Caribbean Disco Boogie Sounds 1977-1982

by Various Artists

"It's now pretty obvious that disco's powerful influence extended beyond western clubs to musicians all around the world, from France to Brazil, as Favorite Recordings proved with the previous volumes of the Disco Boogie Sounds compilations (FVR 098CD/LP (2014), FVR 101CD/LP (2015)). The islands of the West Indies are no exception. Indeed, in the late '70s and early '80s in the Caribbean territories, local musicians and producers seized on the sound of their US counterparts and made it their own, melding disco, funk, and boogie (even early rap) elements with some more traditional local styles. The significant size of the Caribbean diaspora in the US, Canada, and UK has also played a huge role in making those two musical worlds meet. The musicians of the Caribbean not only tried to reproduce US dance hits locally, but also bred their own version of disco. Apart from some obvious titles that made it to the charts ('Trinidad' by John Gibbs (1977), to name one), very few of these productions are widely known, played only by a handful of record collectors and DJs. Having grown up for most of my childhood and teenager years in a small island from the Indian Ocean, I was immersed in the 'sun & sand' vibes at an early age, which helped molding my musical tastes. If the sound of the Caribbean Islands is very different from the Indian Ocean's one, it's anyway no surprise that I have been attracted quickly by the West-Indies' 70s music productions, as a DJ and record collector. From an initial pre-selection of 40 tracks, Favorite Recordings and I teamed up to narrow down the actual tracklist. With no pretention to be exhaustive, this selection represents a tiny sample of a broader ocean of quality Caribbean Disco/Boogie tunes. It will take you to various places like Virgin Islands, Jamaica, or Trinidad, as well as a couple of Western major cities, where West-Indies diaspora is strong (New York, London). The soundtrack of this journey goes from Disco/Rap sounds, with the obscure 'Macho Man' by Eddie and the Movements, to weird Afro-Disco/Funk influenced songs, such as 'My African Religion' by Jamaican singer Paul Hurlock. Also featured here are a couple of personal secret weapons such as instrumental 'Bermuda Triangle' by Musicism, or 'Going to the Party' by Barry Bryson" --Waxist. Also includes tracks by Beres Hammond, Ray Williams, Oluko Imo, and Teddy Davis.