Various Artists -

Date: 2001
Release: Rounder #617665
Cover Art: view / download
Buy the Album

For almost four years I lived in an endless summer. I inhabited a tiny room in a ramshackle beach house built on pier pilings right on the sand in Malibu, California. "This is not a dream!" I reminded myself daily. Every weekend was spent in the warm surf, beach combing, or reclining with friends on my balcony overlooking the vast Pacific. Without fail, I’d drag out my hefty stereo speakers, douse myself in sunscreen, crack open a magazine or book, and put on some music. It didn’t take me long to realize that I had become a barely tolerated DJ to my neighbors. I guess they weren’t fans of the Buzzcocks and the Clash. My spinning habits were politely adjusted to include a more beach friendly cross section of my CD collection. The soulful Jamaican sounds of the Studio One label became an essential component of languid Saturdays basking in the grateful smiles of my friends and neighbors. I had found my weekend theme music. If I had all the money in the world to commission somebody to create the most perfect music for lounging seaside in the hot sun, they would be hard-pressed to come up with anything that could rival the classic recorded output of Studio One

Always a hit factory, the label came close to completely dominating the Jamaican dance floor with the emergence of the long-playing 12-inch "discomix" in the 1970s. Studio One capitalized on the extended discomix format, successfully recycling some of its best material from the 1960s. Older hits were updated simply by mixing in lengthy instrumental endings. The popularity of the discomix allowed the label to prolong its reign, even after its most creative period had passed. Because a discomix filled up an entire side of a 45 rpm record, a hit song had the power to keep competing records off the DJ’s turntable for a good long time.

Nice Up The Dance complies the very best of these highly sought-after 12-inch classics, including tracks from such legendary artists as Delroy Wilson, Alton Ellis, and Tommy McCook. The album opens with Cornell Campbell & the Eternal‘s obscure classic, "Queen Of The Minstrels," which unfolds in a deliciously slow groove that suspends both time and worry. The discomix of Alton Ellis‘s eternal reggae classic, "Can I Change My Mind," clocks in at an astounding 11-minutes. This endless version gives us plenty of time to experience the full magnitude of Ellis’s mighty soul caressing voice. The lengthy instrumental sections that fill Nice Up The Dance not only give added depth to older hits, but also showcase the impressive talents of the Studio One house musicians, masters of the hypnotic reggae groove.

For almost three decades, Studio One has provided Jamaicans with the soulful soundtrack of their lives. It is time for the rest of the world to catch on.

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