No.1 hits of Disco Soul Funk and Rare Groove - X-MEDIA 2003

[ruoffended]

There is a new box set 8 cd 96 songs of great tracks some mainstream and some obscure , my question is there someone who purchase it, i need to know if the songs are of 12 inch or long version
Thanx RU !




''Dreamin' about those disco lights''

[Bernie]

RU, I've already posted a review with complete tracklisting...
No. 1 Hits of Disco, Soul, Funk and Rare Groove

[K-Bee]

WOW - finally a box set that doesn't have the tracks edited into hell!! The tracklist is quite impressive. This looks like a great value pack indeed. Definetely something for disco newbies to consider.

[Bernie]

K-Bee, are you sure you read what I had to say about this item? :-?

[ruoffended]

Thanx Bernie for the infos , forgot to look at the cd and book review , i think for me it would be a great buy , i would say 50% of the material on this is unknow to me ,
and even if they are short version ,it makes me discover other gems ( that's a start ) , ill look for the longer version of what i like after ...

8)



''Dreamin' about those disco lights''
.......you've got me dancing in my sleep ...

[Bernie]

For those who didn't go to the review page here is the tracklisting / times along with my thoughts at the end...

Disc 1 of 8 - No. 1 Disco Hits
Don't Leave Me This Way 3:43 Thelma Houston
I Feel Love 8:16 Donna Summer
Love Macine 3:03 The Miracles
Shake Your Groove Thing 3:58 Peaches & Herb
Funkytown 3:58 Lipps Inc.
I Will Survive 3:19 Gloria Gaynor
You're The First, The Last, My Everything 3:27 Barry White
Upside Down 3:42 Diana Ross
Contact 6:51 Edwin Starr
Get Down 3:39 Gene Chandler
You Can Do It 6:29 Al Hudson
Got To Give It Up 4:14 Marvin Gaye

Disc 2 of 8 - No. 1 Disco Hits
Love Hangover 3:52 Diana Ross
Hot Stuff 3:53 Donna Summer
Love's Theme 4:09 The Love Unlimited Orchestra
Can't Get Enough Of Your Love 4:04 Barry White
I Love The Nightlife 5:36 Alicia Bridges
Now That We Found Love 7:37 Third World
Celebration 3:42 Kool & The Gang
Mama Used To Say 3:38 Junior
You Can't Hide Your Love 6:43 David Joseph
The Medicine Song 3:48 Stephanie Mills
Can't Live Without Your Love 7:15 Tamiko Jones
Spread Love 8:38 Al Hudson & The Soul Partners

Disc 3 of 8 - No. 1 Soul Hits
I Want You Back 3:01 The Jackson 5
Love Town 5:18 Booker Newberry III
Never Knew Love Like This Before 3:27 Stephanie Mills
Hang On In There Baby 3:24 Johnny Bristol
Strawberry Letter 23 3:49 The Brothers Johnson
Don't You Get So Mad 3:54 Jeffrey Osbourne
All Night Long 5:36 Mary Jane Girls
It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me 7:00 Barry White
Does She Have A Friend 4:12 Gene Chandler
Silver Shadow 4:59 Atlantic Starr
Walk Away From Love 3:20 David Ruffin
Piano In The Dark 4:22 Brenda Russell

Disc 4 of 8 - No. 1 Soul Hits
The Rain 5:08 Oran 'Juice' Jones
A Love Supreme 5:36 Will Downing
Razzamatazz 4:17 Quincy Jones
Nightshift 4:26 Commodores
Mine All Mine 5:02 Cashflow
I Want To Do Something Freaky To You 5:56 Leon Haywood
Ain't Nothing Going On But the Rent 3:30 Gwen Guthrie
You Used To Hold Me So Tight 5:46 Thelma Houston
PuttIng A Rush On Me 5:55 Stephanie Mills
Too Hot 5:09 Kool & The Gang
Men Should Not Sleep Alone 6:38 Ray Parker Jr.
Dont Look Any Further 5:27 Dennis Edwards

Disc 5 of 8 - No. 1 Funk Hits
Sex Machine 5:18 James Brown
Funky Stuff 3:05 Kool & The Gang
Brick House 3:36 Commodores
Fire 4:29 Ohio Players
Shake Your Rump To The Funk 3:40 The Bar-Kays
Make It Funky 3:18 James Brown
Jungle Boogie 3:06 Kool & The Gang
Rigor Mortis 5:26 Cameo
Car Wash 3:20 Rose Royce
Theme From "Which Way Is Up" 3:11 Stargard
Don't Stop The Music 7:52 Yarborough & Peoples
I Don't Believe You Want To Get Up & Dance (Oops) 8:44 The Gap Band

Disc 6 of 8 - No. 1 Funk Hits
Get Up Offa That Thing 4:12 James Brown
Running Away 6:58 Roy Ayers
You & I 3:14 Rick James
Burn Rubber On Me 5:38 The Gap Band
Let's Get Serious 7:58 Jermaine Jackson
Behind The Groove 6:03 Teena Marie
Let's Start The Dance (with Male rap-like vocals) 7:38 Hamilton Bohannon
Flashlight 5:33 Parliament
Get The Funk Outta My Face 5:59 The Brothers Johnson
Love Will Bring Us Back Together 6:00 Roy Ayers
I'm A Sucker For Your Love 3:14 Teena Marie
Tear The Roof Off The Sucker 5:28 Parliament

Disc 7 of 8 - No. 1 Rare Groove Hits
Blow Your Head 4:45 The JBs
I Know You Got Soul 4:44 Bobby Byrd
Think (About It) 3:25 Lyn Collins
I Believe In Miracles 4:52 The Jackson Sisters
'Cross The Track 3:22 Maceo And The Macks
Yes It's You 3:15 Sweet Charles
Message From The Soul Sisters 4:16 Myra Barnes
The Boss 3:17 James Brown
Same Beat 3:21 Fred Wesley & The JB's
Gimme Some More 3:07 The JBs
Soul Power '74 4:12 Maceo And The Macks
House Party 5:29 Fred Wesley

Disc 8 of 8 - No. 1 Rare Groove Hits
Hot Butterfly 7:52 Gregg Diamond / Bionic Boogie Featuring Luther Vandross
Is This The Best (Bop Doo Wah) 3:49 L.A. Boopers
Jungle Fever 4:26 Chakachas
Get It Up For Love 5:48 Tata Vega
I Want To Thank You 3:50 Alicia Myers
Choosing You 6:16 Lenny Williams
Your Sweetness Is My Weakness 8:04 Barry White
Moonlight Lovin Menage A Trois 10:03 Isaac Hayes
Shake Her Loose 2:29 The Jackson Sisters
It Must Be Love 6:08 Alton McClain & Destiny
Baby Baba Boogie 4:18 The Gap Band
I Just Want To Be 5:21 Cameo

Review of this CD:

This 8 CD boxset called No. 1 Hits of Disco, Soul, Funk and Rare Grooves appears at first to be a great value. What with all that music at such a low price and look, there are only 12 songs on each CD, one must assume that they've used the full and unedited versions? Dream on. Nowhere are the track times listed-not even on the inside booklet of each CD-NOWHERE. Some of these CDs clock in with a total time of around 50 minutes so they could have used full versions.

Number 1 Hits of Disco, Soul, Funk and Rare Grooves is a complete disgrace and almost appears to be a blatant attempt by X-Media to mislead the buying public. There really should be a legal mandate to require all record labels to post complete tracklistings on the outside packaging.

No other website or store mentions this or even bother to give a complete tracklisting - they just say buy it. I've had this box set for a while now and was not even going to post it, but thought better of it and hope this info is of use to someone.

Now on to the music and the selection. It's a shame as this boxset could have been a killer piece and I realize that licensing restrictions might have played a part in the way things came out. Firstly, all the tracks are culled from the Universal catalogue, which means classic material from MCA, Polydor, 20th Century, Delite, Motown, Casablanca, Island and other record labels.

The two compact discs for Disco have almost all the songs relegated to roughly three minute edits with the notable exceptions of Third World's "Now That We Found Love" and about 3 others that already have appeared in this form on other CDs.

Fortunately, it's the other three CDs that give this compilation some respectability despite the continued use of 3-4 minute versions for most tracks. Unlike the Disco CDs, there are a number of great tracks which one may not have on other compilations. Songs like Bionic Boogie's "Hot Butterfly" and Chakachas' "Jungle Fever." Look at the tracklisting and times that I listed above and you can make up your own mind whether you should buy this or not. Truth be told a better buy would be the CD compialtion Magnum Opus, which has full versions of similar songs.

The main reason why I am a bit negative on this box set is what appears to be an attempt to cover-up the track times. Had they been clearly labelled I would say No. 1 Hits of Disco, Soul, Funk and Rare Grooves is a great value despite the limitations.

[K-Bee]

Bernie,
I just read your comments on the box-set, but I'm still not sure I get it :-? I'm sooo slow at times! :lol:
The tracklists and lenghts you posted...are they for real or is it just X-media trying to pull some sorta scam on potential buyers of the set?

If they are for real, I must admit it still looks like good deal in my book (not that I would ever buy it though...I have way too many of the songs elsewhere already )

[Bernie]

Yes, the tracklist and times that I posted are for real.

I posted the "complete" info because no one else has. The times do not appear anywhere on the CD, liner notes or even on the outside of the box itself.

With only 12 songs per disc many people might assume they are getting full versions of each song, but that isn't the case as most songs are only 3-4 minutes long. What's annoying is that some CDs in the set clocks in at around 50 minutes-one of them only has 48 minutes of music, which means they had space to provide the full versions. That's wrong in my book and I'm calling them on it. I spent almost $30.00 thinking I was getting full versions of all the songs.

[DJ-Pir]

Not al bad.......

Guys,
I bought this comp (as a 4 disc box)here in Holland for $18 :-)
just the track that made it allright to spend that money :

Moonlight Lovin Menage A Trois 10:03 Isaac Hayes 8)

The fact that they left out the running times is a scam, but this box set will make a
long car ride a joy, as for collectors value Bernie is right, it's not more than a mere 6 out of 10 imho.

Keep it funky,
Peter

[boogie nites]

A tough one. These discs were put out in Australia not too long ago for very cheap prices, and apart from the soul one I own them all. For me, owning gems like "Moonlight Lovin", "Get It Up For Love" and "Get Down" (sadly in its 7" version) were worth the $10. If you are looking for these songs, and oddly I didn't find Peaches and Herbs "Shake Your Groove Thing" on as many compilations as I thought I would, then this is not too bad a start.