Shut Up & Dance will release a three-disc career retrospective on November 2 via their own Shut Up And Dance Music label.

How The East Was Won 1989-2009 collects a whopping 48 label-cuts and productions by PJ and Smiley, painting a vivid picture of early breakbeat rave, its connections to reggae soundsystem culture, acid house and later jungle. Artists featured include Shut Up & Dance, The Ragga Twins, Peter Bouncer, Nicolette and more; some of the tunes, like ‘Spliff Head’ (recently remixed by Ramadanman on Soul Jazz) and ‘Raving I’m Raving’, will be familar to many; others, like the more recent ‘Lift Yourself’, less so.

Shut Up & Dance began as a foursome back in 1986, with Smiley and PJ joined by DJ Daddy and DJ Hype. They had built a soundsystem called Heatwave, and of a weekend would throw illegal raves which they could stamp their own unique sound upon. Smiley and PJ were rappers first and foremost, and after failing to generate any signficant label interest, they decided to start an imprint of their own, which they called Shut Up And Dance Music. They sold their first release, ‘5,6,7,8’, out the back of PJ’s Ford Escort, and released a further run of big singles before dropping the album Dance Before The Police Come. Not only were Shut Up & Dance musical innovators, paving for the way for jungle with their break-oriented party sound, they were also one of the few acts around who took rave as their subject – witness  ‘£20.00 To Get In’, which ripped the piss out of clubland door policy. They also turned out some of the best/worst cover art of all time:

Shut Up & Dance have had a massive, DNA-level influence on the development of bass-heavy club music. They precipitated jungle, and by extension UK garage; contemporary dubsteppers like Appleblim and Martyn cite them as heroes, the latter having remixed ‘Strobe’ to terrific effect last year. How The East Was One heralds the release of a brand new Shut Up & Dance album, due in 2010.

Tracklisting:

[by Shut Up & Dance unless otherwise stated]

CD1

1. 5,6,7,8

2. £20.00 to Get In

3. Ragga Twins – Hooligan 69 (Remix)

4. Ragga Twins – Spliff Head

5. Ragga Twins – Illegal Gunshot

6. Ragga Twins – Ragga Trip

7. Rum & Black – Fuck The Legal Station

8 This Town Needs A Sheriff

9. Nicolette – Dove Song

10. The Green Man

11. Autobiography of a Crackhead

12. Cedrick Winkleburger & The Yellow Blue Berries – Take It Easy

13. Rum & Black – Wicked

14. Peter Bouncer – Love Is All We Need

15. Nicolette – Waking Up (Remix)

CD2

1. Raving I’m Raving (Remix feat. Peter Bouncer)

2. Ragga Twins – Shine Eye

3. Nicolette – It’s Only To Be Expected

4. Mayhem 32

5. Mercury Switches

6. Action

7. No Doubt

8. Moving Up

9. 4th Floor

10. Heaven On Earth

11. Release The Gimp

12. We Know Where You Live

13. Arrrest The President

14. Recliam The Streets (w/ DJ Hype)

15. Nova

16. Sensation

17. Glory Days

CD3

1. Come To Turn It Out (CTR-Z Mix)

2. Ragga Twins – 18" Speaker

3. Youngstar – True VIP

4. Peter Bouncer – Lift Yourself

5. The Hackney Soldiers – Hold Tight

6. Runaways

7. Babymother Blues

8. Say Party (Gospel Mix feat. Ola)

9. All Loved Up (feat. Stephen Granville)

10. Save It Till The Mourning After

11. Ganja Man

12. Java Bass feat. Ragga Twins

13. Hip Hip

14. Hear This

15. Basterds

16. Outta National (Taxman Drum & Bass Remix feat. Singing Fats)