In the mid ’80s, Island Records tried to turn Washington, DC’s homegrown funk style, go-go, into a national phenomenon. In addition to releasing albums by Trouble Funk and E.U., they put out the soundtrack to Good To Go, a low-rent crime movie starring Art Garfunkel(!). Alongside polished, bass- and electronics-heavy tracks by major acts like Trouble Funk, E.U., and Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers, there are equally worthwhile songs by Donald Banks, Redds & the Boys, and Hot, Cold Sweat. A few dancehall-adjacent pieces by Sly & Robbie (pulled from their Bill Laswell-produced Language Barrier album) and Ini Kamoze add to the mix. As an introduction to the style, you could do a lot worse.

– Phil Freeman