Gone Digital: John Watts, Linda Di Franco, High Holy Days, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Little Texas

If it’s Tuesday, then it must be time for Gone Digital, our weekly look at five albums which may not even realize are part of Rhino’s digital catalog. As ever, the types of music we’ll be covering will be all over the place, but that’s Rhino for you: we’re all about variety!

•    John Watts, ONE MORE TWIST (1982): Although he originally studied clinical psychology and started out as a mental health worker, Watts left the proper work force behind to become the frontman of the band Fischer-Z. After the band’s initial breakup in ’81, Watts embarked on a solo career with the single “One Voice,” following that with this debut album. Although Fischer-Z eventually reformed in ’87 and released their REVEAL album, Watts has continued to bounce between solo and band efforts ever since.

•    Linda Di Franco, RISE OF THE HEART (1986): The story of Linda Di Franco is so fascinating that we won’t even try to tell it ourselves, we’ll just steer you to this wonderful Red Bull Music Academy interview where she details how she came to briefly become a pop star and release this album, not to mention how she ended up having it produced by Don Was. What we will tell you, however, is that anyone who loves Basia and Sade but doesn’t know Linda Di Franco needs to dive into this album immediately.

•    High Holy Days, ALL MY REAL FRIENDS (2003): This Canadian found a brief burst of success upon releasing this debut album, which first hit stores in 2003 via an indie label, got a proper Canadian release in March 2004, and then finally crossed the border in September 2004 for a US release.  Although High Holy Days earned a nomination for Best New Band at the Canadian Radio Music Awards and found radio success with the singles “All My Real Friends,” “The Getaway,” and “The River of Styx,” their second album, IT’S NOT OKAY, was bumped from release and remains that way to this day. D’oh...

•    Dee Dee Bridgewater, DEE DEE’S DIAMONDS (2020): This new digital compilation features songs from Bridgewater’s four albums during her stint within the WEA family, which means it’s material found on her self-titled Atlantic debut as well as her three Elektra albums, JUST FAMILY, BAD FOR ME, and – what’s this? – another self-titled album. It’s a fun mixture of R&B, jazz, and funk, and it’s a nice sampler to introduce you to her career.

•    Little Texas, GOD BLESSED TEXAS: THE SINGLES 1992-1996 (2020): If you’re looking for the best best-of by this ‘90s country group, then you’ve come to the right place, since it has a dozen top-20 hits, including their #1 country hit, “My Love.”