3 Surround Sound SACDs from Vocalion - Paul Mauriat, Ray Davies & Swingle Singers

QuadraphonicQuad

Help Support QuadraphonicQuad:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

bmoura

2K Club - QQ Super Nova
Since 2002/2003
Joined
Mar 2, 2003
Messages
9,518
Location
Redwood City, CA
For their June 2017 new releases, Dutton Vocalion is issuing 3 Surround Sound SACDs.
The albums are from the 4DX series of Quad releases that Philips released in Japan.

The new Surround Sound SACDs include 2 albums on each disc by Paul Mauriat & His Orchestra, Ray Davies & the Button Down Brass and the Swingle Singers.
For full details, check out the Dutton Vocalion Blog for June 2017 and their website store.

Ray_Davies_1-144x300.jpg

New SACD Releases from Vocalion - June 2017
https://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/vocalion-sacd-new-releases-june-2017/
 
During the 1970s, several British and European artists signed to Philips found their music enjoying a second life in 4-channel quadraphonic sound as part of the company’s Japanese 4DX series. For the June 2017 release, Vocalion has sourced six superb albums from the 4DX archive and repackaged them across three individual SACDs.

First up is a pair of albums by British session trumpeter, arranger and composer Ray Davies, in which he leads his group The Button Down Brass. As one of London’s first-call session players, Ray has appeared on thousands of recordings, among them numerous pop hits including Downtown (Petula Clark), It’s Not Unusual (Tom Jones), The Last Waltz (Engelbert Humperdinck) and Big Spender (Shirley Bassey). “It would be easier to name the pop records I wasn’t on,” he says.

Comprised of Ray’s fellow session musicians, The Button Down Brass had its genesis in a session he did for Reader’s Digest during the mid-60s. “They wanted something like Herb Alpert, two trumpets and a trombone, small group sound. It was for these records they sent out in America – record clubs – and they sold hundreds of thousands of the things. They didn’t know what to call it, and the guy from Reader’s Digest came up with Button Down Brass. Everybody said it sounded nice, a bit unusual – Ray Davies and The Button Down Brass. Other people used different names for brass, and they never took off. But Button Down Brass stuck.” The Button Down Brass soon became recording artists themselves, releasing a series of easy listening albums on the Fontana label. By the early ’70s, the group had switched to Pye, under the aegis of staff producer Tony Palmer. But when Palmer went freelance, he took The Button Down Brass with him, signing them to Philips.

The albums made as part of that deal (and the subject of Vocalion’s reissue) – 1974’s Themes from The Exorcist, The French Connection, The Sting and other great films and 1975’s Flashpoint – both feature hard-hitting film and TV music from the pens of Lalo Schifrin, Patrick Williams, Quincy Jones, Joseph Koo, Elmer Bernstein and others. In Ray Davies’ exciting arrangements, classic themes like Bullitt, Enter the Dragon, Kojak and Magnum Force come up afresh, with plenty of solo space for session stalwarts Alan Hawkshaw (keyboards), Alan Parker (guitars) and Alf Bigden (drums). And the quadraphonic element makes all the difference; for example, Alan Hawkshaw’s outlandish Moog effects in Enter the Dragon spin round the speakers at dizzying speed. This reissue marks both albums’ debut in SACD or indeed any digital format, and contains the original stereo and quadraphonic mixes.

Vocalion favourite Paul Mauriat makes a welcome return with a further two albums, Penelope (1972) and Holidays (1973), which presented quadraphonic remixes of 24 titles culled from his back catalogue. Originally produced for the Japanese 4DX series, this reissue makes them widely available for the first time.

Completing the June 2017 release is the Swingle Singers 1972 album The Four Seasons, an utterly charming close-harmony vocal interpretation of pieces by Vivaldi, Pachelbel, Bach, Marcello and Mozart. These arrangements by group founder Ward Swingle, with their characteristically light and jazzy touch, open out beautifully in the quadraphonic mixes, the voices’ ethereal quality enveloping the listener.
Everything has been remastered from the original stereo and quadraphonic tapes, and these SACDs additionally include high resolution stereo versions of each album.

Press release:

https://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/vocalion-sacd-new-releases-june-2017/


Ordering links:

Paul Mauriat - Penelope (1972) & Holidays (1973)

Ray Davies & The Button Down Brass - Themes from The Exorcist, The French Connection, The Sting (1974) & Flashpoint (1975)

Swingle Sisters - The Four Seasons (1972)


I think it goes without saying that it's an exciting development that Dutton Vocalion are now mining the Philips Japan vaults, a cursory search through Mark Anderson's quad discography will give you an idea of some of the interesting titles that made up the 4DX series. Looking forward to hearing these myself!
 
Poo-poo it all you like, I'm really looking forward to the Ray Davies 2fer. Similar sounding, and some of the same personnel as the Mandingo quad albums that came out of the UK around the same time. I haven't heard the quad mixes (the 4DX titles are rare, and expensive) but all that brass has the potential to be a showstopper in surround.

I don't think anyone's suggesting these titles are blockbusters, but surely it's nice to have some variety or a palette cleanser in between all the 5.1 prog releases of the last few years, especially at a price point that works out to about $7 US per album. For people like me who like blaxploitation, 70's soundtracks in general, or library music, this one is a no-brainer. And as a quad collector, the fact that the Philips Japan 4DX quad masters exist and are in usable shape is an exciting development as well.

[video=youtube;Bp0weMYDj4k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp0weMYDj4k[/video]
 
Poo-poo it all you like, I'm really looking forward to the Ray Davies 2fer. Similar sounding, and some of the same personnel as the Mandingo quad albums that came out of the UK around the same time. I haven't heard the quad mixes (the 4DX titles are rare, and expensive) but all that brass has the potential to be a showstopper in surround.

I don't think anyone's suggesting these titles are blockbusters, but surely it's nice to have some variety or a palette cleanser in between all the 5.1 prog releases of the last few years, especially at a price point that works out to about $7 US per album. For people like me who like blaxploitation, 70's soundtracks in general, or library music, this one is a no-brainer. And as a quad collector, the fact that the Philips Japan 4DX quad masters exist and are in usable shape is an exciting development as well.

[video=youtube;Bp0weMYDj4k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp0weMYDj4k[/video]

I'm NOT complaining.........I'll buy ALL of them. Great to have the Swingle Singers [finally] in QUAD. They were a pretty hot group back in the day as they introduced classical music to the masses in a jazz setting. The vinyl back then was crap so to hear them unadulterated without ticks/pops is a major plus in my book.

Now on to the Japanese Motown QUADS.......they'd probably sell a gazillion of those.
 
wow.. interesting choices, really out of leftfield imho.

also this is going to save me a bloody fortune!
(had my eye on some of these 4DX Japanese CD-4 Quads for a while but bloody hell they are mega hard to find and when the records do come up ordinarily go for an arm and a leg!)
 
Poo-poo it all you like, I'm really looking forward to the Ray Davies 2fer. Similar sounding, and some of the same personnel as the Mandingo quad albums that came out of the UK around the same time. I haven't heard the quad mixes (the 4DX titles are rare, and expensive) but all that brass has the potential to be a showstopper in surround.

I don't think anyone's suggesting these titles are blockbusters, but surely it's nice to have some variety or a palette cleanser in between all the 5.1 prog releases of the last few years, especially at a price point that works out to about $7 US per album. For people like me who like blaxploitation, 70's soundtracks in general, or library music, this one is a no-brainer. And as a quad collector, the fact that the Philips Japan 4DX quad masters exist and are in usable shape is an exciting development as well.

[video=youtube;Bp0weMYDj4k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp0weMYDj4k[/video]

yes that is very encouraging news to me that Dutton Vocalion has been able to locate some of the Philips Japan Quad mastertape booty.. maybe they'll find the Motowns and Stylistics Quads someday!
 
wow.. interesting choices, really out of leftfield imho.

also this is going to save me a bloody fortune!
(had my eye on some of these 4DX Japanese CD-4 Quads for a while but bloody hell they are mega hard to find and when the records do come up ordinarily go for an arm and a leg!)

Even though those treasured MOTOWN QUADs are WAY out of Dutton~Vocalion's comfort Zone, IMO, they'd sell like the proverbial 'hotcake.' Since Philips is under the UMG label, encouraging news [as is the Motown catalogue].:banana:

"You are EVERYTHING.....everything to me........" La de Da, Adam.:)
 
Even though those treasured MOTOWN QUADs are WAY out of Dutton~Vocalion's comfort Zone, IMO, they'd sell like the proverbial 'hotcake.' Since Philips is under the UMG label, encouraging news [as is the Motown catalogue].:banana:

"You are EVERYTHING.....everything to me........" La de Da, Adam.:)

very interesting proposition isn't it, UMG Quads here we come!!
 
very interesting proposition isn't it, UMG Quads here we come!!

Ironically, as I type these words, just received delivery of Very Best of Marvin Gaye [Hong Kong Stereo SACD/22 Tracks/mfg. in Japan] and what's playing: 'You are Everything, everything to me'........sounds fantastic but would be better in QUAD. Also on this compilation: 'Stop, Look and Listen to your Heart' [again with Diana Ross].

WE NEED THESE MOTOWNS in QUAD

Better brush up on your MOONWALK, Adam and sniff the glove in anticipation: http://jewelsbyjulie.com/grammy1.jpg
 
wow.. interesting choices, really out of leftfield imho.

also this is going to save me a bloody fortune!
(had my eye on some of these 4DX Japanese CD-4 Quads for a while but bloody hell they are mega hard to find and when the records do come up ordinarily go for an arm and a leg!)

But Fredddypoooooo will still buy the CD-4s later :banana: lol
 
Good to see more releases from vocalion...really hope they get ahold of the project 3 catalogue anything Enoch light or tony Motolla (especially the quad guitars) would be a dream sacd release.


Also if I'm not mistaken most of the BTO quads were issued in CD-4 under the 4DX series...I know it's a stretch to see those come out but it would be really incredible.
 
Good to see more releases from vocalion...really hope they get ahold of the project 3 catalogue anything Enoch light or tony Motolla (especially the quad guitars) would be a dream sacd release.


Also if I'm not mistaken most of the BTO quads were issued in CD-4 under the 4DX series...I know it's a stretch to see those come out but it would be really incredible.

First FIVE albums from BTO were in the 4dx series.
BTO
II
Head on
4 wheels drive
Not fragile.

But i don't thin it suits the Vocalion style, along with Ohio Players Fire and Honey, and the lonely left Mercury Q8 that wasn't a 4dx lp: Kraftwerk Autobahn.
 
Back
Top