Choice: A Collection of Classics

• Artist: Tony Humphries
• Rating:
• Release Date: August 05, 2003
• Type: Compilation (best of)
• Genre: Electronica

Review

Azuli's Choice: A Collection of Classics series has become more valuable to the history of club music than most old-school dancers and DJs realize. For youngsters who are just beginning to understand the value of disco and house beyond the derided mainstream (and often watered-down) hits, these sets -- pieced together by venerable jocks -- are small treasures, glimpses into eras that deserve the same level of analysis accorded to anything rock-related. Since the average dance-music fan is more likely to be found in a club or recovering from a night out than documenting his or her experience (as opposed to rock writing, more the domain of timid shut-ins, Lester Bangs wannabes, and frustrated list-makers), lists like "The Top 100 Disco Songs of All-Time" aren't nearly as common as "The Top 100 Rock Singles of All-Time." Just the same, getting a healthy introduction into dance music is terribly difficult for outsiders, given the number of near-sighted compilations that juggle the same songs over and over. That's where the reliable Choice series comes in. Tony Humphries, a DJ synonymous with Newark, NJ's Club Zanzibar, fills his volume with as much personality and expertise as the other series contributors. Given two discs to work with, he serves up a wide variety of cuts that covers the mid-'70s through the early '90s, encompassing the gritty disco-funk of Mass Production's "Welcome to Our World," the slick jazz-funk of the Blackbyrds' "City Life," the sophisticated machine-assisted soul of Deodato's "Are You for Real," the hardcore hip-house of Todd Terry's "Hard Core-Hip House," and the mid-'90s garage-house of LY's "Back 2 Zanzibar." Like the François Kevorkian edition of the series, Humphries' take features the tracks in unmixed form. The sequencing doesn't make for optimal flow, but none of the transitions are particularly rough; still, out of all the other Choice comps, this one might function better as a source of tracks for your own mixes. The generous liner notes, as expected from the Azuli label, offer a wonderful historical perspective. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide

Tracks

CD 1

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Welcome to Our World		Mass Production
Me and the Gang		Bohannon
Tomorrow (Lyrics)
Hard Core Hip-House		Tyree
Carry On [Tee's Crazy Mix]		Martha Wash, Todd Terry
City Life	Kevin Toney	The Blackbyrds
Whole Lotta Love (Lyrics)
Color of My Skin [Swing Remix]		Swing 52
Are You for Real	Rick Suchow	Deodato
Emotional Disguise	Peter Godwin	Peter Godwin
You Can Get Over		Stephanie Mills
Take Me Home (Lyrics)	Michele Aller, Bob Esty	Cher

CD 2

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Back to Zanzibar [King Street Mix]		The Ly-Dells
I Need You Now [Tee's Master Extended Mix]		Sinnamon
Hear the Music		Gypsymen
Happiness (Lyrics)	Allen Toussaint	The Pointer Sisters
I Only Have Eyes for You		Heaven & Earth
Digital Love Thing	Carl Marsh, David Barrett	Happyhead
Optimo	Liquid Liquid	Liquid Liquid
It's Just Begun	Jimmy Castor, Johnnie Pruitt, Gerry Thomas, The Jimmy Castor Bunch	The Jimmy Castor Bunch
Sure Can't Go to the Moon	Dennis Coffey, Mike Theodore, Charles Clark, Constance Durden, Joni Tolbert, Connie Durden, Curtis Durden	CJ & Co
It's a Mean World		Mark IV
Hypnosis		Psychotropic
Dance Floor of Life	Phalon, Stanford Banks, Ernest Williamson	Phalon
Where Will You Go When the Party's Over	Victor Carstarphen, Gene McFadden, John Whitehead	Archie Bell & the Drells

Credits

The Ly-Dells (Performer)