Shannon - Let The Music Play

An undisputed classic as well as a critical record in the evolution of dance music, Shannon's groundbreaking 'Let The Music Play' was, in some ways, a throwback to the diva-dominated days of 70s disco. For 1983, this cut made use of some truley cutting edge production techniques. Up until that point, electro was very much a masculine thing. When 'Let The Music' was released, not only did it elevate electronic music to a new high, it was also the first time we heard a robust female vocal backed by wholly synthetic music - something that has since dominated mass appeal dance music. Additionally, it also did the impossibly difficult task of transporting dance music back over to the masses (a feat for the mid 80s), something absent since disco itself.

Some have called this record "cheesy"....shame on ya'll for that! This is one mighty classic that was and is the rebirth of dance music in the 80's. Just four years earlier people were blowing up disco records on baseball fields in Chicago and Disco Sucks! was a mantra of the punk and post-punk movements... and then this came out (and as others have said) helped feminize electro and IMHO this bridged to house and so on...

The Brooklyn singer Brenda Shannon Greene was only 25 years old when she recorded on the electro-disco label Emergency a tune named "Let The Music Play" in autumn 1983. At the first moment, Shannon was absolutely surprised when she saw her name mentioned on the song credits, and the track became instantly a massive dance club hit. With more than one million copies sold, reaching number eight at the Billboard pop charts and the second place in the R&B charts, the Freestyle anthem had a combination of typical electro-synth bass, lovely piano lines, dancing breakbeats and Shannon vocals whose lyrics “Let the music play, He won’t get away, Just keep the groove and then he’ll come back to you again! Let it play!” were heard in the dancefloors of USA and Europe. Largely played at Manchester’s Hacienda club (on the same building of the Factory Records), it was included on the repertory of the compilation “Viva Hacienda - Fifteen Years Of Hacienda Nights” that celebrated the hits of the club from 1982 to 86. The tune became a reference to many of the freestyle artists that appeared later, such as Angelique, The Cover Girls, Debbie Deb, Alizee, Wickett, between others.