Melodic presents

Box sets, calendars, and Spice Girls dolls

by Christopher Muther

BROOOOOCE! BROOOOOCE! IT'S the call being heard across the country as Springsteen fans clamor and pray that the new four-CD box set from their onetime blue-collar hero ends up in their stockings this year.

It's among the many box sets, music-related books, and assorted junk now available, timed conveniently to coincide with the holiday season. (All the box sets mentioned in this article are available at Newbury Comics, and other local music retailers.) At the forefront of this year's box-set avalanche is the Springsteen set, Tracks (Columbia, $69.97). It's not a greatest-hits collection, but a "should have been greatest hits" collection. The set is made up of songs that simply never made it onto previous Springsteen albums, either because they didn't fit the theme of the record or because there was already too much material. Calling songs such as "Give the Girl a Kiss" and "Thundercrack" castaways is too cruel an assessment. Tracks clearly isn't for the casual Springsteen fan. But for die-hard Springsteen addicts, this is the fix they need to make it through the holidays.

Another prolific songwriter was finally honored this year with a long-overdue box set. The Look of Love (Rhino, $49.97), a collection of Burt Bacharach's best, offers up 75 Bacharach biggies, sung by the artists who made them hits. It is an astounding body of work, ranging from early, corny songs such as "The Blob" to amazingly sophisticated arrangements such as "Paper Mache," which includes insightful societal observations from Bacharach lyricist Hal David in the liner notes.

Bacharach's songwriting career took off in earnest in the late 1950s, but it was during the 1960s that the composer truly came into his own -- especially when he and David began working with a young session singer named Dionne Warwick. It was with Warwick that Bacharach found his voice, and through her superb interpretations he was encouraged to take his music further. Warwick's rendering of the amazing "Anyone Who Had a Heart" shows Bacharach at his early best. The string of winning Warwick collaborations is thoroughly documented on The Look of Love, and the results only strengthen the case for the pair's talents.

With a strict eye for accuracy, the box set includes not only many of the hits, but also some of the misses. Bacharach and David wrote several songs for a promising singer named Lou Johnson, and those songs eventually became hits for other singers. Johnson's versions, though, are fascinating early blueprints. Likewise, "I Just Don't Know What To Do with Myself" is represented by Tommy Hunt (it's amazing to hear the song sung by a man rather than Dusty Springfield), and "Make It Easy on Yourself" is presented in its original form by Jerry Butler.

David's lyrics occasionally dip into misogynistic territory ("What's New Pussy Cat?" and "Wives and Lovers"), but these songs are primarily sophisticated, adult-oriented pop tunes that are a time capsule of social issues. "I Say a Little Prayer" and "One Less Bell to Answer" are songs about a generation dealing with changes.

Another composer who made a mark in the 1960s, but for an entirely different audience, is honored on The John Lennon Anthology (Capitol, $72.97). The four-disc box highlights Lennon's post-Beatles output with more than 100 songs, most of them previously unreleased. Most of the tracks are alternative versions of Lennon's album tracks, such as an interesting version of "Imagine," but there are some true treasures, such as Lennon's sloppy drawl on "Well (Baby Please Don't Go)."

For all the music on Anthology, there's also a lot of chatter. Lennon could have produced volumes during the riotous Rock & Roll sessions with Phil Spector. Instead, there's lots of silliness and clowning, which is almost as enjoyable as a good Lennon song.

Although he never received the same level of recognition as John Lennon, Randy Newman, always the class clown, can lay claim to his own legacy on Guilty: 30 Years of Randy Newman (Reprise/Warner Archives/Rhino, $59.97). Newman's Tin Pan Alley piano style always made his music an awkward fit for the pop charts, but the prolific musician managed to score nonetheless with songs such as the ghastly "Short People" and the foot-

tapping "I Love L.A." He also made a major mark with film music. One disc of the set is devoted to his warm music for children's film, with songs from Toy Story and James and the Giant Peach.

For pure camp value, there is no better collection than Rhino's Have a Nice Decade ($99.97), a seven-disc box set that drags some of the most fun and embarrassing songs from the 1970s out of the closet. Remember Hot Butter's "Popcorn"? (You would if you heard it.) How about Vicki Lawrence getting heavy with "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia"? It's an astonishing collection, from the earthy "Spirit in the Sky" to the

disco-pitched "I Will Survive." In between some tracks are news alerts from the decade of polyester that help to set the mood.

Tommy Boy's two collections -- The Perfect Beats ($67.97) and Greatest Beats ($74.97) -- pick up where Have a Nice Decade leaves off. Perfect Beats documents New York's electro and hip-hop scene from 1980 to 1985 with songs from early groove pioneers such as Shannon ("Let the Music Play") and Yaz ("Don't Go"). Greatest Beats looks at the label's foray into rap, from Afrika Bambaataa all the way to House of Pain.

The often-snubbed forefathers of the punk movement -- the garage rockers of the mid-1960s -- are given their recognition on Nuggets: Original Arty-Facts from the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 (Rhino, $59.97). The collection, based on the original Nuggets album, which was released in 1972, features the expected entries from the Kingsmen ("Louie Louie") and the Standells ("Dirty Water"), but there are plenty of long-forgotten treasures to give these fuzzy, raw recordings some weight.

Moving beyond the rock and pop hits collections, Smithsonian Folkways has released two collections of American roots music. The Mississippi River of Song ($29.97) is a two-disc musical journey intended to capture the wide variety of sounds heard along the Mississippi in the late 20th century. The 36 tracks feature entries from artists as varied as Soul Asylum, Big Jack Johnson, and the Jelly Roll Kings. It's an amazing anthropological tour.

The Smithsonian's second set of roots music comes from Dock Boggs, the bluegrass singer who recorded only 12 songs in the 1920s. Mike Seeger tracked him down in the hills of Kentucky in 1963, and Boggs was brought into the studio to record nearly 60 songs. The result of those sessions is His Folkway Years ($16.67).

Books

He's not very rock-and-roll, but crooner Tony Bennett still has a heck of a story to tell. In The Good Life (Pocket Books, 384 pages, $25), Bennett and coauthor Will Friedwald spin a compelling tale about a regular Joe from Queens who became a bobby socks-era heartthrob, stayed on the fringes of the Rat Pack, then made a spectacular rise back into the public eye this decade with some help from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and k.d. lang. Sure, he claims he left his heart in San Francisco, but The Good Life shows that Bennett's heart is really in the right place.

A cultural icon of a different sort, Cher, spills her guts in The First Time (Simon and Schuster, 256 pages, $25). With the help of coauthor Jeff Coplon, the matriarch of mesh reconstructs her life through a series of "firsts." She talks about her first bra, the first time she had sex with an Italian man, and of course, her "first affidavit from a plastic surgeon." Every once in a while, Cher has something interesting to say, but mostly these random thoughts are dime-deep.

For a slightly meatier look at the life of Sonny and Cher, try Chastity Bono's Family Outing (Little, Brown & Company, 256 pages, $24). True, the majority of this book revolves around Chastity's process of coming out to her family, but her celebrity parents' responses to her announcement say more about their personalities than anything in Cher's tome.

They're not the world's most photogenic band, but someone's thinking you'll want to shell out $50 to look at more pictures of the Rolling Stones in A Life on the Road (Penguin Studio, 256 pages). Needless to say, earlier photos of the band are far more appealing than the more-recent photos in this grandiose coffee-table book. The last thing we need to see is another close-up of Keith Richards.

R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe puts an arty spin on life on the road with Two Times Intro (Little, Brown & Company, 112 pages, $19.95). Stipe played fly on a wall as he followed Patti Smith around the country for her 1995 tour. His photographs are much like his song lyrics -- slightly blurry, arty, and quite beautiful -- and they give a fascinating look into Smith's psyche. Unlike her intense lyrics, Stipe's photos show Smith smiling and having fun. Not to be outdone, Smith has come out with her own book, aptly titled Complete (Doubleday, 272 pages, $35), which pulls together the lyrics from songs on her eight albums, along with artwork and previously unpublished photos from Annie Liebowitz, Robert Mapplethorpe, Stipe, and Linda McCartney.

There is no shortage of books about musicians from the 1960s. Former Jefferson Airplane singer Grace Slick relives her highs and highs and, finally, some lows in Somebody to Love? (Warner Books, 370 pages, $25). British radio host Victoria Kingston traces Simon and Garfunkel from their days as Tom and Jerry to their turbulent Bridge Over Troubled Water sessions in The Biography of Simon & Garfunkel (Fromm International, 320 pages, $25). Former Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek goes back to remember better times with Jim Morrison in Light My Fire: My Life with the Doors (Putnam, 352 pages, $25).

A must for fans of Burlington, Vermont-based Phish is Phish Book (Villard Books, 192 pages, $29.95). The book features the tale of the band's unlikely success, along with stories about song origins. Finally, this holiday season's recommended reading comes from none other than Marilyn Manson. The Long Hard Road Out of Hell (HarperCollins, 288 pages, $25) gives us a shockingly normal picture of little Marilyn's childhood, showing how one very disturbed little boy managed to find brutal ugliness in the suburbs.

Other gifts

Newbury Comics has the most amazing array of Spice Girls-related merchandise around. We're not suggesting that either you or your friends are enamored of the Spice Girls. But think of the look on your girlfriend's face as she opens her very own Spice Girls Nails Salon ($19.99) on Christmas morning. There is also a full selection of Spice Girls dolls (yes, Ginger is still around) for $19.99. Imagine staging your own Spice Girls Jell- O wrestling night. The smartest thing to do with any SG product, however, is to leave it in the box and put it in your attic. In 20 years it will be worth a mint.

You no longer need to look cheap when you give a homemade tape to a friend. A company called Biobox has created nifty cassette cases that can be labeled. The boxes, which resemble cigarette holders, are soft, durable, and have a flip-up top. A package of six is $4.99 at Tower Records.

Newbury Comics has a huge selection of music calendars, featuring pictures of artists such as Tori Amos and Marilyn Manson, for $9.99. There's also a 1999 Pop-Up Video Calendar, with an information bubble for every day of the year.

And if you're stumped for the perfect gift for the guy on your list, we're here to help, baby! No man's Christmas morning will be complete unless he receives a shagadelic Austin Powers Swedish Male Enlarger. The penis pump is available at Spencer Gifts (Lincoln Mall, Lincoln, 401-333-5180, Rhode Island Mall, Warwick, 401-826-2060) for $10.

Results are not guaranteed.