April 1998 Saturday Night Fever - The
Original Movie Soundtrack
Mobile
Fidelity UDCD 716
Originally Released: 1977
Remastered Released: 1997
by Steven R. Rochlin
steve@soundstage.com
Musical
Performance |
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Recording
Quality |
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Overall
Enjoyment |
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Oh no! Has
Steve finally gone totally mad? This month the music
reviewed by me covers classical instrumental to
remastered jazz and now disco. Lesse, it was in 1977, and
I was in 5th grade. Please, before you start sending me
all those "disco s-cks" letters, please hear me
out. Of all the disco albums, this is probably the best
one of the bunch-with the most hits. Lemme admit the
original vinyl of Saturday Night Fever is here,
and boy it leaves a bit to be desired sonically. The MoFi
is an excellent and well-needed remastering in my humble
opinion. You get 17 songs on one gold CD (using the
awesome GAIN system), like "Stayin' Alive,"
"Night Fever," and "Jive Talkin'" by
the Bee Gees; "Disco Inferno" by the Trammps;
and even a disco-classical redo called "A Fifth of Beethoven" by
Walter Murphy. Now my fave on this album is "Open
Sesame" by Kool and he Gang, a really funky song
with some disco flavor. Starts out with this airy gong
and a voice like that of a genie saying "Open
Sesame." Then comes the awesomely funkatocious Kool
and the Gang jammin' while the genie sez
"Shazam." Oh, speaking of "Shazam,"
anyone remember the Saturday-morning TV show called
"Shahzam!" where the guy wore these red tights
with a lightning bolt on the front? Anyway, the music is
disco-funky here, and in my humble opinion it holds up
well even today. Funkaliciously fun! No, I won't start
going through all the history of disco, nor will there be
a test at the end of this review. What you get with this
album is some of the best disco hits by many of the
greatest performers in the genre. As I count 'em, you get
eight really big hits that are sure to be popular during
your next disco party. Me? I was leather-man, as seen
here, but you can simply get out that white suit, put on
your platform shoes, feather your hair and have fun
while...Enjoy(ing) the Music!
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