John Savage offers us a mighty nice look at the years of post-disco, and post-post-punk – served up here in a great mix of music from a time when soulful styles were mixing it up with returning rock on the dancefloor! The work here is from a time when the UK scene was having big global impact with a new sort of sound – often with a fair dose of electric energy, sometimes darker and more industrialized, sometimes lighter and catchy – and a perfect fit for some of the street soul styles happing in the US as well! Most acts here are British, but there's a few key American groups two – blended together in the kind of cuts that made clubs like Danceteria or The Hacienda such a delight back in the day. As usual, the notes are superb – a special Savage touch – and titles include "Techno City (voc)" by Cybotron, "Telephone Operator" by Pete Shelly, "Soweto" by Malcolm McLaren, "All Tomorrow's Parties" by Japan, "Bright Lights" by The Special AKA, "What Presence" by Orange Juice, "No Sell Out" by Malcom X mixed by Keith LeBlanc, "I Want You" by Cabaret Voltaire, "Think Fast" by Pamela Joy, "Looking From A Hilltop" by Section 25, "Why" by Bronski Beat, "Sunspots" by Julian Cope, "Never Understand" by Jesus & Mary Chain, "Heat" by Soft Cell, "The Rock Steady Grew" by Rock Steady Crew, "Disappearing Act" by Shalamar, "Lined Up" by Shriekback, and "Life's A Scream" by A Certain Ratio. CD

A mighty nice collision of sounds – and one that really gets at the special spirit of music on the left side of the scene at the start of the 80s! Sure, punk broke things open in the late 70s – but a few years later, that initial shock gave way to a much more fluid, experimental sort of scene – one in which different sounds and styles could resonate with each other in a really great way – some barriers between rock and soul forever taken down, and the door from the artier side of the spectrum open to bring some fresh ideas into the mainstream! Writer Jon Savage was a very important part of the scene at the time – and here, he recalls the musical moment not just with a great array of tracks that leap between genres, but also with well-penned notes that get at the thought behind the tunes included on the 35 track set. Titles include "Hydraulic Pump (part 2)" by P Funk All Stars, "We're So Cool" by Au Pairs, "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force, "Don't Make Me Wait" by NYC Peech Boys, "Poor Old Soul (part 2)" by Orange Juice, "Sound Of The Crowd" by Human League, "Underground" by The Bizarros, "Twist & Crawl" by The Beat, "These Days" by Joy Division, "The Apartment" by Giorgio Moroder, "She's Lost Control" by Grace Jones, "More Bounce To The Ounce" by Zapp, "Flight" by A Certain Ratio, "Euthenics" by Modern Eon, "Too Many Creeps" by Bush Tetras, "How We Gonna Make The Black Nation Rise" by Brother D with Collective Effort, "Mack The Knife" by Psychedelic Furs, "Pictures" by Josef K, "Adventures On The Wheels Of Steel" by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, "Art On 45" by Royal Family & The Poor, and "Our Love" by Donna Summer. CD

A mighty nice collision of sounds – and one that really gets at the special spirit of music on the left side of the scene at the start of the 80s! Sure, punk broke things open in the late 70s – but a few years later, that initial shock gave way to a much more fluid, experimental sort of scene – one in which different sounds and styles could resonate with each other in a really great way – some barriers between rock and soul forever taken down, and the door from the artier side of the spectrum open to bring some fresh ideas into the mainstream! Writer Jon Savage was a very important part of the scene at the time – and here, he recalls the musical moment not just with a great array of tracks that leap between genres, but also with well-penned notes that get at the thought behind the tunes included on the 35 track set. Titles include "Hydraulic Pump (part 2)" by P Funk All Stars, "We're So Cool" by Au Pairs, "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force, "Don't Make Me Wait" by NYC Peech Boys, "Poor Old Soul (part 2)" by Orange Juice, "Sound Of The Crowd" by Human League, "Underground" by The Bizarros, "Twist & Crawl" by The Beat, "These Days" by Joy Division, "The Apartment" by Giorgio Moroder, "She's Lost Control" by Grace Jones, "More Bounce To The Ounce" by Zapp, "Flight" by A Certain Ratio, "Euthenics" by Modern Eon, "Too Many Creeps" by Bush Tetras, "How We Gonna Make The Black Nation Rise" by Brother D with Collective Effort, "Mack The Knife" by Psychedelic Furs, "Pictures" by Josef K, "Adventures On The Wheels Of Steel" by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, "Art On 45" by Royal Family & The Poor, and "Our Love" by Donna Summer. CD