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Music News: Kate Bush, Brian Eno plan vinyl reissues

British pop singer Kate Bush signing her album 'Never Forever' at London's Virgin Megastore.
British pop singer Kate Bush signing her album 'Never Forever' at London's Virgin Megastore.Chas Sime/Getty Images
  Play Now [13:24]

by Jay Gabler

October 04, 2018

Above, listen to an episode of The Current's daily Music News podcast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts. You can also sign up for a daily Music News e-mail.


Record collectors who are also fans of adventurous British rock from the '70s and '80s will be glad to hear Kate Bush and Brian Eno are planning series of vinyl reissues.

Bush will be reissuing her entire studio catalog on vinyl and remastered CD, in four vinyl packages and two CD sets with the first dropping Nov. 16. Together, the sets will encompass Bush's ten albums and additional rarities — including a whole disc of covers of songs like Elton John's "Rocket Man" and Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing." (Rolling Stone)

As for Eno, he's re-releasing four of his albums from the mid-1970s to the early '80s in versions remastered at half speed. That doesn't mean they play back at half speed — although given that this is ambient and experimental music, that might make sense. It means the remastering was done at half-speed, a process said to increase fidelity. For the half-speed versions, you set your record player to 45 RPM. Those reissues also come out on Nov. 16. (Pitchfork)

Recording Academy adds 900 members

The Recording Academy has invited 900 new voting member to increase the diversity of the Grammys voting body. " All 900 invitees, who were pre-qualified to vote by the Recording Academy, are female and/or people of color and/or under 39," reports Billboard. The new invites are among the steps recommended by a Task Force on Diversity & Inclusion formed earlier this year, amid criticism of diversity among Grammy nominees and a furor over Recording Academy president Neil Portnow saying women should "step up" to advance in the music industry. Portnow is stepping down as of next summer, and a search for his replacement is currently underway.

Britney teases a new fragrance

Britney Spears has announced her 24th fragrance. The new scent, called "My Prerogative," is described as "fruity and earthy." The scent's name was inspired by Spears's 2004 cover of the 1988 Bobby Brown hit; previous Spears scents have included "Believe," "Curious," "Private Show," and many different versions of "Fantasy" (including a "Naughty Remix"). (Billboard)

Deer "playing" Phil Collins goes viral

There's yet another viral video featuring Phil Collins's "In the Air Tonight." The song hit the top 20 in 1981, but unlike, say, Rick Springfield's "I've Done Everything For You" (another song that hit the top 20 in 1981), it's had a long life as a meme.

A 2007 Cadbury commercial featuring a gorilla playing the song recently won an industry award as best British TV ad of the past four decades. Now, there's a video created by Josh Ballico that has a stumbling deer seeming to "play" Collins's now-iconic drum fill. (Mashable)


Songs sampled in podcast
Jahzzar: "Comedie" (CC BY 4.0)
BoxCat Games: "Against the Wall" (CC BY 3.0)
Kate Bush: "Sexual Healing"
Brian Eno: Music for Airports
Britney Spears: "Oops...I Did It Again"
Britney Spears: "My Prerogative"
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper: "Shallow"
Phil Collins: "In the Air Tonight"