‘Dance Floor Divas’ a Mix of Disco Hits, Missteps : VARIOUS ARTISTS: “Dance Floor Divas: The ‘70s” Rhino (**)

Was the disco era really so bad?

This collection is designed to salute a major aspect of that dance-pop trend, but ends up reviving almost as many bad memories as good ones.

Only about 10% of the music of any pop field--be it disco, alternative rock or country--is quality stuff. The rest is merely a journeyman attempt to imitate quality records or what’s working commercially.

This low percentage is why single-genre radio stations are so dreary. The ideal format would pull the top 10% of the music from various pop styles, thus eliminating the need to devote so much time to the weak 90% of a single field.

The challenge in putting together “Dance Floor Divas”--a collection of records featuring female lead singers--was to find disco records that fit into the creative 10%.

Some of the 16 selections certainly qualify, including a pair of classy Nile Rodgers/Bernard Edwards creations--Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family” and Chic’s “Le Freak”--as well as Shirley & Company’s “Shame, Shame, Shame,” Candi Staton’s “Young Hearts Run Free” and Amii Stewart’s “Knock on Wood.”

When you add such other delights as LaBelle’s spicy “Lady Marmalade” and the Three Degrees’ anxious “When Will I See You Again,” there is much in the album worth attention.

But there are weak and marginal choices, starting with A Taste of Honey’s colorless “Boogie Oogie Oogie.” That record’s chief distinction: It still stands at the center of one of the most embarrassing nights in Grammy history--the night A Taste of Honey defeated Elvis Costello for best new artist in 1978.

Even some of the records that seemed catchy at the time, including Silver Convention’s “Fly, Robin, Fly” and Evelyn “Champagne” King’s “Shame,” seem plain now.

One might also question the album concept itself. Since the beat is the dominant attraction in most dance records, why limit your choices to female singers (eliminating, among others, some spectacular Bee Gees hits)?

Even if you accept the concept, the album omits some of the most captivating disco records by women, most notably Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” A mixed bag.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).