Remembering Linda McCartney, born on this date in 1941. —Ed.

Paul McCartney was the member of the Fab Four that so many used to relish knocking around. Whether it was in spirited bar chats or animated discussions at parties, when the tide turned to The Beatles somebody could always be counted on for a hearty jibe at Macca’s expense. And in my above use of “so many” I’m generally referring to males and by “somebody” I’m specifically speaking of those who indisputably considered John Lennon to be the Best Beatle.

While for those truly devoted fans of the band there could simply never be a Worst, for many Paul was the Square Beatle, a designation not borne out by the facts, for he was as interested in the avant-garde as any member. Hell, in ’68 he co-produced “I’m the Urban Spaceman” by The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band for Pete’s sake, an act that places him rather high up on the meter of cool. However, others derided him as the Corporate Beatle. And yeah, it’s true that Paul never lost track of the business aspect of the whole affair, but his behavior in this regard hasn’t really played out as particularly odious in comparison to other rock star types of not even half his stature or talent.

But both Paul’s image and the assessment of his post-Beatle solo career has rebounded in recent years. Much of this might have to do with the constantly regenerating fanbase of the Four consistently growing older and perhaps letting go of the rebelliousness that inspired easy identification with Lennon or Harrison. It also might be related to the race for Coolest Living Beatle being down to him and Ringo “No More Mail, Thanks” Starr.

But seriously. In my estimation Paul’s general critical resurgence is a welcome phenomenon, if only because his first two solo records have finally gotten something approximate to the proper level of respect. And yes, for years I bought the baloney regarding the collective underwhelming nature of McCartney and Ram, too.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | “Tears for Fears’ second album is the one sound of pop-rock in the ’80s. It’s personal psychology, meticulous compositions, and world-sized choruses evoked the loss of control in an overwhelming era.” —Pitchfork

Tears For Fears’ multi-platinum-selling second album, Songs From The Big Chair, will be reissued in multiple formats on November 14, marking its 40th anniversary and celebrating its enduring impact. Originally released on February 25, 1985, Songs From The Big Chair became a global sensation, topping the US charts and spawning five hit singles: “Mothers Talk,” “Shout,” “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” “Head Over Heels,” and “I Believe.” The album captured a perfect intersection of pop accessibility, sharp lyricism, guitar power, and new-wave innovation.

To mark its Ruby Anniversary, UMe will unveil a range of special editions, including a limited edition 2LP Transparent Red vinyl featuring the original unused artwork and tracks previously unavailable on vinyl, a 3CD deluxe set, a limited edition 1LP Coke Bottle Clear vinyl, and a limited 1LP picture disc.

The album’s influence cannot be underestimated and continues to resonate with new audiences. “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” has been covered by Lorde for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and featured in Guardians of the Galaxy (as well as the Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind ride at Walt Disney World), Despicable Me 4, and The Lego Batman Movie, among many others.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Candid Records, in conjunction with Charles Mingus’ Jazz Workshop, Inc., celebrates the genius of the legendary Charles Mingus with the long-overdue reissue of Mingus at Monterey, available on CD, 2-LP vinyl set, and for the first time ever, at all DSPs and streaming services on Friday, October 10. Pre-orders/pre-saves are available now.

Released initially on Mingus’ own short-lived mail order Jazz Workshop label and out of print for more than 40 years, the tour de force live performance from the 1964 Monterey Jazz Festival captures Mingus at the top of his form and the height of his powers.

Mingus at Monterey has been remastered by 5x GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer Michael Graves, with vinyl mastering by renowned engineer Jeff Powell. The 2-LP set includes the album’s original gatefold jacket artwork, meticulously restored and reproduced for this release.

Perhaps the most consistently requested reissue by Mingus fans, Mingus at Monterey proved a sensation upon its sold out limited edition run for Record Store Day 2025 earlier this year, ranking as Redeye Distribution’s top selling RSD release while reaching the Top 20 on Billboard’s Traditional Jazz Albums and Jazz Albums charts, as well as #82 on the overall Top Catalog Albums and #102 on the Independent Albums Chart.

The upcoming wide release of Mingus at Monterey is heralded by today’s premiere of a rip-roaring rendition of the Duke Ellington classic, “A Train,” featuring solos from alto saxophonist Charles McPherson, pianist Jaki Byard, trumpeter Lonnie Hillyer, tenor saxophonist John Handy, and drummer Dannie Richmond, streaming everywhere now.

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Celebrating Bruce Springsteen on his 76th birthday.—Ed.

Well here it is—the most operatic, overblown, bombastic, and yes wonderful slab of vinyl that has ever caused my ears to cry hallelujah. On 1975’s Born to Run a cocksure Bruce Springsteen went right over the top, blew a fuse, and tried to pack as much of the majestic mystery of the New Jersey night as he could onto one LP. It was a desperate gamble but it paid off in spades, and we’re all the richer for it.

On such Phil Spector-worthy epics as “Thunder Road,” “Backstreets,” and especially “Jungleland” Springsteen risked all trying to say all, and the results are indeed awesome. To a small town kid like me, Born to Run captured the wild and inchoate delirium of coming of age—of wanting to go out and explode like a skyrocket in the warm summer night. Is the whole contraption at the risk of overheating? Sure. But listening to this album never fails to return me to that innocent kid desperate for experience, and for that alone I will always love it.

To more jaded ears Born to Run may have sounded hokey, but therein lies the genius of Bruce Springsteen; on Born to Run he’s as shameless a romantic of the American Night as Jack Kerouac, and he captures the wild and heedless excitement of being young and mad with an unquenchable thirst for everything. On Born to Run Springsteen says yes to the night and to all it represents. “Roll down the window/And let the wind blow back your hair,” he sings in “Thunder Road,” “Well the night’s busting open/These two lanes will take us anywhere.” On Born to Run Springsteen sings of the possibilities, and of risking it all to run the backstreets, and I’m not certain if anyone has ever come even close to doing a finer job of doing so.

Springsteen does nothing by half-measures here; he howls, barks, and emotes like a mother—just listen to his wildcat yowl on “Backstreets” and all of the dead-end passion he pours into the immortal title track. In a gushing overflow of pure street poetry he tells us there’s no place left to hide, calls himself a tramp, and delivers the greatest “Hup dat!” in the history of rock’n’roll. This isn’t music—it’s a fever dream at the end of the night, and as pure a howl of sheer animal hunger as you’re ever likely to hear.

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Remembering John Coltrane, born on this date in 1926. —Ed.

John Coltrane’s Atlantic period presents an arresting convergence of circumstances. It was a time of raised profile and of considerable transition, the artist’s confidence audibly growing as he united jazz tradition and experimentation; most of all it was an era of major breakthroughs establishing the saxophonist as a leader in his field. The Atlantic Years in Mono doesn’t include the entirety of his work for the label, but it does ably document a thrilling era that brought Coltrane to a mainstream audience. 

By the time John Coltrane hooked up with the Ertegun brothers he’d already chalked up a significant list of achievements, serving as a powerful voice in post-bop’s development via the bands of Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis, guesting for a track on Sonny Rollins’ Tenor Madness, teaming with Hank Mobley, Al Cohn, and Zoot Simms for Tenor Conclave, and leading bands for Prestige and for one LP Blue Note.

Top billing came with Coltrane in 1957, and next was Blue Train for Blue Note, which many consider to be his first great album. John Coltrane with the Red Garland Trio followed in ’58 (aka Traneing In for its ’61 reissue), and Soultrane retained the services of the Garland band. As Coltrane’s fame grew Prestige would later release nearly a dozen albums under his name from unissued sessions and elevated sideman dates, in turn possibly lending a false impression of the saxophonist as unusually prolific during ’57-’58.

Coltrane was constantly playing but was nowhere near popular enough to have that many albums produced in such a short span; indeed, his two ’58 records with Wilber Harden as co-leader, Jazz Way Out and Tanganyika Strut, are rarely discussed in spite of their being positioned directly before Coltrane’s move to Atlantic. Well, not quite; the closest correspondent recording to his ’59 Atlantic debut Giant Steps is Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Mercury Studios will release on November 21 Def Leppard Diamond Star Heroes Live From Sheffield.

The show, recorded in 2023 in their hometown of Sheffield at Bramall Lane during “The World Tour” with Mötley Crüe, will be available on Blu-ray+2CD, 4K UHD, 2CD and 2LP. Pressed on red, white and black splatter, the vinyl nods to the home kit colors of Sheffield United FC, who play their home matches at Bramall Lane. Additionally, the 4K UHD will be the band’s first 4K release and includes One Night Only Live At The Leadmill, previously released last year.

Marking the start of their co-headlining European tour with Mötley Crüe this concert on May 22, 2023 in Sheffield, England served as a homecoming show for Def Leppard, 47 years since the bands inception. Performing their second ever hometown stadium concert to a sold-out crowd of almost 40,000 fans, the Blu-ray+2CD & 2CD and 2LP versions include classics “Photograph” and “Pour Some Sugar on Me” as well as UK live debuts “Take What You Want” and “This Guitar,” the latter dedicated to the band’s late great guitarist Steve Clark. Deftones fans who are looking for available deftones Tickets may visit the website of Seatpin.

On the eve of the band’s tour, Def Leppard revisited their club days and played an intimate show for just under 900 die-hard fans from the historic Sheffield venue, The Leadmill. The concert featured a mix of hits and rarities spanning their entire catalog from On Through The Night to the band’s most recent album Diamond Star Halos. This specific show, One Night Only Live At the Leadmill is available for the first time in the 4K UHD format on the Diamond Star Heroes 4K release.

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Oglio Records is proud to announce the 25th anniversary reissue of Brian Wilson: Live at the Roxy Theatre, available November 7, 2025, on 3LP Box Set, 2CD Set, and Digital. This marks the first time the landmark live album will be available on vinyl.

Recorded across two unforgettable, sold-out nights in April 2000 at West Hollywood’s legendary Roxy Theatre, the album captured a once-in-a-lifetime moment: Brian Wilson, the genius co-founder of the Beach Boys, stepping onto a Sunset Strip stage for the first time in three decades.

Originally released in 2000, Live at the Roxy Theatre was Brian’s first-ever live solo album, showcasing the magic of his timeless catalog performed in an intimate setting.

Backed by his stellar ten-piece band, including the five-member group the Wondermints, Wilson delivered beloved Beach Boys classics like “California Girls,” “Surfer Girl,” “I Get Around,” and “Good Vibrations” alongside two new originals—“The First Time” and “This Isn’t Love.”

The new reissue not only revisits that landmark moment—it greatly expands upon it, with newly unearthed performances and tour recordings, as well as a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of Brian reflecting on the making of the record, broadening the scope of this historic era in Wilson’s return to the stage.

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Celebrating Joan Jett on her 67th birthday. —Ed.

Joan Jett’s 1979 debut LP is one of rock music’s most joyful readymades–an utterly endearing romp through rock history from hoary old standards (“Wooly Bully”) to bubblegum pop to Gary Glitter to the buzzsaw sound of the Ramones, Bad Reputation is a veritable vinyl jukebox you’ll never get tired of tossing dimes into.

On Bad Reputation–original title Joan Jett--the runaway Runaway dares to wear her heart on her sleeve by pledging allegiance to the songs that made her who she is; this is Joan Jett’s Self Portrait, and with the exception of her too-stiff-by-half take on the Isley Brothers’ “Shout,” she does her personal canon proud. Not only does she prove she’s the true successor to Gary Glitter (and by association her glam role model Suzi Quatro), she demonstrates conclusively that she’s her own gurl by contributing a couple of songs that (with the exception of the punk-tinged title track) blend seamlessly in with their esteemed company.

Jett (the Blackhearts were still in the future) chose her producers wisely. Top guys Kenny Laguna and Ritchie Cordell (Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook also lent a hand) were both proud Super K Productions alumni working under immortal bubblegum producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffrey Katz, and they brought their many years of throwaway pop songcraft to the table. Remember that version of Led Zep’s “Stairway to Heaven” set to the lyrics of the theme song from Gilligan’s Island? You can thank Laguna for it. And Cordell is the guy who bequeathed us both “I Think We’re Alone Now” and “Mony Mony.”

I could go into all kinds of philosophical digressions about Jett’s reactionary backwards-looking worldview but I’m too busy bashing my head to her positively infectious takes on Glitter classics “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)” and “Doing Alright with the Boys.” Jett hangs on to that big, bad Glitter sound (dig that tribal thump thump thump!) but takes both songs to Glamtastic new heights by making Glitter (no wallflower for sure) sound positively enervated; she doesn’t sing ‘em, she shouts ‘em, bringing an unprecedented amount of bad attitude to the table. Message to Glam Rock: You’re not dead until Joan Jett says you are!

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | High Moon Records has announced the long overdue vinyl reissue of two landmark LPs by sunshine pop legends, Eternity’s Children. Originally released in 1968 and never before reissued on vinyl, Eternity’s Children and Timeless—the latter album’s first-ever US release—will be available on Friday, October 31. Both LPs include detailed historical notes and exclusive interviews with the band by noted producer, musician, and archivist Steve Stanley. Pre-orders are available now.

With a distinctive sound that successfully combined the band’s southern roots with sophisticated vocal harmonies, soft psych, bossa nova, and even gospel, Eternity’s Children managed to create their own exciting hybrid sound, and in doing so, became one of the most extraordinary and unusual pop bands ever to emerge from the Deep South.

Comprised of lead vocalist and songwriter Linda Lawley, bassist and co-lead vocalist Charlie Ross, drummer Roy Whittaker, guitarist Johnny Walker, and keyboardists Bruce Blackman (who would later found yacht rock favorites Starbuck with whom he composed their classic “Moonlight Feels Right”) and Mike “Kid” McClain, Eternity’s Children achieved impressive chart successes in several major markets, toured alongside legends such as the Temptations, The Doors, and Spirit, only to find their own great potential eclipsed by bad management and label woes.

“Possessed of two exceptional lead vocalists and a self-penned hit single, immensely talented, college-educated, and great-looking to boot, they toured with some of the biggest names in music, and worked with the finest producers and musicians,” writes Steve Stanley. “They transformed the songs they covered—many composed by the industry’s top songwriters—and made them their own. Eternity’s Children clearly had all the ingredients necessary to conquer the pop world, yet their career path was littered with more pitfalls and landmines than most artists could ever fear to endure. Why did this band, whose talent far surpassed that of many of their more renowned contemporaries, fail to achieve the measure of acclaim and financial success they deserved?”

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Robert Christgau was cruel and unjust when he dismissed Love Unlimited Orchestra as Barry White’s “Jackie Gleason Tribute Band.” As a musical extension of the rotund soul sex-peddler with the positively lubricious bass voice, Love Unlimited Orchestra shared most of Barry’s strengths and shortcomings, and at their best they served up some great proto-disco and pretty steamy soul.

At their worst they were Barry’s Jackie Gleason Tribute Band.

But first, a word on Barry White himself. Barry was not just another R&B soul man. He was the Grand Dragon of the Golden Order of the Beast with Two Backs and the undisputed King of Music to Fuck By, and his records probably hold some kind of world record for the sheer number of human beings who have orgasmed while they were playing. Statistics like that are hard to come by.

Smell a Barry White record sometime. It will smell like sex. Seriously. That is the hot and funky musk of sexual congress in session you are smelling. I am not kidding. Try it. You’ll want to wash your hands afterwards.

As I said above, the Love Unlimited Orchestra was a musical extension of Barry’s positively colonial empire of fornication, and quite the extension it was–a 40-piece, heavy-on-the-strings musical conglomerate that over the course of its existence counted amongst it members, in addition to guitarists Wah Wah Watson, David T. Walker, and Lee Ritenour, the likes of Ray “Ghostbusters” Parker, Jr., Kenny G, Ernie Watts, Wilton Felder and god knows how many nameless strings musicians. Conducted and arranged by the rotund Emperor or the Erotic himself, the Love Unlimited Orchestra was the strings-plushy cushion in the pushin’ of Barry’s panties-free paeans to let’s get it on.

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