»All the boxes checked for ultimate collector fetish«, read the liner notes to »Let Me Trouble«, inadvertently turning the reissue of this 1984 Italo disco bomb into an end in itself. However, these notes can also be read as a warning: the fetish mentioned should at least be latently present in the mind of the buyer, as the title track appears no less than five times on the 12-inch – four times in old versions from 1984 and 1987, and once in Trent’s »Afro-Dub Mix« version. To round the package off, so to speak, there’s another Italo hit in the form of »Hot Stuff« from 1987.
But first let’s take a look at »Let Me Trouble«: It’s a beautiful track with great vocals from Deborah Haslam, just the right amount of goofiness and a light yet powerful production that goes in slightly different directions depending on the version. The shriller his synths sound, the more he reminds us – also in the beat – of Lata Ramasar’s »The Greatest Name That Lives« from 1980. It’s not schematic Italo disco; it’s somehow more than that. The heavily grooving »Afro-Remix« and the lively, breathing instrumental from 1987 stand out the most. »Hot Stuff«, on the other hand, is more straightforward in beat, more conventional and poppier, providing a much-needed counterweight to the overload of »Let Me Trouble«. All in all, it’s a worthwhile reissue that combines the passion of the collector with a historical sense of duty to archive.
Let Me Trouble
