Customer Reviews

Disco Years 5: Must Be the Music

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Some of these other reviews miss the point. You don't need another compilation with all the overplayed pop hits--the disco superhighway is paved with billions of lost classics, and this particular volume collected some of my favorites. Edwin Starr is one of the few soul survivors who had really good disco-era hits. The other one is "Contact"; here, "H.A.P.P.Y. Radio" is a chugger from the summer of '79, soon before the bottom dropped out and we all had to listen to Christopher Cross for a while. (Sorry CC fans, like you're reading this anyway.) With hindsight, I guess no one could afford to be that H.A.P.P.Y. for too long. And don't deny yourself Claudja Barry's dreamy vocals as she sings about the magic "Boogie Woogie Dancin'" shoes that turned her into a Saturday night Cinderella. By the way, this song is an example of Eurodisco, which was usually chilly and much less fun...like, for example, Donna Summer's early, personality-free hit "I Feel Love," right before Claudja on this disc and possibly my least favorite of Donna's Top Tens.

Only when I bought this CD did I realize that "Boogie Motion", by faceless act Beautiful Bend, was the theme to "Dance Fever," the Denny Terrio show that had hapless celebrities rate "real" disco couples yanked from the dance floors of America. (The liner notes omitted this crucial detail, yet somehow Rhino still won't let me write for them.) It's also great. Along with Evelyn `Champagne' King's awesome "Shame," Heatwave's "Boogie Nights," and strong songs from Gloria Gaynor, Diana Ross, and Cheryl Lynn, Volume 5 is one of the best of this series. It's true that Nu Shooz' "I Can't Wait" and a couple of the other '80's hits don't quite fit, but some say disco never really died, and they have a good beat and you can dance to them, etc., etc.

As with the rest of this series, these are the single (7") versions, so some of the longer breaks you may remember from disco radio stations may be missing. But the first ten songs here are one smooth disco ride. (After this, maybe put on some Def Leppard just to ground yourself...)

P.S.: I dedicate this review to my sister, whom I tortured with several of these 45's back in the day...

"The Disco Years, Volume 5: Must Be The Music" is a good album, with a selection of very rhythmic songs, but some of them shouldn't even be on this album, considering that disco lasted from the early 70's to about 1981-82. Take for instance, Nu Shooz's "I Can't Wait", released in 1986, and also Wish's version of "Touch Me (All Night Long)", released in 1984, but both of them are part of the best songs on this album. We also have the fitting disco of Diana Ross and Heatwave, but some of the other artists I never heard of before (Secret Weapon, High Fashion, Wish, Edwin Starr). This 5th album in "The Disco Years" series stands well with it's predecessors and is an enjoyable album for anyone who loves disco or 80's music.

I have already written reviews for Volumes 1-4 of this series. I gave Volume 1 (which contained music from the beginning of the disco era) 5 stars because it was the best collection so far with only one "dud" track. Volume 2 (with music from the end of the disco era) received 4 stars because although it contained some great songs, it also contained 5 "dud"s. Volume 3 also received 4 stars because even though it only contained 1 "dud", it was all over the place and did not have a unifying theme. Volume 4 received 4 stars because it had a great theme (Chic and Chic-inspired music) but it contained at least 4 "dud"s.

Now we come to Volume 5. Another mess. If there were a theme to this CD, it would be the "Disco Diva" since 14 of 18 tracks are sung or performed by female vocalists. However, once again there are many songs that just don't belong here. Here is a track by track review:

1. Shame by Evelyn "Champagne" King
2. Star Love by Cheryl Lynn
3. Honeybee by Gloria Gaynor:

These first 3 tracks are awesome by some of the best Disco Divas of the time. What a shame that their careers were cut short by the fact that they were labled disco singers and had a hard time finding success after disco died.

4. I'm on Fire by 5000 Volts: This song climed to #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1975. As Randy Jackson would say, this song is "just a-ight".

5. I Feel Love by Donna Summer: The Queen of Disco and often cited as the best song of the disco era.

6. Boogie Woogie Dancin Shoes by Claudja Barry: Another Disco Diva, not as good as the other Disco Divas represented here, but once again, "just a-ight".

7. Automatic Lover by Dee D. Jackson: The first true "dud" of this CD. Many disco songs tried to jump on the "Star Wars" band wagon with varying degrees of success ("Star Love" above being a success, "Automatic Lover" being a failure)

8. Boogie Motion by Beautiful Bend: Not a bad song, but fairly forgettable. Sounds like a generic disco song that they would use as background music on a 70's TV show like "Charlie's Angels".

9. Boogie Nights by Heatwave: The first song on the CD not to feature female vocals. However, it is such a classic, funky tune that it's inclusion is totally acceptable. It also emphasizes the difference between this song and the previous track. This song has real spark which the previous song lacks.

10. HAPPY Radio by Edwin Starr: Edwin must have been the original model for Madonna, since he kept changing his career to fit the times. He started in the mid-60's as an R&B crooner, then in the early 70's he turned political with his anti-war songs, then by the late 70's he had jumped on the disco bandwagon. This song was the follow-up to the far superior "Contact".

11. Must be the Music by Secret Weapon: Early attempt at fusing rap and disco, it succeeds at neither.

12. Upside Down by Diana Ross: We now return to the Disco Diva portion of our program, and what a way to return. Diana's best work has to be this album produced by Chic.

13. Feelin Lucky Lately by High Fashion: Created by the same people behind the studio group Change, and it shows. And, as with Change, the Chic influence also shows through. Not a bad song, and good strong female vocals.

14. Take Your Time (Do it Right) Pt 1 by The SOS Band: Probably the last great disco record before disco died. Killer female vocal.

15. I Can't Wait by Nu Shooz
16. Remember What You Like by Jenny Burton
17. Touch Me (All Night Long) by Wish featuring Fonda Rae:

These 3 songs are very good, but they are technically not disco. They are mid-80's dance/techno/new wave hybrids. They belong on a collection of the history of mid-80's dance music, not on a disco collection. I like the songs, but as a purist, I just don't feel like they belong here.

18. Mindless Boogie by Hot Chocolate: After a CD filled with mostly Disco Divas (except for tracks 9, 10 & 11), we end the CD back with a male vocal. Now, I like Hot Chocolate, but this is not one of their better tunes and this song kind of ends the CD on a downer note. Not the way I would have wound up this volume.

So, I recommend this CD for some of the killer disco tracks, but as usual, there are some "dud"s that could have been left off or replaced by better tunes.

This album isn't that bad, considering that some songs on here don't even sound like disco-era songs (i.e. Nu Shooz's "I Can't Wait", which was released in 1986), but this is an enjoyable album to listen to, my favorite song off the album is "Touch Me (All Night Long)", performed by Wish, featuring Fonda Rae, this version is much better than Cathy Dennis' version that was released in 1991.

Only hardcore disco collectors will enjoy this filler-laden CD. As with volume four, buyers should investigate greatest hits CDs of the big artists (Donna Summer, Diana Ross, etc) before looking into this. And how did 1986's "I Can't Wait" by Nu Shooz end up here???

The Disco Years, Volume 5: Must Be the Music is one hour, nine minutes, and forty-nine seconds and was released on May 12, 1992. The CD contains eighteen disco songs and you feel you want to go back to disco college to recall some of the songs and artists on it. Only three songs on the CD did not chart; four songs hit number one and eight songs charted in multiple categories. I do agree with one critic on another topic. If disco ended in the early 80's, then why is I Can't Wait by Nu Shooz on this CD. I Can't Wait came out a few years after disco died. Barring that bit of criticism, this is still a great album to listen to. The Disco Years, Volume 5: Must Be the Music gets an AA++.

Shame-Evelyn "Champagne" King
#9 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles
#7 U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles
#8 U.S. Billboard Dance Chart
Star Love-Cheryl Lynn
#62 U.S. Billboard Pop Singles
#16 U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles
Honeybee-Gloria Gaynor
#55 U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles
I'm On Fire-5000 Volts
#26 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles
I Feel Love-Donna Summer
#6 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles
#1 U.S. Billboard Dance Chart
#9 U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles
#45 U.S. Billboard Easy Listening
Boogie Woogie Dancin' Shoes-Claudja Barry
#56 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles
Automatic Lover-Dee D. Jackson
Boogie Motion-Beautiful Bend
Boogie Nights-Heatwave
#2 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles
#5 U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles
#36 U.S. Billboard Dance Chart
H.A.P.P.Y. Radio-Edwin Starr
#79 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles
Must Be The Music-Secret Weapon
Upside Down-Diana Ross
#1 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles
#1 U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles
#1 U.S. Billboard Dance Chart
Feelin' Lucky Lately-High Fashion
Take Your Time (Do It Right), PT. 1-The S.O.S Band
#3 U.S. Billboard Pop Singles
#1 U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles
I Can't Wait-Nu Shooz
#3 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles
#2 U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles
#1 U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play
#38 U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary
Remember What You Like-Jenny Burton
#81 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles
#10 U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play
#21 U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles
Touch Me (All Night Long)-Wish, featuring Fonda Rae
#70 U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles
Mindless Boogie-Hot Chocolate