Review
Ariola followed up the successful Maxi Hit Sensation with Maxi Disco Night during the spring of 1987. The 16 track double LP was cut down to a single 11 track CD. The five victims of digital discrimination were First Patrol’s The Streets Of Miami (Vice Rap), Tom Hooker’s Help Me, Radiorama’s Aliens, Cameo’s Word Up and Boytronic’s You.
Erasure toy with our affections on the extended mix of Sometimes. Still sends shivers down my spine. Equally fantastic is Mel and Kim’s debut 45; the instantly gratifying Showing Out (Get Fresh At The Weekend) appearing here in its majestic 7:15 long form. Now for one of the decade’s best one hit wonders – Stacey Q’s Two Of Hearts. A #87 flop in the UK but a #6 smash in West Germany, the European Dance Mix is a fabulous combination of hi-NRG and synth pop complete with a sexy talk interlude. It’s followed by Sven Vath’s mob, Off, with the techno glider Electrica Salsa (Baba Baba) and the mesmerising matching grooves of 16 Bit’s Where Are You? (Mix I).
“Yes I know who you remind me of,
A girl I think I used to know,
Yes I’d see her when the day got colder,
On those days when it felt like snow”.
Den Harrow’s Catch The Fox (Caccia Alla Volpe) continues the rather edgy vibe with its menacing lyrics and stabbing Italo beats. In contrast, CC Catch’s Heaven And Hell is an uplifting disco tune while Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s unsung Warriors Of The Wasteland was inspired by TS Eliot. We get the arresting Turn Of The Knife Mix. November 1986 and everything’s gone green. A new order would arrive in early ’87: house music and the sound of Jack Your Body (Club Your Body). Pounding. And those Dutch rappers MC Miker “G” and Deejay Sven have us smiling with their cool Celebration Rap which incorporates elements of We Are Family. The most epic track is kept for last; Kim Wilde’s sprawling cover of You Keep Me Hangin’ On. Leave your cares behind.
Favourite tracks
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Warriors (Turn Of The Knife Mix)
Den Harrow – Catch The Fox (Caccia Alla Volpe)
Lest we forget
Stacey Q – Two Of Hearts (European Dance Mix)
A Pop Fan's Dream 