Toney Lee ‎– Reach Up

1982 was a year when there seemed to be a trend for positive messages injected into dance music that told people to give it all they had, keep smiling, and so on. New York dance singer Toney Lee's "Reach Up" was no exception. Along with Keni Burke's "Risin' To The Top" and D-Train's "Keep On", it generated a feel good attitude in the disco scene while incorporating the latest, high-tech keyboards and sound machines. Lee sounds so emotional in this song that you think he's gonna start crying at any moment. The end of the song features some of the best if not the best sound effects that have ever been witnessed in dance music. This song has remained very popular to this day and deservedly so. If I'm DJ'ing at a club, I'd play this back to back with Change's "Paradise". The two make a perfect combination.

With nice picture sleeve, this pressing includes the interesting Shep Pettibone Remix, a home-made open-reel version, full of crazy edits. On its ending, its mixed with Keep On by D-Train, sounding like old tape recordings... very weird.

The 1986 remake sounds exactly as Original Mix, no difference noted (is it the same track twice?) and the poor quality of sound on this pressing makes you want to hear it again on original Radar Records...

The dub mix is a perfect minimal electronic disco boogie track. Very simple yet supremely funky. You can hear the influence of this cut on house music old and new.