Dance Classics (9)

Series of dance music compilations released on the Dutch Arcade label then on Rodeo Media. 1988-1990: The Original Series Dutch record company Arcade started its Dance Classics concept early 1988. The company had already released a lot of back catalogue on CD, ranging from country, (hard)rock and blues to 1960s and 1970s popsongs. Their latest offer was "The Sound Of Philadelphia" and with a re-issued "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor high in the charts, chances were great that a compilation of danceable soul, disco and funk could become a success. Also because there was a lot of music available for licensing, but not released on compilation albums yet. The first four volumes, all released in 1988, became big sellers and all made it to the top 10 of the Dutch album chart (that is: one-artist albums and V/A compilations combined). The concept was expanded in 1989 with four more volumes and two ballad volumes. With the rise of hiphop and house, many of these tracks were remixed and became hits once more (the Ben Liebrand 1988 remix of Bill Withers "Lovely Day" was even more successful than the original 1977 version). Two remix volumes followed (which also contained original 12" versions by the way) and a special minimix of tracks made by Ben Liebrand became a Top 5 hit. In 1990, two Italo volumes were released, because of the FIFA Worldcup in Italy that year. A volume with Summer hits also followed, although these CDs contain overlaps with the original series. International success followed, with releases in France, Germany, Scandinavia, the UK and Spain. 1991-1993: The Gold Series After three years, the format had to be updated. 40 NLG per CD was too expensive and a vinyl companion was no longer fashionable. In 1991, Arcade started Dance Classics Gold, a series of double CDs at a cost of 50 NLG each. Although most of the tracks were on the original series (some of the Gold versions were even shortcuts from the originals), they sold well. In 1992, the series was expanded with a 44-minute megamix, a volume "Gold Ballads" and two separate CDs "Into The 80s". These sold rather poorly, as they seemed to be "too modern". In the years that followed, there was an occasional reboot, such as a 3CD box set in 1995. 2000 and 2001: Revised And Remastered New recording standards, improved mastering technology, the resulting flood of "digitally remastered" CDs, the rise of discohouse, the close of a century, the first Top 2000, Ben Liebrand resuming his Grandmixes with a Millennium edition and even Dutch music television channel TMF airing disco videoclips gave rise to re-issue an updated version of the original Dance Classics series. Arcade teamed up with Universal TV. Original single versions and edited versions were replaced by longer versions, full album versions and 12" versions. Tracks that were no longer fashionable or available for licensing were replaced by others. Over the years 2000 and 2001, all 16 original volumes were released, but not the spin-offs. A CD maxi single with two megamixes of Stephanie Mills and Cameo tracks was released to promote the series. 2008-2013: The Expansion Ben Liebrand started his Grand 12 Inches series, prompting other record companies to start similar initiatives, as there was demand for more material than the 4CD set Ben was releasing every year. In 2008, Rodeo Media continued the Dance Classics series. Initially with two 15-track CDs, later as 2CD- and 3CD-sets with 12" versions for the most. However, where volume 1-16 focused on the era 1976-1983, volume 17 and subsequent volumes covered the 1980s. This series went as far as volume 60, released in 2013! Several spin-offs were released, sometimes even series themselves: 12 Pop Editions, 7 New Jack Editions, 2 Italo Editions, a Summer Edition, a Gold Edition. All containing two CDs edge-filled with mostly full length 12" versions. Universal (who provided many of the tracks for Rodeo Media) released a summary of five 3CD sets of the released material so far in 2011. The series came to a halt in 2013, 25 years after the series originally started.