Every now and then, I get a hankering to get the CD version of one of my old LPs. Usually, this isn’t a problem; the internet is my friend, etc.
Sometimes, though, one slips through the cracks it seems. For example, I’ve wanted to get a CD version of Bram Tchaikovsky’s Strange Man, Changed Man. It was released on Polydor in 1979. It was a minor hit in America, scoring a semi-hit single with Girl Of My Dreams.
Heck, there’s all kinds of shite that’s been reissued, whether it was a “hit” or not. So why not good ol’ Bram? A modest hit on a major label. It’s something I really wonder about. I figure it must be either legal problems or lost tapes.
So, are there any albums that you’re surprised havent been reissued on CD?
I just found out that Joe Jackson’s “soundtrack” for Mike’s Murder - actually one side of very catchy tunes plus an instrumental side - has never been reissued on CD. Given his stature and fan base, and that “Memphis” is included on some of his greatest hits albums, I think this is remarkable.
And only one of Jaime Brockett’s many albums seems to be available, and it’s not his first with the legendary “Legend of the USS Titanic,” the only song of his anybody has ever heard of.
Maybe this doesn’t help much, but I have been noticing some albums being re-issued overseas and retailed for ridiculous prices. Example: the Evie Sands album, Estate of Mind, originally recorded in L.A. ca. 1975, is now available thru a Japanese label for $39 for the CD! (A non-import album of hers is $13.) I fail to understand that pricing. Certainly it won’t attract anyone who doesn’t already know her work, and past fans probably already have the record (I do,and I love it). And considering that the session musicians, art work, mastering costs, etc. have already been paid for, it should sell for a lot less.
The single is on the “DIY” series of comps of punk and New Wave songs that Rhino has had out for several years now. I wonder if there’s enough of a market to warrant the whole LP.
Of music in the LP era, I’m most interested in 60s psych stuff, and fortunately for me that fan base is rabid and completist enough that there are even whole albums of unreleased songs and demos in the genre coming out left and right.
One album that you may see one of these days in Bad Religion’s Into the Unknown, which was very much a prog rock LP from this hardcore punk band. They’ve considered it an embarrassment for years, but as their music is edging in a more highly-produced direction anyway and the bounds of “punk” aren’t as closely drawn as they used to be in the mid-80s; I imagine it may still see the light of day. Their releases are out on their own label (Epitaph) so it won’t be released unless and until they’d like it to be.
“A ‘Collectors’ Choice Music’ exclusive, out January 26!”
Wow. They just snuck that in, didn’t they? And as an exclusive, which is why I didn’t find it elsewhere. Course that leaves a lot of his other albums still unaccounted for.
If you’re looking for a well-known work by a major artist; a work that is loved, admired by fans and much sought after; but which is not on any official CD and there are no plans to put this right… I give you:
Nine To The Universe. Jimi Hendrix.
How stupid is that? I don’t condone piracy, copyright infringement or P2P filesharing abuse, and I know we’re against all that here on the SDMB, but when the people who could make NTTU available on CD either won’t or don’t, you have to ask how surprised they can be that some people seek to get hold of it in other ways.
Too many to mention but springing to mind are Dennis Wilson’s only solo album, Pacific Ocean Blue. I have a bootleg CD of it, though. You can find it on vinyl but I’m coming across it less and less often. Its an incredible album - much better than, for example, at least some of the BBs’ 70s/80s albums which are all on CD.
Also, the Four Tops’ 70s albums.
IIRC, I think Emmy Lou Harris’ Wrecking Ball was deleted for a time so it was simply unavailable, but it looks like its since been re-issued.
Ray Manzarek’s first solo album, The Whole Thing Started With Rock’n’roll Then Got Out Of Control. Some of the tracks are on the CD release of The Golden Scarab, but naturally not the one I want (Waiting For The Moment To Begin The World Again)
I always thought that album sounded a lot better in theory than in reality, myself, especially the jam with Larry Young, which should have burned. (Is that really Larry Young at all?) Jim McCarty, the other guitarist on “Jimi/Jimmy Jam,” was reportedly humiliated by the inclusion of his contribution, and you can hear why–Hendrix wipes the floor with him. But you can get superior, unedited versions of two of the album’s five tracks–including a full 17 minutes of “Jimi/Jimmy”–on the recently released Hear My Music CD.