Funkytown

In the mid- to late '70s, Michael Henderson had a reputation for being a quiet storm-oriented singer. R&B fans associated him primarily with romantic material, whether it was with Norman Connors ("Valentine Love," "You Are My Starship," "We Both Need Each Other") or on his own ("At the Concert," "Take Me, I'm Yours," "Be My Girl," "In the Night-Time"). But the success of the quirky "Wide Receiver" in 1980 reminded Henderson's admirers that he was also quite capable of delivering an aggressive funk jam. Nonetheless, romantic soul ballads and slow jams remained a high priority for him, and they dominate 1981's Slingshot (which was originally released on vinyl LP by Buddah before being reissued on CD by The Right Stuff in 1995 and Funky Town Grooves in 2011).

When Norman Connors made the transition from jazz albums to commercially successful R&B-oriented dates, the drummer found himself being lambasted repeatedly in jazz press (something Roy Ayers, Patrice Rushen, George Duke and George Benson could also relate to). Myopic jazz critics trashed Romantic Journey simply because it contains so much R&B/pop, as opposed to judging its merits as an R&B/pop-oriented album. Though not as strong as its predecessor, You Are My Starship, this decent offering has its strong points, including Philip Mitchell's vocal on the haunting "Destination Moon" and Eleanore Mills' performance on a likable cover of the Stylistics' "You Are Everything."

Australian synth-pop band Pseudo Echo formed in 1982 and were influenced by the emergent British New Romantic bands Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet and Ultravox. By 1984, Pseudo Echo were second in popularity in their homeland only to the mighty INXS. According to rock music historian Ian McFarlane, Pseudo Echo "combined flash clothes, blow-wave hairstyles, youthful exuberance and accessible synth-pop to arrive at a winning combination … and found a ready-made audience among teenagers who fawned on the band's every move". Their international breakthrough hit was their pop-rock makeover of the Lipps Inc track, the disco classic 'Funky Town'. This was a worldwide smash hit in 1987 reaching #1 in Australia and Canada, #8 in the UK and #6 on the US Billboard Hot 100! This is a 2-disc expanded edition of their second album, "Love An Adventure", that 'Funky Town' originally appeared on.

Before Depeche Mode inherited the techno-pop crown, Ultravox reigned over the electronic landscape. Pseudo Echo were one of Ultravox's most loyal fans, and their affection for the pioneering new romantics gushes from every synthethic groove on Love an Adventure. Thankfully, being a facsimile wasn't enough for Pseudo Echo. The cover of Lipps Inc.'s disco classic "Funkytown" was their only U.S. hit from Love an Adventure, and it was sadly misrepresentative of the album's stylish, hook-loaded dance rock. On "A Beat for You," driving hard rock riffs puncture Pierre Gigliotti and James Leigh's wall of synthesizers. Vocalist Brian Canham has a darkly erotic voice that only new wave groups seem to breed – imagine a cross between Jim Kerr of Simple Minds and Midge Ure of, no surprise, Ultravox. Pseudo Echo want people to move their feet, and this album is stocked with dancefloor scorchers such as "Living in a Dream", "Listening", and the funky "Try". "Funkytown" may have given Pseudo Echo a glimpse of commercial success, but the rest of Love an Adventure proved that they were capable of more.

A compilation board released as part of the "Disco Fever" campaign jointly held by record companies in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the movie "Saturday Night Fever" in Japan. It is good to dance and fever but I also want to reconfirm the height of the musicality where the melody, the beat and the chorus come together to create the groove.