Unfortunately promised CDs for reviews got stuck somewhere in the mail and that’s the reason why you haven’t read much new reviews in recent weeks here. So instead of focussing on underground soul like usually why not tell you about a recently purchased double compilation on Motown UK.
Before the term Disco was coined for a certain type of music,which you could hear in a discotheque, it was just an uptempo version of very danceable funk and soul music. Of course it was all watered down within a short time with rather uninspired songs which sounded more like doing music by numbers as soon as people discovered that there were large amounts of money to be made. And even established acts like Marvin Gaye (Got To Give It Up), Gladys Knight (Love Is Always On My Mind) or Stevie Wonder (Do I Do) jumped on the bandwagon by doing some disco-inspired songs.
Certainly the fact that Disco had a large black and gay following (just listen to Carl Bean’s I Was Born This Way on this compilation) was one of the reason that the mainstream condemned it as hedonistic music and were happy that they could burn Disco records in the end.
Naturally with the rise of house music some of the problems of Disco resurfaced (i.e. lack of ideas, cliché-ridden, uninspired music and established acts doing house inspired versions or getting remixed) but since the days of Disco much have changed in the way of communication and distribution of music (for one thing there’s the internet) and it looks like any music genre invented since then never really disappeared or died. It just goes underground with some hardcore fans still listening to a certain music genre. In the end Disco was never really dead, it just waited for the right time to see its rebirth on house dancefloors with many house records being a shameless (and often uncredited) rip-off or remake of old disco songs.
But back to the album Motown Disco. What has a rather meaningless and cheap cover (though the profound comments to each featured song make more than up for it) is an impressive compilation of groovy and funky dance tunes covering a period from 1972 to 1983. There are the songs, I’m sure everyone knows, like Diana Ross’ Love Hangover (I still like the way this changes from a slowie to an uptempo track) and The Boss (the former also saw a more than solid remake by Pauline Henry as a Joey Negro remix and the latter was re-done by the Braxtons with remixes by Masters At Work). While Diana was never the greatest singer (of the Supremes and in general) her voice fits perfectly to the midtempo and uptempo stuff. The Supremes’ High Energy is sung by Scherrie Payne who certainly possesses more vocal power than Diana. (Anyone remembering the uptempo Disco clone named High Energy?).
Marvin Gaye’s Got To Give It Up may not reach the musical level he has reached with What’s Going On but it’s still a perfect song to move your hips and it’s featured here in all its 11+ minutes glory.
Also on the more funky side are the two Rick James cuts You & I and Big Time. Former Rick James protégé Teena Marie is featured with Behind The Groove from her Lady T album.
Good to see Eddie Kendricks’ Date With The Rain on this record as well. House music fans will recall Jamie Principle’s cover version from 1990 on Atlantic.
Add to this The Temptations Law Of The Land, Thelma Houston’s Saturday Night, Sunday Morning or the original 12″ promo version of Down To Love Town by The Originals and you have an impressive insight on the way Motown handled Disco.

Tracklisting of Motown Disco - Soulful Grooves from the 70s & 80s:
Disc 1:
1. The Temptations - Law of the Land/ 2. Eddie Kendricks - Keep On Trucking/ 3. Diana Ross - Love Hangover/ 4. The Originals - Down To Love Town/ 5. Supremes - High Energy/ 6. Eddie Kendricks - Date With the Rain/ 7. Thelma Houston - Saturday Night, Sunday Morning/ 8. Marvin Gaye - Got To Give It Up/ 9. Rick James & The Stone City Band - You & I/ 10. Platinum Hook - Standing on the Verge/ 11. Tata Vega - Get It Up For Love
Disc 2:
1. Finished Touch - Need To Know You Better/ 2. Thelma Houston - Don’t Leave Me This Way/ 3. Dynamic Superiors - Nowhere To Run/ 4. Jerry Butler - (I Love To See You) Dancin’/ 5. 21st Creation - Tailgate/ 6. Diana Ross - The Boss/ 7. Carl Bean - I Was Born This Way/ 8. Teena Marie - Behind The Groove/ 9. Rick James - Big Time/ 10. Switch - You Pulled A Switch/ 11. Willie Hutch - In & Out | released 2005 Motown/Universal Music Operations

For more infos visit motown45.co.uk, The Motown Story, discomuseum.com, jahsonic.com, livingart.com.

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