Sunday, September 18, 2011

Sights and Sounds: The Monkees return, Rolling Stones' 'Some Girls' celebrated



Eagle Rock Entertainment To Release 'The Monkees' TV Show On DVD - September 27

On September 27, 2011, Eagle Rock Entertainment will release both television seasons of The Monkees in two separate boxed sets. This is the first time in over 10 years that both seasons have become available on DVD, since their original Rhino Records release. [MSRP $39.98 per set]

The 32 half-hour episodes of Season #1, contained on six discs, originally aired in 1966. It was the first time on American television that a situation comedy keyed in on the zany escapades of a Beatles-styled rock band. The type of stylized new-age cinematic techniques (ala A Hard Day’s Night) were coupled with music from some of finest songwriters in America (Gerry Goffin/Carole King, David Gates, Neil Diamond, Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil). The terminally cute vocalist Davy Jones, guitarist Mike Nesmith, bassist Peter Tork and drummer Micky Dolenz catapulted songs such as “I’m A Believer,” “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone,” “Daydream Believer,” “Last Train To Clarksville” and “Pleasant Valley Sunday” into huge hits. Bonus features for the first season include commentary from the band and the show’s directors, trivia for each episode, a 16mm version of the original pilot, discography and vintage Monkees Kelloggs commercials.

The 26 episodes of 1967’s Emmy Award-winning Season #2, spread out over five discs, contains bonus commentary, trivia and discography. One can see a maturation in musical style between the two seasons as Jones, Nesmith, Tork and Dolenz actually transform themselves into that which they, at first, portrayed as actors. Their innate comedic talents, coupled with their obvious musical ingenuity, makes both seasons a fascinating time capsule of the 1960s.

Ultimately, all four proved themselves to be talented musicians, vocalists and songwriters in their own right who fought and won the freedom to make their own music. The Monkees aired on NBC television for two seasons, allowing the group to continue to record and tour for years afterwards.

Eagle Rock Entertainment is an international media production and distribution company operating across audiovisual entertainment programming. Eagle Rock Entertainment works directly alongside talent to produce the highest quality programming output covering film, general entertainment and musical performance. Eagle Rock Entertainment has offices based in London, New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Hamburg, & Paris.


Speaking of Eagle Rock and great bands to emerge in the 1960s, there is big, BIG news for lovers of The Rolling Stones 1978 outstanding Some Girls. I consider this the last great Stones album (meaning it is strong from start to finish, and boasts more than a couple of good songs which has sadly been the case on the band's succeeding albums). Read on to get the latest on a forthcoming deluxe reissue of the album and a concert DVD/Blu-ray release featuring a performance from the tour that came in support of that disc...


ROLLING STONES - 'SOME GIRLS' - BIGGER THAN EVER!
SET FOR NOVEMBER RELEASE


Universal Music Group and The Rolling Stones are pleased to announce the release on November 21, 2011 of the re-mastered, expanded, Super-Deluxe, Deluxe and Digital editions of Some Girls, the groundbreaking album which introduced the music of the Rolling Stones to a whole new generation of fans.

Justly considered one of the finest works by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman and Ronnie Wood, Some Girls topped the US charts over three decades ago and remains the best selling album of their storied career. This new package will include some undiscovered gems that include tracks that have recently been unearthed from the Rolling Stones vaults by producer Don Was. Further details of the tracks will be unveiled at a later date.

Some Girls is the Rolling Stones' most direct and diverse collection of material, from Mick Jagger's irresistible falsetto on the four-on-the-floor filler Miss You, their eighth US number one, to the country-flavoured "Far Away Eyes" via the Chuck Berry meets punk snarl of "Respectable." And let's not forget the sensuous, "Beast Of Burden," one of Keith Richards’ finest tunes, which reached number 8 on the US singles chart, the garage rock of Shattered, the album's third US Top 40 entry, and the soulful swagger of the group's version of The Temptations' "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)," another timeless offering in their canon of classic Stones Motown covers.

Following the critical praise and commercial success afforded the re-mastered, expanded editions of Exile On Main Street, which matched the chart performance of the epochal 1972 album, and returned the Rolling Stones to their rightful place at the top of the British charts in 2010, the extensive reissue of Some Girls constitutes the next step in the band's ongoing relationship with Universal Music Group. This started in April 2008 with Shine A Light, the soundtrack from the stunning concert film directed by Martin Scorsese, and has encompassed the reissues of the Rolling Stones re-mastered, post-1971 studio albums, several live albums and classic compilations, and the exhaustive box-set Singles 1971-2006 earlier this year.

Some Girls holds a special place in the history of the Rolling Stones and demonstrates why they remain one of the most thrilling and influential bands of all time. The 1978 album features a Keith Richards' classic "Before They Make Me Run," a signature song he stills performs defiantly to this day. Some Girls documented Mick Jagger's love of 70’s funk reflected in "Miss You," the dance track that wrongfooted many people, made the club and black charts, and made it okay for other mainstream acts at the time to ‘go disco’.

The 1978 album courted controversy because of Jagger's tongue-in-cheek lyrics on the title track, on "Miss You" and on "Respectable," perceived as a retort to the punk and new wave groups who had borrowed so much attitude and copped so many anti-establishment moves from the Rolling Stones. Ironically, the furore around the elaborate Some Girls package, designed by Peter Corriston and featuring the band members in drag – a nod in the direction of the picture on their 1966 single Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow? – and likenesses of Lucille Ball, Farrah Fawcett, Raquel Welch, Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe that hadn't been legally cleared, necessitating a swift withdrawal and rethink.

Some Girls demonstrated the distinctive and definitive riffing from Keith Richards, with its abundance of unstoppable licks and majestic power chords driving the band into its brand new musical direction. This album not only defined him and his playing, but also defined a new era for the Rolling Stones, which Richards since described as a ‘sense of renewal’. Some Girls marks the only other time since recording "Satisfaction" where Richards used an effects pedal to ‘elevate’ the sound.

The album cemented the position of guitarist Ronnie Wood, who had joined in 1975, and added his trademark slide and pedal steel playing to several of the album's most memorable tracks, including "When The Whip Comes Down" and "Shattered." He also co-wrote the Shattered B-side "Everything Is Turning To Gold." Some Girls also marked a move to the Pathé Marconi Studios in Paris for the Glimmer Twins production team of Jagger and Richards. These factors helped what is arguably the group's most focused and dynamic album, driven by the sans pareil rhythm section of drummer Charlie Watts and bassist Bill Wyman. Some Girls featured fewer guest musicians than any Rolling Stones albums since 1971, but the contributions keyboard-player Ian McLagan, Wood's bandmate in The Faces, saxophone-player Mel Collins, and harmonica-player Sugar Blue – discovered busking on the Paris métro – made Miss You in particular sound brighter than ever.

Amongst many eagerly-awaited extras, the Super-Deluxe edition of Some Girls will include a stunning, previously unseen Helmut Newton photo session from 1978, an essay by esteemed author and journalist Anthony DeCurtis putting the album in its cultural context, and a 7” single of "Beast Of Burden"/"When The Whip Comes Down" in its banned sleeve.

Thirty-three years on from its original release, the re-mastered, expanded, Super-Deluxe, Deluxe and Digital editions of Some Girls show why the 1978 album has often been hailed as the equal of Exile On Main Street. Some Girls is both a time capsule and a timeless listen. It features the band at their tightest and toughest, at their most vibrant and vital. It's an all-killer, no-filler, must-have album. It still packs a punch.

Information: www.rollingstones.com

SOME GIRLS - now bigger, brighter and better than ever. And that isn't all the news for fans of the album.

EAGLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS
THE ROLLING STONES CAUGHT LIVE AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME

SOME GIRLS LIVE IN TEXAS 1978

LIVE CONCERT OUT ON DVD AND BLU-RAY NOVEMBER 21



Continuing their partnership with the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world, Eagle Rock Entertainment have announced the DVD and Blu-Ray release of The Rolling Stones Some Girls Live in Texas 1978. Available for the first time ever on November 21, Some Girls Live in Texas 1978 features Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood and Bill Wyman live in concert during the 1978 US tour which followed the release of their groundbreaking album Some Girls. [Pre-book order date October 28, MSRP $14.98 for DVD, $19.98 for Blu-ray, and TBA for DVD/CD and Blu-ray/CD].

Some Girls Live in Texas 1978 comes hot on the heels of the huge success of 2010’s Stones in Exile and Ladies & Gentlemen and marks the next stage in the Eagle Vision / Rolling Stones enterprise. Some Girls Live in Texas 1978 will be available on four different formats: DVD, Blu-Ray, plus special edition DVD + CD and Blu-Ray + CD digipack presentations including a reproduction tour program. Bonus features on all formats will include a new interview with Mick Jagger. Worldwide theatrical distribution deals including the US (in October 2011) will be announced soon.

Capturing The Rolling Stones at their live best, and fully restored to the highest level of picture and sound quality, Some Girls Live in Texas 1978 was filmed at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Forth Worth, Texas on July 18, 1978 on what many fans consider to be one of the band’s greatest tours. This was due to the band’s ‘back to basics’ approach both musically and visually, as the shows were stripped back compared to previous tours, harnessing the new punk rock attitude of the late 70s.

Showcasing many songs from the Some Girls album, celebrated for being the Rolling Stones’ most direct and diverse collection of music, and which by the time the band arrived in Texas, had gone to the top of the US charts, this concert demonstrates the sheer force and raw energy of The Rolling Stones live on stage.

Some Girls songs like “Miss You,” “Respectable,” “Beast Of Burden,” “When The Whip Comes Down,” and “Shattered,” weave into a set list which also includes “All Down The Line,” “Honky Tonk Women,” “Tumbling Dice,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Happy,” and “Brown Sugar.”
Originally shot on 16mm film, the concert footage has been carefully restored with the sound remixed and remastered by Bob Clearmountain from the original multi track tapes.

“Eagle is delighted to once again be working with the Rolling Stones on another landmark release highlighting an outstanding performance from the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll band.”
- Lindsay Brown, Managing Director Operations & International, Eagle Rock Entertainment Ltd

The Rolling Stones – ‘Some Girls Live in Texas 1978’ is released November 21 on Eagle Vision.


TRACKLISTING: 1) Let It Rock 2) All Down The Line 3) Honky Tonk Women 4) Star Star 5) When The Whip Comes Down 6) Beast Of Burden 7) Miss You 8) Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) 9) Shattered 10) Respectable 11) Far Away Eyes 12) Love In Vain 13) Tumbling Dice 14) Happy 15) Sweet Little Sixteen 16) Brown Sugar 17) Jumpin’ Jack Flash

Format: DVD Cat No: EV303949Barcode: 801213039494RRP: $14.98DVD Format: NTSC Region 0Screen Format: 16:9Sound Formats: DTS Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital StereoRunning Time: 85 mins (Main Concert)Subtitles: (Bonus Features Only): English, French, Spanish, German Format: DVD + CDCat No: EV303959Barcode: 801213039593RRP: $TBADVD Format: NTSC Region 0Screen Format: 16:9Sound Formats: DTS Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital StereoRunning Time: 85 mins (Main Concert) Subtitles: (Bonus Features Only) English, French, Spanish, German

Format: Blu-ray Cat No: EVB334039Barcode: 801213340392RRP: $19.98Screen Format: 16:9Sound Formats: DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital 5.1, LPCM StereoRunning Time: 85 mins (Main Concert)Subtitles: (Bonus Features Only) English, French, Spanish, German Format: Blu-ray + CDCat No: EVB334049Barcode: 801213340491RRP: $TBAScreen Format: 16:9Sound Formats: DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital 5.1, LPCM StereoRunning Time: 85 mins (Main Feature)Subtitles: (Bonus Features Only) English, French, Spanish, German

Information: http://eaglerockent.com/

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