VA - Sweet 'n' Salty Popcorn

Popcorn is a genre named by Belgian DJs who, in the late '60s, began spinning slow and medium-paced pop from five to ten years earlier to appreciative dancers. The Popcorn scene grew, remaining vibrant in Europe, and this collection compiled by Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley serves as an excellent introduction with its mix of R'n'B, soul, and smoky Latin-tinged numbers.

"A unique collection! The first-ever UK compilation of Popcorn, the continent's answer to the Northern Soul scene. The atmospheric sound of Popcorn has been an underground club phenomenon in Belgium since the late sixties, and has spread across Europe and hit British clubs in the last ten years." - Cherry Red Records

"What is Popcorn music? Bob Stanley of the band Saint Etienne and the new Croydon Municipal label wants to tell you. 'Popcorn is a genre after the fact, built by curation rather than creation...Its narrative was formed by Belgians in the seventies from records made in the fifties and sixties—there was no such thing as a Popcorn artist because no one had set out to make a Popcorn record in the first place. It was all in the rhythm, which had to suit the unusual 'slow swing' dance, and it could be Latin boogaloo, an orchestrated Italian ballad or an early Tamla Motown single." - The Second Disc