Norman Jay Presents: Good Times [30th Anniversary Edition]

Looking at the picture of legendary sound system DJ Norman Jay on the cover of this album, with a Notting Hill street behind him and a huge, dreadlocks-covering tam on his head, you'd naturally expect this album to be a reggae collection. But if you've ever attended his Good Times parties at the Notting Hill Carnival, you would know better; they range all over the place, with a particular emphasis on vintage soul and rare groove, and this 30th anniversary celebration mix does exactly the same thing. It opens with a stone classic: Mark Capanni's original version of "I Believe in Miracles," later made popular by the Jackson Sisters; then it segues directly into a nu-soul hit by Avery Sunshine before jumping back to the '70s with Ted Taylor's "Ghetto Disco." Just about everything else on the album follows that same pattern, juxtaposing old soul, funk, and disco with newer soul, hip-hop and disco; there are appearances by Little Anthony & the Imperials, the Basement Khemist, Fries & Bridges, Curtis Mayfield, and J Boogie's Dubtronic Science, among many others. There are a couple of minor missteps: Curtis Mayfield is not particularly well represented by "Victory," and Fries & Bridges' "Forever This" is a fairly dreary house thumpathon. But just about everything else is a hoot, and for those who are feeling cheated by the lack of reggae, there's Jacob Miller's classic "Tired Fe Lick Weed in a Bush." ~ Rick Anderson