Grateful Dead: Merriweather 6-30-85 (Grateful Dead/Rhino, 3 CDs or 4 LPs, 2:29:15). Thisindividual showis taken from the“Summer Magic 1985”20-CD box set of seven complete previously-unreleased shows. It captures the Dead at the center of one of their most stable periods, that of late keyboardist Brent Mydland’s 11-year tenure. The Merriweather concert contains favorites like "Sugar Magnolia," "Cryptical Envelopment" and "Shakedown Street." It was produced for release by David Lemieux and mastered by Grammy Award-winning engineer David Glasser.

The show has 21 numbers, with several running into each other as was often the Dead’s approach.

Nicholas G. Meriwether, executive director of the Grateful Dead Studies Association, in his liner notes in the 16-page booklet writes, "The seven shows ... offer a snapshot of the artistic process that was the Grateful Dead, making a powerful statement of the band's project as they marked their 20th anniversary. (This) lets us finally hear what these shows meant, the alchemy of time and memory finally revealing the gold of those concerts."

The show begins with Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann’s drums leading into the band’s “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” and the traditional “C.C. Rider,” each a highlight clocking in at just over eight minutes. Jerry Garcia plays a tasteful guitar solo on “Mississippi” and rhythm guitarist Bob Weir is in fine voice on “C.C. Rider.” Other fine songs on disc one include the brief, upbeat “Mama Tried,” the piano-led “Mexicali Blues” and the livelier blues of “Big Railroad Blues.”

Disc two opens with the classic 15:13 version of “Shakedown Street.” Some weird noises start it, then it is like liquid flowing. The track bleeds into a strong “Samson and Delilah,” another traditional song, followed by a rocking cover of Steve Winwood’s “Gimme Some Lovin’,” with lots of organ.

Side two closes with the two drummers’ “Drums,” an exploration of sounds with interesting textures that extends to 13:42. That exploration of textures continues on disc three’s opener, “Space,” which even has some ray gun sounds. “The Other One” is more dramatic, while “Around and Around” is organ-filled. The upbeat “Sweet Magnolia” follows, before “U.S. Blues” ends the thoroughly entertaining and satisfying show. Grade: A

Boy George & Culture Club (Northern Ireland, 2025, Vantage Video, Blu-ray, NR, 95 min.). This well-done documentary tells how Culture Club emerged from the United Kingdom's New Romantic scene in 1981 with iconic style, especially in singer/songwriter Boy George’s appearance, and catchy pop music, often co-written by drummer Jon Moss. It explores the quartet’s journey, Boy George's drug issues and the long-time romance between Boy George and Moss.

All four members of the band’s classic lineup – Boy George, Moss, guitarist/keyboardist Roy Hay and bassist Mikey Craig – are newly interviewed. Moss even notes he is contributing to the documentary despite having left the band in 2018 and having sued the band. Moss adds he still has love for Boy George.

Boy George’s interview opens with him saying his career has been “kind of insane. I stumbled into it because I fancied the drummer.”

The four musicians actually had different musical backgrounds as well as family backgrounds. Boy George (born George Alan O’Dowd) was into David Bowie, The Clash, Gladys Knight and reggae protest songs. He even was in the group Bow Wow Wow for a brief moment. Craig was into Bob Marley, Moss into punk (briefly was part of The Clash and The Damned) and Hay was an Essex man (conservative, working class).

Clips show the band, with George arguing from onstage with hecklers, prior to their signing with Virgin Records. There are lots of photos of Boy George and his different looks, while growing up. Boy George, who discusses his insecurity in his romantic relationship with Moss, says the songs “Kissing to Be Clever,” “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” and “Give Me Time” were written about Moss.

Other performance clips include “Church of the Poisoned Mind,” “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya,” “White Boy,” “Victims,” “Black Money” (with backing vocalist Helen Terry, who added a soul element), “Karma Chameleon,” “Take Control” and “Time (Clock of the Heart).” The band won a Grammy as Best New Artist in 1984.

The members are frank about the attention shift when most noise was about Boy George, who brought along Moss, leaving Craig and Hay feeling left out. However, also covered are the excessive crowds they drew when touring in Australia and Canada, as well as the controversy and protests in America after Boy George’s “drag queen” comment. Grade: A+

Argent: In Performance (Great Britain, 2007, Shoreline, Blu-ray, NR, 78 min.). This is a critical look at the British band led by singer/keyboardist Rod Argent, who was a former member of the Zombies. The other members were singer/guitarist Russ Ballard, bassist Jim Rodford and drummer Bob Henrit. The band had three U.K. Top 40 singles in “Hold Your Head Up” (No. 5, 12 weeks on the chart), "Tragedy" (No. 34) and “God Gave Rock and Roll to You” (No. 18). Two of their albums charted in the U.K.: “All Together Now,” which peaked at No. 13 in 1972, and “In Deep,” which spent one week at No. 49 in 1973.

While the first and third of the aforementioned singles are all-time classics, the band never reached the heights it could have because of the split in creativity within the band. Argent, who often wrote songs with fellow ex-Zombie Chris White, had a more progressive approach, with roots in classical and jazz, while Ballard wrote in a more pop vein, with strong melodies. Ballard’s song “Liar” became a hit for Three Dog Night. Ballard left after the fourth album, becoming a prolific songwriter and producer by the late 1970s.

In addition to magazine critics, including Malcolm Dome, record producer Les Davidson discusses the band and demonstrates parts of a few songs on guitar. Musical bits are from TV appearances, including the BBC in 1973.

The documentary from 2003 is 56 minutes long. A fine bonus is 22 minutes of complete BBC song performances, namely “Stepping Stone,” “Liar,” “Rejoice,” “Hold Your Head Up” and “Sweet Mary.” Grade: A

David Bowie: The Shel Talmy Recordings (Parlophone/Warner, CD, 57:10). This new release compiles 22 tracks from Bowie’s January–August 1965 sessions with producer Shel Talmy, when he was still known as Davie Jones. The set includes the four commercially issued singles by The Manish Boys (“I Pity the Fool” and “Take My Tip”) and by Davie Jones & the Lower Third (“You’ve Got a Habit of Leaving” and “Baby Loves That Way”), plus 18 previously unreleased demos and alternate takes. All but two were written by Bowie, and the sessions feature notable guests, including guitarist Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) and pianist Nicky Hopkins (The Beatles).

The disc is a fascinating, but uneven look at Bowie’s 1965 London scene, with most songs ranging from rave‑up blues rock to melancholy ballads, with some jubilant mod rock thrown in. At the time, Bowie was an 18-year-old wannabe mod. Talmy was the producer responsible for The Kinks and The Who. The then-singles are spirited performances, flashing signs of Bowie’s potential, but not really standouts.

“You’ve Got a Habit of Leaving” turns into a rock storm midway and has Page doing a ripping solo. With “I Pity the Fool,” Bowie plays a blues lounge lizard. “I Want Your Love,” a cover, sounds the most like peak Bowie voice. The track has an energetic guitar attack and Phil Lancaster’s drumming recalls The Who’s Keith Moon. Likely, it again is Page adding the feedback-drenched guitar overdubs. The track was written by Johnnie Dee, who Bowie also covered with “Don’t Bring Me Down,” on his “Pin Ups” album in 1973. There is harmonica on “Cupid.”

There are six demos, including the melancholy “Today” and “I Live in Dreams,” which has momentum, but pauses midway. There is the full Bowie voice on the demo of “Bars of the County Jail,” while Bowie takes a different vocal approach to the demo of “That’s Where My Heart Is.”

The last four tracks are alternate vocals for previous songs, with “You’ve Got a Habit of Leaving” and “I Pity the Fool” the best.

Bowie would follow these recordings with his Anthony Newley-style vocals that resulted in “The Laughing Gnome” single in 1967. Grade: B

George Martin & His Orchestra: Off The Beatle Track (1964, Parlophone/Warner, CD, 27:21). Martinwas an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor and musician. He was commonly referred to as the “fifth Beattle” due to his extensive involvement in each of The Beatles’ original albums. Three of the 14 albums he issued under his own name have been reissued by Parlophone/Warner Music.

Several of Martin’s orchestral records covered the music on Beatles’ records. Here there are 11 John Lennon-Paul McCartney songs and one by George Harrison. The songs are all suitable to the orchestral approach, especially the use of strings on “All My Loving,” “She Loves You” and “This Boy.” The piano-led “Can’t Buy Me Love” is jaunty, while “I Saw Her Standing There” is breezy and “Please Please Me” swings. The Harrison song is “Don’t Bother Me.”

The album, which was the first Martin released under his own name, comes with cheeky liner notes by Lennon. Grade: A

George Martin & His Orchestra: Help! (1965, Parlophone/Warner, CD, 30:49). This was Martin’s second album of instrumental arrangements of Beatles songs, released a month after The Beatles' own “Help!” album in August 1965. There are 10 songs by John Lennon-Paul McCartney, one by George Harrison (“I Need You”) and one Martin original (“Bahama Sound”).

Overall, The Beatles tracks sound much different. Highlights include a pretty “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” a smooth “You’re Going to Lose That Girl” and nice versions of “Ticket to Ride,” with horns, and “Tell Me What You See.” Grade: B+

George Martin & His Orchestra: … And I Love Her (1966, Parlophone/Warner, CD, 32:44). Martin expands his musical sources here, as only six of the 12 tracks are by John Lennon-Paul McCartney. Those highlights are the title track, “A Hard Day’s Night” and “I’m Happy Just to Dance with You.”

Of the other covers, best are the smooth “Time Is on My Side” (Rolling Stones cover) and “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” (Righteous Brothers hit), the Petula Clark hit “Downtown,” Little Anthony and The Imperials’ “Goin’ Out of My Head” and The Vince Guaraldi Trio’s “Cast Your Fate to the Wind.” Grade: A-