I like listening to electro music that takes samples from old songs and turns them into something new. To me, this is not stealing (although some would disagreew ith me on this point) but, rather, an homage to one's sources of inspiration. I have noticed that I tend to mostly listen to house music that takes samples from old disco- or soul/funk tracks, thus it is often labelled 'nu disco' (a broader term for what characterises French house music, the genre of which I am blatantly and indiscriminately a fan).
Here the other day I re-discovered an old 'guilty pleasure' of mine, Room 5 with the track 'Make Luv' (Of course complete with cheesy spelling of the title, but I guess this sort of thing was considered cool in 2003). Room 5 is a project by Italian producer and DJ Junior Jack who collaborated with Oliver Cheatham, bringing his old classic 'Get Down On A Saturday Night' back into the charts.
First have a listen to the original.
Then here is the version that most people might recognise (Personally I would ignore the horribly garish and tasteless Hed Kandi-style music video, or rather Barbie-esque cartoon), the 2003 hit by Room 5.
I have to share another version with you, if not solely for the hilariously brilliant music video (to make up for the tacky original). This is how I want to strut through my weekend! You would OWN the dance floor with these moves... The remix itself is not anything to write home about, as it basically puts a cheap-sounding drum machine under of the original track. Still, the song is good enough to listen to again.
If you haven't noticed already, the part starting from approximately 2:45 in the original song might sound familiar to you? It served as the basis for another chart hit from 2004, this time by British producer and DJ, Michael Gray. He changed "I can't wait for Saturday to begin" to "I can't wait for the weekend to begin". A poetic genius, in other words...
Still, Oliver Cheatham was again credited as co-writer, thus gaining two chart hits with two different songs in two years with two different producers, from ONE song! Not bad... Such is the magic of nu-disco! Or would you rather say the repetitiveness and lack of creativity? I wouldn't blame you. I can see why house music often gets criticised for being easy, dull, repetitive, and unvaried. However, I just wanted to show you that one song, or mere sample, can spawn many songs which to a musician must be quite fascinating and flattering...!
So I hope you enjoy your weekend!
