Review Summary: Pop the Champagne
I love disco! I couldn’t wait to listen to
Get Loose as a part of my
25 Albums for 2025 series, given I’ve always loved the few singles I’ve heard from Evelyn “Champagne” King, and this is her most notable album. It is kicked off by “Love Come Down”, one of the most enduring hits of the era thanks to its soulful groove, earnest nature, and effortlessly powerful vocals. Hokey disco is great too (who doesn’t love Boney M.), but it’s tracks like this that should dispel anyone’s notions of the genre being gimmicky or lacking musical integrity.
Okay, so technically
Get Loose is post-disco. It was released in 1982, 3 years after Disco Sucks happened, and with the genre’s heyday firmly left behind in the past decade. But when you listen to the funky bassline from “Betcha She Don’t Love You”, the jangly guitar from the title track, or the opening synths from “Back To Love”, you can picture a bunch of revellers in brightly-coloured outfits and flared pants boogieing around a roller rink. The latter song’s riff brings to mind Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You”, and MJ’s transition from
Off The Wall to
Thriller is a great reference point for this album.
While none of the album tracks are quite as magical as “Love Come Down”,
Get Loose is still an enjoyable listen throughout. At only 40 minutes, 8 tracks, and no skips, it doesn’t overstay its welcome, and the groovy momentum persists all the way until closing track “I’m Just Warmin’ Up”, which provides a welcome cool down after the dance-off. While
Get Loose is definitely a product of its time, it’s an album that deserves to be appreciated by future generations, so crack open the disco-funk time capsule and get to grooving.
