Review
There were five Maxi Power compilations released by Polystar during the late 1980s. The focus was on 12″ mixes with the double LPs tending to have 16 tracks while the poorly-selling CDs squeezed a dozen or so onto one disc. This one has a Miami theme and features some iconic photography on the sleeve. In this case we have to sacrifice the Curiosity Killed The Cat, Bananarama, Camouflage and Lucas tracks.
After a somewhat anti-climatic opener (Los Lobos’ La Bamba in it’s standard 7″ form) we’re sucked into the glitter of Herb Alpert’s Diamonds (Cool Summer mix) complete with a Janet Jackson backing vocal and some seriously smooth horn action. Other groovy high points are SAW’s Roadblock (a six minute version) and the sultry latin glide of Caroline Loeb’s C’est La Ouate. There’s a nice spoken word section on Bolland and Bolland’s Tears Of Ice too while you can never have too much Chris Rea and his Special mix of Let’s Dance.
Italo heat beckons with Sabrina’s sultry summertime anthem Boys while Francesco Napoli soars through a high energy melody of native classics. Italian-sounding Gino Vannelli delivers a moody “Mann Vice” number in Wild Horses. Worthy of a cinematic long-shot drug-dealing showdown bust. He’s actually Canadian though.
Favourite tracks
Gino Vannelli – Wild Horses (Remix)
Herb Alpert – Diamonds (Cool Summer mix)
Lest we forget
Francesco Napoli – Balla..Balla! (Italian Hit Connection)
A Pop Fan's Dream 