Dance Zone (compilation series)

Dance Zone is a British compilation series of electronic dance music tracks, made available commercially on compact disc and cassette. The series ran for nine volumes between 1994 and 1997.

Format

The Dance Zone series began in early 1994 with the release "Dance Zone Level One". The compilation was released by Polygram, then a major player in the commercial compilation market due to being involved with the Now That's What I Call Music series. Like the Now! series, the compilation focussed on featuring the season's big chart hits, though specifically those in House Music, Garage (house) and, later, Trance Music genres. There were typically three volumes per year, released at similar points in the year as the Now! series.

Being on two CDs allowed space for around forty tracks at radio edit length, with each disc opening with big chart hits and top tenners before leading into less commercially successful and sometimes underground material. This can be seen on "Dance Zone Level Five", when DJ Misjah and DJ Tim's Hardbag track "Access" was featured in its original 12" form, a year before its commercial release.

Each release was subtitled 'Level X' for its first six volumes, while volumes seven to nine dropped the subtitle on the cover but retained it on the spine.

Spin-offs

In addition to the main series, two annual compilations were released in 1994 and 1995, entitled "Dance Zone '94" and "Dance Zone '95" respectively. These releases were a collection of the years' biggest chart hits, including chart positions listed on the back cover.

Amazon lists releases of "Dance Zone '96" and "Dance Zone '97" as unavailable, and neither are listed on Discogs.^[1] It is unlikely these compilations were released commercially.

There was also a one-off, mixed compilation released in 1996 entitled "Mix Zone", which used similar graphics as the main series. The release was mixed by St. Peter and Heaven.

Demise

The final Dance Zone compilation was released in 1997. "Dance Zone Nine" was slightly different in its tracklisting in that it featured many Trance Music tracks, at the time a genre with growing popularity.

By this point compilation albums had become a fierce market and many companies were struggling to maintain successful series. The rise in mixed compilations was also a likely cause of its demise.

Discography

Main Series

• Dance Zone Level One (1994)
• Dance Zone Level Two (1994)
• Dance Zone Level Three (1994)
• Dance Zone Level Four (1995)
• Dance Zone Level Five (1995)
• Dance Zone Level Six (1995)
• Dance Zone Level Seven (1996)
• Dance Zone Level Eight (1996)
• Dance Zone Level Nine (1997)

Year-End Compilations

• Dance Zone '94 (1994)
• Dance Zone '95 (1995)

Mixed Compilations

• Mix Zone (1996)

References

1. ^ http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00004TA95