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Vinyl Records London are on cloud nine, we are now spinning in a brand new copy in Double Vinyl from Various Artists NOW Music is proud to present a new series of vinyl compilations, NOW That’s What I Call 80s Dancefloor. Each edition will feature an essential collection of tracks representing key genres from the incredible diversity that were all part of 1980s Dance music. The first volume, across 30 tracks on 2LPs, pressed on 1 Green and 1 Blue vinyl, presents the best in HINRG and POP. Originating in U.S. gay clubs in the late 1970s and early 1980s, this uptempo Disco, often with synth driven electronic instrumentation and characterised by a pulsating rhythm and it’s unrelenting beat became hugely popular in the charts of the mid80s. The then new production and writing team of Stock, Aitken and Waterman, produced their first 1 for Dead Or Alive with ‘You Spin Me Round Like A Record’, a huge hit for Hazell Dean with ‘Whatever I Do Wherever I Go’, and crucially ‘You Think You’re A Man’ for Divine – which, courtesy of a truly fabulous ‘Top Of The Pops’ appearance, brought this underground genre in to the livingrooms of ‘80s Britain. DJ and producer Ian Levine created a huge anthem with Evelyn Thomas’ ‘High Energy’ and popularised hot U.S. club tracks through his Record Shack label, and Jimmy Somerville enjoyed massive chart success as part of Bronski Beat, who with Marc Almond covered ‘I Feel Love’, the 1977 Donna Summer classic, often cited as the influence and basis for ‘HiNRG’, and as the lead singer of The Communards, who had the bestselling single in 1986 with their energised cover of the Disco standard ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’. Essential HiNRG club tracks are included from Barbara Pennington, Miquel Brown, and Sheryl Lee Ralph. Established club hitmakers Boys Town Gang, Man 2 Man and The Weather Girls all enjoyed huge crossover chart hits. By the late ‘80s, Stock, Aitken & Waterman produced classics of the genre for Bananarama and Donna Summer, whilst using components of HiNRG to create pure Pop smashes for Kylie Minogue and Mel & Kim. HiNRG influenced Pop consistently produced some of the decades’ biggest Dance tracks including ‘Relax’ from Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Bananarama’s ‘Venus’, the sublime ‘Voyage Voyage’ from Desireless, London Boys’ ‘Requiem’, ‘Tell It To My Heart’ by Taylor Dayne, and Sinitta’s ‘So Macho’ – plus established artists enjoyed huge floorfilling hits including ‘Jump For My Love’ from The Pointer Sisters, Kim Wilde with ‘You Keep Me Hangin On’, and the incredible Pet Shop Boys produced ‘Losing My Mind’ by Liza Minnelli, whilst a fusion of styles created irrepressible PopDance smashes from Malcolm McLaren, Laura Branigan, Sabrina and Maria Vidal. The influence of Disco was pervasive across many genres during the 1980s – but Disco itself was far from over. It evolved throughout the decade, often in conjunction with other genres, in particular Electronic Dance Music. So stay tuned, as the next journey back to the 80s Dancefloor is all about DISCO & ELECTRO NOW That’s What I Call 80s Dancefloor HINRG & POP 2LP Released October 13 th 2023.