More Madonna. More Pet Shop Boys. More Erasure.
Don’t worry, my next post will be less Castro.
Madonna
Beautiful Stranger (Calderone Club Mix)
Fact: This theme song to Austin Powers 2 is 192% better than any of the actual content in any Austin Powers film.
Don’t argue with me! I proved it with science.
Pet Shop Boys
New York City Boy (The Superchumbo Uptown Mix)
New York City Boy (The Almighty Definitive Mix)
New York City Boy (The Thuderpuss 2000 Club Mix)
If you collect enough remixes, (and I collect more than enough) you start to notice certain names keep popping up. In the 90s I knew the big names like Flood, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and so on, but as my collection of remixes extends into ludicrous numbers, I’m beginning to notice many more recurring names; such as Almighty and Thunderpuss. I have a remix of Erasure’s “Chains of Love” credited to Almighty, and a few Madonna tracks remixed by Thunderpuss, but who are these people?
Well, Almighty isn’t a person at all, they’re a company (complete with a garish website). According to their Discogs page, no one person can be linked to an Almighty remix, they are a nameless mass of remixers and producers whose sole intention is to increase the funkatude of any dance track they get their hands on. They’re kind of like the Illuminati I guess, but with beats.
Thunderpuss, on the other hand, are two people – specifically Chris Cox and Barry Harris. I can’t say I know much of either’s work, but I can say without question that Chris Cox, a skinny white boy from the US, is not related to electronic music legend Carl Cox, a big black dude from the UK.
As for Superchumbo? That’s a dude named Tom Stephan. If you want to know more about him I suggest you read his horrible Wikipedia page, which reads like a press release translated from a foreign language.
Erasure
A Little Respect (Remixed By Mark Saunders)
Oh L’Amour (Acoustic)
Walking In The Rain (37B Remix)
Since I’m already talking about remixers, Mark Saunders is a super-accomplished remixer, mixer and producer. He has a webpage, find out for yourself. Of course, as you already know, Erasure is fucking fabulous, you don’t need to go to their webpage to find that out.
The acoustic version of “Oh L’Amour” is haunting, while the remix of “Walking In The Rain” is…decidedly not. It’s more fabulous than haunting. But it’s so fabulous that its fabulousness may haunt your own fabulous dreams.
Fabulous.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, “Walking In The Rain” is a cover, the original is by The Ronettes.
Barry Harris was part of Kon Kan, mostly known for “I Beg Your Pardon’ circa 88/89.
Chris Cox was one of the founders of the DJ Remix Service Hot Tracks (STILL some of the best remixes ever released!)
I don’t know who the blogger of this site is, but DAMN you have great taste in music! Hope you caught the release of the new Erasure single this past Tuesday!
Thunderpuss were the go-to remixers back in the day, starting with their mix of Billie Myer’s Kiss The Rain. Several of their mixes got more airplay than the originals on MTV, like their mix of It’s Not Right But It’s Okay by Whitney Houston. After they split, Chris continued to remix and produce, but Barry took several years off, but he’s made a comeback the past few. Met Barry probably 6 years ago. SUPER nice guy.
@Eric Schulz – you sure know your shizz…Hot Tracks was indeed a BRILLIANT remix service, along with other greats like Razormaid! (don’t forget the exclamation mark) and Disconet. Happy days… 🙂