Hello fellow pandemic emergers, and welcome aboard to our new normal, so far a kind of familiar-seeming nonsensical hybrid ala Elton John vs. Pnau. I’ll take it. Weirdly familiar is the loose theme for this collection that answers the question Did the Voice of Xtabay ever do ecstasy? Of course, there had to be an Yma Sumac disco record, and daddy dsco had to bring it to you! Along with Max Berliner’s (why possessive? who knows?) who, it turns out is Cerrone’s brother (!). He scored a couple of minor old-school disco epics before going new wave in 1980 with New Wave, an album case study in how to combine cocaine with a children’s choir, especially if we’re talking Children Of The Corn. Rally Down to Sally’s is David Christie proving he was a two-trick pony by essentially saddling up and riding the same horse twice. Ebony show us that there was gold to be mined as Baccara impersonators. Fast Radio do a swell job of nicely neutering the Stones. Boney M show off their smarts for disco-fying psychedelic nuggets (see also My Friend Jack), and Nasty Boys push KISS so close to the hair metal disco inferno, it’s a miracle their AquaNet didn’t ignite. (Although, given those screeches, maybe it did.) Saturday is a recently rediscovered cut by Chic in their pre-Chic incarnation as the Big Apple Band, a group that backed New York City on their proto-disco hit I’m Doing Fine Now. BAB backed soul singer Robert Cotter for a barley released album in 1976 before they struck gold on their own and revived Saturday for the solo album they produced as a consolation prize for ousted original Chic singer Norma Jean Wright. Norma Jean got the heave-ho because the guys felt her singing was “too distinctive,” and they wanted a vocal sound that meshed seamlessly with their well-oiled Chic Organization. That decision really makes sense to me hearing Cotter wail away on this original Saturday. Cool disengagement really helps showcase what the group did best. I love Norma Jean’s version of Saturday that walks a very tight line between icy distance and stifled heartbreak that threatens to break free and gives the production an amazing tension. Norma Jean’s version of Saturday is a disc I would spin for anyone who asked me to sum up what was best about disco.

Welcome Aboard – Webster Lewis ’81 ᵿ Sad – Elton John vs. Pnau ’12 ᵿ Rain 2000 – Calhoon ’75 ᵿ Law of the Land – The Professionals ’84 ᵿ One Night in Bangkok – Robey ’84 ᵿ Yes, I Do – Adriano Celentano ’77 ᵿ Rally Down to Sally’s – David Christie ’83 ᵿ I Was Made for Loving You – Nasty Boys ’86 ᵿ Under My Thumb – Fast Radio ’83 ᵿ Blow Work – Max Berliner’s ’80 ᵿ Painter Man – Boney M ’78 ᵿ Memory – Menage ’83 ᵿ Saturday – Robert Cotter ’76 ᵿ Don’t Boogie Mr. Tango – Ebony ’76 ᵿ MamBo Hip – Yma Sumac ’91 ᵿ Comin’ Home Baby– Mascara ’79