Released on the 9th August, "Sunshine Days" is an official greatest hits set with new recordings of our old favourites and remixes. Founder member Mark Reilly has bounced back with former Wham! keyboardist Mark Fisher and fine vocalist Hazel Weston to breath some soulful samba into our Summer of 2010. The remakes of cherished nuggets such as "Half A Minute", "Don't Blame It On That Girl" and "Wap Bam Boogie" amongst others are done with real finesse and time, love and effort has gone into thees songs so please don't worry about bad remakes or blaspheming against the original songs as these are pure and simply tasteful upgrades and nowt else. All the original, yet brand spanking new, Matt Bianco goodness is still there and as strong as ever! "Half A Minute" is very today and may have less Latin percussion but still hits you where it feels good, and "Whose Side Are You One" given a slinkier, jazzier feel with what one can only describe as 70s Philly guitar thrown in for good measure!More recent efforts such as "Hi Fi Bossa Nova" show how class an act Matt Bianco still is. The smooth, cool and as-always-hip vocals are as good today as they were back in the mid 1980s. The soulful vocals, Brazilian swish and Afro-Cuban piano make a proper tasty meal of Matt Bianco's developed talents over the past 25 years. Twenty-five years...is it really? Scary how time flies BUT the proof of the pudding is definitely in the eating. Or, rather, hearing as their tunes still sound good today. Now that's what I call class. "Good Times" rolls along very nicely and with some surprise my little girl recognised "Don't Blame It On That Girl" from some dancing show off TV. i wouldn't know as I simply don't watch the rubbish, but nonetheless we had one impressed 8 year-old within earshot! What really is the selling point of this CD is the inspired Joey Negro re-interpretation of "Half A Minute". The genius has created yet another Summertime masterpiece with his "Sunburnt Mix" which is strongly founded on Chic's "Sao Paulo" cut from their debut Chic set from 1977. This also flows brilliantly with his more soulful efforts with the Sunburst band, so if that's to your taste then this will definitely be one to savour. This is a great compilation and should the sun come out, so should this wonderful CD.
Barry Towler
The Vibe Scribe
