My 25 Favourite Albums: Joey & Norman Jay - Good Times

In the 90s Norman Jay was one of many House DJs who's name you would hear quite often. I didn't know an awful lot about him at the time other than knowing he was one of the DJs who was there at the beginning of the Rave scene in the 80s.

Then I learnt that him and his brother Joey had a sound system at Notting Hill Carnival called "Good Times" which he'd been doing since the start of the 80s. Obviously House Music didn't exist back then but it's probably fair to say he was playing the sort of music that would influence House Music later on.

In 2000 Joey and Norman Jay released "Good Times", the first of several compilations of the sort of music you would hear from the sound system. It was a variety of styles of music including House, Soul, Funk, Reggae and Hip Hop. When I bought this album you could probably say it covered all the styles of music I was into at the time which is likely the reason it made this list.

The "Good Times" sound system was named after the Chic record of the same name, but it does not feature on this compilation. Instead it opens with "Open Up" by Chic, perhaps not their best known tune but not exactly obscure either, many would at least recognise it if they heard it. That pretty much sets the scene for the rest of the compilation, there's no anthem bashing but there is at least some degree of familiarity in several of the tracks.

The highlight of CD1 comes later on when the excellent "Runaway" by The Salsoul Orchestra appears. Ok I admittedly I only knew the Nuyorican Soul version prior to owning this album but I love that tune and the original isn't that much different. Then comes "Too Blind to See It" by Kym Sims, again an excellent tune.

CD2 begins with the Masters at Work remix of "Thank You" by Bebe Winans which is one of those tunes you can just listen to all day, despite being over 10 minutes long I always feel I could listen to it for longer when it ends. Overall I'd say I prefer CD1 but CD2 does have other great tunes on it such as "Hanging on a String (Contemplating)" by Loose Ends.

Despite the fact I've lived in London some time now, I've never actually been to Notting Hill Carnival. I have however seen Norman Jay DJ elsewhere and he was good.

I think what makes this album worthy of a place in my Top 25 is variety. It came in an era where genres of music were getting more segregated, and if you find yourself only having time to listen to one album do you really want to restrict yourself to one genre?

Another reason is that it works very well as an album, you can listen to all the tracks individually elsewhere or on other albums but the best way to appreciate this album is to listen from beginning to end, or at least one of the CDs all the way through.

Like I've already said this is the first of several "Good Times" compilations and the other ones are also great, but I've picked this one simply because generally speaking the first one you hear is always the best.