Balearic Beats – Vol. 1

Classic compilation on FFRR, released in 1988.

Picked this up on vinyl recently in Oxfam Music for the bargain price of 4.99! Compiled by Paul Oakenfold, Pete Tong and Trevor Fung, this is all yer Shoom/Spectrum/Future/Ibiza classics rolled into one handy package.

I was too young to appreciate all that crazy ecstasy dance music at the time, and was going through an ill-advised gothy/alternative period myself. When I ‘saw the light’ circa 1992 and back-tracked accordingly it was a bit of a surprise to see what kinda shit they’d been playing in the clubs just as things kicked off. The Residents? Nitzer Ebb? The Cure, even? WTF – maybe I hadn’t been too far off the mark after all. Of course, once the bubble burst and every cunt and his granny were knocking out dance records in their bedrooms they dropped all this shit from the playlists.

The story’s been told ad nausea about the infamous trip to Ibiza that kicked things off back in Blighty on return, but if there is anyone remaining in the dance music universe who hasn’t read Simon Reynolds’ opus “Energy Flash” (shame on you!) then it should fill in all of the appropriate gaps.

It’s well worth having a swatch at Terry Farley’s sleevenotes which capture the innocence of the whole thing. There’s a nice wee video here as well.

I still can’t believe that a bona fide classic from that scene came from Mandy Smith, who was seemingly able to juggle between getting pumped by the uncoolest Rolling Stone and producing a (brilliant) club hit with Stock, Aitken and Waterman, all by the tender age of 16…

Various – Balearic Beats – Vol. 1 – The Album
A1 – Electra – Jibaro (Full English 12″ Version)
A2 – Code 61 – Drop The Deal
A3 – Beats Workin’ – Sure Beats Workin’ (El Sonido Casa Balearico)
A4 – Enzo Avitabile – Black Out
A5 – Mandy Smith – Mandy’s Theme (I Just Can’t Wait) (Cool & Breezy Jazz Version)
B1 – The Residents – Kaw-Liga (Prairie Mix)
B2 – The Woodentops – Why Why Why (Live)
B3 – Nitzer Ebb – Join In The Chant
B4 – Fini Tribe – De Testimony (Collapsing Edit)
B5 – The Thrashing Doves – Jesus On The Payroll (Street Groove)

Buy it here