Rhino Reinvents The 45

07/16/2009
. (Submitted News) After its 1949 debut, the 45-rpm vinyl single went on to revolutionize the way people listened to music, both literally—requiring adjustable-speed players—and figuratively—introducing a global audience to the simple, yet profound joy that comes from playing a favorite song over and over. As the single turns 60 this year, history repeats itself. Digital bytes have replaced vinyl grooves, but the love affair with the hit song continues. As last year music fans downloaded more than a billion tracks; the most ever.

To celebrate the milestone, Rhino will spotlight songs originally issued on 45 by offering them as RHINO DIGITAL 45s, bundled with their original B-sides and artwork. Original picture sleeve art will be included when available and original label art will be used for all others. The first group of RHINO DIGITAL 45s will be available July 14. iTunes will feature a total of 60 digital 45s, including six exclusives. These will be featured in iTunes Digital 45, which showcases these new digital bundles inside the iTunes store. Among the iTunes exclusives are several singles featuring B-sides making their digital debut including "Take It Easy"/"Get You In The Mood" by the Eagles, "Kiss"/"Love Or Money" by Prince & The Revolution, and "Whip It"/"Turn Around" by Devo. The remaining 54 singles will be available at all digital retails outlets. Each following month, Rhino will release a new batch of 25 digital 45s to all partners.

The first group of RHINO DIGITAL 45s features a total of 31 tracks making their digital debut including Jackson Browne's "The Crow On The Cradle" (B-side of "Somebody's Baby"), Morrissey's "I Know Very Well How I Got My Name" (B-side of "Suedehead"), and James Taylor's "I Can Dream Of You" (b-side of "Shower The People). Other digital debut highlights include tracks from The Cars, Talking Heads, and Pretenders as well as single edits, radio mixes, and live versions from The B-52s, Deep Purple, The Doors, Faith No More, and Yes. RHINO DIGITAL 45s will be available from all DSPs for list prices of $1.49 and $1.99. Downloads from iTunes will include a bonus PDF containing the original picture sleeve or label art.

The RHINO DIGITAL 45 marks the return of the B-side. With the "plug side" of a single the focus of a record label's attention, its reverse allowed artists a chance to stretch their creative legs. B-sides were an opportunity to show listeners who only knew the hit that a band had more than one trick up its sleeves (Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" and The Doobie Brothers' "Black Water," among others, were originally issued as B-sides). And while most hits also appear on artists' albums, the "non-LP B-side" was often unavailable to all but the most loyal fans and hardcore collectors, until now.

First 60 Singles

a-ha "Take On Me"/"Love Is Reason"* #
The B-52's "Love Shack"(edit)†/"Channel Z"*
The Blues Brothers "Soul Man"/"Excusez Moi Mon Cherie"*†
Jackson Browne "Somebody's Baby"/"The Crow On The Cradle"†*
The Cars "Let's Go"/"That's It"†
Chicago "You're The Inspiration"/"Once In A Lifetime"
Alice Cooper "School's Out"/"Gutter Cat Vs. The Jets"*
Collective Soul "Shine"(radio edit)†/"Breathe"
Crosby, Stills & Nash "Southern Cross"/"Into The Darkness"*
The Cure "Just Like Heaven"/"Breathe"* #
Damn Yankees "High Enough"†/"Piledriver"
Deep Purple "Smoke On The Water"/"Smoke On The Water"(edit)†
Devo "Whip It"/"Turn Around"† #
Doobie Brothers "What A Fool Believes"/"Don't Stop To Watch The Wheels"*
The Doors "Light My Fire"†/"Crystal Ship"
The Dream Academy "Life In A Northern Town"/"Test Tape No. 3"†*
Eagles "Take It Easy"/"Get You In The Mood"† #
Eagles "Hotel California"/"Pretty Maids All In A Row"
En Vogue "Free Your Mind"†/"Just Can't Stay Away"†
Erasure "A Little Respect"/"Like Zsa Zsa Zsa Gabor"†*
Faith No More "Epic"(radio remix Edit)†"Edge Of The World"
Foreigner "Urgent"/"Girl On The Moon"*
Aretha Franklin "Respect"/"Dr. Feelgood"
Genesis "In Too Deep"/"I'd Rather Be You"*
Hootie & The Blowfish "Let Her Cry" (radio edit)†/"Hold My Hand" (radio edit)
Hootie & The Blowfish "Time"/"Only Wanna Be With You"
INXS "What You Need"/"Sweet As Sin"†*
Iron Butterfly "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"/"Iron Butterfly Theme"
Howard Jones "Things Can Only Get Better"/"Why Look For The Key"†*
KC & The Sunshine Band "That's The Way (I Like It)"/"What Makes You Happy"
Los Lobos "La Bamba"/"Charlena"*
Steve Martin and The Toot Uncommons "King Tut"/"Sally Goodin"/"Hoedown At Alice's"*
Edwin McCain "I'll Be"/"Grind Me In The Gears"†
Bette Midler "From A Distance"/"One More Round"
The Monkees "Daydream Believer"/"Goin' Down"*
Morrissey "Suedehead"/"I Know Very Well How I Got My Name"†*
Orleans "Still The One"/"Siam Sam"
Wilson Pickett "Mustang Sally"/"Three Time Loser"
Pretenders "Louie Louie"/"In The Sticks"†*
Prince & The Revolution "Kiss"/"Love Or Money"†* #
Ratt "Round And Round"/"The Morning After"*
Otis Redding "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay"/"Sweet Lorene" #
The Replacements "Can't Hardly Wait"/"Cool Water"*
Rufus & Chaka Khan "Ain't Nobody"/"Sweet Thing"(live)
Sam & Dave "Soul Man"/"May I Baby"
Duncan Sheik "Barely Breathing"/"Wishful Thinking"
Sister Sledge "We Are Family"/"Easier To Love"†
Skid Row "Youth Gone Wild"/"Sweet Little Sister"*
Rod Stewart "Forever Young"/"Days Of Rage"* #
Sugarhill Gang "Apache"/"Rapper's Delight"
T.Rex "Bang A Gong (Get It On)"/"Raw Ramp"
Talking Heads "Take Me To The River"(edit)†/
"Thank You For Sending Me An Angel"*
Talking Heads "And She Was"/"And She Was" (dub version)† #
James Taylor "Shower The People"(edit)†/"I Can Dream Of You"†
Travis Tritt "T-R-O-U-B-L-E"/"Leave My Girl Alone"
Van Halen "Jump"/"House Of Pain"*
X "Wild Thing"†/"Devil Doll"†
X "4th Of July"/"Positively 4th Street"†*
Yes "Roundabout"(single edit)†/"Long Distance Runaround"
Dwight Yoakam "Guitars, Cadillacs"/"I'll Be Gone"

†Available digitally for first time
*Includes Original Picture Sleeve Art
#iTunes exclusive

Click here to read today's full Day in Rock report

Preview and Purchase Eagles CDs

Eagles Tour Dates/Tickets

Eagles MP3 Downloads

Was it Good for you? Please Fark it!, Stumble It, Digg it or more!


Fark	Stumble Upon	Digg	Facebook

tell a friend about this article

know of a news item we should cover?

antiMUSIC News featured on RockNews.info and Yahoo News

...end