If there is one gateway into what the Netherlands'
PTG
label does (they reissue '80s club-oriented R&B, basically) it's the third volume of their
Disco Giants
series, which is packed with radio smashes and underground club favorites. It's less reliant upon the kind of post-disco marginalia that appeals only to the most hardcore fans of the era, and it will be a goldmine for anyone who knows the biggest hits -- like
Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force
's
"I Wonder If I Take You Home"
and
Jellybean
"Sidewalk Talk"
(featuring
Madonna
), both of which are here -- and wants to dig deeper. Highlights include (but are not limited to)
Odyssey
"Inside Out,"
Skipworth & Turner
"Thinking About Your Love,"
Yarbrough & Peoples
'
"Don't Stop the Music,"
Billy Ocean
"Nights (Feel Like Getting Down),"
Loose Ends
"Slow Down,"
High Fashion
"Feeling Lucky Lately"
(the closest a
Jacques Fred Petrus
-produced group came to repeating the shimmering bliss of
Change
"Paradise"
). Just about everything here was an indispensable tool for an '80s club jock. ~ Andy Kellman