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It follows on from the Disco Discharge : Disco Classics and it’s packed with 22 unmixed DJ friendly tracks.

Whilst these sisters probably didn’t do it for themselves; although at times Fern Kinney on the opener ‘Groove Me’ might be - but don’t ignore it as this disco-reggae oldie is nearly nine minutes long with a disco-dub conga break!

Now that’s sold the CD to me in itself but as any DJ that’s recently been accosted by a blonde bombshell demanding “cheese” (and that seemed to be the only word that she could say at the time), it’s not a bad idea to have something that on the boarders on both great and questionable at the same time; and this one came to my rescue with Andrea True Connection’s ‘More, More, More’ and if she’d kept at it, Silver Connection’s ‘Get Up And Boogie (That’s Right)’ or Amanda Lear (the poor man’s Grace Jones?) could have done the job. As a quick aside whilst mentioning Silver Connection, Tim O’Brien and Mike Savage who are responsible for the book Naked Vinyl are big fans of the album artwork; nudge, nudge etc).

Of course, the difference between ‘Ladies’ and ‘Classic’ in the disco arena isn’t that far apart as we’ve got some big ‘uns here with Sister Sledge, the Sister Sledge euro-copy of ‘Spacer’, Gloria Jones (but not an obvious choice and very Northern Soul/pre-House crossover -fantastic selections), Stacey Latisha and Gilles Peterson’s favourite ‘Boogie Oogie Oogie’ by A Taste Of Honey (not seen it on vinyl since GP included it on his Gilles Peterson In The House compilation they came out last year).

Poussez on the strings, bongo beat and “oh, yeah” is well known to disco heads and of the lesser known tracks, Kim Hart is heavy on the violin/strings and the Suzi Lane’s ‘Harmony’ is a funky grower.

And talking of surprises, the biggest one is on CD2 with Janis Ian; yes Janis Ian of teen angst pop hit ‘At Seventeen’ from 1975. She’s represented here by a track called ‘Fly Too High’ (Ed. our latest theme tune) that ups the quality of the lyrical content and is enhanced by the muted jazz trumpet.

Like CD1, the set finishes on three more big tunes with Melba More on top form, The Richie Family and the ‘King of Kiss’ (the other one), Shep Pettibone on a remix of Phyllis Nelson’s ‘I Like You’ (if your new to Shep’s works, the definitive compilation starts with 98.7 Kiss FM Mastermixes from the early 80s)

So even if there are a few dodgy ones on here and another imaginative cover photo (in a very pink cover, frame), the brilliant tracks more than make up for that. And again with sleeve notes by Alan Jones (author of Saturday Night Forever: The Story Of Disco), this is top quality classic is the truest sense.

Note: The rest of the series Disco Discharge: Euro Disco, Disco Discharge : Disco Classics and Disco Discharge: Gay Disco & Hi NRG: Disco is back in a big way.

Reviewed: V/A - Disco Discharge: Disco Ladies (Harmless) Cat. No. HURTCD085 Release date: 28th September 2009
Tracklistings:
CD1
1. Groove Me - Fern Kinney
2. More More More - Andrea True Connection (The)
3. You Fooled Around - Sister Sledge
4. Love At First Sight - Kim Hart
5. Bring On The Love (Why Can’t We Be Friends Again) - Gloria Jones
6. Jump To The Beat - Stacy Lattisaw
7. Boogie Oogie Oogie [LP remix version] - Taste Of Honey
8. Gotta Get Outta Here - Lucy Hawkins
9. Get On Up And Do It Again - Suzy Q
10. Shake It Up Tonight - Cheryl Lynn
11. This Beat Is Mine - Vicky D
12. Keep It Confidential - Nona Hendryx
CD2
1. Get Up And Boogie (That’s Right) - Silver Convention
2. Blood And Honey - Amanda Lear
3. Come On And Do It - Poussez
4. Spacer - Sheila & B. Devotion
5. Fly Too High - Janis Ian
6. Harmony - Suzie Lane
7. Instant Love - Sylvia Love
8. Pick Me Up I’ll Dance - Melba Moore
9. Give Me A Break - Ritchie Family
10. I Like You [Shep Pettibone remix] - Phyllis Nelson

Links:
www.harmlessrecordings.co.uk
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco
Tim O’Brien and Mike Savage who are responsible for the book Naked Vinyl