As you might expect, Andy Smith’s selections for the album are not only delightfully obscure but highly memorable. Many titles will spark recognition, having been sampled for more contemporary hip hop and R&B tracks. Disco & Boogie this compilation may be, but it’s been put together with a b-boy mentality. As Andy himself puts it “At my ‘Reach Up’ and ‘Boombox’ nights a fair few of these will have been played, but interestingly some of these tracks might well get played at more ‘hip hop orientated’ nights i do too because of the disco breaks: tracks like “T Connection” & “Freedom.”
Containing a raft of undeniable dance-floor fillers and slept-on anthems, ‘Reach Up – Disco Wonderland’ also at times displays that indefinable, other-worldy, almost eerie sonic fingerprint that’s been present in Andy’s productions and DJ sets since day one. Above all, this album is testament to a youthful obsession with home taping. As Andy puts it: “just being able to officially put these tracks out that i used to play on my ghetto blaster in the streets is an amazing thing!”
Vinyl Track List:
A1 Don Laka – I Wanna Be Myself
A2 Freedom – Get Up & Dance
A3 Advance – Take Me To The Top
B1 Jimmy Ross – First True Love Affair (Reach Up Re-edit)
B2 Sure Thing – Holding You Tight (Extended DJ Mix)
C1 Joanne Wilson – Got To Have You (Whiskey Barons Re-edit)
C2 Neddy Smith – Give It Up
C3 T-Connection – Groove To Get Down
D1 Jimmy Young – Times Are Tight
D2 World Premiere – Share The Night
E1 Jimmy Bo Horne – Is It In
E2 Tamiko Jones – Let It Flow
F1 Cloud 1 – Patty Duke
F2 Shot – Main Thing
F3 Disco Dub Band – For The Love Of Money