Let's take out a sharp knife and trim some fat off.  With the current deluge of music (so many styles and getting better as the grunge influence of the '90s finally begins to wear off), I have to ask TAP readers just where their real music interests lie. 

The arriving remasters and expanded Anniversary Editions are quite slow to market simply because, I think, the labels are clearly unsure on how sellable these old classics are.  Back in the day, we bought these classics titles in the millions.  Do we revisit them after the CD explosion of the late '80s and early '90s caused us to replace our LPs of the same titles?  It's clear that Digital Downloads are not having the same massive effect that CD had in changeover need.  Simple enough reason that,  because the CD represented a drastic change in the way we listened to our music.  With DD (Digital Download) as prevalent as it is, there is no pressure to repurchase our collections because technology now allows us to rip our CDs to our iPods.  Believe me, CDs might have had the same effect back in the 80s if today's technology existed then.  We'd simply rip from LPs, screw the CDs.  But it didn't happen that way.  It really explains the label's dilemma.

The other massive dilemma is that the older age group, the ones who grew up with radio in the '60s and '70s, have developed an ambivalent attitude towards new music (for the most part), with some even no longer interested in the musical past that they so loved at one time.

With these problems in place, I am curious (actually always have been) as to what our collective attitudes are concerning new music, as well as updates and glacially releasing hefty new editions of old classics.  Are the labels right to move at a snail's pace in reissuing grand Anniversary Editions?  Would we buy them in the millions again?  What's changed?  Have we simply let go of our musical past, or is music too freely available?

Talk to me about what your interests really are.  Do you like new music if it's interesting?  Do you want to know about them?  Or are you just about the Golden Age of Rock, interested only in what we're being fed by labels even at its slow, slow pace. Or, most importantly, is music really all that important anymore to invest in?

TAP has two new reviews, both by The Second Disc's Mike Duquette. He reviews the just released Various Artists collection from Hip-O Select, Motown Around the World: The Classic Singles, and the just released collection of music by Was (Not Was) called Pick of the Litter 1980-2010. He'll be back with a review of the recently reissued City of Angels (1975) by The Miracles. I have an indie review coming at you as well.

I want to alert TAP readers to the fact that I have finally put together a FaceBook page with an easily remembered URL in http://www.facebook.com/musictap.  What this offers is the exact same thing as my Twitter feeds provide and that is first buzz on upcoming releases and free offered downloads, many announcements  that beat our main post, sometimes by days.  We also provide a Google BUZZ page that expands on most of the Twitter/FB feeds. On Buzz, you can even hear the music stream if a stream is offered.  There are still things that I'm working on in the FB page, like calender notes as well as links to great sites like The Second Disc.  I invite you to join us at our FB page and bookmark it.  Visit it daily and you'll be rewarded with much news and info.  Of course, you'll still want to come to the main MusicTAP page for our noisy commentaries.  Remember, with our Twitter feeds, you can elect to receive the news bursts as text on your mobile phone keeping you effortlessly up to date with stuff.  Lots of choices.  Find one, or two, that fits.

We'll close with this mini-poll face-off (suggested by Kevin L, who has suggested several mini-polls): Which is better: Leftoverture or Point of Know Return (Kansas).

(Pssst. I'll say this much...Leftoverture is winning by a landslide.)

Back on Monday!

Warner Brothers will reissue Making Movies, the 1980 Dire Straits title, on 180g vinyl LP. Release date is April 20 (LP).

Atlantic Records will release Pulse by Toni Braxton on May 4 (CD).

Time/Life has Gloryland 2: Bluegrass Gospel Classics coming on April 27 with a Various Artists collection (CD).

Mercury Records plan the DD (Digital Download) and CD reissues of several Bon Jovi titles that include 7800 Fahrenheit; Bon Jovi; Bounce; Crush; Have a Nice Day; Keep the Faith; Lost Highway; New Jersey; Slippery When Wet; and These Days. All sets (CD/DD) are planned for May 18.

Island Records plan the release of Joy by Fefe Dobson on May 4 (CD).

Remember the '70s hit, "Beach Baby?" I do. Varese Sarabande revisits the band and their hits on a 'best of' for First Class called Beach Baby: The Best of First Class scheduled for May 11 (CD).

Interscope has Night Train coming from Keane and planned for May 11 (CD/DD).

Mercury Records is scheduling the release of Keep Calm and Carry On by Stereophonics on May 11 (CD/DD).

Hear Music will re-release two Paul McCartney 'best of' collections (Wingspan/All The Best) on DD planned for March 30 (DD).

Atlantic Records will release Pardon Me by Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights on April 27 (CD).

For those interested, vinyl LP will be released of two titles from upcoming releases, Heaven Is Whenever by The Hold Steady (May 4), and Nobody's Daughter by Hole (April 13) (LP).

Curb Records will release Unmistakeable Love from Jo Dee Messina on April 27 (CD).

Clay Aiken will release Tried And True on CD by Decca Records on June 1.

MySpace Records will release the S/T debut album by Call The Cops on June 22.

Hop over to Mike Duquette's The Second Disc site where you'll find more release news. He's doing a super job with the site and is building a community over there. He's one of our favourite daily stops.