REVIEW: Various Artists, Retro Lunchbox: Squeeze the
Cheeze
- Joann D. Ball
Multi-artist compilations make perfect gifts and excellent party soundtracks. This holiday season, check out Retro Lunchbox: Squeeze the Cheeze and The Hit List from the Atlanta-based record label, Intersound.
Fans of more accessible 80s New Wave pop music will enjoy Retro Lunchbox: Squeeze the Cheeze. This collection includes some well-known Top 40 and MTV hits, some of them cheezier than others, and a few other treats. The Retro Lunchbox opens with Wang Chung's "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" and is followed by the Escape Club's "Wild, Wild West." Not only is the fun and humor of this 15 song collection evident in the song titles of the selections, but it also guides the track placement. Why else would The Waitresses' cheeky "I Know What Boys Like" come just before Berlin's "Sex (I'm A ...)? The real pleasures here, though, are Haircut 100's "Love Plus One," Soho's "Hippychick" and Scritti Politti's "Perfect Way." When compared to "Our House" by Madness and "I Ran (So Far Away) by A Flock of Seagulls, these three tracks are less likely to be heard on your local alternative radio station's flasback program.
If commercial rap and hip-hop is your flavor, then check out The Hit List. This twleve-song collection is Intersound's first rap effort, and it features a range of styles and grooves. Topping off the list is the jazz-sampled stylings of "Ya'll Ain't Ready Yet" by Mystical, and it rolls right into Shaggy's smash hit "Bombastic." 2Pac's 1993 collaboration with MC Breed, "Gotta Get Mine," is probably the roughest and rawest of the tracks here. It is certainly a contrast to the slick 70s soul-inspired "I Wish" by Skee-Lo, and the light and breezy "Summertime" by D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. The absolutely hillarious "I Got a Man" by Positive K turns up here, too,. and MC Breed's "Ain't No Future in Yo Frontin" closes out the line-up.
Retro Lunchbox: Squeeze the Cheeze and The Hit List are both fun, upbeat collections. Because they are not intended as an historical overviews of the respective music formats, they don't include obscure or underground songs. Rather, the cds are perfect for friends who enjoy laughing about their teenage years and for that retro or hip-hop happenin' New Year's Eve party.
TRACK LISTING Retro Lunchbox: Squeeze the Cheeze - Everybody Have Fun Tonight [Wang Chung], Wild, Wild West [The Escape Club], I Wanna Be A Cowboy [Boys Don't Cry], I Know What Boys Like [The Waitresses], Sex (I'm A ...) [Berlin], Love Plus One [Haircut 100], Our House [Madness], Hippychick [Soho], Perfect Way [Scritti Politti], Whirly Girl [OXO], Pass The Dutchie [Musical Youth], I Ran (So Far Away) [A Flock of Seagulls], One Night In Bangkok [Murray Head], Saved By Zero [The Fixx], Dancing In Heaven (Orbital Be-Bop) [Q-Feel].
TRACK LISTING The Hit List - Ya'll Ain't Ready Yet [Mystikal], Boombastic [Shaggy], Neva Go Back [Special Ed], Gotta Get Mine [MC Breed & 2Pac], Tonite [DJ Quck], I Wish [Skee-lo], People Everyday [Arrested Development], Down With the King [Run D.M.C.], Summertime [D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince], Back to the Hotel [N2Deep], I Got A Man [Positive K], Ain't No Future in Yo Frontin [MC Breed].
