A pair of disco gems – back to back in a single set, and with bonus tracks too! First up is the album On Such A Winter's Day by Grand Tour – a unique side project of the Canadian team who gave the world the THP Orchestra, but one that's done with a bit more Euro style overall! The grooves are full and sweeping right from the start – not as
cold as the sounds coming from some of the German studios, but with a similar use of vocals tied up inside the strings – a quality that has the singer equally placed with the instrumentation in the mix, and not as much as a standout soloist. These strings are arranged to perfection by the legendary Jimmie Haskell – who really changes up his mode here, and works great with the groove. The set's got a killer clubby remake of "California Dreamin" – done with female lead vocals and a disco pace that's somehow more
chilling than the original. Other titles include "Still I'm Sad", "The Grand Tour", "Flight To Versailles", and the great jazzy groover "Late November". Bonus tracks include "Grand Tour (7" mix)", "Let's Go Boating (promo 7" mix)", "Grand Tour Medley", "Lat November (promo 7" mix)", and "Still I'm Sad (7" mix)". Headin South is a standout album from Southern Exposure – a sweet disco set from the Canadian scene of the late 70s – and one that's as sexy-sounding as its cover might imply! The tracks are long and nicely stretched-out – and have a great use of percussion at the core, mixed with spacier keyboards that really help refine the groove – and give the tracks more than enough energy to push well past the 5 minute mark – even without any sort of strong vocals in the lead! Lyrics are mostly in the catch chorus style of this sort of work – but the main appeal is really the instrumentation, including keyboards from Carl Marsh, alongside some nice riffing guitar and bass as well. Titles include "On Our Way", "Love Is", "Tight Pants", and "Headin South". Bonus tracks include "Headin South (edit)", "On Our Way (edit)", "Love Is (7" mix)", and "Tight Pants (7" mix)".