Re: Sade & Remixing

Tony Reid (t-bird@salata.com)
15 Aug 96 22:10:22 -0800


el> It really depends; yes, it's a case of whether some artists have power
el> to approve or disapprove of remixes. The case against remixes can be
el> made like this: Some songwriters (including myself, sometimes), believe
el> that a song, or at least certain songs, should be the way it was
el> written, arranged and recorded - and should remain in history as it is.

richard rogers (composer of "my favorite things") couldn't stand anyone
performing his music any differently than it was written on the sheet music
(i'm sure jazz interpretations rated high on his sh*t list).

el> It's like a life, and that it should stand on its own merit. Remixes
el> might be looked upon as "cosmetic surgery" perhaps giving a superficial
el> facade to what is intended to have more meaning.

of course one of the other points of view (from the remixer's standpoint) is
that a remix is merely a re-interpretation of the work. when one records an
original song, two things have been created--the song (melody, harmony &
possible lyrics), and the recording. when someone else records their cover,
they've re-interpreted your song. when someone *remixes* your version,
they've
re-interpreted your RECORDING--a separate work of art.
to use your analogy of a life, some lives gain more by the influence of others
and some lives gain more by solitude. you never know til they're done...

el> It could come from bad experience; when an underground remix was made
el> of "Pearls" a couple years back, which became pretty popular in the
el> club scene, Sade totally disapproved of it, believing it took away from
el> the song's sentiment and overall mood.

el> This is not to say I am *totally* against remixes. IMHO, it would be
el> fun to hear some songs done a different way, but others should be left
el> alone, from an artistic standpoint.

i was recently talking to a friend about remixing a track on his album. i had
listened to the track and told him that if he wanted me to stay in the bag of
the album mix, there was nothing beneficial i could do ("cosmetic surgery").
however, if he allowed me to go in a different direction i would be quite
interested (think of a child that only has a few of his mother's features).

el> If people are gonna dance to your
el> song, then it should be a challenge for a songwriter/artist to make it
el> danceable.

why? as an example i would use seal (another master of "mood music"). his
first album contained many dance tracks as album mixes. however if you buy
the maxi-singles, there are alternate versions of 3 or 4 songs that are
non-dance oriented. personally, i wished he had used them as album mixes (or
at least bonus cuts) and saved the dance stuff for the singles. the dance
remixes on the singles are better than the album versions of the dance songs.

the remixes are done by producers that work in the dance medium; whereas seal
is more suited to conveying a deep emotion than a "kick-ass groove".

el> On the other hand, I believe "weak" or "filler" songs on an

or *badly* produced GOOD songs...

el> album should deserve to get a reinterpretation to breathe new life into
el> it. Of course, it's been said that there's "No such thing as a bad
el> song, only a bad arrangement or a bad performance."

(who's being quoted here?) ain't so! i've written some awful songs...

el> Of course, there are creative dance mixes done of generally non-dance
el> songs; I thought the remix of Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner" was cool;
el> and we all know what happened to Everything But The Girl (though
el> eventually hearing the Todd Terry remix 476 times a day on the radio
el> eventually made me nauseate and long for the original).

the underworld remix is the one to listen to (pop radio almost always burns
tunes out, though).

t-bird

el> The solution to crime? Have the media emphasize the invevitability of
el> "anal rape" when discussing jail sentences.

this sounds kinda like something dennis miller would say. the problem w/this
is that criminals only think about penalties when they get caught. their
thinking is merely "don't get caught"...

... there are only 2 kinds of music, good & bad-duke ellington