Various Artists - Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Dance Hits of the '80s (1997)

This is a companion piece to the 15 volume New Wave Hits of the '80s set released in the mid-'90s by Rhino Records. Songs on this volume were released in the years 1980 - 1985. While these songs weren't chart hits, they were big hits in the clubs of New York (Danceteria, Trax, etc.) around the time that "disco music" morphed into "dance music" with the help of the monthly Rockpool bundle for DJ's. While I like these songs, it's difficult to listen to the whole thing in one listening. At 80 minutes, that's a lot of experimental dance music. A great musical companion to the book, New York Noise: Art and Music from the New York Underground 1978-88.

Tracks:

• Lawnchairs - Our Daughters Wedding (#31 dance, 1981)
  Imagine Yaz with Stan Ridgway on vocals.
• Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag (Extended Version) - Pigbag (#56 dance, 1981)
  I would like this song just for the awesome title, but it has a catchy hook that I'm sure will become today's earworm for me. With manic percussion and screeching solos from saxophones and trumpets, this sometimes sounds likes a college band half-time show gone way out of control. For the record, this extended version is only 3:46, making me wonder how long the original version is.
• Bostich (Extended Remix) - Yello (#23 dance, 1982)
  Like many people, I was introduced to Yello via their song Oh Yeah from the Ferris Bueller movie. This earlier tune is similar territory, but with more interesting lyrics, rhyming "everybody" with "pizza party." N'est-ce pas?
• Ball Of Confusion (Extended Version) - Love & Rockets (1985)
  Previously reviewed on 80's/12" The Extended Collection: a fair cover of the Temptations 1970 hit. If you want to hear the definitive version of this song, check out Tina Turner's version on the 1982 album Music of Quality And Distinction Volume One, by the B.E.F. (to be revisited later on this blog.)
• Rapture (Special Disco Mix) - Blondie (#1 dance, 1980)
  10 minutes of remix here. The band's biggest hit, it didn't appear on their best album, 1978's Parallel Lines, but instead on 1980's Autoamerican. This single which was one of the earliest songs containing elements of rap vocals to reach #1 in the U.S. This mix has a long percussion break following the first verse of Deborah Harry's awesome nonsensical rap. Perfect for the dance floor.
• Precious (Extended Version) - The Jam (#45 dance, 1982)
  Earlier Jam punk/mod tunes wouldn't have been included on a dance album, but this later single is given a good remix here that hints at the R&B of Paul Weller's next project, The Style Council. Here, the band single-handedly tries to bring back disco music's incredibly fun wah-wah guitar sound.
• Beat Box - Art Of Noise (#1 dance, 1983)
  Great song and my fav on this CD. This mix is different from the one on (Who's Afraid Of?) The Art Of Noise! which is different from the one on The Best of The Art of Noise. Trevor Horn is a freakin' genius.
• The Wildstyle - Time Zone (#45 dance, 1984)
  An early hip-hop breakdance song cowritten by Afrika Bambaataa. Contains an uncredited sample of Chic's Good Times.
• The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight (Dominant Mix) - Dominatrix (#2 dance, 1984)
  A one-off freestyle single by a band with an awesome name. Unfortunately, this isn't a great tune - at least not in this mix. It's more than a little disturbing to hear what sounds like a ten-year girl saying "doh-dominate - dominatrix."
• Think (About It) - Justin (1982)
  A fun, funky party DJ remake of a James Brown tune (made popular by Lyn Collins). You may know the lyrics of this tune from another hit: 1988's It Take Two by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock, which is weaker than the Collins original. Now that I think about it (pun intended), just listen to the 1972 Collins version and forget this remake as well as It Takes Two.
• Moody - E.S.G. (#40, 1981)
  I like the beat and it's easy to dance to. I give it a 72.
• Cavern - Liquid Liquid (#50 dance, 1983)
  You will recognize this as what became the backing track to Grandmaster + Melle Mel's White Lines (Don't Do It). I hope these boys got paid, but I doubt think they did. Extremely unauthorized appropriation.
• Too Many Creeps- Bush Tetras (#57 dance, 1980)
  I don't know what a bush tetra is (some sort of fish, maybe?), but I think it sounds like The Waitresses or Romeo Void.
• Konk Party (Master Cylinder's Jam) (New York City Club Mix) - Konk (1982)
  A dance song so fun it needs three names. A smooth blend of Latin, disco, and New Wave music.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Even though I fancied myself an expert on new music in the early '80s, I was unfamiliar with most of these songs before buying this CD.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 5
Volume 8
Volume 9
Volume 12
Volume 14
New Wave Xmas