Universal Music Enterprises' 'ICON Continues with New Releases in Stores Today
By: Caryn Robbins Jun. 03, 2014
Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) continues its popular ICON series with a brand-new selection of collections available today, including a hit-stacked 2-CD collection from American legends The Beach Boys, as well as single-disc sets for country/pop stars Billy Ray Cyrus, Ricky Nelson, and Tanya Tucker, R&B crooners Boyz II Men, the pioneering gangsta rappers N.W.A, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame doo-wop group The Platters, UK new wave / reggae stars UB40, and disco mainstays The Village People.
With its history and vast catalog of artists, UMe's continuing ICON series showcases the best music from the most popular, durable and influential artists of all time. ICON is a proven physical line and a true cross-genre success with more than eight million copies sold within three years.
The following new ICON collections are available today:
One of the most iconic bands in popular music history and America's first pop band to reach the 50 year milestone, The Beach Boys have performed and recorded the world's favorite soundtrack to summer since 1961. Founded in Hawthorne, California, The Beach Boys were originally comprised of the three teenaged Wilson brothers: Brian, Carl and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love, and school friend Al Jardine. In 1962, neighbor David Marks joined the group for their first wave of hits with Capitol Records, leaving in late 1963, and in 1965, Bruce Johnston joined the band when Brian Wilson retired from touring to focus on writing and producing for the group.
The Beach Boys continue to hold Billboard / Nielsen SoundScan's record as the top-selling American band for albums and singles, and they are also the American group with the most Billboard Top 40 chart hits (36). Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees and recipients of The Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement GRAMMY Award, The Beach Boys are an American institution that is iconic around the world.
Disc 1
1. California Girls
2. Good Vibrations
3. Surfin' U.S.A.
4. Dance, Dance, Dance
5. Catch A Wave
6. Little Honda
7. Surfer Girl
8. Don't Worry Baby
9. Little Deuce Coupe
10. Barbara Ann
11. Help Me, Rhonda
Disc 2
1. Sloop John B
2. I Get Around
3. Surfin' Safari
4. Fun, Fun, Fun
5. In My Room
6. Sail On, Sailor
7. Be True To Your School
8. Surf's Up
9. That's Why God Made the Radio
10. Wouldn't It Be Nice
11. God Only Knows
Last seen serenading Billy Joel with a sparking a cappella rendition of "The Longest Time" at the SiriusXM Town Hall hosted by Howard Stern, these Philly crooners are best known for their emotional ballads and finger-snapping doo-wop sound. Boyz II Men garnered international success with the No. 1 single, "End of the Road," which stayed atop the Billboard Hot 100 for 13 consecutive weeks, breaking a decades-old record held by Elvis Presley. They then broke their own record with "I'll Make Love to You," which remained at No. 1 for 14 weeks. When "On Bended Knee" succeeded that smash, Boyz II Men became only the third artists ever (after The Beatles and Presley) to replace themselves at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. This collection features these smash hits and other standout tracks, including "Hey Lover," a collaboration with LL Cool J.
1. Motownphilly
2. It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday
3. Uhh Ahh
4. End of the Road
5. In the Still of the Nite (I'll Remember)
6. Hey Lover (with LL Cool J)
7. I'll Make Love to You
8. On Bended Knee
9. Water Runs Dry
10. A Song for Mama
11. 4 Seasons of Loneliness
Billy Ray Cyrus ICON: The Distance
Billy Ray Cyrus has long been a country hit-making machine. This Mercury/UMe release features Cyrus' top hits, including his biggest smash, "Achy Breaky Heart," as well as other standouts spanning the multiple GRAMMY nominee's 22-year career. The new collection also exclusively debuts two previously unreleased recordings: "The Distance" and an acoustic version of the title track from his No. 1 debut album, Some Gave All. Also included are "Stand," a duet with daughter Miley, and Cyrus' collaboration with George Jones and Loretta Lynn, "Country Music Has the Blues."
1. The Distance (Previously Unreleased)
2. Trail Of Tears
3. Call Me Daddy
4. Busy Man
5. Wanna Be Your Joe
6. Stand (with Miley Cyrus)
7. The Freebird Fell
8. Need a Little Help
9. Country Music Has the Blues (with George Jones and Loretta Lynn)
10. Some Gave All (acoustic) (Previously Unreleased)
11. Achy Breaky Heart
Although he started his career in television, co-starring in his parents' weekly hit, "The Ozzie and Harriet show," Rick Nelson became most famous in the '50s for infectious studio recordings that helped make rock n' roll palatable for mainstream audiences of all ages. Then, in the '60s he became one of the progenitors of country rock. Between 1957 and 1961, Nelson had 36 Billboard Hot 100 singles, several of them double-sided hits. By the age of 21, he had earned nine gold records for the Imperial label, and his single, "Travelin' Man," sold more than two million copies and went to No. 1. Ironically, its flip side "Hello, Mary Lou" did even better, reaching No. 1 in 32 countries and selling more than seven million copies.
He placed 53 songs on the Hot 100 between 1957 and 1973, including "Poor Little Fool," included here, the first No. 1 song on the magazine's newly created singles chart. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nelson also scored Top 5 hits such as "Be-Bop Baby," "Stood Up," "Young World," and "Teen Age Idol," all included in the new collection. His last hit, 1972's "Garden Party," went to No. 1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. Nelson died at the age of 45 in a tragic plane crash en route to a concert on New Year's Eve, 1985.
1. A Teenager's Romance
2. Be-Bop Baby
3. Stood Up
4. Poor Little Fool
5. Lonesome Town
6. Travelin' Man
7. Hello Mary Lou
8. Young World
9. Teen Age Idol
10. For You
11. Garden Party
In 1988, N.W.A rocketed Straight Outta Compton to multi-platinum success, worldwide acclaim and notoriety as rap music's most powerful force, redefining forever the boundaries of popular music. In the course of little more than three years, N.W.A's Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, MC Ren and Yella reached unprecedented gangsta superstardom with their no-holds-barred missives from Los Angeles' toughest streets.
Defining the style that came to be known as gangsta rap, N.W.A propelled the genre into an expanded musical realm and topped the charts with their own challenging and illuminating style of rhymes, unprecedented in their brutal reality over complex, funk-fueled tracks. "The World's Most Dangerous Group" played a key role in mapping rap music's trajectory and spawned three of the most important figures in gangsta rap's evolution: the late rapper and entrepreneur Eazy-E, street lyricist extraordinaire Ice Cube, and mega-producer Dr. Dre.
1. Straight Outta Compton
2. Appetite for Destruction
3. Dope Man
4. F**k tha Police
5. Boyz-N-the-Hood
6. Express Yourself
7. Alwayz Into Somethin'
8. 8-Ball
9. 100 Miles and Runnin'
10. Gangsta Gangsta
11. Automobile
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, The Platters were one of the top vocal groups of the 1950s, delivering smooth, stylized renditions of pop standards and adult ballads.
Like the Ink Spots a decade earlier, The Platters were the most popular black group of their time, achieving success in a crooning style that put a soulful coat of uptown polish on their harmony-rich material. Their lengthy string of hits began in 1955 with "Only You (And You Alone)" and continued to the end of the decade, with four No. 1 singles in "The Great Pretender," "My Prayer," "Twilight Time," and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," which are all included on this new collection. The longest-tenured original member, Herb Reed, who passed away in 2012, is credited with giving the group its name.
1. Twilight Time
2. Only You (And You Alone)
3. The Great Pretender
4. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
5. My Prayer
6. (You've Got) The Magic Touch
7. Harbor Lights
8. I'll Never Smile Again
9. Red Sails in the Sunset
10. If I Didn't Care
11. You'll Never Never Know
Tanya Tucker scored her first hit when she was just 13 years old. Since knocking out Nashville as a teen, Tucker has racked up more than 50 Top 10 and Top 40 country chart smashes in her career. The Texas-born tornado has received nine GRAMMY nominations, and she hit No. 1 on the country charts with a string of '70s hits including "Lizzie and the Rain Man," "San Antonio Stroll," and "Here's Some Love," all included in this collection.
1. Lizzie and the Rain Man
2. San Antonio Stroll
3. Here's Some Love
4. Just Another Love
5. I'll Come Back As Another Woman
6. I Won't Take Less Than Your Love
7. If It Don't Come Easy
8. Strong Enough to Bend
9. My Arms Stay Open All Night
10. Down to My Last Teardrop
11. It's a Little Too Late
Named after the form to collect British unemployment benefits, this multi-racial blue-eyed pop-reggae outfit reflected its members' working class roots. Following in the style of the U.K.'s post-new wave Two Tone movement, their politics and street credibility came through on such No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers as their distinctive covers of Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine" and the emblematic version of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love," a song penned by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore and George David Weiss. The band has been nominated four times for the Best Reggae Album GRAMMY Award, and in 1984 they received a Brit Award nomination for Best British Group.
One of the world's best-selling bands, UB40 has sold more than 70 million records internationally. Other Top 10 U.S. hits featured on this collection include the covers "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" and "The Way You Do the Things You Do," as well as their No. 1 U.K. hit, a version of Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe" featuring Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders.
1. Red Red Wine
2. The Way You Do the Things You Do
3. Here I Am (Come and Take Me)
4. Kingston Town
5. Bring Me Your Cup
6. I Got You Babe (featuring Chrissie Hynde)
7. If It Happens Again
8. Rat In Mi Kitchen
9. Don't Break My Heart
10. Cherry Oh Baby
11. (I Can't Help) Falling in Love with You
The Village People ICON
Disco icons The Village People served as a powerful gay liberation force in their '70s heyday. Anthems like "Y.M.C.A." and "In the Navy" reached the upper regions of the Billboard charts, while "Macho Man" proved a rallying cry in New York and San Francisco clubs. The Village People also starred in the 1980 camp classic movie Can't Stop the Music opposite Bruce Jenner. A tribute to their music's enduring appeal, smash hits like "Y.M.C.A." remain sports arena favorites and dance floor staples for just about every kind of celebration.
1. Y.M.C.A.
2. In the Navy
3. Macho Man
4. San Francisco (You've Got Me)
5. In Hollywood (Everybody Is a Star)
6. I'm a Cruiser
7. Get Away Holiday
8. Go West
9. Manhattan Woman
10. Hot Cop
11. Citizens of the World
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