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 ****
Recording Quality ***1/2
Overall Enjoyment ****

[Reviewed on Gold CD]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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