I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post includes blurbs on Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, The Haunted Season, and Madison Bailey, Wicked.
- Motown/UMe releases the first-ever vinyl version of Stevie Wonder’s all-time best-selling hits set, The Definitive Collection. The 21-track, double album kicks off with the No. 1 live 1963 smash, “Fingertips – Pt. 2,” and takes us through Wonder’s timeless hits “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)” “For Once in My Life,” “My Cherie Amour,” “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” “Superstition,” “Higher Ground,” “Sir Duke,” “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” “Part Time Lover,” and more. It is now available HERE. Reflecting the artist’s ongoing importance and popularity, The Definitive Collection is newly certified 4x Platinum by the RIAA. The 2LP set is remastered for vinyl and housed in a beautiful gatefold package with Braille embossing, rare photos from the Motown Archives, full track-by-track annotations and a celebratory essay by Scott Regen, a Detroit DJ who became a Motown staff writer and producer and who wrote the liner notes to Wonder’s first Greatest Hits album in 1968. In addition to the wide release, The Definitive Collection will be available in an exclusive color vinyl edition at Amazon, while fans also have the option of collecting the album in 180gm vinyl and high gloss packaging with a limited-edition photo print and an additional exclusive Braille message from Stevie Wonder HERE. Complex.com followers have the option to collect their own exclusive edition, featuring an alternate cover and ‘Tamla yellow’ vinyl HERE.
- Steely Dan’s sophisticated jazz pop fourth album, 1975’s Katy Lied, with such standouts as “Black Friday,” “Bad Sneakers” and “Doctor Wu,” will return to vinyl for the first time in more than forty years on January 31, 2025, via Geffen/UMe, continuing the extensive reissue program of the band’s classic ABC and MCA Records catalog. The series, which began in November 2022 with the Dan’s legendary debut LP, Can’t Buy A Thrill, is being personally overseen by founding member Donald Fagen, and returns the group’s first seven records to vinyl, most of which haven’t been available since their original release. The series will close out with 1976’s guitar-driven The Royal Scam (“Kid Charlemagne,” “The Fez”) in mid-2025. Pre-order Katy Lied now: https://steelydan.lnk.to/KatyLiedLPPR. Katy Lied has been meticulously remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes for release as a limited edition premium 45 RPM version on Ultra High-Quality Vinyl (UHQR) from Analogue Productions, the audiophile in-house reissue label of Acoustic Sounds. Analogue Productions is also releasing this series of titles on Super Audio CD (SACD).
- From boutique label Severin Films and renowned author, producer and filmmaker Kier-La Janisse (Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror, House of Psychotic Women) comes new annual series The Haunted Season. Created by Janisse and executive produced by Severin Films, new episodes of The Haunted Season will arrive on Shudder each December with chilling short form horror tales in the tradition of telling ghost stories for Christmas. Future episodes will be announced each year as the holiday season approaches. The first of these original commissioned productions comes from director Sean Hogan (director of The Devil’s Business, and author of England’s Screaming and its sequel Twilight’s Last Screaming), called To Fire You Come at Last.
- Continuing a dynamic and prolific creative season, critically acclaimed actress and buzzing singer-songwriter Madison Bailey unveils a new single entitled “Honestly” out today via Republic Records. Listen HERE. Acoustic guitar sets the tone for the track, underscoring her gentle vocal delivery. Brandishing an impressive range and hypnotic high register, she holds nothing back with a confession on the chorus, “Honestly, I can’t take another tragedy.” Meanwhile, emotion practically overflows from her words, “Every day just feels like it’s the hardest.” Ultimately, “Honestly” further affirms her as raw and relatable musical presence.
- Universal Pictures, Republic Records and Verve Records announce the release of Wicked: The Original Motion Picture Score, from Grammy and Oscar® nominated composer John Powell (Solo: A Star Wars Story, How to Train Your Dragon) and Grammy and Oscar® winning composer Stephen Schwartz, the legendary composer and lyricist of the generation-defining Broadway show. Listen to Wicked: The Original Motion Picture Score HERE. Available to stream on all digital platforms and on vinyl for purchase. John Powell and Stephen Schwartz have built a magical sonic world for the film’s original motion picture score. From the “Arrival at Shiz University” to “All Around Defying Gravity,” the film’s timeless score accompanies and elevates the characters’ journeys through Oz.
