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By the time 1970 rolled around, Peggy Lee had been making records for nearly thirty years, been nominated for an Academy Award, and several Grammy Awards. She took home a Grammy in 1969, for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Female for "Is That All There Is?"

Having accomplished so much and with musical tastes changing so rapidly, Peggy's fans probably would have understood if the singer had settled for singing hits from her large catalog of recorded music for the rest of her career.

The compilation All Aglow Again! was originally released on Capitol Records' discount-priced Starline label in May of 1960. At the time, the goal was probably to get Lee's 1958 mega-hit "Fever" on LP for the first time. Previously, the song had only been released as a single, so Capitol Records executives likely saw a way to cash in on Peggy Lee's popularity.

On May 27, 2008, Collector's Choice Music will release a newly remastered version of All Aglow Again! which will also include six bonus tracks, three of which have never been on CD. The album starts out with the brilliantly smoldering "Fever." The opening snaps of that song has to be one of the best known openings in music history. The single's equally sultry but bluesy B-side, "You Don't Know" is also on the album. The song was recorded at the same recording session as "Fever" and was one of Peggy's favorite songs. She recorded "You Don't Know" on two more occasions; once in the 1960's and again in the 1980's.

As a major Tears for Fears fan growing up, I was curious what the bands co-founder, Curt Smith's first solo album in ten years would sound like. Smith freely admits that his new album Halfway, Pleased is semi-autobiographical and explores his relationships with his children, parents and friends. "It's where I find myself at this moment," he says. Making the transition from my carefree thirties into the responsibility of being a father; from the need to protest into the desire to protect."

I knew nothing about Paper Rival until I was sent a copy of their self-titled EP last fall. The Nashville band--vocalist Jacob Rolleston, bassist Cody McCall, guitarist Brent Coleman, drummer Dillon Napier and guitarist Patrick Damphier--immediately impressed me with their lush pop melodies and alternative rock rhythms. The band has said from the start that they all love the music of such great artists as Bob Dylan and Bruce Cockburn. Rolleston's spare, gentle delivery seems influenced by the likes of Dylan, but marked by his own reflective style.

As a long time music collector in my thirties, I've always had an appreciation for what I like to call "pure vocalists"--singers who seem to be able to belt out any song and make it their own. This talented group tends to cross musical genres: standards, jazz, pop--their tremendous vocal range gives them a vast catalog of songs to chose from. While many people will automatically think of Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland as being great vocalists in modern time, Peggy Lee deserves a mention on that list as well.

Peggy Lee is considered one of the most important musical influences of the 20th century. Artists including Madonna, Paul McCartney, Dusty Springfield, Elvis Costello and others have cited Lee as a mentor. To influence such a diverse group of well known entertainers Peggy Lee was obviously a special performer. Duke Ellington once said, "If I'm the Duke, then Peggy's the Queen."

As a long time music collector, it is always impossible for me to come up with one of those "Twenty-Five Best Albums of All Time," type lists that magazines, blogs and other media outlets are so fond of creating. While I could never put my favorite albums of all time in any sort of numeric order, there are half a dozen that always pop into my mind, no matter the time or place; Are You Experienced by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys, Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones, Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder and Tapestry by Carole King. While those six choices run the gamut from rock to jazz to soul and musical genres in-between, they all have one thing in common: no matter how many times you listen to each album, the music seems fresh and you always hear something new.

If you've seen those new Mac Air commercials you've heard the airy tune accompanying the ultra-thin laptops as they take their marketing now for the world. The song, "New Soul is sung by the 29-year-old Yael Naïm. Born in Paris (to Tunisian parents) and raised in Israel, Naïm brings her multilingual background to her music. Her second album, Tot ou Tard (Sooner or Later) was released in France to great acclaim in 2007. The album hit number 11 and broke the top forty in Switzerland.

After Helio Sequence had toured through the United States and Europe in 2004 with Modest Mouse, Blonde Redhead, Kings of Leon and Secret Machines the duo of Brandon Summers and Benjamin Weikel was at a crossroads. According to Helio Sequence's record company bio, Brandon's vocal chords were completely shot. At one point, his doctor ordered him to stop singing for nearly two months. Summers recalls, "I really hit the wall, going into 2005 I actually had to think, 'If I lose my voice, what will I do?"

Just A Little Lovin' finds Lynne taking on songs from Dusty Springfield's 1969 classic, Dusty in Memphis. Ranked number 89 on Rolling Stone Magazines list of the top 500 albums of all time in 2005, Dusty in Memphis is considered by many (including me), to be one of the greatest R&B records off all time. Needless to say, Lynne gave herself big shoes to fill.

Having suffered through the train wreck that was the movie version of Xanadu so many years ago, I expected Xanadu On Broadway: The Original Broadway Cast Recording to bring back bad memories of kitsch and the sad, downward trajectory of Olivia Newton-John’s career. Xanadu was supposed to make Olivia a movie star for the ages. She was coming off the success of Grease and the great Gene Kelly was her co-star in Xanadu. What could go wrong? In short, everything. The acting was bad, the story was strange and the movie bombed. Olivia Newton-John’s film career never fully recovered.