Well, I hope that I may be able to alleviate at least a little of your frustration with some pretty cool news.
But first –
I again must apologize for being away for so long, and I still haven't been able to respond to my messages. But as I mentioned in my last post, it's been extremely busy 'round here. At the moment, I have 12 albums I'm working on, and I just finished 5 new vintage titles that will be available at the end of April. None of these albums have been available since their initial release on vinyl – not even
The Wonderland Music Store.
These vintage albums are:
Muscle Beach Party (STER 3314)
CD | 
iTunes | 
MP3
Of the 5 new titles, this was released on CD by Rhino back in the early '90s. But this new release is fully restored from the original 4 track master.
Billy Storm (STER 3315)
CD | iTunes | MP3
This is a unique one. Billy sang on The Sherman Bros.
Tinpanorama singing “Puppy Love Is Here To Stay (he also sings on another album in this group of 5). With Annette's success, the label tried to break another teen pop star – that was Billy. Tutti Camarata was also beginning to experiment with the concept of a full length album. To Tutti, the long playing record offered the artist an opportunity to expand the listening experience. To him, music was released as 'singles' (even 78rpms are essentially singles). Then when the LP was introduced, it became just a collection of singles. Tutti wanted to make use of the extra time the LP allowed – to let the music develop. For Billy's album, side one has only 1 track, and it's 16 minutes long. It's a cover of “Lover Come Back”. It's what I would call and 'odyssey' mix – it begins in one musical style, and evolves into several others. It's once continuous piece. Tutti would later do an 'odyssey' album, but instead of variations on a theme, it was a medley – one song seamlessly transitioning into the next. That album was
Cocktails for Two – with Mary Martin” (ahh, miss ya Bill!). Enough useless trivia. It's an interesting album. It's not for everyone, but I found it interesting. To me it was the embryonic beginning of the 'Concept Album'.
Maurice Chevalier and Hayley Mills Take You To Teen Street (BV 3313)
CD | iTunes | MP3
Another interesting album. Very 1960's innocent 'teen' album. These songs are introduced by kitschy dialog and banter between Mr. Chevalier and Miss Mills about the 'teen' experience. Songs from Annette, Billy Strange, Billy Storm, and The Sylte Sisters. This is another 'Odyssey Mix' and the songs and dialog transition.
That Darn Cat (STER 3334)
CD | iTunes | MP3
Louis Prima's version of The Sherman Bros. title song starts off the album (FYI - The original Bobby Darin version that appears in the film is not ours to release). It continues with Bob Brunner's score cues and ends with The Bobby Troop Trio's version of the title song. Though Mr. Troop's version has been released before, this is a recently discovered STEREO version!
Silly Symphonies (DQ 1335)
CD | iTunes | MP3
I had this album as a kid. I thought it would be the songs from the
Silly Symphonies. It wasn't (Actually, the songs are covers of things like “Susie the Little Blue Coup” and “Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue-Bonnet” – not even
Silly Symphonies). And I was very disappointed!! There was no internet then, or I would have been posting like mad (I had to settle for sending smoke signals from the mouth of the family cave). Honestly, I'm not that fond of this album (probably because of that childhood trauma), but I've received many requests for it over the years. So, here it is.
Though there will not be an Official Album release this year, I am working on some projects for Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom's Anniversary next year. I won't be doing a box like
A Musical History of Disneyland because 1) It would be too similar to Disneyland's, and 2) Disneyland had to wait until she was 50, so her sister is gonna wait too. Instead of one big project, I want to do several small ones geared around The Magic Kingdom. A new Official Album will be released then.
I haven't forgotten EPCOT. She turns 30 in 2012. I have similar plans for that anniversary too.
As for soundtracks, I've been working on one for several months now. It's not a “Walt–Era” film, and may not be of too much interest to the Disney Fan Community in general, but it is an important bit of history (well, to me anyway). There is no street date set, but I'm hoping I can finish it by the end of the year.
I'm still continuing to push for the availability of Lossless Downloads. I want them too. But I can only keep bangin' on the door. FYI, the recently released Beatles Stereo USB drive is not lost on me either! For those who may not know, The Beatles Stereo set has been released on a cool (Apple-shaped) USB and features an image gallery of all the covers and ephemera of the physical set and includes 320k MP3s as well as.... 24bit 44.1 FLAC files of the albums. FLAC is a perfect lossless format, but with the Bit-Depth of 24, theoretically these digital files are superior to CD! Oooh, what I can do with that model!
Well, I hope that I was able to lift some of that frustration. I know it doesn't solve everything, but maybe it sheds a little light in the darkness.
Have a great weekend!!
Randy Thornton
[Cover art and links added by Admin]
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