Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

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BleuPanda
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Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by BleuPanda »

Or at least as well known for this other version? There are quite a few on the AM list that don't have this information marked, and I wanted to make sure there wasn't a classic I was missing due to ignorance.

I think the big one is Cornershop's "Brimful of Asha." Norman Cook's remix has pretty much replaced the original for me. Another big one is the Seven Minutes of Madness version of Eric B. and Rakim's "Paid in Full." I'm sure there are others I'm unaware of, and I'd also be interested if anything is better known for a live recording, etc. "True Love Waits" will also be an interesting example, since the better known version will inevitably be 15 years after the original release.

Henrik, have you considered adding this information to the acclaimed music list? Obviously many songs have remixes, but I think a few examples are big enough that listing the original version by itself can be misleading if a few lists explicitly name the remake. I noticed Beyonce's "Flawless" is already marked as such.
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Sweepstakes Ron
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by Sweepstakes Ron »

Aw jeez, this is a topic that i constantly get myself riled up about. I will likely return to this thread many, MANY times.

For now, I'll just leave one example: the Boris Musical Mix of Moloko's "Sing It Back".
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by Sweepstakes Ron »

Sometimes a live version displaces the original studio recording. Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" is the most obvious example. I'd say Johnny Cash's live version of "Folsom Prison Blues" is also a big example, despite coming 13 years after the original. A case could also be made for Nirvana's Unplugged versions of "All Apologies" and "About a Girl".

Björk's "Big Time Sensuality" is an example of a song where I'm not certain if the original or the remix is the definitive version.
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Listyguy
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by Listyguy »

Sweepstakes Ron wrote:Sometimes a live version displaces the original studio recording. Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" is the most obvious example. I'd say Johnny Cash's live version of "Folsom Prison Blues" is also a big example, despite coming 13 years after the original. A case could also be made for Nirvana's Unplugged versions of "All Apologies" and "About a Girl".

Björk's "Big Time Sensuality" is an example of a song where I'm not certain if the original or the remix is the definitive version.
Agree with most of these (although I personally prefer the studio versions of almost all of them...)

One song that jumps to mind for me with a KILLER live version is Bob Seger's "Turn the Page". Not really much of an acclaimed song, but it probably should be. Incredibly powerful.
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by Sweepstakes Ron »

We can't let this thread die!

I think the Aeroplane Remix of Friendly Fires' "Paris" counts for this. Is it even the same song?
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by Sweepstakes Ron »

Oh yeah, and the 1987 version of New Order's "Temptation", at least according to Wikipedia.
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by bonnielaurel »

Ofra Haza - Im Nin'alu is best known in the 1988 remix. I prefer the original on her 1984 album Yemenite Songs.

Simon & Garfunkel - The Sounds of Silence was on their 1964 album Wednesday Morning, 3AM. Without the s the 1965 remix with electric guitar became a hit. Paul Simon and I prefer the acoustic original.

James Brown - It's a Man's Man's Man's World is the title track of his 1966 album. More impressive is the 11 minute live version on Live at the Apollo, Vol. 2 (1968).
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by VanillaFire1000 »

Tom's Diner by Suzanne Vega would be a good example of this. The original doesn't even have a backing track.
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by Kingoftonga »

Born Slippy.NUXX is the one that everybody knows, whereas the original Born Slippy is kind of obscure.
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by Sweepstakes Ron »

Kingoftonga wrote:Born Slippy.NUXX is the one that everybody knows, whereas the original Born Slippy is kind of obscure.
I see those as two entirely different songs.
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by Kingoftonga »

Sweepstakes Ron wrote:
Kingoftonga wrote:Born Slippy.NUXX is the one that everybody knows, whereas the original Born Slippy is kind of obscure.
I see those as two entirely different songs.
Hmmm...I had always assumed that NUXX was a remix based on the name, but I had never actually listened to the original. You're right - the songs have almost nothing in common.

The other two that come to mind are:

Missing (Todd Terry Remix) - Everything But the Girl
Love is Lost (Hello Steve Reich mix by James Murphy) - this version is bubbling under on AM, but not Bowie's original.
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by Sweepstakes Ron »

Elmore James seems to have recorded many different versions of "Dust My Broom" throughout his career (with at least one recording instead titled "Dust My Blues"). Finding the original recording (which has a harmonica part, which none of the later versions have) is somewhat hard, as the first versions of the song to turn up on Spotify are later version with more prominent guitar and added piano. Would this be an example of a re-recording eclipsing the original version, or is it a cheap trick that I shouldn't fall for? (I'm counting on a blues enthusiast to show up in this thread.)
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by Rob »

Sweepstakes Ron wrote: For now, I'll just leave one example: the Boris Musical Mix of Moloko's "Sing It Back".
Indeed, this was such a big hit, that I was seriously surprised this was not the original recording. Then I heard the actual record and I suddenly fell in love with the track. It is really a case of a famous remix that really destroys everything that makes the original stand out so much, to make it more into a standard product. But perhaps that is just me, as most people seem to prefer the Boris Musical Mix of Sing It Back.
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by hectorthebat »

Tori Amos' "Professional Widow" is far better known for the "Armand's Star Trunk Funkin' Mix" than the original, which is more Amos' usual rock/garage than Armand Van Helden's house/electronica.
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by Sweepstakes Ron »

The 1990 re-recording of The House of Love's "Shine On" is more popular than the 1987 original.
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by digifuwill »

Willin' is one of the best songs on Little Feat's debut album. The version they recorded for Sailin' Shoes a couple years later is the standard version, though.
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by Sweepstakes Ron »

Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers (The Magician Remix)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix)

I think these two are more popular than the originals. Agreed?
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by Dexter »

A Tribe Called Quest feat. Leaders of the New School & Kid Hood, "Scenario" (Remix) [1992]
Big Pun feat. Joe, "Still Not a Player" [1998] - remix of Big Pun's "I'm Not a Player"
Cornershop, "Brimful of Asha" (Norman Cook Remix) [1998]
Criag Mack feat. Notorious B.I.G., Rampage, Busta Rhymes & LL Cool J, "Flava in Ya Ear" (Remix) [1994]
Eric B. & Rakim, "Paid in Full" (Seven Minutes of Madness The Coldcut Mix) [1987]
Everything But the Girl, "Missing" (Todd Terry Remix) [1994]
Lana Del Rey, "Summertime Sadness" (Cedric Gervais Remix) [2013]
Method Man feat. Mary J. Blige, "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" (Puff Daddy Mix) [1995]
The Notorious B.I.G. feat. Faith Evans & Mary J. Blige, "One More Chance/Stay with Me" (Remix) [1995]
Puff Daddy feat. Lil' Kim, The LOX and The Notorious B.I.G., "It's All About the Benjamins" (Remix) [1997]
Robin S., "Show Me Love" (StoneBridge Club Mix) [1993]
Sam Smith, "Stay with Me" (Darkchild Remix) [2014]
Tori Amos, "Professional Widow" (Armand's Star Trunk Funkin' Mix) [1996]
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by Sweepstakes Ron »

I think that Jessie Ware - Running (Disclosure Remix) can count.

La Roux - In For the Kill (Skream's Let's Get Ravey Remix) definitely counts.
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by Sweepstakes Ron »

A very definite example: Sneaker Pimps - Spin Sugar Sugar (Armand Van Helden's Dark Garage Mix)
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Re: Which acclaimed songs are better known for a remix/alternate version?

Post by Sweepstakes Ron »

I'm not sure which version is better known, but the xx's version of Florence and the Machine's "You've Got the Love" seems to have racked up at least as much acclaim as the original. In fact, I'm not even sure they should be counted as the same song on AM, since the xx version is less of a remix and more of a cover that samples the original (yes, I know Florence's version is already a Candi Staton cover). I've seen the xx version titled as both a remix and a cover.
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