Tricky one this. I mean in the year 2011 when would anyone want a compilation of disco and boogie, worse - a two CD compilation of disco and boogie? Okay, maybe there’s a '70s bad taste party and you’re looking for some kitsch/naff music to compliment the nylon and nibbles.

Well no, this compilation won't even cut it there, you see this is a compilation of Underground disco and boogie and as the 13-page press release goes to great lengths to assert - this is serious music. A lot of the tracks are sought after by collectors and fetch unlikely prices, the press release wont go into actual costs, only to state on one track for example that the original is “gonna run you a little bit of extra dough” (£4.50 inc p&p, on eBay). These guys aren’t messing around.

There is a suggestion throughout the 13-page exhaustive track by track breakdown that only an idiot would fail to recognise the phenomenal musicianship on display.
I am that idiot.

The collection is broken down into the sounds of Chicago and Beyond (Chicago) on CDs 1 & 2.

Of these, the first one, The Sound of Chicago, is actually quite fun. DON’T expect serious musicianship or super rare collectable cuts, this is the sound of a group of amateurs p*ssing around, having fun. And that comes across, for 45 minutes we’re transported to the carefree days of dancing, cheap drugs and getting laid.

Listen as the bass does a funky slap thing, drums fill, horns stab, it’s okey dokey - we’re in the groove baby. Yes these guys are no singers, there’s no passion here but they’re competent. I imagine they’re grinning like the cocaine has just kicked in as they grasp the microphone by forefinger and thumb, fingers askew. A slight tremor of excitement.

The only unlistenable song is 'Play That Funky Music', a six and a half minute flute solo over which some halfwit repeats “play that funky music” over and over and over and over. I don’t think this was even acceptable back then.

Amazing to think this came in the wake of Isaac Hayes and the great soul jams of the early '70s.

There’s also great humour here. The track 'She’s So Hot' is a hilarious spoken word skit over a pedestrian boogie featuring two hip young cats chatting up a young lady. The acting is deliberately over the top and wooden. An extra layer of humour is derived from the typically po-faced interpretation in the press release detailing this track’s sophistication. AND of course they’ve compiled the rarest most sought after version.

I really hope the track by track listing is included in the full release. The two “brains” behind Mr Peabody Records (Mark Grusane and Mike Hunt) love of music and disregard for fact are to be applauded.

The second CD however is execrable. The dullest, joyless disco you’ll ever suffer. Many of the tracks are instrumental and drag on [insert track length] minutes too long.

I suspect the Beyond CD has been included to make the Chicago CD shine all the brighter.

Overall then, this compilation is fun. Give the second CD to someone you hate, listen to the first one when you need a reminder that being alive right now in 2011 is the best time to be alive and have a good laugh at the liner notes.

5

Richard Arthur Bennett