolution. The first CD covers 1967-1968 with tracks like Love Street by the Doors, I've Got to Know by the Stone Poneys and You Don't Miss Your Water by the Byrds. The second CD covers 1969-1971 with songs such as the Turtles' Lady-O, Stephen Stills' Love the One You're With and Warren Zevon's Wanted Dead or Alive. The third CD, 1971-1975, includes Linda Ronstadt's Birds, Leon Russell's Tight Rope and Rosebud's Flying to Morning. A box that will transport you back in time, whether you were around back then or not. You'll find this boxed set here.
Here's Linda Ronstadt with the Stone Poneys singing I've Got to Know...
The Stylistics—Love Is Back in Style (Omnivore). The Stylistics were one of Philadelphia's most successful vocal harmony groups specializing in ballads. During the 1970s, the group had 12 consecutive R&B top-10 hits, including Stop, Look, Listen, You Are Everything, Betcha by Golly, Wow, I'm Stone in Love with You, Break Up to Make Up and You Make Me Feel Brand New. One of their last albums, released in 1996, was Love Is Back in Style, for Al Bell's Bellmark label—Bellmark being short for Al Bell Marketing. Most of the songs were written and arranged by Preston Glass. This 1990s album is as good as anything they released in the 1970s and remains a lost classic. Now it's back. You'll find the album here.
Here are the Stylistics singing Have You Ever Been in Love?...
Archie Bell & the Drells: The Albums: 1968-1979 (Cherry Red/Robinsongs). Archie Bell & the Drells were from Houston, Texas, and a group produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff in the late 1960s before the duo formed Philadelphia International Records in 1971. Archie Bell was spectacular. The group's hits included Tighten Up, I Can't Stop Dancing, Do the Choo-Choo, There's Gonna Be a Showdown, Girl You're Too Young, Here I Go Again, Soul City Walk, Let's Groove, I Could Dance All Night and Don't Let Love Get You Down. All of their albums have been long out of print, but now they have been gathered together on this five-CD box. You'll find the boxed set here.
Here's Archie Bell & the Drells performing Tighten Up in 1968...
You Can Walk Across It on the Grass—The Boutique Sounds of Swinging London (Cherry Red/Grapefruit). London from 1965 to 1968 was the center of pop culture. Pop art began in London in the late 1950s, and in the early 1960s, British film made the scene next with James Bond. Then came music with a big beat, followed by fashion led by Twiggy and Mary Quant. I was in London in '68, but the city wasn't subsumed by rose-colored granny glasses and paisley pants. Much of the city's daily pedestrian traffic was still older and conservatively dressed. But on Carnaby Street and King's Road, where all the trendy boutiques were located, the streets were alive with colorful clothes and music pouring from stores. This three-CD box will give you a sense of what London sounded like during this period. You'll find this boxed set here.
Here are tracks from the set provided by Cherry Red on YouTube....
Silver Convention—Save Me (Omnivore/Good Time). This album was an early Euro disco release recorded in 1974 and came out the following year. It was the first album by Silver Convention, a German group consisting of three female vocalists and two producer-songwriters. Save Me was a big hit in Europe but didn't chart in the U.S. Instead, the runaway track here was Fly, Robin, Fly, which topped the U.S. charts. Listening back, the album and its five bonus tracks deliver hypnotic funk and solid punch. You'll find the album in the CD format here on March 29.
Here's Silver Convention in 1975...
