Gaz - Sing Sing

The 12" version of "Sing Sing" is a widely-loved, bumpin' funky disco classic -- it lacks the full-on orchestral treatment typical of many Salsoul releases, and instead focuses on the straight-up funk of the horns, popping bass, guitar & keys. The arrangement sweeps gracefully all the way up from the feel-good chorus right back down into some monstrous percussive breaks, much-loved by old-school hip-hop DJ's.

The kicker is, translation to the 7" format reviewed here didn't go so well. Those familiar with the 12" will probably spot some pretty jarring edits where bridge sections got removed, which certainly disturbs the cheery groove of the full version.

The flip smacks of the "disco-fy anything that moves" approach prevalent to the era. The famous Salsoul Orchestra are instrumentally on great form -- some of the rapid-fire bass & funk-guitar work is very impressive, the strings sigh and heave as expected, there's bongo-tastic Latin tinged percussive breaks, but all said and done it's still a pretty cheesy take on the well-known film theme. But if you got a sense of humour, it's all good fun!