Capitol Records to Reissue I.R.S. Records By the dB's, Tom Verlaine

Starting February 10th, Capitol Records will dig deep into the I.R.S. Records vault and begin making some of the now-defunct label's most acclaimed music available digitally for the first time. Gary Numan, the Police's Stewart Copeland, Television's Tom Verlaine, Wall of Voodoo, Timbuk 3, Concrete Blonde and many more artists are slated to have their I.R.S. recordings released DRM-free. We're especially excited for the digital release of dada's alternative classics Puzzle and American Highway Flower.

But the really big news is that the digital world will finally, legally, be able to download the dB's influential first two albums, Stands For Decibels and Repurcussion, as well as their fourth album Sound of Music. Plus seven songs by the punk supergroup Lords of the New Church, featuring the Dead Boys' Stiv Bators, will also hit iTunes, Amazon and most other digital music providers. Capitol will release the I.R.S. albums over the course of six weeks, culminating on March 17th. Additionally, Capitol will release four Best of the I.R.S. Years collections dedicated to Over the Rhine, dada, Dread Zeppelin and the dB's. While CD sales continue to slump, we applaud Capitol for at least trying to bring classic records to a new generation, as evidenced by their mass reissue of vinyl records last year.

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Song Stories

“The A Team”

Ed Sheeran | 2011

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.

More Song Stories entries »

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