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Yes, it was a mega-hit – and yes, it was one of those records that everyone who lived through the 70s seemed to own at one time – but after all these decades, you can't deny the power of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack – especially for the way that it mixed club soul classics with new original material! Obviously, the Bee Gees cover placement make them big stars of the record – but the set's also got some great early disco gems – like "Open Sesame" by Kool & The Gang, "Disco Inferno" by The Trammps, "KJEE" by MFSB, "Calypso Breakdown" by Ralph MacDonald, "Fifth Of Beethoven" by Walter Murphy, "If I Can't Have You" by Yvonne Elliman, "Boogie Shoes" by KC & The Sunshine Band, and "More Than A Woman" by Tavares. The Bee Gees reinvent themselves from the early days – and sing "Stayin Alive", "How Deep Is Your Love", "More Than A Woman", "Jive Talkin", "You Should Be Dancin", and "Night Fever" – and the set also features a few instrumentals by David Shire – "Manhattan Skyline", "Night On Disco Mountain" and "Salsation". (Soul, Soundtracks) CD

A classic 70s soul soundtrack – and a dream of a combination! Curtis Mayfield wrote the soundtrack and produced the album – and the result is a killer batch of 70s soul tracks that matches Aretha's strong vocals with the hip Curtom sound of Chicago! Aretha was still doing pretty well at this point, but the album really gave her a push – and the super-hip setting let her record some of her best work of the 70s. If you own only one Aretha Franklin album from the 70s, it should probably be this one – as the mixture of soul, funk, and soundtrack grooves is great, and a refreshing change from some of the cliches that could show up on other records. Features the sublime "Something He Can Feel", plus "Loving You Baby", "Look Into Your Heart", "Sparkle", and Jump". (Soul, Soundtracks) CD