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magazine reviews
Mojo
"A crucial couple of years before the mid-'90s easy listening revival,
Paul Tunkin - founder of the semi-legendary Blow Up club - realised that
those desperately uncool Music For Pleasure albums that your mum and dad
tried to ofload in the car boot sale were actually a potential goldmine
of groovesome exotica. And by defying cool, Tunkin found himself defining
it. Launched in 1993, Blow Up has remained true to its formula of incedental
music, dancefloor jazz, pychedelic freak-outs and talcum powder tunes: if it has a driving beat, a slinky bass line and
a hook you could hang your coat on, it's Blow Up music. Hence the
gleeful genre-hopping with which this collection has been assembled. It's
a delicious blend of the instantly familiar (Buddy Rich's 'The Beat Goes
On', The Spencer Davis Group's 'I'm A Man', The Coasters' 'Love Potion
No.9' Edwin Starr's motor city monster '25 Miles'), lesser known tunes
by big names (Georgie Fame's 'Somebody Stole My Thunder', The Kinks' 'She's
Got Everything', Andy Williams' tittersome brothel bossa-nove 'House Of
Bamboo'), and obscure gems (Johnny Otis Show's superfly 'Watts Breakaway',
Jacques Dutronc's French soul stomper 'Le Responsable' and Shadows of
Knight's garage nugget 'Shake'), as well as game efforts from present-day
Blow Up-affiliated acts The Karminsky Experience and Big Boss Man. Rather
depressingly, Austin Powers may have ruined these sounds for an entire
generation. But if you can erase Mike Miyers' cheesy gurn from your mind,
'Blow Up A-Go-Go' is the perfect getting-ready
soundtrack for the discerning retro dancer." SP
Later
"...Really, there's not a single duffer on here.
Seeing The Kinks and The Spencer Davis Group on the track listing gives
you an idea what you're in for - think Mary Quant clothes, Chelsea boots
and Mini Coopers - but there are also names here that you'd never think
of as cool, like Georgie Fame and Andy Williams, both of whom turn in
shimmy-inducing corkers. Some of the somgs are actually modern (Soul Hooligan
and Karminsky Experience weren't even born in the Sixties) but fit in
perfectly, while some tracks are so obscure (Mongo Santamaria? The Quik?
Jacques Dutronc?) you'd have to be an A1 trainspotter to recognise them.
But the that's the whole point of the thing..."SL
 (5 pints)
Q
Magazine
"22-track collection from Soho's acclaimed Blow Up club. Like the night
itself, the album trips across the decades..." Danny Scott
 (3 stars)
Time
Out
"The title takes its name from a track by James Clarke which was used
for the Gap 'khaki' advert" - the Gap people had heard it on an earlier
Blow Up collection. Another club favourite, The Coaster's 'Love Potion
No.9', was used for a BT commercial after being recommended by an advertising
exec who is a Blow Up regular. This kind of mainstream response to the
club's music is a welcome bonus rather than an end in itself, but it confirms
that Blow Up has been punching above its weight ever since it opened at
the Laurel Tree in Camden in 1993...
...20 storming tracks."Dave Swindells
Hot
Tickets
"To celebrate its birthday, Blow Up is releasing an excellent
introduction to the Blow Up sound, Blow Up A-Go-Go Dancefloor Club
Classics Vol.1 with classic tracks from The Quik, Georgie Fame, Soul Hooligan,
Johhny Otis, Mongo Santamaria, even Andy Williams. Fine listening for
the home, but take it from me, joining the mayhem on Blow Up's packed
dancefloors is even more fun." Tim Marsh
Amazon.co.uk
"London's famous Blow Up Club has been shaking
dance floors on a weekly basis since the early 1990s. This collection
gathers together some of its most popular favourites, a funky mix of Northern
Soul, Latin jazz and 60s psychedelia. Wah-wah's, bongos and Hammond organs
collide with tight basslines and bright brass, an unrelenting groove that
will cause even the most cynical hips to shimmy. An
assortment of never-forgotten classics--the Spencer Davis Group's
"I'm A Man" (featuring a younger, funkier Steve Winwood on vocals), Andy
Williams' version of "House Of Bamboo", the Coaster's "Love Potion No.
9"--mix with lesser known gems like the Quik's "Bert's Apple Crumble",
the Incredible Bongo Band's "Bongolia" and James Clarke's "Blow Up A Go-Go"." Robert Burrow |
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