V/A : SALSOUL 30th ANNIVERSARY

30 Top Salsoul Tunes Chosen by 30 Of the World’s Top DJ’s

Suss’d Records

Well, well, well… Looks like the title once again says it all ! The amount of the selectors as well as their identity being quite indicative of the impact of this label which entered the History of contemporary (dance) music for introducing us for the very first time with the single on a 12’’ format. No less than that folks ! For the 10 years on from 1975, date of its launch by the Cayre bros., the Mericana Records imprint will drop a consistant series of soon to become classic tunes inspiring a whole bunch of current producers, from Louie Vega to Joey Negro, Dimitri from Paris and many more… The reason of such a recognition, although they never scored any pop hit, is an instantly identifiable sound, following the footsteps of Philadelphia International Records, while melting soul with latin, disco and funk vibes. One of the essential character responsible of this being arranger Vincent Montana Jr who, 20 years later on, would come to work alongside the Masters At Work on their Nuyorican Soul Project. Also on board, names that should reach your interest unless being left on a desert island for the past 3 decades, such as Loleatta Holloway, First Choice, Joe Bataan, Candido, Jocelyn Brown (with Inner Life), Instant Funk and Skyy (both produced by Brass Construction’s mentor, Randy Muller) and Leroy Burgess. And as if it wasn’t enough, we now have Ian Dewhirst in charge of the creative direction of the label ; in other words, the man who brought us the venerable Mastercuts series. MFSB

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