I'm of two minds about spreading this news...

But the news for Twilley fans should come from somwhere (I consider myself a HUGE Twilley fan and it blindsided me.)

iTunes have listed FOUR volumes of Rarities, a new greatest hits album ("From Nothridge to Tulsa"), a bonus track edition of "47 Moons", a remastered edition of "Tulsa" and five (Unnecessary in the digital age) singles drawn from the various rarities sets.

Now, I'm up for purchasing ANY rarities from Twilley. His vault releases have all been strong. And a new greatest hits might be purchase-able given that XXI is out of print, I guess.

BUT...

Did "Tulsa" need re-mastering? Do three radio edits make "47 Moons" re-buyable? What is the point of a digital Single when the track is available as an individual track on the album? Do they think I'll pay 99 cents for a 1x1 picture? ('cause that's the only difference that I see in buying the single.)

AND..

is a Wikipedia update more effective than a webpage update in getting news of new releases to your fans?

Hi Dorian,

As you personally know I am as big as fan as you when it comes to Dwight's music but I am not pleased as ITunes being the only way to purchase these items. Hopefully we can see these items made available via his website or licensed by a independent label.

I sure would like to see a new comp as well as what the Rarities discs entail. Let us know if you find anything else on these releases.

Thanks,
Rick A.

Thanks much for the heads up here on all this unreleased material. But if you want to increase the size of your small rant, check out what Amazon is offering: FIVE volumes of Twilley rarities, also as digital downloads for $9.99 each.
Most tracks are the same, but the sequencing is different.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RZ6OSU/?tag=imwan-20

Four iTunes sets give you a combined 62 tracks for $40; Amazon gives you 64 tracks for $50.

The Amazon exclusives are Radio edits of "King of the Mountain," "47 Moons" and "Walkin' On Water." The iTunes exclusive is a cover of "Needles and Pins."

And I'm still feeling a little burned from the "Twilley Xmas" experience of buying six songs as downloads, then having to re-buy a CD containing 10 tracks a year later only to discover that we now have a further expansion to 16 tracks for download.

You'd think that somewhere in all this, someone might actually issue "Jungle" and "Wild Dogs" on CD for the first time...

Ok, The Amazon xclusives/ radio edits have been added to the "Bonus track edition" of 47 Moons.

Other than that I'm with you David.

I will keep watching his web page just in case we can get CD versions of this. Hey, I can dream can't I?

I also have mixed feelings regarding this, as well. I think it's great that these releases are being made available, but I am disappointed with the format. First off, the iTunes software is notorious for causing problems on computers on which it is installed, and you can't even browse the iTunes site without it, to see what is even available. Secondly, I am not thrilled with the sound quality of most mp3's and wma's, and cannot tell what bit-rate these downloads are. And lastly, I don't see any downloadable artwork or liner notes with the Amazon offerings. Half the fun of rarities is being able to place them in their proper context and reading about their history, why they didn't make the cut, etc. , what musicians performed on the recording, and what differentiates them from the properly released stuff.

I have been a huge Twilley fan since purchasing the "Twilley Don't Mind" record based on a favorable review in "Stereo Review" magazine back in the day, but I would prefer these releases to be more like "The Great Lost Twilley Album" or "Between the Cracks".

Ah, The Great Lost Twilley Album", now that's a disc. :}

Rick A.

OK, I know Dwight's not trying to drive me nuts personally, but...

I read on his website that he is coming out with a covers album called "Out of the Box" but no info on a physical copy of Rarities. So the collecter/obsessive part of me takes control and I break down and decide to get the "Rarities" set off of iTunes. And What do I find?

Not "Out of the Box." No, I find...

...a Beatles EP (six Beatles covers)
...a "Bang a Gong" single
...a "Last Kiss" single
...a "Holiday" single
...a "Secret Agent Man" song from a various artists comp.

WTF?

I consider myself a huge Twilley Fan, and I used to think he just had horrible luck (Record labels, etc.) but it seems in the last year he's made it increasingly difficult to support him. You never know, as a fan, what's available or in what format/collection you can find it. And if you can't find it (or don't even know it's available!) how are supposed to financally support a favorite artist?

I'm gonna add this just because it confused me...

I googled Dwight Twilley "Out of the Box" last night, just to see if I could get some info.

This morning, using a yahoo search engine (On my wife's computer) this came up...

Dwight and Jan Twilley began collecting funds to help with basic needs
UPCOMING RECORD. Coming soon, a new album by Dwight Twilley called "Out Of The Box" ... Dwight Twilley will soon release his latest collection of covers Titled " Out Of ...
http://www.dwighttwilley.com/site/47moons/window.shtml

and, of course, if you click on the link you get no info about "collecting funds to help with basic needs."

Anyone know if there was some sort of medical thing? Mortgage thing?
(I feel a little jerk-y complaining if the songs are coming out like this 'cuz they need the money. On the other hand, I still think the fans need to know what's available before they can purchase the product.)

Answered my own query, actually. It's not Twilley who is in need. It's actually Susan Cowsil. At least it was as of February 25, 2006.

The funds quote can be found in this blog...
http://www.batesline.com/archives/2006/ ... story.html

So I'm back to wondering, "What's going on wiith Twilley?"

I worked at a record label once and had some dealings with Dwight. I've always been a HUGE fan and have all his stuff, right from the first album on. And he seems to be a good person. But he's his own worst enemy when it comes to any kind of business dealings. It wasn't bad luck that kept him from the fame he should have achieved. It was himself. The stuff you're referring to in this post is just the tip of the iceberg.

It must be the reaon why titles like "Jungle" and others have not seen the light of day. The guy is such a talent and his work with Phil Seymour is unparallel.

Also the what 10 year delay in releasing "The Luck", the Ritchie Poloydor produced record would have put him back up to the top. What a shame.

At least DCC and Hoffman got to release "The Great Lost Twilley Album" which is fantastic.

Rick A.