Speaking of dancing and love, Shannon's "Let The Music Play" placed dance floor courtship front and center on her biggest hit. She achieved this by having conversations with love, who offered advice like "just keep the groove and then he'll come back to you again". Presumably these words of wisdom were given while Shannon and love were waiting in line at the bar, or perhaps, while powdering noses because with a record this thunderous, you wouldn't have been able to hear a word anyone was saying on the dance floor.
"Let The Music Play" was the brainchild of Chris Barbosa and Ed Chisolm who decided to up the ante of New York's Electro sound by adding Latin syncopation. The result is generally referred to as the first fully formed Freestyle record although there are always dissenters to claim otherwise. Regardless, it was the first record in the Freestyle er, style to break out of clubland and into the pop charts.
In 1983, "Let The Music Play" was a truly amazing experience in the clubs and when armed with two copies of the 12 inch, the better the dj, the bigger the excitement. As a radio experience, it was much needed proof that not only did dance music not die with disco, but that it was still growing. It would also prove to be the foundation for any dance pop and r&b music of the 80's that wasn't built at the altar of Prince.
Shannon left the music business after three albums; two great, one mediocre, and went back to school. Popping up on Todd Terry's terrific "It's Over Love" in 1997, she was a welcome relief from the over-emoting, wailing dance floor divas that succeeded her. The legacy of "Let The Music Play" is continually tweaked every so often with a new remix but the result has never lived up to the original.
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