Remixed Dance Hits – Christopher Thelen

Have you ever heard the phrase, “If it looks like a duck, walks
like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck”?

Well, imagine applying this logic when first checking out
Remixed Dance Hits, a CD credited to James Brown. Let’s
follow the “duck” logic: The CD has James Brown’s name on the
spine. It features remixes of songs by James Brown. It even has
James Brown’s picture on the cover. Yet once you slap this disc
into the player, what comes out of your speakers is only distantly
related to James Brown, as these remixes work samples from Brown’s
best-known songs into a frenzied beat-per-minute dance-a-thon.

So, while the “if it walks like a duck” logic usually is right,
Remixed Dance Hits is the exception. In short, duck it.
(Gee, aren’t you glad you waited for the eventual double
entendre?)

All of this might lead you to think I’m ready to rip into
Remixed Dance Hits like a member of a weight-loss group
would dive into a vat of Ben & Jerry’s. Actually, I’m not gonna
do that. Granted, there was disappointment that some of these songs
strayed quite far from the original versions that people know and
love. But taken as its own unique creature, this disc isn’t
actually bad at all – in fact, it’s downright enjoyable at
times.

Let’s be honest, this isn’t the kind of disc the casual fan of
James Brown will pick up to learn about the Godfather Of Soul;
there are dozens of best-of collections that do a better job for
that purpose. But this is the kind of disc one could see being
played at a block party (remember those, kids?) or at any gathering
where you want to turn up the dancing energy a notch. In this
regard, this disc succeeds.

Even in this regard, there’s enough material on
Remixed Dance Hits that does keep true to the original
visions of the songs. The “Da’ Funked Mix” of “Hot Pants” does
sound like something that Brown would have put his stamp of
approval on, and even manages to kick the original song into levels
previously unimagined. Likewise, the “Digital Johnson Mix” of “I
Got You (I Feel Good),” the “Feel It Mix” of “Papa’s Got A Brand
New Bag” and the “Fredco Mix” of “Super Bad” all will get you up
and grooving – even if you did grow up listening to the original
versions.

Only two particular numbers disappoint – the “Get Funky Mix” of
“Get Up (I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine, Pt. 1)” and the “Splats
& Star Mix” of “Get Up Offa That Thang” fail to really capture
anything special. In the case of the latter track, the remixers
happened to choose one of Brown’s weakest “hits” from his career,
so I’m willing to concede the source material limited what the
remix could become.

Maybe
Remixed Dance Hits isn’t meant to be a James Brown CD per
se; maybe it’s not only meant to get the younger generation off its
Red Bull-laden ass and dancing in the streets, but it’s meant to
re-introduce a musical legend to a group who might consider
listening to the source material to be uncool. Admittedly, nothing
will replace those original numbers, but if this is how the new
generation wants to study James Brown, then I guess something’s
better than nothing.