NEWSLETTER #38!

JOKE OF THE DAY:

CUSTOMER: Hi! Is this NYCD? We're looking for your store but... you don't seem to be there. Did you move?

NYCD: Bet you miss us now that Tower's closing, don't you? Why don't you buy your nephew a frappuccino for the holidays instead of a CD, you shtoonk!

(That felt good!)

R.I.P. ANITA O'DAY, BETTY COMDEN

GOODBYE AND GOOD LUCK MICHAEL RICHARDS

And now, the BLACK FRIDAY NEWSLETTER, with a handful of new releases, but you can always check our blog for previous weeks' newsletters as well as lots of other entertaining and informative music-related crap!

OUT NEXT WEEK!

CROWDED HOUSE - FAREWELL TO THE WORLD. The band's final performance at the Sydney Opera House was available overseas as a videotape for a short period of time. Now we get a 2 CD version of the legendary farewell show from 1996, which will actually play in American CD players.

DAVID GILMOUR - ON AN ISLAND (SPECIAL EDITION). It took Sony an excruciatingly long 32 weeks to reissue this not-bad solo release from the Pink Floyd guitarist, which now includes a bonus DVD that features footage from Royal Albert Hall and his AOL Sessions. Technology has improved dramatically in 32 weeks.

GEORGE MICHAEL - 25: ANTHOLOGY (IMPORT). UK-only digitally remastered compilation which features the good and bad Wham songs, the really good George Michael solo stuff, some of the drecky George Michael stuff from the post-caught-in-men's-room years, as well as his guest spots on other people's records, all in one fine package. And when we say "package," you know we mean George Michael.

And that, dear readers, is the lineup of fine new releases for next week. But wait, there's more!

WARNING: THE TOM WAITS ORPHANS BOX SET IS NOW OFFICIALLY OUT OF PRINT! So if you were thinking of buying it, act now, because our supply is pathetically low!

OUT THIS WEEK, BUT WE FORGOT TO MENTION IT BECAUSE WE THINK JIM MORRISON IS A TOOL!

THE DOORS - PERCEPTIONS. A beautiful 6 CD/6 DVD box set featuring all their albums newly remastered, as well as remixed for 5.1 Surround Sound. It even includes a few rarities that weren't on the other "Everything the Doors Ever Recorded" box sets. It's very heavy, and very expensive.

TO ORDER ANY OF THESE RELEASES, OR ANYTHING WE DIDN'T MENTION, OR ANY OLDER CDs OR DVDs, EMAIL US AT HEYNYCD@AOL.COM OR CALL US AT (212) 244-3460!

SELL US YOUR CDs AND DVDs! SERIOUSLY! WE REALLY WANT TO BUY THEM! CALL OR EMAIL!

OUR BLOG IS BETTER THAN EVER!

Why do we say that? Because we're full of ourselves. But also, because you can now sample the very music we rave about in this newsletter. Check out some of our recent blogs for tracks by Elvis Costello and The Beatles, plus EXCLUSIVE LIVE TRACKS by The Posies and Twinemen!

TOTALLY RANDOM TOP TEN LIST!

Here it is, folks, our TEN FAVORITE OBSCURE BASEBALL PLAYERS!

10. NINO ESPINOSA
9. CLAY DALRYMPLE
8. JAKE GIBBS
7. GARTH IORG
6. ROGER REPOZ
5. MICKEY KLUTTS
4. DANNY AINGE (betcha didn't know he was a baseball player!)
3. PETE LACOCK
2. HOMER BUSH
1. CELERINO SANCHEZ

UNTIL NEXT WEEK, WE LEAVE YOU WITH THIS:

Everyone please sell your Seinfeld DVD collections and donate the proceeds to the victims of Hurricane Katrina!

Your friends,
Hawkeye and Trapper
(R*I*P* ROBERT ALTMAN)

OVERHEARD AT A RECENT MEADOWLANDS CONCERT

How ya doin', East Rutherford! It's really great to be back here at the Continental Airlines Arena -- I've played everywhere from tiny clubs to baseball stadiums, but I'll tell ya, there's nothing like the feeling you get playing in a hockey arena.

Every time I come back here I feel like I'm coming home. You can talk about Nassau Coliseum, you can talk about the Wachovia Center, you can even talk about Madison Square Garden, but this place has soul.

I mean, just to stand here, where so many hockey legends have skated... it gives me goosebumps, you know? Growing up in England, it was hard to follow North American hockey, but I loved it. I used to have a huge poster of Bryan Trottier on my wall....

To look up at the rafters and see the New Jersey Devils banners makes me think back to all the great players who've worn the uniform. Mel Bridgman, Jan Ludvig, Chico Resch... they were like gods to me.

OK, this next tune's for all you Kirk Muller fans out there! If you love high-sticking, lemme hear you say 'yeah'!

LOST TRACKS

The great run of classic Elton John albums ended for many with the release of "CAPTAIN FANTASTIC & THE BROWN DIRT COWBOY." It was the last to feature the legendary Elton band that included Davey Johnstone, Dee Murray, and Nigel Olsson. But I stayed with Elton for at least two more releases. The first was the follow-up "ROCK OF THE WESTIES." It was a bit of a disappointment that featured a new gang from Philly in the studio, Caleb Quaye, Roger Pope and Kenny Passarelli to name a few, and spawned the hit single, "Island Girl."

Then came "BLUE MOVES," an album whose release in 1976 was met with mostly closed arms.
It was a two CD set which most critics felt showed signs of fatigue in Elton's hit making ability. There were epic orchestral ballads that lasted 8 minutes. Disco workouts that lasted 7 minutes. Gospel numbers. And of course, the monster hit, "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word." But that was it. No follow up single.

The album is never talked about with the same respect as such classics as "Tumbleweed Connection," "Madman Across The Water," or "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." And maybe it shouldn't be. But it deserves more attention than it has gotten over the years. It's an ambitious work that years later still holds up. And if we still have the patience to listen to any of Elton's dreck from the 80's, 90's and later, "BLUE MOVES" deserves at least 5 minutes of your "upload to iPod" time.
Listen to a fave track of mine. A beautiful ballad, unlike anything Elton and his band had attempted prior.

Idol.MP3

BUY "BLUE MOVES" HERE

FROM THE NYCD VAULTS... IN-STORE PERFORMANCES!


NYCD's second brick-and-mortar location, at 81st St. just off Amsterdam Ave., sucked eggs for a lot of reasons. It was in a basement. It was covered by scaffolding most of the time we were there. Our landlord stole our sign. Upper West Siders were more interested in getting a good latté than a good CD. The massage parlor above our store kept flooding us. And so on and so on.

The one nice thing about the place was that it was big enough for us to set up a little stage and host in-store performances. Sometimes the place would be packed, sometimes it would almost be a private show for the staff. But the music was almost always good and a fun time was had by both the performers and the audiences.

We didn't think to tape the vast majority of the in-stores we hosted, but a couple were preserved for posterity. Power-pop legends THE POSIES have been friends of NYCD for a lotta years, not to mention one of our favorite bands, so when they hit New York on one of their many reunion tours (since they broke up in '98, they've gotten back together more times than the Who), they also paid us a visit, and blew our minds with a killer acoustic performance.

TWINEMEN rose from the ashes of Morphine, and Tony goes ga-ga over both bands, so when Twinemen's second album came out, he figured "What the heck" and asked them to play at NYCD the next time they came to town. To our surprise, they said yes, and despite having to play a midweek lunchtime show, they got an enthusiastic crowd and put on a great show. Tony is still recovering from the thrill.

Listen and enjoy!

THE POSIES - Sad To Be Aware (live at NYCD 9/29/05)
TWINEMEN - Wishers (live at NYCD 10/27/04)

NEWSLETTER #37!

WE COME TO PRAISE THE BEATLES, NOT BURY THEM

ADOPT TOM WAITS' "ORPHANS"!

ANOTHER U2 HOLIDAY HOSING!

NEW HIP-HOP RELEASES, SOME OF THEM BY RAPPERS WHO ARE NOT YET DEAD!

and now... NYCD's 37th NEWSLETTER OF 2006!

NEW RELEASES!

THE BEATLES - LOVE. For all you naysayers who are instantly suspicious of any new Beatles product, shut up! It's not like they're Elvis, with a new reissue of stuff you already have coming out every three months. The product the Beatles have put out in the CD era is generally excellent. And this is no exception. As Beatle diehards, we too did not like the idea of Cirque du Soleil putting their campy little mitts on sacred ground. But not buying this soundtrack because of that would be cutting off your nose to spite your face.

George Martin, along with Paul and Ringo, produced this reinvention of the Beatles' music by going back to the original session tapes and creating new, and in many cases brilliant, versions of the already familiar catalog. It's NOT a rehash of what you've already got in your collection. In a lot of cases, it's like hearing this music for the first time all over again. 26 tracks, almost 80 minutes of music, reinvented and reimagined. If you need to be convinced that you need this album, check this out!
Strawberry Fields Forever.MP3
BUY THIS NOW! Available as a CD or a CD/DVD-Audio combo, with the DVD-A in 5.1 Surround.

TOM WAITS - ORPHANS. A limited edition 3 CD box set with a book, featuring non-album tracks, songs he gave to other artists, cover versions of the Ramones, Kurt Weill and Leadbelly, to name a few, and more. Each CD has its own subtitle: "Brawlers," "Bawlers," and "Bastards." This collection has been a long time coming for Waits' many fans.

Those are the big two for next week, but there's much more!

DAVID CROSBY - VOYAGE (BOX SET). A 3 CD retrospective featuring songs by the Byrds, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, and CPR, as well his solo classics and an entire disc of unreleased alternates and demos.

JAMIROQUAI - HIGH TIMES: THE SINGLES 1992-2006. Neo-soul? Pseudo-soul? Filet of soul? Whatever, this is the British guy with the stupid hat who had that video a long time ago. This is probably a lot better than we're giving it credit for, but we'd much rather listen to Sir Mack Rice, Bobby Marchan, and The Astors.

GARLAND JEFFREYS - GARLAND JEFFREYS. Jeffreys' 1973 solo debut on Atlantic finally gets reissued thanks to the fine people at Collectors Choice, featuring a great lineup of musicians such as Dr. John, David Bromberg, and David "Fathead" Newman, to name a few.

OASIS - STOP THE CLOCKS. Their first ever compilation, featuring songs chosen by the band which they believe encapsulate their remarkable career to date. Songs include "Go F*** Yourself Noel," "You're Fired, Liam," and "(Unintelligible)", not to mention fan favorites like "Don't Look Back In Anger," "Wonderwall," "Champagne Supernova" and the rest. If they did any good songs after their second album, we haven't heard them, but the band claims they're on this collection.

ROBERT PLANT - NINE LIVES (9 CD/DVD BOX SET). Every post-Zeppelin CD, including the Honeydrippers EP, is here, newly remastered with a plethora of bonus tracks. The DVD includes a one hour documentary about the legendary singer.

U2 - U218. A single disc compilation including two new tracks, one of which is "The Saints Are Coming" with Green Day.

KAREN DALTON - IN MY OWN TIME. Long lost folk classic from 1971 with rave endorsements from the likes of Bob Dylan, Fred Neil, Nick Cave, and, thank God, Devendra Banhart.

JAY-Z - KINGDOM COME. We recognize the importance of this release, which is supposed to be one of the biggest albums of the year. We just don't care very much. It's not that we don't appreciate hip-hop, we're just not fans of Mr. Z. Give us the J-5 anytime!

2PAC - PAC'S LIFE. The hardest working deceased entertainer since Jimi Hendrix returns with his 400th posthumous album. Thug it up!

NOTORIOUS B.I.G. - READY TO DIE (CD/DVD). Speaking of dead rappers... this 1994 classic is getting reissued with two bonus tracks and a DVD of previously unseen performances.

SNOOP DOGG - THA BLUE CARPET TREATMENT. Guests include Dr. Dre, the Game, R. Kelly, Akon, and B. Real. And he's not even dead!

TO ORDER ANY OR ALL OF THESE NEW RELEASES, OR TO GET ANY OTHER CDs OR DVDs NOT MENTIONED HERE, EMAIL US AT HEYNYCD@AOL.COM OR CALL US AT (212) 244-3460!

SELL US YOUR CDs AND DVDs! WHAT CAN WE SAY THAT WE HAVEN'T SAID EVERY WEEK FOR THE LAST 36 WEEKS? YOU DON'T WANT 'EM, WE DO WANT 'EM.

UNTIL NEXT WEEK, WE LEAVE YOU WITH THIS:

Does anyone know where Tom and Katie are registered?

Your friends,
Nanette Fabray and Eazy-E

BOB DYLAN, TEEN IDOL

I saw Bob Dylan in concert twice this week, and at each one I saw something I never thought I'd see: teenage girls. Lots of them. And not just tagging along with their parents, either, but really getting into the music, singing along, getting up and dancing to the fast songs... what's going on here?

Dylan hasn't evolved into a guys' musician in the way, say, Bruce Springsteen has, but he's definitely shed a lot of female fans over the years, especially younger ones. The general under-35 female response when I mention Dylan is "Yeah, I know he's a great songwriter, but... 'Eeeuuuuhhhhh!'" (That's a reference to his Blonde On Blonde-era nasal whine, in case you couldn't tell.) Up until this year, being a Dylan fan usually meant you were either a male music geek or over 40, or both. So what happened?

The answer, I'm guessing, is Dylan's iPod commercial. By seeing his music marketed in the same way as a band a third his age, teens and 20-somethings got hip to the fact that Bob may be an old geezer, but he's a friggin' cool old geezer. So it came as no surprise that the teens' most enthusiastic response of the night came not for the old warhorses (although they dug those too), but songs from his new album, Modern Times -- which, by the way, has become his biggest seller in 30 years.

So let this be a lesson to the record labels. Kids aren't as close-minded or as stupid as the suits in charge seem to think. Let's just hope the right people remember that fact the next time they're figuring out how to market artists who don't appear to fit into the right demographic.

SAL REVIEWS THE RACONTEURS:

Many times on these pages I have not sung the praises of JACK WHITE and his Stripes. I don't hate them, I just don't understand why so many people love them. To my ears, the Raconteurs' album justified my comments. It was the White Stripes with songs, substance, and no gimmick. I got to see the Raconteurs opening up for Bob Dylan last night at the Nassau Coliseum, and anything negative I've ever said about Jack White's guitar playing and performing in general was completely erased from my mind. The Raconteurs put on what could be the finest live performance of the year. Very simply, they took everything I love about their hook-filled debut record and threw it at the audience with the same bravado and balls-out attack of Led Zeppelin at their peak in the early '70s. Jack White left no doubt in my mind that he truly is a guitar god, and if it was too difficult for me to hear, on what I feel are mediocre-at-best White Stripes records, he certainly shut me up last night. The Raconteurs won over the over-40 Dylan diehards and brought the entire Coliseum to its feet, with the exception of....

TONY REVIEWS THE RACONTEURS:

On their own, I think Jack White, Brendan Benson, and the Greenhornes are fantastic artists. Their collaboration as The Raconteurs produced one of my favorite albums of the year. So it was with some shock that my seatmate and I looked at each other about halfway through their set at Nassau Coliseum and said "Are we mistaken, or is this really bad?" My problem with the band was that I felt like I was watching four very talented musicians who were onstage together instead of a band. Onstage with the White Stripes, Jack White does everything besides play drums. He's so busy racing from guitar to marimba to piano and keeping all his musical balls in the air at once that he's too focused to drift off into the histrionic, masturbatory guitar work he displayed with the Raconteurs. Freed from having to be the entire show, he sounded self-indulgent to my ears. Although Brendan Benson is a good frontman on his own, he couldn't keep Jack on the rails, and though the Greenhornes' rhythm section is dynamite on their own garage-rock tunes, on the Raconteurs' more complex songs, they weren't enough of a solid foundation. There were bits and pieces of magic here and there, but in the end, I was happy to see 'em leave.

LISTEN HERE
Store Bought Bones MP3

This is from the night before in Boston. Quality = B+, but good enough to judge for yourself.

DEAR JOAN OSBORNE,

Please accept my apology for saying such unpleasant things about your new record "PRETTY LITTLE STRANGER," right here on these pages. A friend of mine read the comments and said, "You know you should really give this record a chance. It's not as bad as you say."

Miss Osborne, my friend was right. It's actually darn good. What I heard the first 2 times I listened was very simply not what I WANTED to hear. What I WANTED to hear was the heartbreaking and hip-shaking soul music you used to sing when I saw you back in the East Village days. Back in the days before God was one of us. Before the record labels and their nitwit A&R GUYS rejected the follow-up release to your multi-million dollar smash. Back before John Leventhal turned an album full of soul covers, into a drum-machine fueled, smooth-jazz disappointment. What I WANTED to hear was exactly what you did as producer for the Holmes Brothers on their perfect release, "SPEAKING IN TONGUES."

Miss Osborne, what I didn't want to hear was a collection of country-influenced tunes recorded in Nashville, by one of the greatest and most underrated modern soul singers alive. So maybe...just maybe...I wasn't really listening. But I like you too much. So I listened again.

Great job! What was I thinking? (well...see above)

A SONG FOR YOU

Thanks to the fine, kind, and patient people over at A DEEPER SHADE OF SOUL, NYCD-Online has now found a way, just like the 2 million other blogs (some run and created by 7 year olds) to offer our loyal readers a chance to listen to some truly wonderful music they may have missed.

First up, a track from one of our faves of the year, ELVIS COSTELLO & ALLEN TOUSSAINT'S "River In Reverse."


Those of you who bought the CD may be wondering, "Where the hell is this song? I don't see it on my copy." That's right. This was a bonus track on the Japanese pressings.

The pair performed this Toussaint-by-way-of- Lee Dorsey tune during their coinciding tour and it was a show-stopper. I can't begin to understand why certain songs get chosen over others for inclusion on a CD release. In most cases it's the artist's decision. But really, what has Japan ever done for Allen Toussaint to deserve this gem?

Click "River In Reverse" link to BUY
Click here to listen The Greatest Love MP3

NEWSLETTER #36!

DEMOCRATS WIN CONTROL OF HOUSE AND SENATE: TWO NYCD NEWSLETTER READERS VERY UPSET

NYCD DISAPPOINTED IN LACK OF REQUESTS FOR NEW WILLIE NELSON: IS IT BECAUSE HE'S BLACK?

PEOPLE PREPARE FOR IMMINENT END OF THE WORLD BY NO LONGER BUYING MUSIC

A STUNNED NATION MOURNS AS BRITNEY AND K-FED CALL IT QUITS: BITTER BATTLE ENSUES OVER CUSTODY OF SCRAP OF TALENT

SOME NEW MUSIC FOR YOU TO CONSIDER BUYING! HEY, NOW THAT RUMSFELD IS GONE, THE END OF THE WORLD MAY NOT BE SO IMMINENT! CELEBRATE BY CARING ABOUT MUSIC AGAIN!

R.I.P. ED BRADLEY

and now... NEXT WEEK'S NEW RELEASES!

Two import releases worth your time and money: First, the new MAGIC NUMBERS album, THOSE THE BROKES, the highly anticipated followup to their critically acclaimed debut. Advance word on this says it could be the album of the year. And then there's 10cc's GREATEST HITS AND MORE -- what makes this new 2 CD anthology surpass any previous hits CD is its inclusion of pre-10cc hits by HOTLEGS, solo hits by GODLEY & CREME and WAX UK, the band that featured Graham Gouldman and Andrew Gold, as well as the Gouldman-penned hits "Bus Stop" and "No Milk Today," made famous by the Hollies and Herman's Hermits. Many tracks, new remastering... it's everything you could want in one package.

MARK KNOPFLER & EMMYLOU HARRIS - REAL LIVE ROADRUNNING. Just a few months after their collaboration, "ALL THE ROADRUNNING," we now get a document of the coinciding tour, in a package that features a live CD along with a DVD including seven additional tracks.

The entire LOREENA McKENNITT catalog gets rem... ZZZZZZZZZ...

DAMIEN RICE - 9. This is Damien's new reco... ZZZZZZZZZZZ....

NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE - LIVE AT THE FILLMORE EAST. Finally Mr. Young makes good on his promise to release material from the archives. First up is this classic show from 1970 which also comes in a special package that features two DVDs.

YUSUF (formerly CAT STEVENS) - AN OTHER CUP. Surprisingly good return to the pop world from one of of the '70s biggest hitmakers. We're just surprised that it took 28 years for someone to tell him that it's OK for Muslims to play music. But seriously, we've heard five songs off this new release, and it's as good as his fans have been hoping for.

JOHNNY CASH - AT SAN QUENTIN (2 CDs/DVD). Originally a single CD, this classic live performance now features the entire concert, including guest spots by Carl Perkins, the Statler Brothers, June Carter Cash, and Teddy Geiger. Also features a DVD containing a 1969 documentary of his appearance at the famed house of detention.

JOAN OSBORNE - PRETTY LITTLE STRANGER. One of our favorite vocalists and performers rolls the dice yet again and cuts an entire record in Nashville. Joan's got one of those voices that can sing the phone book and have it move you, but after hearing this record, we kind of wish she'd sing the phone book instead. One wonders who's making these confusing career decisions for a most talented artist.

KENNY G - I'M IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE. Well, you're not gonna get it with those banana curls, asswipe.

THE GAME - DOCTOR'S ADVOCATE. This has been called the hip-hop album of the year by the gangstaz down at Tha New York Timez, so you know it's going to be, like, street or fly or something.

Also on the horizon for next week are these hysterically named hip-hop CDs:

ANTI MC - IT'S FREE BUT IT'S NOT CHEAP.
LIL BOOSIE - BAD ASS MIX TAPE.
RP COLA - ACT LIKE YOU KNOW.
SMIGG DIRTEE - RESUME.
FATT BIGG - KILLIN' MYSELF TO DIE.

TO ORDER ANY OR ALL OF THESE RELEASES (EVEN THE ONES WE MADE FUN OF), EMAIL US AT HEYNYCD@AOL.COM OR CALL US AT (212) 244-3460!

SELL US YOUR OLD CDs AND DVDs! WE WANT THEM MORE THAN YOU DO! CALL OR EMAIL FOR DETAILS!

BUY OUR STUFF ON AMAZON! THOUSANDS OF TITLES!

START SAVING YOUR PENNIES NOW... THE NEXT FEW WEEKS ARE GOING TO BE HUGE!

Over the next few weeks, we'll be seeing new releases from:

THE BEATLES - LOVE. The soundtrack to the Cirque Du Soleil show is truly a labor of love from the legendary producer George Martin, along with Paul, Ringo, and even George. If you know what a mash-up is, consider 26 of the most astonishing mash-ups you'll ever hear, remixed for Surround Sound. And if you don't know, trust us, this is absolutely essential.

TOM WAITS - ORPHANS. Three CDs of unreleased and non-album tracks spanning the great man's entire career.

ELVIS COSTELLO & ALLEN TOUSSAINT - HOT AS A PISTOL, KEEN AS A BLADE (DVD). a 2 1/2 hour live document of the fabulous "River In Reverse" tour.

U2 - U218. A career-spanning singles collection featuring two new tracks, including "The Saints Are Coming," their collaboration with Green Day.

JAY-Z - KINGDOM COME. The biggest mega-super-duperstar in the history of the world returns with his comeback album.

THE DOORS - PERCEPTIONS. The Doors' catalog gets remastered yet again, but this time in a really big box that features both CDs and 5.1 DVD Audios. They also include lots of bits that the band recorded but decided to leave off the original records.

OASIS - STOP THE CLOCKS. A new greatest hits collection, originally titled (What's The Story) Morning Glory.

NOTORIOUS B.I.G. - READY TO DIE (CD/DVD). One of the records that turned us off hip-hop forever, but beloved by many, and now back in print with a bonus DVD.

ROBERT PLANT - 9 CD BOX SET. Every solo album, including the Honeydrippers EP, remastered with bonus tracks.

If that doesn't get your music floogie flappin' again, stick a fork in ya!

UNTIL NEXT WEEK, WE LEAVE YOU WITH THIS:

If music be the food of love, what do dinner theater be?

Your friends,
Coolio & Julio Iglesias

NEWSLETTER #35!

FOX'S U-BET CHOCOLATE SYRUP - JUST WANTED TO PUT THAT OUT THERE.

R.I.P. RED AUERBACH, JOE NIEKRO, TREVOR BERBICK, AND SILAS SIMMONS

(INSERT NON-MUSIC RELATED HEADLINE OF YOUR OWN HERE)

NEXT WEEK'S NEW RELEASES... HERE WE GO!!

Let's start out with our PICKS OF THE WEEK, which both happen to be box sets.

SAL'S PICK OF THE WEEK!

THE BEE GEES - STUDIO ALBUMS 1967-68. When not getting verbally abused for liking the Pet Shop Boys, I'm getting verbally abused for calling the Bee Gees one of the greatest bands of all time. And all I can say to that is, "Your mother was a toaster." For the first time since their initial CD release in the '80s, the first three Bee Gees albums (Bee Gees 1st, Horizontal, and Idea) get remastered and expanded into a limited edition box set. With over 40 bonus tracks, this set is essential. The Bee Gees gained twice as many fans as they lost when they released their legendary soundtrack Saturday Night Fever, but the majority of those new fans never really knew the brilliant songwriting and Brit-style pop of these seminal records. Hits like "To Love Somebody," "Massachusetts," "New York Mining Disaster 1941," "Holiday," "I've Gotta Get A Message To You," and "World" are all here, with the addition of deep album tracks that were just as strong, and a wealth of unreleased-on-CD B-sides, single mixes and demos. The Bee Gees inspired everyone from the Hollies to XTC to the Posies to Jellyfish and countless others. Take off your propeller hat and nose glasses and be proud to order this box set!

TONY'S PICK OF THE WEEK!

FRANK SINATRA - VEGAS. Four CDs and a DVD consisting entirely of unreleased live performances by the Chairman Of The Board from 1961-87. And for all you bootleg buyers who think you already have everything, more than half this set has never even come out illegally. Please excuse me while I go hold my breath and wait for the UPS guy to show up with a copy on Tuesday.

and now... THE REST OF NEXT WEEK'S NEW RELEASES!

JAMES BLUNT - BACK TO BEDLAM (2 CD EXPANDED EDITION). Talking about this record after talking about our picks of the week is like getting Mac Davis and Jackie Gleason to star in "The Sting II." But for those who care, the second disc is a full live concert recorded in Ireland in 2005.

J.J. CALE & ERIC CLAPTON - THE ROAD TO ESCONDIDO. Ol' Slowhand, who's gotten more mileage out of Cale's songs than ol' Cale himself, returns the favor and teams up with the legendary roots-rocker for this new release, which has the potential to be amazing as long as Clapton took off his lazy pants and showed up for the session.

ISOBEL CAMPBELL - MILK WHITE SHEETS. Her second solo record finds the ex-Belle & Sebastian vocalist collaborating with members of the Soup Dragons, Smashing Pumpkins, and the Vaselines. In 1994, this would have been the coolest thing ever. Now it's just an excuse to keep them all off the dole.

MORE "DEFINITIVE POP" SETS!

In the ongoing series of 2 CD, inexpensively priced anthologies from RHINO, the following will now be available as of Tuesday, the 7th:

MARSHALL CRENSHAW, BOBBY DARIN, MANHATTAN TRANSFER, SONNY & CHER, and AL STEWART.

This series is actually very good in that it gives you more than a single-disc best-of, but it doesn't add any filler by jamming both discs with non-essential tracks. By keeping the running time down on each CD (between 50 minutes and an hour, which still ain't bad), they're able to keep the list price down to less than $20.

FOO FIGHTERS - SKIN & BONES. A live document from the recent acoustic tour of one of the most successful hard rock bands today. The set list is career-spanning.

PAVEMENT - WOWEE ZOWEE: SORTED, TWO CDs AND A BOOK. We never really got these guys. Back in the '90s, lots of young indie hipsters would throw the band's name around in the same sentence as the Beatles, the Stones, Led Zeppelin and Mudhoney, but we were left cold. Still, somebody thought this record worthy enough for expansion, so it now includes 18 unreleased tracks, 9 non-album B-sides, 4 tracks from various compilation CDs, and 5 BBC Evening Session tracks, plus a 64 page book and an embossed slipcase. Kinda anti-indie, no?

WENDY & LISA - WENDY & LISA & FRUIT AT THE BOTTOM. Wounded Bird, our current favorite reissue label, remasters and expands the debut and sophomore releases from the girls of the Revolution (Prince's band, that is). Both these records were much better than people remember. Good funk-pop, as well as a Top 40 single or two. Each now includes bonus tracks and remixes!

TONY BENNETT & BILL EVANS - THE ALBUM. Arguably the best vocal performance of Bennett's career. Although reissued twice before, this 1974 classic gets reissued once again, this time with five previously unissued alternate takes and new liner notes by Will Friedwald. It really is brilliant, and worth a hell of a lot more than that dumb James Blunt CD.

YOU CAN ORDER ANY OF THESE FABU NEW RELEASES, AS WELL AS ANY NEW OR OLD CDs & DVDs THAT WE DIDN'T MENTION, BY EMAILING US AT HEYNYCD@AOL.COM OR BY PHONE AT (212) 244-3460!

A PLEA FOR PRODUCT!

All our old friends have been telling us that the music industry is dead, CDs are dead, and Norman Fell is dead. We don't believe them! But the closing of Tower Records and the diminishing amount of reissues tells us otherwise. So if you're one of the "digerati" who thinks that music that isn't on a hard drive is passé, then walk the walk like you talk the talk and SELL US ALL YOUR OLD CDs! Dying for both the Bee Gees and Sinatra box sets? BRING IN YOUR CDs and you can get them both in trade! WE WANT YOUR COLLECTIONS! We'll even come get them if you don't feel like leaving your house, providing you're within cab-ride distance. (Hey, while you're at it, SELL US ALL YOUR DVDs, TOO!)

SAL & TONY'S WANT LIST!

Anyone out there have the following CDs? We'll trade for those as well!

ORNETTE COLEMAN - SOAPSUDS, SOAPSUDS.
ORNETTE COLEMAN - CHAPPAQUA SUITE.
IAN HUNTER - ALL OF THE GOOD ONES ARE TAKEN.
JOHNNY JENKINS - TON TON MACOUTE.
COZY POWELL - OVER THE TOP.
MIKE VIOLA - TEMPLE OF STATIC.
TIM CURRY - THE BEST OF.
VARIOUS ARTISTS - THE EXOTICA TRILOGY.
PRICE-SULTON - LIGHTS ON.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: "Wow, how will you make the Sophie's Choice-like decision of which Aimee Mann show to go to, the one hosted by Fred Armisen or the one hosted by Paul Tompkins?" (special thanks to Smashmark)

UNTIL NEXT WEEK, WE LEAVE YOU WITH THIS:

Assuming the world is going to end any day now (thanks, W!), let's go out happy! Come on, people! Go out, have a few laughs, bungee jump, eat more hot dogs, booze it up, buy a hula hoop, scratch your ass with an awl, root for the Devil Rays, tip big, swim without a bathing cap, join the Mindy Cohn fan club, talk at the movies, do a spit take at your next job interview, listen to the Pet Shop Boys, and don't be afraid to get excited about music! Even James Blunt!

Your friends,
Simon Townshend & Jim Belushi