Search - Various Artists :: Best of Lollipop Records

Classic disco novelties...

at0mic0734 | Calgary, AB Canada | 07/16/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Lollipop Records was the label of German disco producer Jurgen S. Korduletsch, who was a major proponent of the "Munich Sound" along with Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte (who had their biggest hits with Donna Summer) along with Sylvester Levay and Michael Kunze who had success with their studio group Silver Convention. Korduletsch would have his biggest success with the tracks produced for his wife, Claudja Barry (5 of which are on this disc), but who's also had sone disco success with the likes of Disco Circus, Lipstique and Ronnie Jones to name a few. This compilation contains some great disco songs..."Boogie Woogie Dancin' Shoes", and "Work Me Over" both by Claudja Barry, "Over and Over" by Disco Circus and "Space Ranger" by Galaxis.There are also some disco-pop movelties here like "Witch Queen of New Orleans" by a one P.J. Proby and Ronnie Jones' "Soul Sister" (which sounds a bit like George Mc Crae's mid-70s hit "Rock Your Baby") and another one by Jones called "Video Games". There's also a cover of "I'm A Man" by a one Mick Rowley, which was originally by The Spencer Davis Group, but this version is a cover of a cover version done by Macho (a disco studio group produced by Mauro Malavasi and J.F. Petrus). There's also a catchy little number called "Sing Sing" by M. Machine. The one dud on here is "California Sun" by a one Johnny Rock, which is pretty awful.The Mastering/sound quality varies a little bit throughout the disc, but it's not a major distraction. Overall it's a fun collection of disco classics and some not so classic, yet interesting disco artifacts."

IF This Was The Best, They Should Keep The Rest

Davidp. | Jax. Florida | 03/21/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Before I ordered this CD, I only knew four of the tracks. Now that I've heard it in it's entirety, I feel as if I've heard them all before. Not because the rest are classic disco songs that I'd never known the names of - no, it's because most of the lot are deriviative and mediocre rip-offs of much better songs. Some are tedious, some are juvenile, and some are downright embarrassing. Many of these tracks include all of the cliches that gave disco a bad name. Some are O.K., like the Claudja Barry hit "Work Me Over" and the instrumental "Space Ranger", but most will be only of interest to completist disco fans who want to hear every piece of drek that was released during it's heyday.



I was also nonplussed by the banner on the artwork claiming that these are "ALL FULL LENGTH EXTENDED VERSIONS". I know for sure that in the cases of many of these tracks, that statement is hogwash. For example, I own the track that I purchased this CD for, "Over And Over" by Disco Circus, on vinyl, and the "FULL LENGTH EXTENDED VERSIONS" on both 12" discs that I own run slightly over 9 minutes. Even the short album version runs 6 minutes long. The version contained here is edited down from one of the 12" mixes, but is slashed down to a mere 5 minutes and 2 seconds! Would it have killed them to leave in the other 4 minutes?



Most of the other tracks on this CD barely pass the 5 minute mark ( which actually may be blessing in this case ). As anyone who can ever D.J.ed in a club can tell you, 5 minutes is pretty short for a disco track.



Also, even if the songs were great, the quality of the mastering leaves a lot to be desired. Some tracks, like "Space Ranger" and "Dancing Fever" are definitely recorded from a vinyl source rather than a master tape. This is particularly apparent on "Dancing Fever" which suffers from harsh and distorted high end in the vocals. I've bought transfers of vinyl to CD before, but with full knowledge of what I was getting beforehand. Nowhere on this packaging does it state that any of these tracks are copied from "the best available sources" which is the usual 'caveat' on a vinyl transfer.



All in all, I've got to say that I was mighty, mighty, disappointed with this CD. I bought it for one track, and didn't even get that!"