A-Side: Chavy Boys of London - Friday Night Flu

B-Side: Chic - Dance Dance Dance (Yowsah Yowsah Yowsah)

Let me see if I understand this fully, take a classic dance track which repeats a refrain about getting loose on the dancefloor, chop, apply drums in much greater measure than the original, include breakdowns and drum builds, and press to wax?  Well, I’m not mad at that.  This track is straight up effective.  Scottie B, King Tutt, & Shawn Caesar don’t do much to this classic gem of disco swirl, but they do enough.  And when the breakdowns themselves breakdown further, well, my face tends to crease with a long and abiding smile.

As for those of you who think all Baltimore Club music is repetitive and annoying, well this song isn’t going to help much.  So as a public service i have included the original here as a means of comparison.  With its forward leaning strings and clean production it really represents the more accessible disco style Chic helped bumrush to the top of the charts.  And yes, it is less repetitive than The Chavy Boys’ version but it is by no means a stalwart of Stockhausian theory.  This is dance music people, repetition is key. So dance, dance, and dance again, neither of these tracks is gonna loose the groove.  I think it’s rather obvious that one has more energy than the other, but I’m not gonna labor that point.

Needless to say, this post is quite obviously pointed at the argument of merit in Baltimore Club music, with some very clear allusions as to my personal preference.  So what if its repetitive, or crude, or offensive?  Bmore has been standing up proud about this music, warts and all.  And as the message boards and boutique labels have brought it into the fold we’ve seen some very good and some absurdly bad music claiming its heritage in the Baltimore Club genre.  Whether you blame that on the producers, club DJs or just the simplicity of music that is almost always derived from the “Sing Sing” and “Think” breaks, really, is your own prerogative.  Just don’t miss out on some really great opportunities to dance to some rough simple songs which do the job.