Alright, let’s rip into this one. Dorthy Cole’s Say You Want To Dance / Just Look What You've Done is a raw slice of 1980 funk and soul that doesn’t try to be anything it ain’t. Released on LIM-IT Records in the US, this album hits like a punch in the gut—gritty, unpolished, but damn if it doesn’t make you move.
First off, “Say You Want To Dance” slaps hard. It’s got that greasy bassline sliding around like butter on a hot skillet, while the horns stab through with all the subtlety of a drunk guy at a wedding. The groove locks in so tight you can practically feel your feet tapping even when you're sitting still. This track ain’t about perfection—it’s messy as hell—but there’s something real about how it grabs you by the collar and yells, “Get up!” You remember tracks like this because they don’t overthink things; they just hit where it counts.
Then there’s “Just Look What You've Done,” which flips the vibe completely. If the first track is a party starter, this one’s the after-hours comedown. Cole lays her voice out bare here—no fancy tricks, just pure emotion dripping from every note. The lyrics sting too, like someone dragging salt into an open wound. She nails that ache we’ve all felt when life hands you lemons and then laughs while you trip over ‘em. That slow burn sticks with you long after the needle lifts off the record.
What gets me about this album is its refusal to play nice. No glossy production, no radio-friendly gimmicks—just two tracks that sweat and bleed funk and soul straight from the source. Sure, it might not sound polished compared to today’s stuff, but who cares? Sometimes rough edges are what make music human.
Here’s the kicker though: why did I spend half my Saturday spinning a record from 1980 instead of listening to something newer? Maybe it’s because albums like this remind us what music used to be before algorithms started telling us what to listen to. Or maybe I’m just nostalgic for a time I wasn’t even alive for. Either way, Dorthy Cole didn’t reinvent the wheel with this one, but she sure made it spin faster than most.
