Showstoppers are promised in the title and showstoppers are exactly what this CD delivers by assembling some of the biggest proto-Hi-NRG hits of the late 70s and early 80s. Sky-high synthesizer lines and swirling strings elevate tracks like Voyage's gracefully lilting "Souvenir," the beautifully sweeping "Don't Turn Around" from the Raes, and the truly glorious "Shine On Silver Moon" from Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. into Disco heaven, while intermixed are more rhythm-based, big, bumping Disco tunes like Harlow's "Take Off" and "Manhattan Shuffle" from Area Code (212).
Of course as the 80s dawned, New Wave began to ascend and reflecting this change in the musical landscape are synthesizer-oriented tracks from Blancmange with their soaring "That's Love, That It Is," Terry Iten's charmingly exuberant "What a Night," and Hitlist with the darkly mesmerizing "Into The Fire."
Then bridging the gap between the organic world of Disco and the synthetic sound of New Wave are tracks like Rainey's "I Can Fly" or "Can We Try Again" from Technique that intermix the pulsing keyboards with the soaring strings and laid the blueprints for the Hi-NRG scene that exploded in the dance clubs throughout the 80s.
So depending on where you were when these tracks first hit the turntables, "MightyREAL: Showstoppers" works either as a trip down memory lane or a history lesson in the evolution of dance music.
