Saturday, August 9, 2008

Thunderpuss & Junior & Hex--Oh My!!


Ok, so HOW cool is that iPod dock!! I want it!!!
Since I've had a bunch of tracks for separate posts featuring these DJ's, I figured I'd combine them all. You know...A little of column A, some of column B....
And I'm sorry I haven't posted a lot but I've been busy at school (which is ALMOST over--Thank God!) but this week I have summer break so I'll hopefully be able to get a bunch of stuff out to you all!!
Backstreet Boys - The Call (Thunderpuss Radio Edit) **Official Edit**
**This was one of the first songs that saw BSB making the bridge from teen pop idols to more mature men and has them singing about cheating on their respective others. While in the song it ended badly, this mix is anything but!! Super high energy from Thunderpuss here and with a really great vocal breakdown, this mix is definitely irresistible for me!**
Britney Spears - I'm A Slave 4 U (Thunderpuss Radio Edit) **Official Edit**
**I have to admit, when I first heard this mix I really wasn't a fan. The piano chords seemed off to me and I guess I wanted something a little different from the boys. Well the more I listened to it, the more I started to enjoy it and the way they used Britney's spoken vocals in this is so awesome!! Definitely a fun mix!**
Hilary Duff - So Yesterday (Thunderpuss Radio Edit) **Official Edit**
**This mix marked a very sad day for me for it was to be Thunderpuss' very last collaboration. All through to the end though, they put their all in it and delivered a great mix! The song is cheesy but it works well with the beat. It's a straight up mainstream pop remix with, of course, lots of energy!**
Pet Shop Boys - NYC Boy (Thunderpuss Radio Edit) **Official Edit**
**Omg! I love this song! Haha! I was SO obsessed with this when it came out!! PSB came back with a vengeance and this song headed straight to the #1 spot on the dance charts. At the time (1999) I was heavily involved in the NYC club scene so naturally I assumed that this song was written about ME! Hahaha!! Thunderpuss did SUCH an incredible job but all the mixes to this were great from Superchumbo to Almighty and Lange, everyone involved gave it their all!**
Aqua - Around The World (Junior Vasquez Radio Edit) **Official Edit**
**Ok, so we all know Aqua from their cheese-smash hit "Barbie Girl" but there was life for the group after that. This song, the second single from their second CD "Aquarius" had Aqua changing their "Barbie Girl" style to a more anthemic sound and who better to take that on than Junior?? Say what you want, but I always thought this was a slammin mix because the melody and structure of the song allow for a very grandiose production from Junior and that's where I like him best! The original mix which clocks in at 13 min & 40 sec here gets trimmed down to about 4 and change. Definitely get ahold of the full mix. It's totally worth it!!**
Laura Turner - Soul Deep (JM's Junior Vasquez Radio Edit)
**Laura Turner to me, is one part Sarah Brightman and one part Delerium. Being that she sounds very similar to Sarah Brightman, I immediately loved this song when I got a promo of the original. I was VERY shocked to see that this song made it's way to Junior's lap. Junior takes the song as far away from the original as possible, giving her voice a nice echo effect and using some real tribal drums throughout.**
Anastacia - I'm Outta Love (Hex Hector Radio Edit) **Official Edit**
**This was the song that started my love affair with Anastacia (born Anastacia Lyn Newkirk). At this time I was basically in Sam Goody every day ravaging the CD single section looking for anything that had Hex Hector, Junior Vasquez, Tony Moran & Thunderpuss on it. When I found this, I didn't really know who she was but if it had Hex on the single, it was good enough for me! THANK GOD I bought this!! Anastacia's first single (which got to #2 on the dance charts) is a stunner all around! A fantastic vocal from Anastacia (she became my new Taylor Dayne) and a thumping mix from Hex made for some dance music drama which still holds up today! Also I'm very excited because Anastacia is supposed to be releasing her new CD "Heavy Rotation" on October 24th of this year!!**
Jessica Simpson - Irresistable (Hex Hector Radio Edit) **Official Edit**
**Jessica's lead single from her third CD of the same name started to show a slightly more mature Jessica and definitely a sexier Jessica as she sings about how irresistible her beau is. And when that beau is Nick Lachey, who can blame her? ::swoon:: This song only got to #15 on the Hot 100 charts but also peaked at #3 on the Top 40 Mainstream charts. It didn't chart on the dance charts at all, but thats ok because Hex and Dezrok really gave a stunning mix as always!**
Kina - Girl From The Gutter (Hex Hector Radio Edit) **Official Edit**
**ANTHEM ALERT!!! I don't know if I have any other words for this one but DOWNLOAD IT!! If you know it, then you know it, if you don't know it, it will change your life! Hahaha!! Everything about this mix is perfect! From Kina's vocals to Hex & Mac Quayle's anthemic remix, it tears through any dance floor with ease!**
Lisa Stansfield - I'm Leavin (Hex Hector Radio Edit) **Official Edit**
**Classic classic classic!!! Lisa sounds beautiful as always as she breezes through Hex's remix which has her telling off her man. My favorite lyric is "How could I be so dumb?/I thought I loved a man/But more and more you proved to be a boy/And now I understand/But I can't babysit no more/That's not what I loved you for/I'd rather be alone/Bye bye/Cause I'm really leaving this time..."**
Pink - You Make Me Sick (HQ2 Radio Edit) **Official Edit**
**Hex & Mac take on bad girl Pink's third single from her debut "Can't Take Me Home" and while it only made it to #23 on the dance charts, this is definitely a mix that's endured the test of time as I've seen it still make a dance floor erupt every now and then when played.**
Reina - Anything For Love (Hex Hector Radio Edit) **Official Edit**
**Reina's second single and collaboration with Hex Hector & Mac Quayle after the anthemic "Find Another Woman" has Reina in familiar territory. This song has very much the same structure of "Find Another Woman" but instead of being annoyed at her man, she's telling us all how she'd "live for love and die for love" and Hex & Mac are standing right by her side! lol Definitely a fun track!!**
Stars On 54 - If You Could Read My Mind (Hex Hector Epic Piano Mix) **Official Edit**
**Amber, Jocelyn Enriquez & Ultra Nate get a GORGEOUS treatment here by the Hex/Dezrok camp and Dezrok's keyboard work really gets its time to shine. No beats on this one, only gorgeous keyboards, dreamy synths and a lush arrangement just make you wanna float away!**
Bonus Edit: This one is a special request from DM (I hope you like it!) and has to be one of the most challenging mixes I've ever taken on. The first 45 seconds were a nightmare for me as I was wracking my brain trying to chop out Thunderpuss' very long intro to this mix. This one was never officially released but thank God it leaked. I never understood why the Above & Beyond mix was such a big to-do with this song as it just never really did anything for me, and the mix was even used in the video for this song as well. ::shrug::
This mix also had a lot of controversy surrounding it as Barry Harris explained in an interview with About.com. This also shows the negative effect mis-labeling mixes can cause. It's one of my biggest pet peeves:
Barry Harris: We did what I thought was a really kick-ass job of "What It Feels Like For A Girl," and we did it early, like two or three months ahead of time. Everybody knew that we were working on it and someone somewhere took the original album version of "What It Feels Like For A Girl," put it on the net and said it was a Thunderpuss mix. That's all they had to do, and that messed everything up. Someone at Warners said they saw a Thunderpuss mix was already on the net and people are already downloading it. That started this fire within the record company and Madonna, and we were like "no, it's not our mix", we have not done anything. They just cancelled our entire mix, period, and that was it, the end of story. It's that simple. We worked with them again later and everything was cool. But it was just such an annoying, stupid reaction that people freaked-out over what wasn't true and our mix wasn't on there, when we worked so very hard and put so much blood, hard guts and soul into it. We did three recalls, because we weren't happy with it. We'd play it out on the weekends and put a lot of heart into that, only to have that stupid situation snuff it out. That was rather disappointing, but I'm over it now. There's my whine story for ya!

8 comments:

Lucky777 said...

Nice blast from the past with Kina - Girl From the Gutter...

can you find Pink - There You Go...
I remember hearing Jonathan rip this and then hearing Funkmaster Flex play it on Hot 97 like 2 weeks later!!!!

Bradley said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bradley said...

OMG! I have been looking for that version of If You Could Read My Mind for AGES! Thanks so much!
Also, Kina and WIFLFAG!!! FANTASTIC!

Thanks John Michael!

DavidV said...

Thank you so much for the WIFLFAG edit! I feel so special! No one else has dared to take that on!

I knew there was some controversy surrounding that mix and that is why it was never released. I know the Manny Lehman mix was improperly labeled as the Thunderpuss mix, even on a Queer as Folk CD. Somehow I got hold of a copy here and spread it around the city back when it was popular. I think it one of their best remixes.

Unknown said...

Thank for you the mixes!

Just as a side not, a lot of people commonly mislabel the remix of WIFLFAG in the video as Paul Oakenfold's rendition. But it is actually the "Above & Beyond" take on it. Oakenfold's mix is completely different from theirs.

DavidV said...

It was the Above and Beyond mix in the video.

DJ John Michael said...

Thank you all! I stand corrected. Whether it's Paul Oakenfold or Above & Beyond I still thought it was a boring mix lol

Ryan said...

Thanks for sharing the goodies! FABULOUS job on the TP Edit of WIFLFAG!