The Forgotten 45s

Soft Cell - The Twelve Inch Singles (2000) {3CD Box Set Mercury Records 548 506-2}
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© 2000 Some Bizarre / Mercury Records | 548 506-2
Synth Pop / Dance-Pop / Electronic / New Romantic / New Wave / Art-Pop

Although a vinyl box set appeared during the early 1980s, and several of the mixes therein were subsequently appended to CD reissues of Soft Cell's regular albums, 1999's three-CD The Twelve Inch Singles represented the first ever corralling of the duo's entire extended remix output, and with it, undying evidence for Soft Cell's claim to immortality. Great 45s and terrific albums told only part of the story, after all. Across their earliest 12" singles, the sequence that led from "Memorabilia" to "Torch," Soft Cell utterly rejuvenated a format that had been growing increasingly stale and uninspired, not only offering purchasers more music for their money, but ensuring that it was music they'd actually want, as opposed to an extra few minutes of beat nailed onto the outro.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Hypnotic Eye (2014) {Reprise 543243-2}
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© 2014 Reprise Records / Warner Music | 543243-2
Rock / Contemporary Rock / American Trad Rock / Heartland Rock

Looking back, it's clear the 2008 Mudcrutch reunion was pivotal for Tom Petty, helping him re-focus and re-dedicate himself to playing in a band. Like the original band, Mudcrutch Mach II didn't last long – long enough to play a few shows and record a warm, gangly beast of an album – but it reinvigorated Petty. Afterward, he reveled in the sound of how the Heartbreakers played, digging deep into his catalog to shake up his set lists, letting the group exercise some blues muscles on 2010's Mojo, a record that stood as the Heartbreakers' rowdiest record since the '70s but which is easily overshadowed by the trashy psychedelic pulse of 2014's Hypnotic Eye.

Various Artists - Hillbillies In Hell: Country Music's Tormented Testament 1952-1974, The Final Chapter (2017) {OMNI - 190}
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© 1952-74, 2017 The Omni Recording Corporation | OMNI - 190
Country / Folk / World Music / Hillbilly

Down, down. . . deeper into the infernal depths. More unknown and unheralded Hillbillies and Delinquent Hayseed Balladeers. They croon. They yodel. And the flames leap ever higher. Cut on microscopic or private-press labels and distributed in minuscule amounts, these Tormented Troubadours sing of Satan, His diabolical offspring, the Grim Reaper, sinful trysts, suicide, murder, Devil trains, inebriates, cuckolds and lustful cadavers - all in one handy CD package. Years in the making - 'Hillbillies In Hell' (The Final Chapter) presents a further 30 timeless testaments of sin, tribulation, cold graves and warm temptations. Mostly issued on forgotten 45s, some of these sides are indescribably rare and are reissued here for the very first time. All for your licentious listening pleasure. *Exclusive scholarly liner notes by Alvin Lucia! *Full dynamic range 2017 remasters direct from the first generation analogue master tapes!

Sweet's earliest recordings - the clutch of 45s issued in the U.K. and Europe between 1968 and 1971 - made it out in a variety of forms in the years following the band's initial breakthrough. Strangely, however, it was not until 1991 - a full 20 years after "Funny Funny" gave them their long-awaited first hit - that the entire canon was pulled together, as Repertoire raided the vaults not only of Fontana and Parlophone, the band's first two labels, but also visited some less-familiar directions as well. The bulk of First Recordings 1968-1971 - tracks one through eight - comprises all four original singles, a mixed bag that ran from the unadulterated pop of "Lollipop Man" and "Slow Motion" to the convincing harder rock of "The Juicer"…