Even if the idea that ZE have been hot for 30 years is a bit of a non-sense, when they were hot, they were scorching as this new compilation proves.
There’s loads of disco coming out soon (watch this space) but ZE were the hip New York underground label that crossed over from pop to NME white kid trash and more. Regular readers will have spotted that I’m indebted to (and a fan of) James White (see Lydia Lunch) and when he wasn’t a jerk, ‘Contort Yourself’ was an ever present noise-jazz-dancefloor track that our skinny jeans and white shirts used to move to.
But thankfully, that wasn’t the only crossover that ZE exposed us to, Was (Not Was) found their commercial heights with ‘Out Come The Freaks’, ‘Wheel Me Out’ and ‘Walk The Dinosaur’ and they open this set with ‘Tell Me That I’m Dreaming’.
ZE Records always had an ear for New York Latin and dance influences like the disco boogie of Don Armando’s Second Avenue Rhumba Band and the August Darnell ‘supergroup’ Kid Creole & The Coconuts (as a commercial second incarnation of Dr. Buzzard & The Savannah Band). It’s hard not to be a fan of August Darnell (with such style in hats and big baggy trousers) and he’s still going with 80s revival tours and there’s even rumours of the next forthcoming Inspiration Information collaborations album with Hercules and the Love Affair! And when the equally legendary Larry Levan is on the remix, you can’t ague with that. And whilst Darnell’s every whim was satisfied by The Coconuts, Nona Hendryx was ‘Bustin’ Out’ with Material (who was actual bass grovin’ super producer/Material, Bill Laswell) and, from memory; Nona was bustin’ out on all fronts.
Even then, there’s a fair amount of their lesser known acts on this CD. What was Lizzy Mercier Descloux all about? ‘Hard-Boiled Babe’ comes over as some sort of female David Byrne/Grace Jones whore mix. And whilst I hated it at the time, Rock-a-Billy is so hip now; would Alan ‘Jukebox Babe’ Vega be related to Louis? And the cover version of ‘The Beat Goes On’ is like, “How do we do a funky cover like Lounge Lizards ‘Money’? It all seems retrospectively stunning stuff with the benefit on hindsight.
And just for good measure, there’s a couple of stinkers, like the really contrived track ‘French Boys’ by the Garcons but then, AIDS was not on the cards at the time.
So high on the eighties were ZE, you have to pinch yourself that there was such a thing as a combined post punk, disco, new wave, electro fusion label – well that’s what they were to our crew – and whilst they did put out some dubious stuff, this is a solid re-assessment of a small part of some lesser known releases.
Reviewed: Various – ZE30: ZE Records Story 1979-2009 (Strut) Cat. No: STRUT047CD Release date: 3rd August 2009
Tracklisting:
1 Was (Not Was) – Tell Me That I’m Dreaming (Traditional 12″ Remix) (6:29)
2 Don Armando’s Second Avenue Rhumba Band Feat. Fonda Rae – Deputy Of Love (5:26)
3 Cristina – Things Fall Apart (4:31)
4 Lizzy Mercier Descloux – Hard-Boiled Babe (4:22)
5 Alan Vega – Jukebox Babe (4:33)
6 Casino Music – The Beat Goes On (3:51)
7 James Chance And The Contortions – Roving Eye (3:06)
8 Kid Creole And The Coconuts Something Wrong In Paradise (Larry Levan Mix) (4:56)
9 Sympho State – You Know What I Like (5:57)
10 Material With Nona Hendryx – Bustin’ Out (8:25)
11 Aural Exciters – Maladie D’ Amore (5:33)
12 Suicide – Dream Baby Dream (6:20)
13 Michael Dracula – What Can I Do For You (3:32)
14 Garcons – Re Bop Electronic (2:51)
Links:
www.ZERecords.com
www.MySpace.com/zerecords
www.myspace.com/wasnotwasfreaks
www.myspace.com/originalsavannahband
www.strut-records.com
