THIS WEEK

Other reissues & archival releases

George Thorogood and the Destroyers:
George Thorogood and the Destroyers
Move It On Over
(Rounder)
Originally, they were George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers, and I was fortunate enough to hear them on the radio in their earliest days because I went to college inside the reach of WMMR, the legendary station of Philadelphia — just up the highway from the Destroyers’ Wilmington home. These two reissues mark a milestone, arriving shortly after the 35th anniversary of the band’s 1977 self-titled debut. Both that album and its 1978 follow-up — among the first successful releases from Rounder — were recorded live in the studio, and now they’ve been remastered from new digital transfers of the original analog tapes. The debut has “Madison Blues” and “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” and Move It On Over includes the title track and “Who Do You Love?” Such nascent roots-rock sounded so fresh and vivid back then. Relive it now.

The Cult: Electric Peace (Beggars Archive)
Produced by Steve Brown, an album called Peace was meant to be the follow-up to 1985’s Love, but the tracks were scrapped in favor of re-recordings and new songs produced by Rick Rubin, which became 1987’s Electric. Some of the Peace tracks appeared on B-sides and the Manor Sessions EP, and they all showed up on Rare Cult. However, that box is long out of print, so this release couples Electric and Peace in a two-CD set (also available on double vinyl).

Tonto’s Expanding Head Band: Zero Time (Real Gone)
Fans of EDM should check out T.O.N.T.O. — The Original New Timbral Orchestra, which, according to a press release, remains the world’s largest multi-timbral polyphonic analog synthesizer. It was designed by Malcolm Cecil; to tout the instrument’s capabilities, he and producer Robert Margouleff became the electronic-music duo Tonto’s Expanding Head Band. Released in 1971, Zero Time was the first of two albums they issued under that name (the second being 1974’s It’s About Time). T.O.N.T.O. would eventually be heard on other artists’ albums in that decade, including Stevie Wonder’s Music of My Mind, Talking Book, and Innervisions. This reissue, remastered by Cecil from the original tapes, is Zero Time’s first appearance on CD in the U.S. The booklet includes rare photos and new liner notes.

The Shirelles: Baby It’s You
The Shirelles: The Shirelles and King Curtis Give a Twist Party
Michael Fennelly: Love Can Change Everything — Demos 1967-1972
(Sundazed)
Baby It’s You, featuring the title track and “Soldier Boy,” was released in 1962 and is available here on 180-gram vinyl LP, as is the same year’s follow-up. The previously unreleased demos of Fennelly, songwriter for the Millennium and Crabby Appleton, are on CD or 180g double vinyl.