#like there is no way those songs could've come from literally any other decade but the '90s. and that's what that BC album sounds like too

[musicrunsthroughmysoul]

When will the cruel mental illness be over...

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

Old School 1993 Funk / Hip Hop / Electro

I think what's most striking about this very dope collection of mostly 80s party jams is that, when this album was originally released in 1993, people were *already* referring to this music as being representative of the "old school." I mean, the latest song on this thing is Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock's 1988 classic, "It Takes Two," and while that's universally regarded as a hands-down old school party-rap standard today, it's wild to think that people were willing to call it "old school" *just five years after* it first came out. Like, imagine considering literally any song from 2018 old school right now?! Crazy, right?

But this fantastic release seems to have already known the deal: three years after the 80s had ended, and still to this day, we were going to refer to a lot of that decade's output as definitively old school. And the brass at Thump Records were clearly proven right by this notion, because, even in these current 2020s, we still refer to this album's overall sound—that electro-synthy-fat keyboard bassline-post-disco-boogie-funk stuff—as 100% old school; not much of the material that preceded it, and no agreed-upon opinion about anything that came after it, either; but one thing that we all seem to know for certain is that the 80s were definitely a part of the old school era.

So, if you're looking for some of those vintage clap-and-stomp old school block party grooves, then this CD is simply essential listening. We've got total classic good-time party-rockers all throughout this thing, like Parliament's "Flashlight," George Clinton's "Atomic Dog," and the Rick James-produced "All Night Long," by the Mary Jane Girls. Also another big hit that topped Billboard's Hot Soul Singles chart in 1981 with Frankie Smith's "Double Dutch Bus," which famously featured a bunch of Ebonic lyrics that would later go on to be sampled by Missy Elliott in her own 2002 rap smash, "Gossip Folks":

Teena Marie comes through with her #3 R&B hit, "Square Biz" as well, and pioneering Brooklyn rap crew, Whodini, deliver two cuts off of their 1984 platinum-selling LP, Escape, with one of their biggest singles, "Friends"—whose spine-tingling electro keys would find their way into Nas' "If I Ruled the World," and whose chorus would also get interpolated by Everlast during his rootsy folk-blues phase on "Ends"—and its B-side, "Five Minutes of Funk."

And, really, I could've picked pretty much any other random handful of songs from this album and written as glowingly about them as I did the ones above, but I don't wanna overload this post. So just know that just because I didn't end up devoting a few words to most of these songs, that doesn't mean that they don't deserve an equal amount of praise, because they definitely do.

A terrific CD, from top to bottom, that makes for an awesome way to channel 70 minutes of some of those beloved and bygone 80s old school party vibes.

And if you want *3 and a half more hours* of 80s goodness like this, I also have my very own Spotify playlist that's of a slightly different stripe, which includes more dance-pop and freestyle on it, along with classic electro, hip hop, and a little bit of new wave too 😊.

Highlights:

Frankie Smith - "Double Dutch Bus" D-Train - "You're the One for Me" Tom Browne - "Funkin for Jamaica" Parliament - "Flashlight" Whodini - "Five Minutes of Funk" George Clinton - "Atomic Dog" Mary Jane Girls - "All Night Long" One Way - "Cutie Pie" Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock - "It Takes Two" Teena Marie - "Square Biz" Whodini - "Friends" The Gap Band - "You Dropped a Bomb on Me" Spyder-D - "Smerphies Dance"