Best His

With Best Troubador, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy pays homage to a long-time and forever hero, the late Merle Haggard. A singer who, some 25 years previously, first performed in public by playing a Merle Haggard song, Bonny has often cited Merle's work in performance, on records and in conversation with anyone who was around, even talking to Merle himself for Filter magazine in 2009. Merle's body of work was considered by Bonny for a record such as this for some time, but his passing in April of 2016 almost put a stop to it.

Glenn Miller's reign as the most popular bandleader in the U.S. came relatively late in his career and was relatively brief, lasting only about three and a half years, from the spring of 1939 to the fall of 1942. But during that period he utterly dominated popular music, and over time he has proven the most enduring figure of the swing era, with reissues of his recordings achieving gold record status 40 years after his death. Miller developed a distinctive sound in which a high-pitched clarinet carried the melody, doubled by a saxophone section playing an octave lower, and he used that sound to produce a series of hits that remain definitive examples of swing music. Miller's approach is not much appreciated by jazz fans, who prefer bands that allow for greater improvisation than was found in his highly disciplined, rigorously rehearsed unit. But he brought the swing style of popular music to a level of sophistication and commercial acceptance it had not previously achieved and would not see again after his untimely passing.

“All the best” is as the name implies, a “best of” type album, spanning Chris Jagger’s career. As well as fifteen tracks from the length of his career, there is a new song, “Avalon girls”. Chris Jagger released a couple of albums in the 70s but it wasnt till 1994 that he released another. In the intervening years he acted in a number of films and in the 80s was a partner in guitar firm Staccato. Since 1994 he’s released 8 albums and his musical style has demonstrated a wide range including country and Cajun, and when you listen to this album, “All the best” you really get to hear just how diverse those styles are.

Isaac Hayes' stint with Polydor in the late '70s isn't always looked at as being one of his better eras. In fact, it's not looked upon highly at all by many of his fans. It's important to keep in mind, though, that Hayes had already seen enormous success and had released a sizable amount of legendary albums by the time the late '70s came around. In this respect, you really can't expect his later work to be on par with his classic early-'70s era with Stax no one could one-up albums like Shaft and Black Moses. Plus, the late '70s wasn't a kind era for any early-'70s soul icons as disco and funk moved black music from behind closed doors and into the clubs. Hayes had learned this the hard way during his short-lived mid-'70s run with ABC Records where he struggled to even chart, not to mention score a big hit.

Richard Hawley is widely recognised as both one of the UK’s greatest songwriters and one of its most respected. Alongside two Mercury Music Prize Nominations, a BRIT award nomination and 4 UK Top 10 Albums, the Sheffield native songwriter has collaborated with the likes of Pulp, Arctic Monkeys, Lisa Marie Presley, Paul Weller and Elbow. Following the success of Standing At The Sky’s Edge, which won Best New Musical and handed Hawley Best Original Score at the 2023 Olivier Awards, BMG announce the first ever Richard Hawley collection; Now Then: The Very Best of Richard Hawley. Curated by Hawley and long-term collaborator Colin Elliot, Now Then spans his twenty plus year career, exhibiting all facets of his song writing mastery; marrying his most cinematic moments with his most tender, his best loved work and a host of hidden gems from his early work, to create a collection for both his hardcore fanbase and the perfect entry point for his newest fans. Includes tracks from Richard Hawley (2001), Late Night Final (2001), Lowedges (2003), Coles Corner (2005), Lady’s Bridge (2007), Truelove’s Gutter (2009), Standing at the Sky’s Edge (2012), Hollow Meadows (2015) and Further (2019)

A compilation of Mick Jagger's greatest hits from his four albums as a solo artist. 2015 Remastered Edition.

The Very Best of… Sting & The Police is a compilation album issued by Sting, and released by A&M Records in 1997. Conceived at the time when Sting had just released his fifth solo effort, Mercury Falling (hence equalling his personal tally with the one of The Police), the album mixes a selection of the Sting's Police-era songs with later hits recorded under his own name. It originally featured one new track, a remix of the 1978 song "Roxanne" by rap artist Sean "Puffy" Combs. The album was reissued in 1998 by PolyGram International with "Russians" removed and 3 additional tracks, "Seven Days", "Fragile", and "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da", being added.

Richard Hawley is widely recognised as both one of the UK’s greatest songwriters and one of its most respected. Alongside two Mercury Music Prize Nominations, a BRIT award nomination and 4 UK Top 10 Albums, the Sheffield native songwriter has collaborated with the likes of Pulp, Arctic Monkeys, Lisa Marie Presley, Paul Weller and Elbow. Following the success of Standing At The Sky’s Edge, which won Best New Musical and handed Hawley Best Original Score at the 2023 Olivier Awards, BMG announce the first ever Richard Hawley collection; Now Then: The Very Best of Richard Hawley. Curated by Hawley and long-term collaborator Colin Elliot, Now Then spans his twenty plus year career, exhibiting all facets of his song writing mastery; marrying his most cinematic moments with his most tender, his best loved work and a host of hidden gems from his early work, to create a collection for both his hardcore fanbase and the perfect entry point for his newest fans. Includes tracks from Richard Hawley (2001), Late Night Final (2001), Lowedges (2003), Coles Corner (2005), Lady’s Bridge (2007), Truelove’s Gutter (2009), Standing at the Sky’s Edge (2012), Hollow Meadows (2015) and Further (2019)