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Disco grooves from a source you might not expect – the Japanese scene of the 70s, which was home to a surprisingly strong array of records that were perfect for the clubs! In retrospect, maybe the music's not such a surprise – given that 70s Japan was also a hotbed of electric fusion, and the kind of sharp instrumentation that provides the core to most of these tunes – wicked basslines, sweet keyboards, and funky drums that propel these tracks along in a wonderful way – even if you can't understand some of the Japanese lyrics over the top! In fact, many of these numbers are even more in the fusion or funk-inspired side of disco – less the crossover cuts with strings and big production, and more like the kind of American club tracks you might hear from Kudu Records or some of the other fusion labels. The package is proof that great sounds can be truly universal – and comes with detailed notes on the artists and scene at the time. Titles include "By By Session Band" by Lily, "Summer Champion" by Yuko Asano, "Dancin" by Junko Ohashi, "Rainbow Parade" by Masayoshi Takanaka, "Uragiri" by Mari Natuski, "Maboroshi No Hito" by Miyako Chaki, "Banana" by Kay Ishiguro, "Yashow Macashow" by Ebonee Webb, "Lovin Mighty Fire" by Nayoya Matsuko & Minako Yoshida, "Sentimental Hotel" by Rie Nkahara, and "Barato Yajuu" by Haruomi Hosono. LP, Vinyl record album

An expanded version of this famous series of funky tracks from the Turkish scene – a set that pulls up plenty of gems from the past, then has all their funky bits made even funkier through the talents of Baris K! If you've dug funky Turkish tracks and Arabesk rock from the 70s, you'll get the sound of the set – but know that thanks to Baris' work, the whole thing's an all-killer, no-filler collection – with cuts that include "Cemalim" by Erkin Koray, "Ayrilik" by Edip Akbayaram, "Ikimiz Bir Fidaniz" by Kamuran Akkor, "Hal Hal" by Nazan Soray, "Yaz Gazeteci" by Deriyoklar, "Derman Bulunmaz" by Ersen & Dadaslar, "Nem Alacak Felek Benim" by Cem Karaca, "Donme Dolap" by Modern Folk Uclusu & Aysegul Aldinic, and "Disko Kebap" by Urfali Babi. LP, Vinyl record album

Don't think "disco", think "funky jazz" – because this sweet South African group from the 70s is filled with lots of groovy twists and turns – all in a mode that's quite different than any of the American or European jazz albums we know from the time! The lineup here includes reed heavyweight Basil Coetzee on both flute and tenor sax – working in a quartet with some sublime organ lines from Pops Mohamed – who plays in this snakey sort of way that's a bit like South African jazz piano, but maybe even more flowing and moody. The grooves are sometimes funky, sometimes more modal – but always forward moving in a really great way, but again with a very fresh approach to rhythm! Titles include "Super Natural Love", "Yasmeen's Blues", "Night Express", "Odd's On", and "Echo On The Delay". LP, Vinyl record album

A really fantastic little record – and one that's even better than you might expect from the title – which itself is already pretty darn fantastic! The set is upbeat and funky, but not entirely disco – more this very groovy blend of Mid-East elements and more familiar keyboards – all moving and grooving in ways that are a lot hipper than any other belly dance music we've heard! Music features piano and organ, plus a very cool "string synthesizer" by played by the leader – and there's also plenty of percussion at the core of the set, making for a nice juxtaposition with the electric elements. Titles include "Night Entertainer", "Dance Of Tenderness", "Joy Of Lina", "A Flower Of My Imagination", "Love Of Laura", "Girls Of Iskandariah", and "Once A Year". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible collection – and one that fills in a crucially under-documented side of the New York dancefloor generation – the wealth of special mixes and edits that were made for that city's important DJs for their own use in clubs! The package sorts through a mountain of never-issued acetates, and goes way past conventional disco or rare club collections – to showcase the special mixing talents these DJs brought to their re-presentation of the material – which was usually done on tape, then pressed onto acetate discs for their own private use! Those rare treasures are brought forth here – in a beautiful package that's also overflowing with fantastic notes that finally give this lost history its due – all handled by Al Kent – who's a hell of a mixer himself, as well as an underground club historian. Vinyl part 2 features five full records – all with lots of space for the tracks to stretch out – and titles include "My Number's Up (Tee Scott rmx)" by The Salsoul Orchestra, "The Love Bug Done Bit Me Again (David Todd rmx)" by Skyliners, "LA Sunshine (Robert Ouimet rmx)" by Aura, "Love Has Come My Way (Jim Burgess rmx)" by Tony Valor Sound Orchestra, "Handsome Ma (Bobby DJ Guttadoro rmx)" by Sparkle Tuhran & Friends, "Love Thang (Tee Scott rmx)" by First Choice, "Burn Me Up (Jellybean Benitez edit)" by Kay Gees, "Love Is The Message (Tee Scott rmx)" by Brooklyn Express, "Changes (Jellybean Benitez rmx)" by Chain Reaction, "J'Ouvert (Frank Sestito rmx)" by John Gibbs & The Jam Band, "By The Way You Dance (Bobby DJ Guttadaro rmx)" by Bunny Sigler, "It's Good For The Soul (Walter Gibbons disco madness version)" by Salsoul Orchestra, and "It's A Better Than Good Time (Walter Gibbons rmx)" by Gladys Knight & The Pips. LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible collection – and one that fills in a crucially under-documented side of the New York dancefloor generation – the wealth of special mixes and edits that were made for that city's important DJs for their own use in clubs! The package sorts through a mountain of never-issued acetates, and goes way past conventional disco or rare club collections – to showcase the special mixing talents these DJs brought to their re-presentation of the material – which was usually done on tape, then pressed onto acetate discs for their own private use! Those rare treasures are brought forth here – in a beautiful package that's also overflowing with fantastic notes that finally give this lost history its due – all handled by Al Kent – who's a hell of a mixer himself, as well as an underground club historian. Vinyl part 1 features five different records, all with lots of space for the tunes to stretch out – and titles include "I Just Wanna Say I Love You (John Luongo rmx)" by Leon Collins, "What About Love (Tony Gioe rmx)" by Marboo, "Ten Percent (Walter Gibbons Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by Double Exposure, "Inside America (Rick Gianatos disco queen acetate edit)" by Juggy Murray Jones, "Dancing Free (John Luongo rmx)" by Hot Ice, "Black Water Gold (Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by The Sunshine Band, "Magic Bird Of Fire (Francois Kevorkian Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by Salsoul Orchestra, "It's Good For The Soul (Jay Negron Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by Salsoul Orchestra, "My Love Is Free (Walter Gibbons disco madness rmx)" by Double Exposure, "Reaching Out For Happiness (Jonathan Fearing rmx)" by Fay Hauser, "Let Me Be Your Fantasy (Tom Savarese rmx)" by Love Symphony Orchestra, "The Beat Goes On & On (Jim Burgess rmx)" by Ripple, "I Wanna Be Near You (John Morales Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by Ruby Andrews, "I've Been Looking For Somebody (Walter Gibbons rmx)" by TC James & The Fist O Funk Orchestra, "The Disco Scene (Rick Gianatos rmx)" by Lake Shore Drive, "Bumpsie's Whipping Cream (Tom Savarese rmx)" by TC James & The Fist O Funk Orchestra, and "Janice (Bobby DJ Guttadoro rmx)" by Skip Mahoney. LP, Vinyl record album

Beat digging heroes Kon & Amir return with a diverse, funky treasure trove of rare dancefloor anthems, rarer disco soul and African boogie cuts – possibly the best yet in their Off Track series for BBE! The east coast duo have dedicated each title in the series to an NYC borough, and Brooklyn is honored this time out – but there's a world of rare and underground club funk & soul presented here! Includes African disco & soul records with all regions dancefloor appeal, raw percussion and bass accented numbers that are tight and punchy and others with a more soaring approach, all of it totally wonderful and hard-to-find – including some we've seen or heard before! The vinyl version features 2LPs with unmixed tracks, with Kon's selections on 2 sides and Amir's on 2 sides – some featured on the mixed 2CD versions plus alternate tracks! Kon's selections include "Burnin Up" (Kon's edit) by SFB, "From The Heart" (Kon's Multi rmx) by Donny McCuillough, "Rock Don't Stop" by Taxie, "More Power To You" by Mazyck Project, "Lost In Space" by Shake and "EOD" by Edge Of Daybreak. Kon's selections include "Enjoy Your Life" by Oby Onyioha, "Disco Power" by Bomp, "You Can't Change A Man" by Christy Essien Igbokwe, "Sexy Dancer" by Harry Mosco and "Don't Ask Me" by Goddy Oku. LP, Vinyl record album

The kind of record that makes us mighty proud to live in the Windy City – and a long-overdue look at the wealth of rare club, disco, and soul cuts bubbling in the Chicago underground at the end of the 70s! During the early part of the decade, the city was widely known for some super-huge soul acts – and in the 80s, house would raise Chicago to international fame – but in the space between, the city kept on putting out some really wonderful music – wicked little cuts issued on small indie labels, most of which never got any circulation outside the midwest! The Mr Peabody crate-digging team's collected together the best of the best from these overlooked years – and also threw in a few of their own edits too – furthering the dancefloor potential of some of the best rare nuggets. 2LP version features 8 cuts – including "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again" by Carmen Amez – plus seven Mr Peabody edits – versions of "Too Far Gone" by LaJohn & Sheela, "The Challenge" by Billy Hinton, "The Composer" by Fantasie, "Running To A Disco" by Lonnie Givens, "Bass Come Back" by The Moore Brothers, "Disco Ball" by Brighter Side Of Darkness, and "Your Love Is In The Pocket" by Premonition. LP, Vinyl record album

With selections by Donna Summer, Silver Convention, Andrea True Connection, Gloria Gaynor, Vicki Sue Robinson, Salsoul Orchestra, Moment Of Truth, Crown Heights Affair, Yambu, and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Features tracks by Heatwave, Boz Scaggs, Lou Rawls, David Essex, Joe Tex, Deniece Williams, Noosha Fox, and more! LP, Vinyl record album

Not just disco nights, but some great mellow moments too – a wonderfully well-rounded classic from this great quartet – as tight and groovy as it is cool and classy! By the time of this debut, the group had already had plenty of 70s soul experience as The Rhythm Makers – a previous name for the lineup, and a combo with a great reputation for dancefloor grooves that were tight, but never too uptight – kind of the best funky soul styles of the time! This album definitely continues that tradition, with a sound that's leaner than most mainstream disco of the time – and really well put-together, in a way that also has them slowing down to hit some great ballads and mellower steppers too. The album features the massive disco title cut – "Disco Nights" – and a beautiful reworking of Billy Stewart's classic "I Do Love You" – with a sound that's faithful to the original, but a sweet stepping groove that's made it a favorite for years! Other cuts include "Boogie Oogie Oogie", "Spirit", "Make My Dreams A Reality", "It's Your Love", "I Do Love You", and "Wonderful". LP, Vinyl record album

Funky disco and rare soul compiled by Al Kent – Disco Love 2 on BBE – once again going a lot deeper into the soulful underground of the late 70s and coming back up with some incredibly fresh rarities! Al Kent hails from Glasgow, but we honestly couldn't tell you where most of the singers and groups on the set are from – but we can tell you it's a great batch of underground tunes, some soaring and straight up disco, others with a more thumping, rawer or funkier groove – all of it perfectly pitched to the dancefloor. Includes "Joey's Tune" by Plazza Suite", "I Think I'll Do Some Stepping On My Own" by Sandy Barber, "I've Got The Need" by Spooky & Sue, "I Can Make It On My Own" by Vessie Simmons, "Make Love To You" by Scarbrough, "When Did You Stop" by The J's and more. 8 long unmixed numbers on the 2LP version. LP, Vinyl record album

The genius sound of the TK Records label, taken to a whole new level – as some of the coolest club classics from that legendary Miami label are served up here in a host of new edits by contemporary talents! The sound is great – all the funk and soul of the originals, but kicked up a bit here and there on the rhythms – and often edited in ways that the grooves are really expanded too! Titles include "Spank (Dimitri From Paris Classic Re-Edit)" by Jimmy Bo Horne , "Ghetto Music" by Ted Taylor, "I'm Your Boogie Man (Todd Terje edit)" and "I Get Lifted (Todd Terje edit)" by KC & The Sunshine Band, "Do What You Wanna Do (Kon's Keep It Moving Mix)" by T-Connection, "Why Can't We Live Together (Late Nite Tuff Guy No More War Rework)" by Timmy Thomas, "Move Me Baby (Danny Krivit edit)" by Gwen McCrae, and "Jam On The Groove (Danny Krivit Edit)" by Ralph MacDonald. LP, Vinyl record album

Disco sounds from the Caribbean scene of the 70s – a really unique mix of regional styles with the kind of rhythms that were coming from New York and Philly at the time! The groove here is really unique – even different than some of the reggae or African disco numbers of the time – as the sunny style of Trinidad & Tobago and other islands turns out to be a perfect fit for clubby elements – mixing riffing instrumentation with playful lyrics that would have been right at home in older musical modes, but which are tuned just right here to match the energy of the disco generation. And these cuts have an appeal that goes way beyond any sense of novelty or gimmick – often served up with a soulfulness that meets or beats mainstream US disco of the period. Hats off to Cultures of Soul for bringing all these great grooves together – on a set that includes "Dance With Me" by Odessey One, "Feel Like Dancing" by Levi John, "Instant Funk" by Merchant, Be Yourself" by Mighty Duke, "The Rebels" and "Living On A String" by Wild Fire, "Peace Without Love" by Ronnie Butler And The Ramblers, "Rockers Delight" by Prince Blackman (a nicely simmering Jamaican funk take on "Rappers Delight"), "Got To Have You" by Joanne Wilson, "Disco Music" by Trinadad Troubadours – plus the bonus tracks "Got To Have You (Whiskey Barons Rework)" and "Dance With Me (Al Kent Version)" by Odessey One. LP, Vinyl record album

Nick Ingman's the arranger on Close Encounters – and helps give the record a disco vibe that's quite different than the usual sci fi set – a groove that clearly stems from Ingman's great sound library work of the 70s – touched here with plenty of clubby rhythms and some especially great keyboards at times. The whole thing's funkier than you might expect – and titles include "Close Encounters", "Flight Fantastic", "Space Patrol", "Solar Sailor", "The Omega Man", "Star Wars", "Time Machine", and "Blake's 7". LP, Vinyl record album

A treasure trove of late 70s French disco funk – actually sound library material from the Tele Music archives – featuring positively killer bass lines, keys and drums, with a warmth and a groove that just slays so much of the better known dancefloor material of the era! Includes great stuff by Spatial & Co, Disco & Co, Voyage and Arpadys – should be classic cosmic disco all the way! The vinyl version features 7 tracks: "Bass Power", "Electric Maneges", "Exotic Guide", "Future Vision" and "All The Bass" by Spatial & Co, ""Phantom Rock" by Disco & Co, and "I Love You Dancer" (instrumental version) by Voyage. LP, Vinyl record album

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This is it! The record that helped put disco over in a huge way, with a sound that would go on to be heavily imitated for years to come. Sweeping disco production from Hugo & Luigi arranged and conducted by Van McCoy, already a studio mainstay by this point, coupled with a set of accessible numbers paved the way towards huge mainstream appeal for tracks like "The Hustle". This album also includes the title track, "Get Dancin", "Spanish Boogie", "Turn This Mother Out" plus covers of the Ohio Players' "Fire" and AWB's "Pick Up The Pieces". LP, Vinyl record album

The third volume in this wonderful series – and like the other volumes, a record that really lives up to its name! The groove here mixes together 70s roots in disco and reggae – and comes up with a cool contemporary blend that's mighty nice – held together through top-shelf production from key French talents who include Mato and Patchworks – in a groove that's nicely unified throughout! Many tunes are covers and remakes – the set includes great versions of songs by Herbie Hancock, Rolling Stones, Donna Summer, and others – but all done in these very fresh new ways that are completely unique. Titles include "Feel Like Makin Love" by The Dynamics, "Disco Illusion" by Taggy Matcher, "Melt The Night (Mato reggae rmx)" by Lucas Arruda, "Miss You (ext disco version)" by The Dynamics, "Shake It Dub (ext 12" version)" by 7 Samurai, "Cantaloupe Island" by Taggy Matcher, "Movin In The Right Direction" by Mato, and "Loev To Love You Baby" by Rosemary Martins. LP, Vinyl record album