Before co-founding Defected Records in 1999 and Glitterbox in 2014, Simon Dunmore was working behind the counter at Rayners Lane’s Record & Disco Centre in 1989, where James Hamilton was one of his regular weekly customers. In this Club Chart Top 20 from March 1989, you'll hear about some of the tunes that opened Simon's ears to soulful garage house, which was in the ascendancy in the aftermath of 1988's acid house explosion. Hip house was also exploding around this time, while hip hop and street soul tunes were also charting. Simon was in the thick of it all, receiving all the hot new imports and serving DJs and dance music specialists alike, so he is able to speak with authority on the records, and with passion for the music.

To accompany this episode, you can listen to this entire Top 20 in full, or alternatively as a shorter medley of snippets.

NEW: Record Mirror Disco Charts Merchandise Store

Further listening:

* other tracks mentioned in this episode (YouTube)

* random monthly megamixes, 1975-1989

Further reading:

* James Hamilton's Dance Pages 1983-1989 (800 page hardback book)

* James Hamilton's Disco Pages 1975-1982 (550 page hardback book)

Mike also hosts the podcast Which Decade Is Tops For Pops?

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