3 out of 5

Label: WeMe Records

Produced by: Terrence Woodard (?)

I suspect if I was more educated in the history of house music I could speak to the history of this single, but I can’t dig up much (any?) info on Progressive Records – original issuer of this track in 1985 – or Terrence Woodward. Placing it in its era, the A-side single is definitely pretty banging and interesting, and would merit a higher ranking on its own, although, again, without the historical context – especially hearing it in that exact context – I don’t know how to trace sources of this sound: the manipulated vocal sample, technology-limited sparse beats, and dancefloor motivations… but because the six minutes of this song switch things up often, doubling / tripling the drum beat while keeping a funky bass, getting a fun synth line noodling atop, and playing with a simple, maybe-creepy-or-sexy-come-on line-I-don’t-know-it-was-the-80s, I am inclined to hear it pretty favorably. Like, it’s still a good time today, so I’ll trust the WeMe label has a good reason for reissuing it. I’m just tempering the rating a bit with my lack of knowledge on this one.

…And knocking it a bit further when considering it alongside the B tracks, which are drum loops that are / were used (I’d think) for the basis of the song. These are definitely interesting, with ‘The Trax’ almost functioning as a minimalist loop all on its own, but whether its my pressing, all of them, or inherited from the original, there’re some skips in the track (and maybe that’s “charming,” but still), and it’s to the point where the backup Beat the Box – already a bit more scattered than Trax – is a bit too glitchy to sit fully through.