June 11, 2010

Think I better dance now

To close off this first week, how about an 80s cover done in the 80s?

"Kiss" was released in 1986 and became Prince's third #1 hit. A scant two-and-a-half years later, the seminal synth-pop group The Art of Noise released their own version of the song, featuring British pop legend Tom Jones on vocals. Thus "Kiss" became the Noise's biggest hit to date (it outperformed Prince's original in the UK), and also revived Jones' career.

Unlike Prince's straight funk, this cover is done in the Art of Noise's typical style: it's sampler heaven. The arrangement also includes numerous musical shout-outs to their previous singles, including "Legs," "Paranoimia," "Peter Gunn," "Dragnet," and "Close (To the Edit)."

No comments:

Post a Comment