Kenny Dope – Roller Boogie 80’s

rollerboogie

Kenny Dope, one half of New York City’s legendary Masters At Work team, released this mix back in 2004 as part of a series of fantastic disco and 80’s mixes.  This mix is required listening for fans of the old-school!  Here’s a few excerpts from an excellent review I found by Michael Gill at Stylus Magazine:

As disco went back underground at the beginning of the ‘80s, it went through a bit of a stylistic makeover. Boogie, a slower take on disco with a thicker back beat, became popular in clubs, and disco labels like Salsoul, West End, and Prelude continued to flourish with a mass of underground hits. These labels reduced the diva and the orchestral quotient of disco, and added in an array of synthesizers as well as a stronger soul/R&B vibe to their tracks. The effect was that a lot of post-disco dance music had a breezy, gliding quality to it instead of feeling bombastic and excessive. A gliding quality that is similar to, you guessed it, roller skating.

All of this leads to Roller Boogie ‘80s, the first in a series of limited edition mixes by Kenny Dope, who is one-half of the production team Masters At Work. If you are a fan of underground disco, you’ll probably recognize a lot of the tracks here, as many are still staples for DJs today. Kenny is not digging too deep into his crates here, and the result is almost akin to a greatest hits selection of laid-back disco in the early ‘80s.

The big hits include Taana Gardner’s million-selling single “Heartbeat,” Junior’s throaty R&B smash “Mama Used To Say,” and Slave’s smooth funk jam “Watching You” (which later was appropriated by Snoop Dogg for “Gin & Juice.”) Just about every other track is a perennial underground classic that has been included on numerous disco compilations throughout the years, like the irresistible “I Like What You Are Doing To Me” by Young & Co., the jubilant “Walking Into Sunshine” by Central Line, and the still devastating soul-funk of “Just A Touch of Love” by Slave.

Download here (right click and “save as”)

time: 73:59 /// 102mb /// 192kbps .mp3

Tracklist after the jump…

1 Mary Jane Girls All Night Long 5:12
2 Dennis Edwards Don’t Look Any Further 2:28
3 Taana Gardner Heartbeat 3:40
4 Gwen McRae*  – Funky Sensation 3:32
5 Alicia Myers I Want To Thank You 3:36
6 Slave Just A Touch Of Love 4:41
7 Slave Watching You 3:28
8 Odyssey (2) Inside Out 5:18
9 Central Line Walking Into Sunshine 5:05
10 Junior (2) Mama Used To Say 6:27
11 Fonda Rae Over Like A Fat Rat 4:38
12 Janet Lady Day*  – Come Let Me Love You 4:48
13 Young & Co.*  – I Like What You Doin To Me 7:11
14 Weeks & Co. Rock Your World 2:41
15 Unlimited Touch Searching To Find The One 4:37
16 Denroy Morgan I’ll Do Anything 3:49
17 Unlimited Touch I Hear Music In The Street 1:39
18 Nick Straker A Little Bit Of Jazz 0:50

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