Legacy Recordings Launches Major Digital Reissue Initiative

Legacy Recordings, the world's premier catalog music label, has opened its vaults to create the Legacy Digital Reissue initiative, making an incredible selection of classic albums and deep catalog rarities available for the first time in the digital realm.

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Drawing from the vast resources of the Sony Music archives, spanning the entire history of commercial recordings, the ongoing Legacy Digital Reissue program offers music fans an opportunity to rediscover old favorites, experience forgotten musical rarities, and explore an incomparably rich variety of genres, artists and sounds from the last 125 years."

The digital realm offers an unprecedented opportunity for Legacy to delve deep into its vast catalog, offering pristine state-of-the-art digital releases catering to every music fan and every musical taste, from the esoteric to the mainstream," said Adam Block, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Legacy Recordings. "We're proud and excited to be able to keep all this great music alive and thriving in the 21st century, making it available to long-time fans and new listeners alike."

Legacy Digital releases are being made available through all major digital service providers.

The Legacy Digital initiative is making its catalog titles available on an ongoing basis, with new releases appearing online every month.

Legacy Digital titles in the current release cycle (May/June 2009) include:

Raydio

Legacy is releasing Raydio (1978) and Rock On (1979), the first two groundbreaking albums from Raydio, the seminal R&B/funk ensemble led by Ray Parker, Jr. with Vincent Bohnam, Jerry Knight and Arnell Carmichael. Raydio features the group's RIAA gold Top 10 smash "Jack & Jill," while Rock On includes the hit follow-up single "You Can't Change That."

Lulu - To Sir, With Love

Scottish singer-actress (and Officer of the Order of the British Empire) Lulu became world-famous when "To Sir, With Love," the title track from the film of the same name, became 1967's top-selling #1 single. Available for the first time in the digital realm, the To Sir, With Love soundtrack includes Lulu's hit as well as music by the Mindbenders and incidental music by Ron Grainer.

The Buckinghams

The Chicago-based Buckinghams were an enormously popular and inescapable presence on American radio from 1965 to 1968 with a string of Top 10 hits including "Don't You Care" (#6), "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" (#5), "Hey Baby, They're Playing Our Song" (#10) and 1967's #1 signature breakout "Kind of a Drag." Legacy is digitally releasing Time and Changes (1967), Portraits (1967) and In One Ear and Gone Tomorrow (1968), originally recorded by the Buckinghams for Columbia Records.

Kris Kristofferson

Best-known for classics including "Me & Bobby McGee," "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down," "Help Me Make It Through The Night" and others, American singer-songwriter-musician Kris Kristofferson is one of the originators of the outlaw country ethos. Legacy is digitally releasing seven essential albums from the artist's Monument Records catalog: Border Lord (1972), Spooky Lady's Sideshow (1974), Who's To Bless & Who's To Blame (1975), Surreal Thing (1976), Easter Island (1978), Shake Hands with the Devil (1979) and To The Bone (1981).

Pete Droge

Legacy is releasing two important titles from the American post-modern pop-folk artist Pete Droge: Find a Door, released in 1996 as Pete Droge & the Sinners, and 1998's Spacey & Shaken.

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  American Recordings

Founded in 1988 by the legendary producer Rick Rubin, the Los Angeles-based American Recordings (originally Def American), is best-known for a string of hit recordings from artists like Slayer, the Black Crowes, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty and System of a Down among others. Legacy is proud to offer fans a chance to delve more deeply into the American Recordings catalog to discover hidden treasures from a variety of important artists.

Barkmarket

Four essentially aggressive titles from the absurdist New York hardcore rock band: Vegas Throat (1992), Gimmick (1993), Lard Room (1995) and L. Ron (the band's 1996 swan song).

Julian Cope

Two solo masterpieces of mid-90s alt-rock from Julian Cope, the founder of Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes: Autogeddon and 20 Mothers (Better To Light A Candle Than To Curse The Darkness) (1995).

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Recorded before his untimely death in 1997 and originally released in 2001, The Final Recordings is an extraordinary epitaph to the life and art of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the world's foremost singer of Qawwali, the devotional music of the Sufis.

Rhat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

The nephew of Qawwali master Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rhat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan proves a worthy successor to his uncle as he carries the Qawwali tradition into the 21st century on his American Recordings debut.

Raging Slab

Combining the hardcore thrash of speed-metal with the down-home beer & bar-b-cue of Southern Rock, Raging Slab released the double album party opus, Dynamite Monster Boogie Concert, in 1993, ten years after forming in Hootersville, Pennsylvania. Dynamite Monster Boogie Concert is being released for the first time digitally alongside 1996's Sing Monkey, Sing!

Andrew "Dice" Clay

One of the most notorious signings in American Recordings history, the always controversial (and frequently hilarious) stand-up comedian Andrew "Dice" Clay rose to national prominence after starring in his first HBO special, "The Diceman Cometh," in 1989 and first feature film, "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane," in 1990. Legacy is digitally releasing a quintet of Dice's seminal work: Dice (1990), The Day The Laughter Died (a two CD set from 1990), Dice Rules: Dice Live At Madison Square Garden (1991), 40 Too Long (1992), and The Day The Laughter Died, Part 2 (1993).

Dan Baird

Best-known as a founding member of the Georgia Satellites, Dan Baird set off on a solo career in the 1990s. Released for the first time in the digital realm are Dan's solo releases: Love Songs For The Hearing Impaired (1992), featuring his first-hit-to-chart "I Love You Period" (which reached #26 on the Billboard Top 100), and 1998's Buffalo Nickels.

MC 900 Ft. Jesus

Classically-trained Dallas-born musician Mark Griffin christened himself MC 900 Ft. Jesus after a phrase in a sermon by Oral Roberts. Combining his love of rap with an experimental edge, MC 900 Ft. Jesus released One Step Ahead of the Spider in 1994. The album showcases the hit "If I Only Had A Brain," best-known for its Spike Jonze-directed video featured in a "Beavis & Butthead" episode.

  Additional Legacy Digital releases TBA on an ongoing basis.

  www.LegacyRecordings.com
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  www.YouTube.com/SonyMusicUSA

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SOURCE: Legacy Recordings

CONTACT: Tom Cording, VP of Media Relations, Sony Music - Legacy,
+1-212-833-4448, tom.cording@sonymusic.com

Web Site: http://www.legacyrecordings.com/