A few weeks ago I posted this collection's sister, Sleaze. Like Sleaze, Encore is a multi-disk compilation of disco and dance tunes from the 70s and 80s that those of us of a certain age undoubtedly danced our asses off to when we were "young and beautiful." While a few of the transitions are absolute train wrecks, it's a stellar collection and highly recommended if you can find it.
Today's Soundtrack
Gawd I Needed This
Yes, I'm one of those Philip Glass people.
You're surprised?
Seriously?
Since We're on a Trip Down Memory Lane…
It Arrived!
Released 39 Years Ago Today
Grace Jones: Living My Life (1982)
Flashback Friday
My Winter 2009 Playlist
A Musical Escape
To those of us of a certain age and musical taste, this is manna from Heaven. I received this compilation from a friend (a collection of 12 albums—156 songs—for a total of 13 hours) several years ago when we were living in Denver but for some reason it's been languishing in iTunes all these years with me scarcely paying it a second glance.
A few weeks ago I was looking for something I could just put on in the background while working from home as I'd grown weary of the offerings of our FM jazz station. Sleaze is a collection of disco and dance tunes from the late 70s to the early 90s that encompasses all the various sub-genres. While a few of the transitions are absolute train wrecks, it's a stellar collection of the music I used to dance my ass off to. It's become my go-to commute and working-from-home background soundtrack because I can just put it on and it will run all day without repeating.
I mean, look at this playlist!
Highly recommended if you can find it. A cursory internet search returned squat.
Released 45 Years Ago Today
Donna Summer: Once Upon a Time… (1977)
Her masterpiece, and as I have written of many times before, an album that holds a very special place in my heart.
As Is My Halloween Tradition…
Posted every year, just because.
Released 37 Years Ago Today
Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Welcome to the Pleasuredome (1984)
Released 36 Years Ago Today
Grace Jones: Slave to the Rhythm (1985)
Released 37 Years Ago Today
Culture Club: Waking Up With The House On Fire (1984)
Released 27 Years Ago Today
Madonna: Bedtime Stories (1994)
Probably my favorite music video of all time.
The album itself is also available in a very limited edition 2-LP gatefold edition on pink vinyl. It is, of course, priced in the stratosphere and a completely unrealistic purchase on my salary. (And frankly, I'm not as hot to get it as I once was, learning that it's on hot pink vinyl, not the powder-pink I feel it should've been.)
Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This
Released 40 Years Ago Today
Quarterflash: Quarterflash (1981)
Released 29 Years Ago Today
Madonna: Erotica (1992)
Released 41 Years Ago Today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWEypHhB0Rc&list=PLrpyDacBCh7Cqp1fPAfIMDfiEaZfirE13
Donna Summer: The Wanderer (1980)
Or as I like to call it, "The beginning of the end of her career."
No Lie Detected
Wow, Indeed
The Hollywood Amoeba Haul
I didn't need any of this, but I couldn't go to Amoeba and not buy something.


Bedtime Stories is a German pressing, and is rapidly becoming my favorite purchase of the bunch. Like all the records I've purchased that were manufactured in the Germany, this one is outstanding. There is something about quality control that the factories in the rest of the world should take note of, because I'd be willing to pay a premium to buy all my vinyl from German plants if it were possible. The record is 180g vinyl with a completely silent background.




Also Released 45 Years Ago Today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGuYD-Q__I0
Donna Summer: Four Seasons of Love (1976)
Released 45 Years Ago Today
ABBA: Arrival (1976)
This was the first ABBA album I ever bought. It went off to college with me.
"She He Let Me Keep On My Cowboy Boots And Everything"
Released 48 Years Ago Today
I Am Unabashedly Loving This
Turn That Frown Into A Smile
More From '79
The fact that disco was the cover story on goddamned fucking Newsweek should've been the first clue that its death (or at least transformation) was imminent. When you have pictures of pensioners shuffling along to the beat, you know it's a goner—at least where the gay nightlife was concerned. After the mainstream killed it, it went back underground and was reborn under a dozen monikers. Thankfully the beat still lives on today, but you won't find anyone calling it disco.
Released 34 Years Ago Today
Pet Shop Boys: Actually (1987)
Released 44 Years Ago Today
Grace Jones: Portfolio (1977)