Music Worth Buying episode: Ratatat, The Zombies

Watch a new episode of MUSIC WORTH BUYING where TJR and Robert review recent releases from Ratatat and The Zombies:

The Who 'Who Hits 50' - 50th Anniversary Celebrations

With legendary British bands The Beatles, The Zombies and The Rolling Stones having already celebrated their 50th anniversaries, its The Who's turn. Here is an exciting that landed in my inbox today...

2014 marks the 50th anniversary of The Who.

There is no more significant a milestone in Rock Music than the 50th Anniversary. Alongside The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, THE WHO complete the holy trinity of British Rock bands that have the honor of celebrating that landmark.

WHO HITS 50 will be celebrated with a year-long series of releases, promotions and events designed to capture the imagination of existing fans and the younger generation of fans that are only coming to realize the enormity of THE WHO’s influence not only musically, but through music, art, film and fashion.

All launched in June with the announcement of a string of UK Arena shows and a Greatest Hits collection to be released on October 28, 2014.

In anticipation of the celebrations, THE WHO are reaching out to fans and collectors around the world, looking for rare and lost recordings to complete a thorough trawl of their archives.

The band is looking for rare radio and TV performances, home movies from gigs, extraordinary bootleg material, demos, unusual photos and memorabilia for their 50^th anniversary releases. If you think it’s rare, we’d like to see it!

In 2002 the legendary film The High Numbers at the Railway Hotel from 1964 was found in a loft in the Netherlands. This priceless snapshot of the band in their formative years shows that there is always undiscovered material somewhere.

Any item that is used will be fully credited on any release and the person with the most outstanding find will receive 2 VIP tickets for a show on the next Who tour.

The contact for any fan wanting to get in touch is thewho@umusic.com

www.thewho.com

THE ANIMALS: THE MICKIE MOST YEARS AND MORE

The British Invasion continues (thankfully!), and here is the latest news related to that winning parade.

THE ANIMALS: THE MICKIE MOST YEARS AND MORE

SEMINAL BRITISH INVASION BAND’S FIRST EVER BOXED SET

OUT NOVEMBER 25, 2013

It’s been more than 50 years in the making but well worth the wait: the first ever Animals boxed set, The Animals: The Mickie Most Years And More, is set for release by ABKCO Records through Real Gone Music on November 25^th. Comprised of five CDs and many extras, the set offers a total of 61 tracks from one of the British Invasion’s most successful bands, fronted by the ever-enduring Eric Burdon. 

A set of multiple “firsts,” The Animals: The Mickie Most Years And More offers the group’s first four US albums -- The Animals, The Animals on Tour, Animal Tracks and Animalization -- on CD for the very first time, each offered with bonus material.  The first three of these were produced by the legendary Mickie Most, who went on to work with such notable artists as Herman’s Hermits, the Yardbirds, Donovan, Hot Chocolate, Suzi Quatro and other hit makers.

All of the discs that comprise The Animals: The Mickie Most Years And More have been newly re-mastered by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering who used transfers from original first generation, mono master tapes as his source.  The set features a plethora of bonus tracks -- a total of 16 -- including the very first Animals release, a 4 track EP entitled I Just Wanna Make Love To You that was issued in 1963 on the Graphic Sound label, later re-released by (British) Decca as In The Beginning There Was Early Animals.  Other bonus track highlights include four tracks never before released in the U.S., three non-LP/single-only versions including “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” “Don’t Bring Me Down” and “I’m Gonna Change The World,” as well as “Roadrunner, “a UK-only track.

The lavishly packaged set includes extensive liner notes for each of the CDs by Rolling Stone Senior Editor David Fricke and each copy of The Animals: The Mickie Most Years And More comes with a 100% cotton Animals t-shirt.

Well worth the wait, indeed.

TRACK LISTING

Disc One

I Just Wanna Make Love to You (1963)

1.   I Just Wanna Make Love to You

2.   Big Boss Man

3.   Boom Boom

4.   Pretty Thing

Disc Two

The Animals (1964)

1.   House of the Rising Sun

2.   The Girl Can’t Help It

3.   Blue Feeling

4.   Baby Let Me Take You Home

5.   The Right Time

6.   Talkin’ ‘Bout You

7.   Around and Around

8.   I’m in Love Again

9.   Gonna Send You Back to Walker

10. Memphis, Tennessee

11. I’m Mad Again

12. I’ve Been Around

Bonus Track

13. Talkin’ ‘Bout You (full seven minute version)

Disc Three

The Animals on Tour (1965)

1.   Boom Boom

2.   How You’ve Changed

3.   Mess Around

4.   Bright Lights, Big City

5.   I Believe to My Soul

6.   Worried Life Blues

7.   Let the Good Times Roll

8.   Ain’t Got You

9.   Hallelujah, I Love Her So

10. I’m Crying

11. Dimples

12. She Said Yeah

Bonus Tracks

13. Baby What’s Wrong

14. F-E-E-L

15. New Year’s Radio Spot (recorded December, 1964)

Disc Four

Animal Tracks (1965)

1.   We Gotta Get Out of This Place

2.   Take It Easy Baby

3.   Bring It on Home to Me

4.   The Story of Bo Diddley

5.   Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood

6.   I Can’t Believe It

7.   Club A-Go-Go

8.   Roberta

9.   Bury My Body

10. For Miss Caulker

Bonus Tracks

11. Roadrunner (previously unreleased in the U.S.)

12. Don’t Want Much (previously unreleased in the U.S.)

13. We Gotta Get Out of This Place (U.K. single version)

14. It’s My Life (single only)

15. I’m Gonna Change the World

Disc Five

Animalization (1966, produced by Tom Wilson)

1.   Don’t Bring Me Down

2.   One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show

3.   You’re on My Mind

4.  Cheating

5.   She’ll Return It

6.   Inside-Looking Out

7.   See See Rider

8.   Gin House Blues

9.   Maudie

10. What Am I Living For

11. Sweet Little Sixteen

12. I Put a Spell on You

Bonus Tracks

13. Don’t Bring Me Down (stereo)

14. Cheating (stereo)

15. See See Rider (stereo)

Pre-Order Now: http://smarturl.it/AnimalsBoxSet

ABOUT ABKCO -  ABKCO Music & Records, founded over 50 years ago by Allen Klein, is one of the world’s leading independent entertainment companies.  It is home to iconic catalog assets that include compositions and recordings by Sam Cooke, The Rolling Stones, Bobby Womack, Eric Burdon, The Animals, Herman’s Hermits, Marianne Faithfull, The Kinks as well as the Cameo Parkway masters by such artists as Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell, Clint Eastwood, The Orlons, The Dovells, ? & The Mysterians, Charlie Gracie, The Tymes and Dee Dee Sharp. Soundtrack releases include Edgar Wright’s The World’s End and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Wes Anderson’s 2013 Academy Award® nominated Moonrise Kingdom, The Darjeeling Limited and the 2010 Academy Award® nominated Fantastic Mr. Fox, Independent Spirit Award® Winner Safety Not Guaranteed, Our Idiot Brother,  the international blockbuster Fast Five, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The Men Who Stare At Goats, Boardwalk Empire Volume 2: Music from the HBO® original series and the soundtrack to the first season of the hit Showtime® series, Californication.  ABKCO is active on many fronts including the release of critically lauded compilations and reissues from its catalog, film and commercial placement of its master recordings and music publishing properties in all media.   ABKCO Films most recent release is The Rolling Stones Charlie Is My Darling – Ireland 1965.   Renowned cult director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s classics El Topo and The Holy Mountain, fully restored and remastered to HD, were shown at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival (Classics section) and at the prestigious 44th New York Film Festival. In 2003 ABKCO won a Grammy for the DVD release of Sam Cooke – Legend and the following year released the DVD of The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus to universal acclaim. Upcoming releases include a restoration of the Spaghetti Western Blindman starring Ringo Starr.  ABKCO Films is in pre-production on a biopic on the life of Sam Cooke.                  www.abkco.com                  www.facebook.com/abkco                                www.twitter.com/abkco

ABOUT REAL GONE MUSIC - Real Gone Music, formed and helmed by industry vets Gordon Anderson and Gabby Castellana, is an eclectic and prolific catalog and reissue label with distribution through Sony via Razor & Tie. Anderson and Castellana each started businesses in 1993 — Collectors’ Choice Music and Hep Cat Records & Distribution, respectively — that became two of the most important outlets for buyers and sellers of vintage music recordings. They joined forces in 2011 to launch Real Gone Music, which serves both the collector community and the casual music fan with a robust release schedule combining big-name artists with esoteric cult favorites. Real Gone Music is dedicated to combing the vaults for sounds that aren’t just gone — they’re REAL gone.