Roy Orbison hits compilation ‘In Dreams’ to be reissued Sept. 17

Roy Orbison’s “In Dreams -- Greatest Hits,” an unusual 1987 compilation with latter-day performances by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, is being reissued Sept. 17 after being out of circulation for nearly two decades.

The double album set, featuring “Oh, Pretty Woman,” “Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel),” “Crying,” “Runnin’ Scared” and 13 more tracks, was recorded less than two years before Orbison died in 1988 of a heart attack at age 52.

It’s one of the rare collections of re-recorded material that is as highly regarded as the artist’s original recordings because of the high quality of the newer versions.

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Orbison’s music was experiencing a renewed popularity in the 1980s thanks to filmmaker David Lynch’s prominent use of “In Dreams” in his film “Blue Velvet” and because of Orbison’s participation in the rock supergroup the Traveling Wilburys with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne.

Orbison used the original arrangements and recorded the updated versions in state-of-the-art sound, considered by many to be an improvement over the monaural sound of many of the originals recorded in the 1950s and early 1960s.

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It reached No. 95 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in 1989. The new edition is being released by Sony Music’s Legacy Recordings label.

In conjunction with the album release, the official Roy Orbison website on Friday will launch a new app called the OrbisongCompareOtronic13 that allows users to do direct comparisons on five songs in their original and re-recorded versions. Users will be able to cast votes on their favorites and offer comments for a shared blog.

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Labels sue SiriusXM over use of pre-1972 recordings Follow Randy Lewis on Twitter: @RandyLewis2