Various Artists - Pure Disco 2 (1997)

I love disco music and, if you're honest with yourself, you do, too. Contrary to the album title, all the tracks here are not disco music. There's some pop and funk here, too. 

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #71 

Tracks:

• I Will Survive (remix) - Gloria Gaynor (1997 remix did not chart)
  Classic disco anthem. When I sing this at karaoke night, I bring the house down. Even though a remix is unnecessary, this one isn't bad.
• (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty - KC & The Sunshine Band (#6 dance, #1 pop, 1976)
  I can't help but do a little chair dancing as I write this. If you're like me, you sing this song to yourself anytime you're in the kitchen and the instructions on the bottle say "shake well" - I sing it as I shake.
• Turn The Beat Around - Vicki Sue Robinson (#1 dance, #10 pop, 1976)
  Even for disco music, this song is a bit too repetitive for my tastes.
• Macho Man - Village People (#14 dance, #25 pop, 1978)
  When this single hit, I didn't understand what the lyrics were about. Now it makes me think of the 1997 movie In & Out.
• We Are Family - Sister Sledge (#1 dance, #2 pop, 1979)
  The best song on this compilation. I love this song. As I've said before, Nile Rodgers is a genius. Plus, this was the theme song of the 1979 World Series Champion Pittsburgh Pirates. When was the last time a championship team in any sport had awesome theme music? I'm thinking it was 1979.
• Flashdance...What A Feeling - Irene Cara (#1 dace, #1 pop, 1983)
  Not a disco song. Not a good song. Double fail.
• I Just Want To be Your Everything - Andy Gibb (#1 pop, 1977)
  This song brings back fun memories of the carefree summer of '77.
• Everlasting Love - Carl Carlton (#4 dance, #6 pop, 1974)
  A great uplifting song from the early days of disco. Happy music.
• Can't Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe - Barry White (#1 pop, 1974)
  A signature tune for Barry. I think I do a decent impression of Barry White; my wife, on the other hand, just finds it comical. So much for romanticism.
• Rock The Boat - The Hues Corporation (#5 dance, #1 pop, 1974)
  When this song hit, I thought the lyrics were about an actual boat. Apparently, metaphors are lost on 8 year old boys.
• Love Rollercoaster - Ohio Players (#1 pop, 1975)
  Previously reviewed for Millennium Funk Party: Simple step-wise bass line, but the drums, guitar and horns make this a classic. You've heard the urban legend that a high-pitched scream around 2:25 is the voice of an individual being murdered live while the tape was rolling, haven't you?
• Upside Down - Diana Ross (#1 dance, #1 pop, 1980)
  Another disco megahit for Nile Rodgers.
• Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry (#12 dance, #1 pop, 1976)
  Also previously reviewed for Millennium Funk Party: A huge funk hit. Huge. Deservedly so. Everything about this song grooves and the pleading lyrics are delivered perfectly.
• The Hustle - Van McCoy (#3 dance, #1 pop, 1975)
  Yes, I knew the dance steps.
• Love's Theme - Love Unlimited Orchestra (#1 pop, 1974)
  Barry White, a string orchestra, and a wah-wah guitar. This song is one of the few instrumental and purely orchestral singles to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. I always associate this song with theme music for '80s golf tournament coverage on CBS.
• Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie! (A Man After Midnight) - ABBA (1979)
  Not one of the group's better tunes, but it fits in well here.
• Fly, Robin, Fly - Silver Convention (#1 dance, #1 pop, 1975)
  Even for disco music, this song is too repetitive for my tastes. Déjà vu.
• Ring My Bell - Anita Ward (#1 dance, #1 pop, 1979)
  Previously reviewed for Billboard #1 Hits Of The '70s: Even though this song is considered a disco classic, it's not one of my favorites. It knocked Donna Summer out of the top spot for two weeks that summer.
• It's Raining Men - The Weather Girls (#1 dance, #46 pop, 1982)
  While not a big hit when it was released in 1982, the song is now considered a camp classic and gay anthem.
• Last Dance - Donna Summer (#1 dance, #3 pop, 1978)
  Academy Award winner! Love it. If you haven't seen the 1978 movie Thank God It's Friday, you're missing 90 minutes of cheesy fun. You'll see Summer, The Commodores, Debra Winger, Jeff Goldblum, and Terri Nunn (from the new wave band Berlin). The only thing missing is a plot.
• The Diva Megamix (bonus track)
  A below average remix of Hot Stuff, I Will Survive, Gloria Gaynor's cover of Reach Out I'll Be There, and I Feel Love. I guess this means the disco diva club consists only of Gaynor and Summer.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: this was an impulse buy from Wal-Mart back in the late '90s. If I ever see Pure Disco 3 available on the cheap, that will also be an impulse buy.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Pure Disco (1996)