Disco Discharge Presents Box of Sin

From 2009 through 2012, the Disco Discharge name was behind some of the most necessary and appealing compilations of 1970s and 80s dance music -- 16 two-disc volumes such as Classic Disco, Disco Boogie, Gay Disco & Hi NRG, and American Hot. Absent since the subsequent album reissue series Disco Recharge, the imprint returns with Box of Sin, a five-disc package of 80s tracks billed suggestively as "full-length gay clubbing." The significance of this music in relation to gay culture is further articulated by journalist and author Paul Burston, who in his foreword to the set describes the sights and sounds he soaked up at Heaven and the Bell in London, and at the Tunnel in Cardiff. Likewise presented with a U.K. perspective and cosmopolitan appetite, the selections -- nothing shorter than a five-minute album version, all 12" versions and remixes otherwise -- are heavier on the commercial end and therefore more attractive to listeners who dont consider themselves serious collectors. Its without doubt an excellent building block covering almost the full spectrum of 80s post-disco, from synth pop and freestyle to Hi-NRG and house, created by a motley assortment of progressive underground dwellers, accidental hitmakers, cunning entryists, and even some avaricious opportunists. Furthermore, it complements previous Disco Discharge compilations with only a little overlap -- an aspect thats due in part to half the tracks dating from 1987 to 1989 and nothing predating 1981. The discs are loosely themed and neatly sequenced with numerous connections that can be drawn from one to another. On the diva-centric, mostly Hi-NRG first disc, the Pointer Sisters "Jump (For My Love)" somehow sounds fresh as ever when heard between Sheryl Lee Ralphs "In the Evening" and Whitney Houstons "Love Will Save the Day." Hi-NRG innovator Bobby Orlando is behind two of the tracks on the second disc, the Flirts bounding "Passion" and Divines equally buoyant "Love Reaction," the latter a comic and irresistible lift of New Orders "Blue Monday." Orlando produced the original version of Pet Shop Boys "West End Girls," and though theres nothing here by the compilation-shy Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, two of the better songs the duo produced for other artists, Liza Minnellis "Dont Drop Bombs" and Dusty Springfields "In Private," appear on the third and fourth discs. The final disc, subtitled "Future Shock from the New Kids on the Block," emphasizes early singles from younger acts like Detroits Inner City (Juan Atkins remix of "Big Fun"), Chicagos Joe Smooth ("Promised Land"), and Londons own SExpress ("Theme from SExpress"). Its not at the exclusion of veterans like former Ikette P.P. Arnold, whose beaming voice powers the Beatmasters "Burn It Up," or Vaughan Mason, the "Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll" producer behind Razes "Break 4 Love," heard here in its explicit "Drop the Panties" version. Other significant tracks here include Soft Cells "Memorabilia" (the Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing version with Cindy Ecstasy), Frankie Goes to Hollywoods audacious and world-conquering "Relax" (the New York mix), Company Bs freestyle classic "Fascinated," and the appropriate finale (and the lone track that isnt electronic), "And Im Telling You Im Not Going," voiced by Ralphs Dreamgirls castmate Jennifer Holliday. ~ Andy Kellman