“Don’t Disturb This Groove” is so great at creating a mood; a laid back pocket of pure joy. The song’s about when something is so good you don’t want it to end. Mic Murphy is singing about his lady, but he just as easily could be singing about “Don’t Disturb This Groove”, itself.

The System were in existence for half a decade before “Don’t Disturb This Groove” became their biggest hit; topping the soul charts and peaking inside the top 10 on the pop list. The fact that they never had a major pop hit before or after is befuddling; they were at the cutting edge of synth-pop for most of the ‘80s, and Murphy was an appealing (and photo & video-genic) vocalist. I went apeshit the first time I heard “Disturb”. I couldn’t have been more than 10, but I was already keeping charts of my favorite songs. “Don’t Disturb This Groove” and “Stone Love” by Kool & The Gang were my joints of spring ‘87. The former song has aged a lot better than the latter (no shade to “Stone Love”, though…it’s still a solid four stars.)

I don’t need to go long on The System just yet. There will be another two or three (at least) songs by them on this list. But it’s good to start with the one song of theirs everyone knows.

How awesome (and sort of weird?) is it that the (LP version of the) biggest hit by one of the ‘80s greatest synth-based acts opens with a lengthy shriek of guitar feedback?