House Hits ’88 (Telstar, 1988)

Review
Now That’s What I Call Music 11 showed us the way. The last quarter is what makes it extraordinary – the utterly amazing house side. Beginning with Beat Dis and running through House Arrest, The Jack That House Built, Rok Da House and ending with the hip hop remix of Climie Fisher’s Rise To The Occasion. It was time for other labels to step up and get in on the scene. Telstar’s House Hits ’88 was marketed as “The House Album Of The Year” and threw down S-Express, The Wee Papa Girl Rappers, Royal House and the Jungle Brothers. Get in touch! Write to 130 Slaney Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 11.

Can You Party is an appropriate scene-setter, tearing up the warehouse. It’s followed by MC Duke’s Miracles. More about him: the big break came when the MC who had won the DMC MC Battle got on stage at the World Championships after party and announced that he would battle anybody in the house. MC Duke got up and won. Derek B bore witness and as he had just signed to Music Of Life asked Duke to meet him at the label the next day. While waiting for Derek B, Duke met the owner Simon Harris, and rapped live as he didn’t have a demo. The tune is cut down to 3:11 and samples The Jackson Sisters. And then Christopher x 2, Reid and Martin or Kid ‘N’ Play. This edited UK Remix of Gettin’ Funky is extremely hard-edged and slips inside the Faith groove of the Wee Papa Girl Rappers. The beat, the rhythm, the noise. File under early new jack swing.

Come on in, do your thing. The epic Double Trouble remix of I Know You Got Soul. Shame it’s only three minutes. Next comes BVSMP’s slow jam hotness I Need You and Salt ‘N’ Pepa’s pulsating Tramp, the original A-Side of Push It. Raise your hands for Simon Harris who drops the timeless Bass (How Low Can You Go), a key tune of my 16th year. Megamix time! In the hot seat are Mirror Image who, aside from the single release, seem to solely exist here. Jack It Up + Jingo + Criticize + House Arrest + Love Can’t Turn Around + Rok Da House + Play It Again Jack + Always On My Mind + I Want To Be Your Property + Beat Dis = an enjoyable three minutes. Out come the heavy hitters – Beat Dis and Theme From S-Express, two #1s that have been well-covered here in the past. Jump higher? It’s a hip house treat from Richie Rich who teams up with the Jungle Brothers. Insane fusion.

Amnesia time; look back at Jack E Makossa’s wonderfully banging Jack The Opera. A bleary late night treat from the post-Crosbie’s days. Unbelievable bassline and piano. Intro based on La Donna E Mobile, from the opera Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi (1851). Afterwards come Nitro Deluxe’s wicked Let’s Get Brutal, Derek B’s superb Bad Young Brother and the evergreen Doctorin’ The House. Blink and you’ll miss ’em: truncated cuts of Jack ‘N’ Chill’s House along with Jellybean’s Jingo. Get off! The sublime L.A. Mix and Check This Out, sample and hold – listen out for the Pump Up The Volume snippet. The video features Claire King before she became Emmerdale’s Kim Tate. I think they got a hit record. Last orders for The Beatmasters and Cookie Crew, a 3:06 mix of Rok Da House.
“We don’t run rhymes from the top of our head
We write ’em down, pick ’em up and then they stick in our head”

Favourite tracks
Richie Rich meets Jungle Brothers – I’ll House You (Gee St Reconstruction)

L.A. Mix – Check This Out

Jack E Makossa – Jack The Opera

Lest we forget
Kid ‘N’ Play – Gettin’ Funky (UK Remix)