The original Jive Bunny mixes are on a disc called "THE ALBUM", also available on amazon. The import discs have weird alternate versions of the samples in the medleys. I've been a DJ for 9 years, and after listening to the real Jive Bunny mixes, it's painful to listen to these substitutes. Go for "THE ALBUM", much better.

When this album was originally released in the UK, Jive Bunny and The Master Mixers hadn't recorded any new material in almost three years. The production team behind the concept - who had only ever looked upon Jive Bunny as being their 'hobby' - were heavily involved in other projects (notably recording up-to-date dance tracks with chart acts). Consequently, since the Jive Bunny novelty tag had wore thin during those three barren years, then name "Jive Bunny and the Master Mixers" was sold to another record label ('Music Club' in the UK) and this was the first 'new' album under that banner. And if it was their intention to resurrect a chart act that had took the world by storm in 1989, they almost single handedly killed them off with this poor release.

The CD begins with a 'new' version of the worldwide smash hit single, "Swing The Mood". Due to licensing problems, several tracks which were sampled on the original version became unavailable, and were replaced by inferior copies. If that wasn't bad enough, the 'Glen Miller' samples (originally provided by John Anderson's Big Band) were substituted with alternative versions (including some played on keyboards for goodness sake!). The end result was an almost unrecognisable version of what was a classic megamix. The same can be said for the next track, "That's What I Like". Fortunately, the only difference was a new "Hawaii 5-0" sample being used, but again, it only cheapened a well-known track. Incidentally, the original - and best - versions of "Swing The Mood" and "That's What I Like" can only be found on Jive Bunny's debut album.

After Jive Bunny's second (UK) album ("Its Party Time") failed to even come close to the original offering's success, the Master Mixers were on a downward slide. Their final UK single release, "Hot Summer Salsa", proved beyond a shadow of a doubt the Jive Bunny novelty was wearing extremely thin. And what didn't help matters any was this particular megamix (track three on this CD) just happened to be one of their worst ever. Mixing mediocre 'summer' songs (with the exception of 'La Bamba') and interpolating the voices of Fred Flinstone and Barney Rubble in between the samples was embarrassingly awful.

"The Jukebox Story" - a new track which defeats the purpose of a 'best of..' compilation gave Jive Bunny fans a glimmer of hope that a new album would follow suit. In fact, this megamix was one of their best up until this CD was released. It's just another collection of classic rock n' roll tracks, but anything that comes after "Hot Summer Salsa" seems like a god-send.

"Can Can You Party", "The Roaring Twenties" and "Lets Swing Again" are all lifted from the "Its Party Time" CD, although with the exception of the first track mentioned, the other two aren't the best megamixes from that particular album. "Can Can You Party" - featuring songs from the 50s-70s with a rock n' roll theme - was Jive Bunny's final UK top 5 hit. (Although this just happens to be the shortened 'radio edit'). If the sounds of Glen Miller sparked a revival in post-rock n' roll nostalgia, the Master Mixers tried to re-invent a trend that went back even further, this time to the 1920s. "The Roaring Twenties", however, was taking things too far, and it's plain to see why the Master Mixers planned revival never happened.

In an act of apparent desperation, the Master Mixers tried to emmulate the success of "Swing The Mood" with an almost identical megamix entitled, "Lets Swing Again". However, when you replace the original Big Band sound with souped-up synthesisers - Glen Miller must be turning in his grave - you're destined to fail. "Swing The Mood" spent almost five months in the UK charts....."Lets Swing Again" spent two weeks. That sums it up perfectly. Worst still, they even have the audacity to include the "Glen Miller Medley" (originally the b-side of "Swing The Mood") on this album. However, it's the new synthesiser-backed version and not the John Anderson original medley. And this is supposed to be a 'best of..' album?

"Rock N' Roll Party Mix" is another alternative version of a megamix which appeared on the debut album. Another example of a track the Master Mixers found difficult to obtain licences for. This version, however, is actually better than the original.

And to make this ...album even more of a disappointment, the last three tracks can only be described as abysmal. "J.B Shuffle" and "Rock N Roll Beethoven" are actually songs opposed to being mixes or medleys. And to the best of my knowledge, these were tracks especially commissioned for this album. So instead of this being a bona fide 'hits' album, 30% of the tracks are new! The last megamix on the album, "Crazy Party Mix" is taken from "Its Party Time". Pushing the novelty factor just too far, this is tracks like "The Yellow Rose Of Texas" and "The Sailor's Hornpipe" played on synthesisers whilst 'classic' Looney Tunes cartoon characters are interpolated into the mix. Absolutely terrible.

There are a few blatant omissions on what should've been a definitive greatest hits collection. "Lets Party", Jive Bunny's final UK number one (and a classic Christmas megamix at that) doesn't appear, nor does the top 10 singles, "Over To You John (That Sounds Good To Me)" and "The Crazy Party Medley" (not to be confused with the version on this CD). Other not-so-well-known singles should also have been included too, like "The Sunshine Mix", "Best Of British Mix" and "Hopping Mad" (taken from the first album. The main sample riff used on this track - March Of The Mods - featured heavily on the "Lets Party" megamix).

Don't blame the Master Mixers for the 'alternative remix' versions found on this CD, as they really did struggle to obtain those musical licenses. Still, that's no excuse for producing this extremely mediocre album. For something that's close to a 'best of' compilation, opt for "Hop Around The Clock" (released in 1998 and available from Amazon). But nothing compares to the debut album as most people on this website tend to agree...