Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Rose Parade Celebration 2021 virtual entertainment lineup

The Pasadena Tournament of Roses® has special music performances and celebrity guests lined up for The Rose Parade’s New Year Celebration, airing on six broadcast channels on New Year’s Day.

The reimagined celebration includes entertainment for fans of country music, television, Broadway and sports.

Musical performances include:

Sheryl Crow, Mickey Guyton (rising young country singer-songwriter), Tori Kelly, Lady A, Rascal Flatts and The War and Treaty (Nashville breakout act).

Celebrity guest appearances:

Daddy Yankee (award-winning singer, songwriter, actor and producer), Shanola Hampton (star of “Shameless” on Showtime), Laurie Hernandez (Olympic Gold and Silver medalist, 2016 U.S. Olympic Women’s Gymnastics Team), Emeril Lagasse, Matt Leinart (2019 Rose Bowl Hall of Fame inductee, former NFL player and Heisman Trophy winner), Rita Moreno, 
Dascha Polanco (Netflix's “Orange is the New Black”), Vin Scully, 
Gary Sinise. 

Past Rose Parade Grand Marshals Lagasse and Sinise will both be featured in the special.

The TV entertainment special – “The Rose Parade’s New Year Celebration presented by Honda,” will also feature marching band performances, segments related to the Rose Parade, special Rose Bowl Game® football highlights, equestrians, floats from years past, a behind-the-scenes look into the making of a float and New Year’s wishes from fans around the world.

The special will air on ABC, Hallmark Channel, KTLA, NBC and RFD-TV at 8 a.m. PST and on Univision at 7 a.m. PST on January 1, 2021.

In order to limit travel and ensure the safety of our talent, these performance segments were filmed at iconic locations around the country; Grand Ole Opry and the Rose Bowl Stadium. To keep everyone safe, all new footage for the special was filmed using the strictest COVID safety protocols.

Willie Nelson does Sinatra on next album

That's Life, Willie Nelson's new studio album is scheduled for Feb. 26 via L
egacy Recordings and will be available on CD, 12" vinyl LP and digital formats. Pre-order here.

Honoring the enduring influence and inspiration of Frank Sinatra, That's Life continues Willie's longtime musical appreciation of Sinatra's artistry and repertoire, an exploration exemplified by 2018's My Way, which earned Willie the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Solo Album.

Willie's second album of standards and classics made famous by Frank Sinatra, That's Life finds Nelson (who has penned a few standards himself including "Crazy," "Funny How Times Slips Away," "On The Road Again" and many more) inhabiting more of the most treasured songs in the Great American Songbook.

It was recorded in the spirit of the groundbreaking 1978 Stardust album (Willie is one of the first contemporary artists to "cover" the Great American Songbook), 2016's Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin (a Best Traditional Vocal Album Grammy Award winner) and 2018's My Way.

The album cover painting of Willie and his iconic guitar, Trigger, standing in the glow of a twilight streetlamp, was created by Paul Mann, a painter and illustrator known for his film poster work. It evokes classic Sinatra album images like In The Wee Small Hours (whose title song is featured on That's Life). Other key tracks on Willie's new album include "I Won't Dance" (featuring Grammy and Juno Award winning vocalist Diana Krall) and "A Cottage For Sale" premiering HERE.

Produced by Buddy Cannon and Matt Rollings, That's Life was recorded at Capitol Studios in Hollywood--where Frank Sinatra, the first artist to record at the facility, created masterpieces from March 1956 to November 1961--with additional recording at Pedernales Studios in Austin, Texas.

Willie delivers 11 new studio performances with string and horn arrangements mixed by recording industry legend Al Schmitt (who's recorded and mixed more than 150 gold and platinum albums and won more Grammy Awards than any other engineer or mixer).

Both Nelson and Sinatra were close friends, musical colleagues and mutual admirers of each other's work throughout Sinatra's lifetime. In the 1980s, Sinatra opened for Willie at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas and the two of them appeared together in a public service announcement for NASA's Space Foundation.

"I learned a lot about phrasing listening to Frank," Willie said in an interview for AARP magazine (June/July 2018). "He didn't worry about behind the beat or in front of the beat, or whatever-he could sing it either way, and that's the feel you have to have."

Track listing (songwriters, year of Sinatra version):

01. Nice Work If You Can Get It (Ira/George Gershwin; 1962)
02. Just In Time (Adolph Green/Jule Styne/Betty Comden; 1959)
03. A Cottage For Sale (Larry Conley/Willard Robison; 1959)
04. I've Got You Under My Skin (Cole Porter; 1956)
05. You Make Me Feel So Young (Josef Myrow/Mack Gordon; 1956)
06. I Won't Dance - feat. Diana Krall (Kerr/Hammerstein/Harbach/McHugh/Fields; 1957)
07. That's Life (Dean Kay/Kelly Gordon, 1966)
08. Luck Be A Lady (Frank Loesser; 1965)
09. In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning (David Mann/Bob Hilliard; 1955)
10. Learnin' The Blues (Dolores Vicki Silvers; 1955)
11. Lonesome Road (Nathaniel Shilkret/Gene Austin; 1957)

Musicians:

Willie Nelson - Trigger
Matt Rollings - piano, B-3 organ, vibraphone, hand claps
Dean Parks - electric guitar, acoustic guitar, hand claps
David Piltch - bass, hand claps
Jay Bellerose - drums, tambourine, hand claps
Mickey Raphael - harmonica
Paul Franklin - steel guitar
Chris McDonald - trombone
Jeff Coffin - tenor saxophone
Mark Douthit - alto saxophone
Barry Green - trombone
Mike Haynes - trumpet
Doug Moffet - baritone saxophone
Steve Patrick - trumpet, piccolo trumpet
Matt Forbes - hand claps
Ed Cherney - hand claps
Buddy Cannon - hand claps

Strings: Kristin Wilkinson, David Angell, Monisa Angell, Carrie Bailey, Kevin Bate, David Davidson, Conni Ellisor, Cornelia Heard, Alison Hoffman, Paul Nelson, Sari Reist, Karen Winkelmann

Strings orchestrated by Kristin Wilkinson
Horns orchestrated by Chris McDonald

AJR's new album drops in March

Multiplatinum indie pop trio AJR will release fourth full-length album OK ORCHESTRA on March 26
. It is available for pre-order now and features the group’s hit singles “BANG!” and “Bummerland.” AJR also released the new song “My Play.”

Click HERE to pre-order the album.

“In the most uncertain year of our lives, making OK ORCHESTRA was the one certain thing we had to hold on to,” said AJR. “We ended up with the most sonically experimental and emotionally raw album we’ve ever made.”

AJR’s “BANG!” has cracked the Top 10 at three radio formats with the song currently sitting at No. 6 on Pop radio, No. 5 on the Adult Pop radio chart and it reached No. 2 at Alternative radio earlier this year.

The song has generated more than 280 million streams worldwide and is AJR’s sixth platinum single to date. It reached No. 1 on the iTunes All Genres and USA Top 100 Shazam charts, has been featured on the Billboard Hot 100 for 24 consecutive weeks and is currently No. 8 on Billboard’s Digital Songs chart. AJR has performed “BANG!” on TODAY, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and most recently the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It’s also currently featured in a new Apple ‘Gifts’ commercial.

Their last full-length album Neotheater debuted at the top of the Billboard charts in 2019 (No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Alternative and Rock Albums charts) and featured their platinum certified single “100 Bad Days.” In their decade music roundups, Spotify named AJR’s “Sober Up” one of the Best Rock Songs of the 2010s and Apple Music named AJR’s hit “Weak” one of the Best Alt Songs of the 2010s.

Fans recently saw the group perform during AJR’s One Spectacular Night, an immersive concert live stream. The event had cutting-edge laser, LED and wire-automation technology.

AJR will wrap the year up with a special performance of “BANG!” on “NBC’s New Year’s Eve 2021” broadcast.

Out now: The new EP from Eddie Vedder

Eddie Vedder has released the five-song Matter Of Time EP. It's a series of acoustic songs and covers performed and recorded throughout 2020. He presents all of these tracks together for the first time in one comprehensive collection which also includes an acoustic cover of Bruce Springsteen’s song “Growin’ Up.”

Get Matter Of Time at all digital streaming partners HERE via Monkeywrench/Republic Records.

Among the additions, the project includes an acoustic “Future Days” from the 2020 Game Awards, which he performed remotely and beamed into the show. The track originally concluded Pearl Jam’s 2013 tenth album Lightning Bolt and also appeared in the video game The Last of Us Part II. Then there are at-home performances of classics “Porch” and “Just Breathe” captured for Amazon.

Vedder initially introduced Matter Of Time with the title track “Matter of Time” and “Say Hi.” Check out the animated music video for “Matter of Time” and live video for “Say Hi.” He premiered both songs as part of Venture Into Cures. As co-founders of EB Research Partnership (EBRP), Jill and Eddie Vedder presented the digital event livestreamed free to viewers around the world on the official YouTube channels and Facebook pages of both Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam as well as on the EBRP site and social media platforms and NUGS.net.

The event showcased uplifting stories about individuals and families living with Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) alongside appearances and performances from celebrity friends to educate viewers about EB and raise critical funds for research toward a cure for EB and other rare diseases.

EB is a life-threatening genetic disorder that affects approximately 500,000 people worldwide. Called “Butterfly Children” because their skin is as fragile as the wings of a butterfly, children with EB face severe pain, open external and internal wounds, and a grueling daily bandaging process. There is currently no treatment or cure for EB, however EBRP’s innovative Venture Philanthropy model is helping to fast-track not only a cure for EB, but therapies that could affect thousands of other rare diseases. 

As the largest global organization supporting EB research, EBRP has funded 80 projects through their innovative model, directly impacting the clinical landscape. Through EBRP’s work, clinical trials for EB have increased by 15 times, including four Phase III clinical trials, the final phase before the FDA considers approval for a new therapy.

TRACK LISTING:

1.) Matter of Time 
2.) Say Hi
3.) Just Breathe (acoustic at home)
4.) Future Days (acoustic at home)
5.) Growin’ up (acoustic at home)
6.) Porch (acoustic at home)

A Bowie Celebration: Just For One Day to honor David Bowie's birthday with star-studded online event

“A Bowie Celebration: Just For One Day” is a global streaming event on Jan. 8 at 6 p.m. PT hosted by Mike Garson, David Bowie’s longest standing band member. The stream will bring together artists who worked with Bowie, or were deeply influenced by him and his work, for a celebration on what would have been his birthday and weekend of the fifth anniversary of his passing.

Artists recently added to the all-star lineup include Duran Duran, Adam Lambert, UK chart topper Yungblud, three-time Grammy nominee Andra Day, actor/musician Michael C. Hall of "Six Feet Under" and "Dexter" fame (who also performed in Bowie's final theater piece "Lazarus"), Mott the Hoople leader Ian Hunter, singer-songwriter-guitarist Anna Calvi, award-winning musician Atticus Ross (NIN), Etty Lau Farrell and Mariqueen Maandig Reznor.

They’ll join alumni members of Bowie’s bands spanning his 1969 self-titled album through his final album, Blackstar. Newly announced alumni returning to honor Bowie include Grammy Award-winning guitar legend Peter Frampton who was childhood friends with David and was featured on Bowie’s Never Let Me Down album and his Glass Spider tour.

Also joining the show is Grammy Award-winning saxophone phenom David Sanborn who recorded on Bowie’s Young Americans album and was featured on his 1974 Diamond Dogs tour. Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman also joins the special A Bowie Celebration stream on January 8 having played piano on Bowie’s Space Oddity, Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars albums.

A Bowie Celebration will donate $2 per ticket purchase to the Save the Children organization, a charity important to Bowie and the beneficiary of funds raised from his 50th Birthday Concert held in 1997 at a sold-out Madison Square Garden featuring many of the very artists who will be featured on January 8 during this special global streaming event.

Produced by Mike Garson in partnership with Stacey Sher and Kerry Brown together with Rolling Live Studios, A Bowie Celebration: Just For One Day! will not consist of a generic series of music videos featuring rectangular video contributions.

Instead, this concert will be a beautiful cinematic experience with performances also featuring previously announced artists including Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins), Oscar-winning actor Gary Oldman, Gavin Rossdale (Bush), Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction), Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), Grammy-winning singer Macy Gray, Ian Astbury (The Cult), Lzzy Hale (Halestorm), Gail Ann Dorsey (David Bowie, Lenny Kravitz), Bernard Fowler (Rolling Stones), Corey Glover (Living Color), Tony-winner Lena Hall, vocalist Judith Hill (Grammy winner for 20 Feet From Stardom), and Charlie Sexton (David Bowie, Bob Dylan).

Additional amazing career-spanning artists joining the January 8 global stream include Everett Bradley, Matt Chamberlain, Ava Cherry, Richard Cottle, Greg Errico, Mark Guiliana, Henry Hey, Emir Ksasan, Tony Levin, Geoff MacCormack, Andy Newmark, and Pablo Rosario plus previously announced alumni including Bowie’s final touring band of Mike Garson, Gail Ann Dorsey, Earl Slick, Sterling Campbell, Gerry Leonard and Catherine Russell along with Zack Alford, Carlos Alomar, Kevin Armstrong, Alan Childs, Robin Clark, Emm Gryner, Omar Hakim, Clare Hirst, Erdal Kızılçay, Tim Lefebvre, Martha Mooke, Holly Palmer, Mark Plati, Carmine Rojas, Charlie Sexton, Bowie’s longtime record producer and musician Tony Visconti.

Special guest appearances will also be made by Nandi Bushell, Mr Hudson, Gaby Moreno, Joe Sumner, Simon Westbrook, The Section Quartet and more.

Kicking off at 6 pm PT, the show will be available for ticket holders around the globe to enjoy live and for 24 hours after its initial stream. With such a wide-ranging lineup of extraordinary talent, the concert will offer over three hours of music.

Ultimate Ears Pro has partnered with Rolling Live Studios and A Bowie Celebration to provide artists with the industry standard in-ear monitoring solution for live performances. Fans can get their own set of collectible A Bowie Celebration inspired UE Pro earphones. The show will broadcast live on RollingLiveStudios.com via Lucra, a new live streaming platform built by Streamlabs. Ultimate Ears Pro and Streamlabs are a part of Logitech, a leading provider of audio and live streaming tools.

Fans can visit the event page at http://rollinglivestudios.com/bowie to buy tickets, purchase VIP experiences, and order exclusive merch. VIP ticket bundles offer fans a variety of exclusive opportunities and merchandise including everything from access to a pre-show soundcheck and an after-show Q&A with members of the band.

Additional artists are still to be announced. Artist lineup is subject to change. This sales promotion is conducted by A Bowie Celebration.

To learn more about A Bowie Celebration, visit Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About Mike Garson 

Universally respected for his impressive skills as a pianist, Mike Garson is a respected composer, performer and educator, as well. He is perhaps best known for his relationship with David Bowie which began in 1972 for Bowie’s first performances in the United States. Garson made his mark on dozens of Bowie albums and travelled thousands of miles with him on his world tours. In 2006, Mike accompanied Bowie for his final public American performance.

In more recent years, Garson has headlined his critically acclaimed concert production “A Bowie Celebration” touring the world with fellow alumni band members of Bowie’s bands along with world-class vocalists. He is also the subject of the international bestselling biography of his life, “Bowie’s Piano Man – The Life of Mike Garson” by Clifford Slapper.

Garson is as comfortable in jazz, classical, pop and the rock arena and is considered one of the world’s best improvisers who has also composed thousands of pieces in every imaginable style. He continues to be called into duty as the secret weapon behind billboard-topping, Grammy lauded albums, tours and longstanding artist success.

About Rolling Live Studios 

Rolling Live Studios takes virtual live events to the next level. Since its inception, Rolling Live Studios has produced over 50 live virtual events and helped raise over $15 million in donations for an array of charities. Recent credits include On The Air, Chrysalis Night In – Virtual Gala, Richard and Demi Weitz’s RW Quarantunes, and livestreams for The Recording Academy. Rolling Live Studios was founded by Kerry Brown, who has managed and produced multi-platinum artists (The Smashing Pumpkins, Miley Cyrus, Cheap Trick, among others), feature films, television and video games (Blow, Along Came Polly, Scream, The Academy Awards, and more). Kerry produced the live multimedia show BLACKOUT, a collaboration between PepsiCo and the NFL to celebrate the Superbowl, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday party, among other live events.

About Save the Children

Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. Since our founding more than 100 years ago, we’ve changed the lives of more than 1 billion children. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

NAMM '21 news: Garth Brooks, Melissa Etheridge

NAMM has announced that at Believe in Music week, multi-platinum, GRAMMY® award winners Garth Brooks and Melissa Etheridge will be the recipients of the organization's "Music for Life" award.

The annual award will be presented at the opening interview sessions on Thursday, January 21 and Friday, January 22, 2021, and recognizes individuals or organizations for their musical accomplishments and inspiring more music makers. 

“NAMM Members are often the folks behind the scenes, creating the tools and technologies that artists use to bring their voice and music to the world. And as kindred musical spirits, we were particularly inspired by this year’s Music for Life recipients for their enduring commitment to musical excellence. When the pandemic disrupted everything, the honorees found new and creative ways to connect and encourage others when it was needed the most,” shares Joe Lamond, NAMM President and CEO.

On Thursday, January 21, Brooks will join Lamond for a conversation about adapting in uncertain times and his storied career — Brooks is a seven-time CMA "Entertainer of the Year," a first for any artist, and is the first and only artist in history to receive nine Diamond Awards for the now nine albums certified by the RIAA at more than 10 million album sales each. He remains the No. 1-selling solo artist in U.S. history, certified by the RIAA with 157 million album sales. Last March, Brooks received the esteemed Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. In 2019, Pollstar announced that The Garth Brooks Stadium Tour was the best-selling country music tour of 2019. In 2017, Brooks finished the three-and-a-half-year long Garth Brooks World Tour with Trisha Yearwood. The tour sold more than 6.3 million tickets, making it the biggest North American tour in history and the biggest American tour in the world.

Earlier this year, Billboard announced that Brooks was the first artist to make it on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in the 1980s, '90s, '00s, '10s and now '20s, with "Dive Bar," a duet he sang with Blake Shelton. Amid tour cancellations, Brooks launched "Inside Studio G," a weekly Facebook Live series from his home studio. It airs every Monday on his Facebook page at 7:00 p.m. EST.

On Friday, January 22, Melissa Etheridge, one of music's great female icons, will join Lamond for an interview and discussion about reinvention in the time of COVID and her new venture, EtheridgeTV.com. Etheridge's popularity is built around such memorable songs as "Bring Me Some Water," "No Souvenirs" and "Ain't It Heavy," for which she won her first Grammy for "Best Female Rock Vocal." Etheridge hit her commercial and artistic stride in 1993 with her fourth album, Yes I Am, featuring the massive hits "I'm the Only One" and "Come to My Window," a searing song of longing that brought her a second Grammy and went six-times platinum. In 2007, Etheridge celebrated a career milestone with a victory in the "Best Song" category at the Academy® Awards for "I Need to Wake Up," written for the Al Gore documentary on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth.

On October 7, 2016, Etheridge released Memphis Rock & Soul, her first album since 2014's critically lauded This Is M.E. Recorded at Royal Studios in Memphis, the album received stellar reviews from the likes of Entertainment Weekly, Parade, Rolling Stone, American Songwriter and more. She followed that up with the April 2019 release of The Medicine Show, an album that addressed the universal themes of renewal, reconciliation, reckoning, compassion and, most profoundly, healing. 

In June, Etheridge launched her own live streaming subscription and single ticket concert platform, Etheridge TV. Etheridge plays five unique shows Tuesday-Saturday at 3:00 p.m. PT and has done over 200 live streams in 2020.That same month, Etheridge also announced the launch of The Etheridge Foundation. Through the foundation, the singer said she hopes to raise money to support healthy new research into the causes and effects of opioid addiction.

Brooks and Etheridge join past recipients of the "Music for Life" award musicians, including Graham Nash, Stevie Wonder, Yoko Ono, Henry Mancini, Bob Weir, Nancy Wilson and, in 2020, Jason Mraz, among others. The award is traditionally given each January during the global music, pro audio and entertainment technology gathering, The NAMM Show, held in Anaheim, California. 

Brooks and Etheridge interviews will join a growing roster of artist interviews at Believe in Music week from among the likes of Chick Corea, Deadmau5, Diane Warren, Jackson Browne, Lzzy Hale and others. In total, Believe in Music week will offer 150-plus interviews; professional development and training sessions for all sectors of the music products, pro audio and entertainment technology industries; and NAMM Foundation education for music educators and administrators, nonprofit professionals and college-aged students and faculty, among others. Education and training tracks include Business, Audio Production and Technology, Entertainment Technology and Artists, as well as others.

Believe in Music week (January 18, 2021) is the online, global gathering to unite and support the people who bring music to the world. To register for free or to learn more, please visit https://attend.believeinmusic.tv

Monday, December 28, 2020

The Year in Review: Notable 2020 music albums, books and home video releases from Marty Stuart, the B-52's, more

With so many music-related books, albums and home videos released over the course of a year, it's easy to overlook some fine efforts. Below are some 2020 titles that are definitely worthy of attention...

BOOKS:

Marty Stuart
The Pilgrim: A Wall-to-Wall Odyssey
(BMG)

Over the past couple decades, Marty Stuart has become one of country music's chief archivists, taking a prominent role in helping to preserve the genre's legacy (you might have seen him provide context during Ken Burns' recent PBS documentary Country Music).

Stuart got his musical start in the 1970s as a teenage mandolinist playing in Lester Flatt's touring band. Then the singer/guitarist spent half of the Eighties in Johnny Cash's band and launched a solo career. Once the 1990s rolled around, Stuart finally notched several major country hits like "Hillbilly Rock," "Little Things," "Tempted," "Burn Me Down," "The Whiskey Ain't Workin'" and "This One's Gonna Hurt You" (both with Travis Tritt).

For 1999's compelling concept album The PilgrimStuart wrote and sang about what he described as "a true story of an unbelievable romance that unfolded in my hometown of Philadelphia, Mississippi when I was a kid. It’s a story of the power of love to overcome life’s darkest moments." 

Cash, George Jones, Emmylou Harris, Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys, Earl Scruggs, Mike Campbell of the Heartbreakers, Pam Tillis, Connie Smith, Barry Beckett and others joined Stuart in the studio.

This striking 187-page, 11 x 10 1/2 coffee table book details the inspiration and process of making the album as well as other recording sessions and performances during that period. There are several vivid photographs by Stuart (a celebrated photographer) and Thomas B. Allen. Actor/musician Billy Bob Thornton provides a foreward to the book. 

Meanwhile, the accompanying remastered CD features nearly a dozen alternate, unreleased and demo tracks. Among the highlights of all 30 songs are the twangy, shoulda-been-a-hit "Sometimes the Pleasure's Worth the Pain," "Red, Red Wine and Cheatin' Songs" (with Tillis), "Goin' Nowhere Fast," "The Greatest Love of All Time," a rousing "That'll Be Alright with Me," "Been Lonely Too Long" the affecting "Even Trains Have to Cry" which Stuart completed with current band The Fabulous Superlatives. Pilgrim engineeer Jamie Tate also provides background on the music restoration process. Definitely a must have for diehard Stuart fans.

Dave Morrell
Run-Out Groove: Inside Capitol's 1980s Hits and Stiffs - The Morrell Archives Vol. 4

In the latest installment of his memoir series, music industry veteran Morrell recalls his stint as album rock radio promotion man for Capitol Records during the decade when new wave and metal ruled the charts.

Often utilizing a humorous, freewheeling tone, he describes how he went from being a young Beatles fanatic who collected memorabilia and bootleg vinyl records to actually working in a prominent role at the label that released Fab Four material. As a result, Morrell helped promote John Lennon/Yoko Ono and Beatles catalog titles and then Paul McCartney's Press to Play and Flowers in the Dirt albums. A couple of Morrell's colorful bosses have sledgehammers or cattle prods on their desks.

Throughout the book's chapters, Morrell recites conference calls where the Capitol/EMI Records promotion men discussed the fates of various singles on the charts and what needed to be done to make them more successful. Some of the memorable artist anecdotes include: Duran Duran, Crowded House, Great White, Heart, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Seger, Donny Osmond, Graham Nash, the Plasmatics,  Carole King, Ricky Nelson and Billy Vera.

DVD/BLU-RAY: 

The B-52's
Live at the US Festival
(Shout! Factory)

Over the years, there have so few official home video releases containing complete  performances from the legendary US Festivals that any new titles are a rare treat. Staged near San Bernardino, California in 1982-83, the concerts featured several name and up-and-coming rock, new wave, metal and country acts of the period. The B-52's appeared during the first festival's initial day on Sept. 3, 1982 alongside The Police, Talking Heads, Oingo Boingo, the English Beat, the Ramones and Gang of Four.  

Prior to the event, the B-52's had previously released two moderately successful albums that garnered airplay on select college and then-nascent alternative radio (plus the dance/club charts) with the songs "Rock Lobster," "Planet Claire" and "Private Idaho."

The zany Athens, Georgia new wave quintet was in fine form during its 13-song, hour-long US Festival set. Original guitarist Ricky Wilson (who died in 1985) is a real firebrand onstage here and the additional of a two-man horn section really bolstered the sound. Co-lead singer Fred Schneider dances around a bit and mimics the original Woodstock with a "public service announcement." A run of uptempo songs toward the end of the performance - "52 Girls," "Dance This Mess Around," "Private Idaho," "Rock Lobster" and the wild closer "Strobe Light" really cook.

Brief latter-day interview snippets with members Schneider, Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson are intercut the songs in the concert's first half. 

Mystify: Michael Hutchence
(Shout! Factory)

The tragic death of INXS frontman Michael Hutchence in 1997 was a devastating loss to the music world. This intriguing documentary uses footage from the artist's past interviews and private home movies, plus insight from close associates, friends and family, to try and find a reason why Hutchence reportedly took his own life. 

Writer/director Richard Lowenstein - who was INXS' go-to music video director, helming 16 of them for the Aussies - does a deft job at putting the pieces together. The film features footage of the band headlining Wembley Stadium gig in 1981 and the US Festival in 1983. Bono, Kylie Minogue, Helena Christensen and the INXS musicians provide welcome insight, including some things casual fans might not know, throughout. 

Special features on the Blu-ray editions comprise Early Days (Hutchence and INXS on the band’s beginning), Acting (Huchence talks about growing up among on film sets of Hong Kong and his own film experiences), How To Make A Music Video, Prague and eight additional scenes.

BOX SETS

Elton John/Jewel Box (UME) - Massive career-spanning collection of rarities, B-sides, demos and deep album tracks. Many are making their CD appearance for the first time. 

Elvis Costello & the Attractions/Armed Forces (UME) - Unreleased demos, song sketches, alternate takes, rare live tracks, complete Live at Hollywood High School 1978 concert audio and U.K. hit Costello singles from the gold-certified (U.S.) 1979 album: "Oliver's Army," "Accidents Will Happen."

John Lennon/Gimme Some Truth (UME) - Career solo compilation remixed in Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround sound on Blu-ray audio and 124-page book in select configurations.

Rolling Stones/Goat's Head Soup (UME) - The 1973 studio album in a new stereo mix, 5.1 surround and Dolby Atmos mix, rarities and the much sought-after '73 "Brussels Affair" show making its official bow on CD. Features the U.S. pop chart topper "Angie" and top 15 pop track "Heartbreaker."

Sunday, December 20, 2020

Christmas albums spotlight: The Modern Gentlemen

You Make it Feel Like Christmas, the terrific first 
holiday album from The Modern Gentlemen, includes songs penned by Robbie Nevil, Steve Diamond, Shelly Peiken and Mike Krompass, plus several classics spanning the decades. 

The quartet - Brian Brigham, Landon Beard, Brandon Brigham, Todd Fournier - possess some smooth vocals that go down easy amid these sleek pop and jazz-styled arrangements. 

Everything kicks off with the snappy "A Christmas to Remember." The ever-popular "All I Want for Christmas" is given a dramatic piano ballad treatment. An acoustic guitar-driven "Gift of You" oozes romance, while the peppy "Happy Holidays" features vibrant horns and lets the quartet show off more lush harmony chops (No surprise there - the guys spent several years as Frankie Valli's Four Seasons and are often seen on a PBS-TV Doo Wop program during pledge drives). Elsewhere, "Let it Snow" and the title track have a cocktail jazz vibe akin to early Michael Buble. 

If you like Buble, Frank Sinatra or Boyz II Men, then you should definitely add this album to your holiday catalog. Grade: B+

For more information: www.themoderngentlemen.net

Other recommended Christmas 2020 titles:

The Bird and the Bee/Put Up the Lights
Jamie Cullum/The Pianoman at Christmas
Goo Goo Dolls/It's Christmas All Over
Lady A/On a Winter's Night - expanded edition
Matt Nathanson/Farewell December
Grant-Lee Phillips/Yuletide
Ben Rector/A Ben Rector Christmas
Sweet Lizzy Project/And So This is Christmas 
Carrie Underwood/My Gift

Best Albums of 2020

Here are my picks for Best Albums of 2020 (in order)...








1. Dramarama, "Color TV" - The Southern California-based rock band, best known for such 1980s and '90s 
alternative radio staples as "Anything Anything (I'll Give You)," "Last Cigarette" and "Haven't Got a Clue," came back strong this year with its seventh studio album (and first in 15 years). Definitely worth the wait. 

2. The Struts, "Strange Days"

3. Airborne Toxic Event, "Hollywood Park"

4. Declan McKenna, "Zeros"

5. Graham Colton, "Inside Out"

6. Psychedelic Furs, "Made of Rain"

7. Pretenders, "Hate for Sale"

8.  Dawes, "Good Luck with Whatever"

9. Dennis DeYoung, "26 East, Vol. 1"

10. My Morning Jacket, "The Waterfall II"

11. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, "Letter to You"

12. Pearl Jam, "Gigaton"

13. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, "Sideways to New Italy"

14. Peter Bjorn & John, "Endless Dream"

15. Cayucas, "Blue Summer"

16. Cold War Kids, "New Age Norms, Vol. 2"

17. The Luxembourg Signal, "The Long Now"

18. The Killers, "Imploding the Mirage"

19. The Cribs, "Night Network"

20. X, "Alphabetland"

Honorable Mention:

1. Brian Fallon, "Local Honey"

2. Haim, "Women in Music, Pr. III"

3. Bright Light, Bright Light, "Fun City"

4. Teddy Thompson, "Heartbreaker, Please"

5. Morrissey, "I Am Not a Dog on a Chain"

Friday, December 18, 2020

Out now: 'Long Wild Road' EP by Mark MacKay

I've seen Mark MacKay perform in concert twice so far here in Southern California and I was extremely impressed each time. His current easygoing EP Long Wild Road should be in heavy rotation at terrestrial country radio right now (or even SiriusXM's Outlaw Country channel). The EP is one of the best I've heard in the country genre this year. It's definitely worth your attention.

Here's some background...

MacKay has played the Ryman Auditorium, various festivals and shared a stage with Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Chris Janson, Travis Tritt and Cole Swindell as well as opened for rock legends Ted Nugent, Richie Sambora, Orianthi and .38 Special.

All that hard road work earned him a spot on Music Connection Magazine’s list of Top 100 National Live Acts. The single "Always Rains in Portland" has 777K streams to date on Spotify, while his song "Get Me Through the Night" was featured on Spotify’s official New Boots playlist and boasts just over 100K plays. The video for "Walk You Home" has received rotation on CMT. 
Now there is a new music video for current single "I Can't Stop You" which features Hall of Fame songwriter Jeffrey Steele.  

As for social media, Mark regularly does Monday evening performances on his various channels. 

Long Wild Road track listing:

1. I Can't Stop You
2. She Won't
3. Bridge You Didn't Build
4. Long Wild Road 

Last Minute Music Gift Guide feat. U2, Iggy Pop, Tom Petty, Prince, The Replacements, The Cranberries, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley

If there’s a rock, alternative or country music enthusiast on your Christmas shopping list (or you just want to treat yourself), check out this last-minute gift guide including some noteworthy box sets and classic reissues. 

U2

All That You Can’t Leave Behind

(Universal Music Enterprises)

The lowdown: Largely considered a return to traditional rock form after the Nineties electronic experimentalism of Achtung Baby, Zooropa and PopAll That You Can’t Leave Behind saw the Irish band re-teaming with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. Bono’s lyrics were more life-affirming and spiritual than they had been in years, while Edge’s guitar work often evoked signature sounds, but remained inventive. The result was among U2’s all-time-best efforts to date. The album went quadruple platinum and won several Grammys in America. All four singles – “Beautiful Day,” “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of,” “Elevation,” “Walk On” – went top 10 in the UK and Ireland.  

What’s inside: The 20th Anniversary Super Deluxe box set contains 5 CDs - the main remastered album and nearly 40 additional tracks, including B-sides, outtakes, extended versions, and dance remixes. A hypnotic “The Ground Beneath Her Feet” (from “The Million Dollar Hotel; lyrics by author Salman Rushdie), “Love You Like Mad” and the slinky groove of “Big Girls are Best” are rarity highlights.

Audio from a June 2001 concert at Boston’s Fleet Center rounds everything out. The exhilarating live set found the band stripping the sound down during “Desire,” “Bad” and “Stay (Faraway, So Close)” and Bono delving into some chilling free association about John Lennon’s murder on “Bullet the Blue Sky.”

Housed in a classy minimalist white 12x12 hard case with only the suitcase/heart logo, the inner case is emblazoned with the inspirational words to “Walk On.” The hardcover book of the same title is a behind-the-scenes, black and white photographic travelogue by longtime visual collaborator Anton Corbijn with his handwritten recollections as captions. Keeping with the same theme, a nice double-sided, collector’s poster has more lyrics from that song. The booklet contains all lyrics, more photos, and credits. The CDs are inserted into tri-fold pockets.

Also available in standard, deluxe, vinyl and digital versions.

The Replacements

Pleased to Meet Me

(Sire/Rhino)

The lowdown: The Replacements were at a turning point in their career when they made fifth album Pleased to Meet Me at the famed Ardent Studios in Memphis with producer Jim Dickinson (Big Star, Rolling Stones). Founding guitarist Bob Stinson was suddenly gone and the remaining three members – led by singer/guitarist Paul Westerberg – allowed different sonic textures to take a more prominent role in the sound. Some instruments (saxophone, trumpet, vibraphone, strings, piano, keyboards) came at Dickinson’s suggestion. The result was a more nuanced, yet still raucous 1987 album. College and alternative radio played the single “Alex Chilton,” whose titular singer/guitarist from the Box Tops and Big Star also guested on “Can’t Hardly Wait.”  

What’s inside: More than half of the 55 tracks in this 3 CD/1 LP set are previously unreleased, with rough mixes, outtakes, and demos - including Bob Stinson’s final 1986 recordings with the band. Among the rarities, the solid ballad “Run for the Country,” bassist Tommy Stinson’s “Trouble on The Way” and fun covers of oldies like “Tossin’ and Turnin,’” “I Can Help” and “Route 66” are standouts.  

Housed in a 12 x 12 hardcover book, the booklet contains rare photos and a fascinating back story by Bob Mehr, who recently wrote the excellent biography “Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements.” He also co-produced this collection.

Johnny Cash

The Complete Mercury Recordings: 1986-1991

(Mercury/Universal Music Enterprises)

The lowdown: A frequently overlooked period of Johnny Cash’s career, 1986 to 1991 didn’t see the legend amass many more country hits after chart-topping, all-star collaboration “The Highwayman.” Still, there were plenty of hidden gems during that period worth investigating. Key among them: a spirited reunion with fellow former Sun Records labelmates Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison and pairings with Paul McCartney, Emmylou Harris, Hank Williams Jr., Glen Campbell, and Waylon Jennings. The period also saw The Man in Black tackle songs by John Fogerty, Guy Clark, Elvis Costello, Tom T. Hall and John Prine and Harry Chapin.

What’s inside: Reissued for the first time in this on 7 CD/7 LP box set are Class of '55: Memphis Rock & Roll Homecoming (1986), Johnny Cash Is Coming to Town (1987), Water from the Wells of Home (1988), Classic Cash: Hall of Fame Series (1988), Boom Chicka Boom (1990) and The Mystery of Life (1991).

Several were produced by Cowboy Jack Clement. The latter album is most notable for the spacey U2 duet "The Wanderer." An extended version originally appeared on the soundtrack album of director Wim Wenders’ flick “Faraway, So Close!” and U2’s own Zooropa. The compact lift off box has each remastered album in its own color cardboard sleeve, while the liner notes include background by Scott Schinder, song details and credits for each release.

For a taster of the set, Easy Rider: The Best of The Mercury Recordings, compiles 24 highlights as a single CD, double LP, and digital download.

Elvis Presley

From Elvis in Nashville

(RCA/Legacy)

The lowdown: In June 1970, Elvis returned to his old stomping grounds at RCA Studio B in Nashville alongside trusted guitarist James Burton and others (dubbed the “Nashville Cats”) for five days of freewheeling marathon sessions. The King chose a wide-ranging group of songs encompassing rockabilly, bluegrass, Western swing, honky tonk, pop and more.  He does compelling versions of Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On,” “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me,” “Snowbird” and Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away."

What’s inside: The 4 CD, 74-song collection includes the finished songs, jams, various takes, and studio chatter. For the first time, the master recordings are available as a single official Elvis album and are freshly mixed without added overdubs or orchestrations as on previous releases. Housed in a four-panel foldout package, the CDs are tucked into cardboard pockets and feature reproductions of the original studio tape boxes. The liner notes include minute details about the daily sessions from longtime Presley reissue producer Ernst Mikael Jorgensen, an essay by David Cantwell, quotes from the musicians and rare photos.

Iggy Pop

The Bowie Years

(UME)

The lowdown: After the demise of Iggy and the Stooges, Iggy Pop teamed with old pal David Bowie in Berlin for his first two solo albums The Idiot and Lust for Life. Much like Bowie’s Berlin trilogy, these are two of the strongest works in Pop’s catalog, featuring some of his best-known songs like “Nightclubbing,” “Funtime,” “China Girl,” “The Passenger” and “Lust for Life” (later famously heard in the “Trainspotting” soundtrack and various TV commercials).

What’s inside: The 7 CD Super Deluxe box set includes remastered versions of the studio albums, a disc of rare outtakes and alternate mixes and the live album TV Eye, where Pop and Bowie toured with the Sales Brothers (future members of Bowie’s Tin Machine).

Additionally, there are three electrifying live albums officially released for the first time: Live at The Rainbow Theatre in London, Live at The Agora in Cleveland, and Live at Mantra Studio in Chicago. A 40-page booklet contains contributions from the studio session musicians and fans.

Also available as 2 CD Deluxe Editions including bonus live CDs.

Tom Petty

Wildflowers & All the Rest

(Warner)

The lowdown: Tom Petty’s first collaboration with producer Rick Rubin became this stellar second “solo” album, which actually featured most of the Heartbreakers and notable guests like Ringo Starr and Carl Wilson. Originally released in 1994, Wildflowers was among the most successful releases in Petty’s cannon, spawning four top 20 singles on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart (“You Don’t Know How It Feels,” “You Wreck Me,” “It’s Good to Be King,” “A Higher Place”) and going triple platinum. Petty originally envisioned Wildflowers as a double album and for years discussed doing an expanded set. This box set finally brings that dream to fruition in fine fashion.

What’s inside: The 5 CD Super Deluxe edition includes 70 tracks (more than half are unreleased). Besides the original remastered album, the deluxe contains All the Rest (10 equally impressive songs from the original sessions), solo demos recorded at Petty’s home studio, alternative versions and concert takes on the Wildflowers tunes recorded from 1995-2017.

The latter disc shows how the Heartbreakers (with then-new drummer Steve Ferrone) really let the selections breathe onstage. A sumptuous 7-minute version of “You Don’t Know How It Feels from Boston in ’02, a ferocious “Honey Bee” from Toronto in ’95 and an epic, riveting 11-minute “It’s Good to Be King” from San Francisco in ’97 are just a few of many memorable moments.   

Handsomely designed as a large hardbound book with cloth binding, textured cover and an embossed title, the slim hardback book includes rare photos, Petty’s handwritten lyrics, an essay by Rolling Stone’s David Fricke, a complete Track by Track oral history from several principals involved in the sessions, impressive newly commissioned illustrations. There are also a bunch of cool tchotchkes.

Also available in 2CD, multiple LP and digital configurations.

Prince

Sign O’ The Times

(Warner)

The lowdown: This sprawling, yet ambitious double album ran the gamut of styles and found Prince pretty much handling everything himself after dismissing the Revolution. Several songs were outgrowths of the artist’s shelved projects “Crystal Ball,” “Camille” and “Dream Factory” (the man defined “prolific”). Lyrically, Prince adeptly touched upon societal issues in the title track and crafted a highly intriguing listen. The platinum-certified, critically acclaimed set recently placed at #45 on Rolling Stone’s updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Sign O’ The Times spawned three top 10 pop singles in the haunting title track, the Sheena Easton duet “U Got the Look” and “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man,” plus a top 20 R&B hit with “If I Was Your Girlfriend.”

What’s inside: The 8 CD/1 DVD Super Deluxe Edition includes the main remastered double album, 60+ previously unreleased songs, B-sides, single mixes, audio from a Dutch stadium concert and a video of Prince’s New Year’s Eve show at Paisley Park. Among the rarities, standouts include the party vibe of “Can I Play with U” (featuring Miles Davis), a frothy “Ballad of Dorothy Parker,” the lean guitar rock of “Blanche,” a luxurious “Adonis & Bathsheba” and “A Place in Heaven” (featuring The Revolution’s Lisa Coleman on vocals).

The large hardcover book has handwritten lyrics, unseen images by Jeff Katz, liner notes by Dave Chappelle, Lenny Kravitz, Prince engineer Susan Rogers and others.

Also available in various multiple CD, LP and digital configurations.

The Cranberries

No Need to Argue

(Island/UME)

The lowdown: Having achieved worldwide success with its 1993 debut album Everybody Else is Doing It, So Why Can’t We, The Cranberries became even more of a phenomenon the following year thanks to “Zombie.” The powerful tune about a Northern Ireland bombing topped the American alternative radio chart. In the period since then, the accompanying music video has been viewed over 1 billion times on YouTube, making the band The Cranberries the only Irish band to do so.

No Need to Argue sold more than 15 million copies worldwide, making it the group’s most successful album. It also contains top 20 alt-rock charters “Ode to My Family” and “Ridiculous Thoughts.”

What’s inside: Serving as sort of a testament to singer Dolores O'Riordan, who died in 2018, this solid 25th anniversary 2 CD collection features the remastered album plus B-sides and 19 previously unreleased tracks. The liner notes have rare photos, an essay by the group's archivist Eoin Devereux, recollections from surviving band members and several of the principals involved.

Interestingly, producer Stephen Street recalls that “Zombie” was “an anomaly, really; it was done to allow the band to rock out…there are still many quiet gentle Celtic-tinged tracks.” Longtime fans should enjoy reading about studio hijinks, photo shoots in various Dublin locales with the infamous couch, more about the politics of “Zombie” and quotes from the video’s award-winning director Samuel Bayer.

A version of this article originally appeared at rockcellar.com. 

Out now: 'Decade,' the solo career box set by Steve Wynn of The Dream Syndicate

One of the more noteworthy box sets to come out this fall was Decade by Steve Wynn via Real Gone Music.

The 11 CD set chronicles, with lavish deluxe editions, the guitar-driven albums Wynn recorded between 1995 and 2005, most of which have been long out-of-print.

Wynn first gained fame as lead singer and songwriter for the legendary Paisley Underground outfit The Dream Syndicate during the '80s and the current reunion which started in 2012. But his post-Dream Syndicate solo career is equal strong. 

Decade has 166 tracks, 57 of them unreleased, plus 31 other rarities. The other tracks come from Wynn's albums - the American releases Melting In The Dark, Sweetness and Light, My Midnight, Here Come The Miracles, Static Transmission, and ...Tick...Tick...Tick, and the German-only compilation entitled The Emusic Singles Collection (rare tracks from another European-only release, a collection of rarities entitled Pick of the Litter, appear here as well).

During this 10-year period, Steve Wynn recorded dozens of songs – sometimes at home and occasionally in a proper studio. Many of those songs got re-recorded and revamped and became key memorable parts of his catalog. Other songs got tossed away and forgotten.

For the box set, longtime Steve Wynn (and Dream Syndicate) archivist Pat Thomas in cooperation with Wynn listened to about a hundred hours of unreleased tapes and compiled this box set that not only includes remastered (by Mike Milchner of SonicVision) versions of some of Steve Wynn’s best albums but also the first American release of the two rare European only titles.

Several of these albums were recorded with Steve Wynn’s core band of Linda Pitmon on drums, Dream Syndicate guitarist Jason Victor, and longtime Miracle 3 bass player Dave DeCastro. Along the way, there are appearances from Green On Red keyboardist Chris Cacavas, Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb, indie chanteuse Barbara Manning, Chris Brokaw & Thalia Zedek of Come, Tony Maimone of Pere Ubu, John Convertino of Calexico, Rich Gilbert and many others.

Wynn penned very detailed notes that tell the stories behind the origins of all 57 previously unreleased songs. Plus essays from box set producer Pat Thomas and several of Wynn’s long time bandmates. And previously unseen photos from Linda Pitmon’s archives – most of them taken by Linda herself. All are inside a full-color, 48-page book. 

Track listing:

Steve Wynn – Melting in the Dark
CD ONE
1. Why
2. Shelley's Blues, Pt. 2
3. What We Call Love
4. Drizzle
5. The Angels
6. Epilogue
7. Silence Is Your Only Friend
8. Stare It Down
9. Smooth
10. For All I Care
11. The Way You Punish Me
12. Down
13. Melting in the Dark

CD TWO
1. Follow Me (unreleased radio performance)*
2. James River Incident (unreleased demo)*
3. Shelley’s Blues, Pt. 2 (unreleased demo)*
4. Smooth (unreleased demo)*
5. Down (unreleased demo)*
6. Nothing at All (unreleased demo)*
7. Nothing but the Shell (unreleased demo with Eric Ambel)*
8. Silence Is Your Only Friend (unreleased demo)*
9. Stare It Down (unreleased demo)*
10. Swallowed Me Whole (unreleased demo)*
11. The Angels (unreleased demo)*
12. What We Call Love (unreleased demo)*
13. What Would It Take (unreleased demo)*
14. Why (unreleased alternate version with the Pat Thomas band)*
15. The Air That I Breathe*
16. James River Incident (studio outtake)*
17. Make It Up to You (studio outtake)*

Steve Wynn – Sweetness and Light
1. Silver Lining
2. Black Magic
3. Sweetness and Light
4. This Strange Effect
5. This Deadly Game
6. How's My Little Girl
7. Ghosts
8. Blood from A Stone
9. In Love with Everyone
10. The Great Divide
11. That's the Way Love Is
12. If My Life Was an Open Book
13. Black Magic (unreleased demo)*
14. This Deadly Game (unreleased demo)*
15. Ghosts (unreleased demo)*
16. Silver Lining (unreleased demo)*
17. Blood from a Stone (unreleased demo with Gutterball)*

Steve Wynn – My Midnight
CD ONE
1. Nothing but The Shell
2. My Favorite Game
3. Cats and Dogs
4. In Your Prime
5. Mandy Breakdown
6. Lay of The Land
7. Out of This World
8. My Midnight
9. The Mask of Shame
10. We've Been Hanging Out
11. 500 Girl Mornings
12. Ladies and Gentleman*
13. Invisible (unreleased demo with Johnny Hott)*
14. Smoke from a Distant Flame (unreleased Studio G demo)*
15. My Family (Studio G demo)*
16. Don’t Be Afraid (Studio G demo)*
17. Smoke from a Distant Flame (unreleased studio outtake)*

CD TWO
1. My Favorite Game (unreleased demo)*
2. Cats and Dogs (unreleased Studio G demo)*
3. In Your Prime (unreleased Studio G demo)*
4. Mandy Breakdown (unreleased demo)*
5. Lay of the Land (unreleased Studio G demo)*
6. My Midnight (unreleased Studio G demo)*
7. The Mask of Shame (unreleased demo)*
8. We’ve Been Hanging Out (unreleased Studio G demo)*
9. 500 Girl Mornings (unreleased studio G demo)*
10. My Favorite Game (unreleased Studio G demo)*
11. Easy (unreleased demo 1)*
12. Easy (unreleased demo 2)*
13. Halfway to the Afterlife (studio G demo)*
14. Halfway to the Afterlife (unreleased demo)*
15. Invisible (studio G demo)*
16. Lay of the Land (unreleased demo)*
17. The Impossible (Studio G demo)*
18. Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad (studio outtake)*

Steve Wynn ‎– Here Come the Miracles
CD ONE
1. Here Come the Miracles
2. Shades of Blue
3. Sustain
4. Blackout
5. Butterscotch
6. Southern California Line
7. Morningside Heights
8. Let's Leave It Like That
9. Crawling Misanthropic Blues
10. Drought
11. Death Valley Rain
12. Sustain (unreleased demo)*
13. Southern California Line (unreleased demo)*
14. Morningside Heights (unreleased demo)*
15. Death Valley Rain (unreleased demo)*
16. There Will Come a Day Instrumental (unreleased demo)*

CD TWO
1. Strange New World
2. Sunset to The Sea
3. Good and Bad
4. Topanga Canyon Freaks
5. Watch Your Step
6. Charity
7. Smash Myself to Bits
8. There Will Come a Day
9. Watch Your Step (unreleased demo)*
10. Smash Myself to Bits (unreleased demo)*
11. Staten Island (unreleased demo)*
12. Watch Your Step (unreleased demo 2)*
13. Bitch Pants (unreleased studio outtake)*

Steve Wynn ‎– The Emusic Singles Collection
1. Strange New World
2. Last House on The Right (with Johnette Napolitano)
3. The Last One Standing (with Australian Blonde)
4. Milky White (with Eric Ambel)
5. Melinda (with Richard Lloyd)
6. The Way I Feel Right Now (with Barbara Manning)
7. The Devil's Not That Kind (with James Mastro)
8. Merry-Go-Round (with Polar)
9. I Gotta Do Things My Way (with the Miracle 3 and the Turnettes)
10. Shake and Bake (with Gutterball)
11. Down at The Hi-De-Ho (with the Fleshtones)
12. At the End of The Day (with Linda Pitmon)
13. Bait and Switch (unreleased demo)*
14. Claro Que Si (unreleased demo)*
15. Conditions (unreleased demo with Chris Cacavas)*
16. Down at the Hi-De-Ho (unreleased demo)*
17. From a Better Place (unreleased outtake)*
18. I’m Not Listening (unreleased Studio G demo)*

Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3 ‎– Static Transmission
CD ONE
1. What Comes After
2. Candy Machine
3. The Ambassador of Soul
4. Keep It Clean
5. Amphetamine
6. California Style
7. One Less Shining Star
8. Maybe Tomorrow
9. Hollywood
10. Charcoal Sunset
11. A Fond Farewell
12. If It Was Easy Everybody Would Do It

CD TWO
1. Riverside (studio outtake)*
2. Nothing Like Anything (studio outtake)*
3. Underneath the Underground (studio outtake)*
4. Timing (studio outtake)*
5. Survival Blues (studio outtake)*
6. Again (studio outtake)*
7. State Trooper (studio outtake) *
8. Benediction (studio outtake)*
9. Underneath the Underground (unreleased demo)*

Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3 ‎– ...Tick...Tick...Tick
1. Wired
2. Cindy, It Was Always You
3. Freak Star
4. Killing Me
5. The Deep End
6. Turning of The Tide
7. Bruises
8. Your Secret
9. Wild Mercury
10. All the Squares Go Home
11. No Tomorrow
12. Killing Me (unreleased demo)*
13. Second Best* (from “Fever Pitch”)*
14. Welcome to the New Regime (unreleased studio outtake)*
15. Still Messed Up (unreleased studio outtake)*
16. Bring the Magic (unreleased demo with Chris Cacavas)*