(Journeys By DJ/Stomp)

The Americans don’t understand Norman Jay. Though he’s been a British legend for 20 years, Dj-ing, producing, starting nights like Shake ‘n’ Finger Pop and High On Hope and actually being responsible for some bona fide dance music terminology (coining the term ‘rare groove’), they haven’t quite discovered the man. Though a recent MBE awarded to Jay will mean even less to our Yank cousins, they should perhaps take notice of this re-release from the Desert Island Disc archives as a more substantial indication of the guy’s worth. Or they could just ignore this too and keep navel gazing as before. It’s doubly ironic of course, because the majority of young Norman’s influences were the black sounds of the 70’s coming out of, you guessed it, America.

Giles Peterson and Norman Jay first released their double album Desert Island Disc mix (you know the deal?: you’re about to be stranded on a desert island with a turntable and only 20 pieces of vinyl, so which one’s do you take?) back in 1997 to the usual UK audience acclaim. The title was deleted from catalogues back in 1999 and after re-releasing the first disc from Peterson last year, label Journey’s by DJ have now finally re-released the Norman Jay second disc in a special limited edition. Australians, luckily, have had the good sense to welcome the man into the country on many occasions and this album will find a home with many of his long time, hardcore fans who missed it the first time around.

Over 18 tracks, Jay weaves together an impressive tapestry of jazz infused black classics from the 70’s. Not much point in breaking down the tracks though, as unless you were born in the middle to late 50’s (no?), or somehow know an extensive amount about US black soul and funk disco from the early 70’s (me neither), you’re not going to recognise any of these songs. There is one notable exception however: Hall & Oates old hit ‘Maneater’ is on here, although entirely remixed so that the original sounds like its coming from a tinny radio and in the background there’s a big black man having a bath and grunting in time to the beats! Yes, it’s worth hearing.

Long term Jay aficionados no doubt have the man’s entire back catalogue in every format already and this will be simply another release to add to the pile. Newer fans will enjoy this, but be ready for something seriously different to what Norman plays on tour. This is a Good Times-type release, but it involves more history and retro thinking than you may be expecting. If you’re after more of a ‘modern hits remixed by Jay’ deal, look elsewhere.