To celebrate the 30th anniversary of disco’s high-water mark, another handsome collection sashays into the racks. Compiled by the ubiquitous DJ and writer Bill Brewster, Capitol Disco gathers together the American music giant’s reaction to the disco explosion.
It all depends how you define disco, really, as a great deal of this fits into the brief of the smooth soul and jazz-funk so beloved of the white-sock crowd. Maze’s Twilight remains a behemoth of its genre. Diana Ross’ Work That Body is kitschy and smart, and Brown Sugar’s I’m Going Through Changes encapsulates the sophisticated glamour that the era evoked. Gloria Jones’ Windstorm is fantastic, too. Lots of old timers such as the Rance Allen Group and Barrett Strong came back from writing or session work for a share of disco’s booty and their cuts here have their own sophisticated grace.
Occasionally, the collection misses: selecting Do It Good by A Taste Of Honey, instead of Boogie Oogie Oogie – surely the Mizell Brothers’ greatest commercial confection – leaves the listener with an incomplete picture. So, then, Capitol Disco – smooth, and not without merit.
