Jellybean
Jingo (Fun House Mix)
Jingo (West 26th Street Mix)
Mirage (Dancers Dream) Part II
Yeah, you know this song even if you think you don’t. It’s one of those numbers that’s been covered by a thousand people, sampled by millions, and referenced by billions. The original is by a Nigerian musician by the name of Babatunde Olatunji. That version came out in the 50s. Notable artists that have covered the tune include Santana, Gong (holy shit what) and Fatboy Slim, which is probably the version that I’m most familiar with. Jellybean’s version first appeared on his 1987 Just Visiting This Planet. That album was re-issued at some point with some bonus tracks and remixes thrown in, but for some reason none of these mixes made that cut.
I have to imagine that this was a dance hit back in the 80s. Like all of Jellybean’s work, it is immaculately produced, seemingly created in a lab to get you off your ass and onto the dance floor and/or jazzercise workout (god, this had to be a part of a Fitness-style workout routine you just know it was).
As “classic tunes transformed into electro cuts by Jellybean” go, “Jingo” is no “The Mexican,” and that’s probably the worst thing I have to say about it. Whenever I listen to it, I think “this is good, but I should probably just be listening to “The Mexican'” and then I go ahead and listen to “The Mexican.” You know what’s one of the greatest tunes of all time? “The Mexican.”
Also, the song doesn’t really have much song to it. It’s more or less two 30 second bits looped over and over again. This is fine when you’re on the dancefloor (or working out) but when you’re sitting in front of your computer, looking over job listings for teaching gigs in the greater Tokyo area, it sort of wears out its welcome. Even more so when you’re listening to not one, but three remixes of it back-to-back-to-back (the 12″ also has the UK House Mix, which I’m not including here because it’s on the CD you can buy legally). After listening to these remixes a few times each, I think I’ve gotten my lifetime fill.
The b-side “Mirage (Dancers Dream) Part II” has even less to it, but I strangely enjoy it more. It’s minimal in a way that works. As if the title wasn’t a clue, this was obviously intended to be a dance track, and from the sound of it, a breakdance track at that. I’m not popping and locking it all that much these days, unless you count my joints popping in and out, but I still dig this one quite a bit. It has that hard-to-define electro sound that’s timeless. Drums machines on drum machines on drum machines (with drum machines).
Rad.