Diner Dance? ("I just wished they'd ask me first")
Suzanne Vega used to represent quiet nights in, chanting by the living room altar. Now, thanks to Bristol-based grooverobbers DNA, Suzanne's demure tones are filling the nightclub air with their kidnapping of her a cappella 'Tom's Diner'. Johnny Dee gets down to stay down
"Dance? To Suzanne Vega??!!??" I suppose if you can dance to traffic noise, if you can dance to the sound of someone eating quiche, or raising their eyebrow, you could dance to Suzanne Vega.
Until a couple of weeks ago the thought of someone wigging out, or mellowly lolloping, to the intense American Buddhist's folky songs seemed bizarre, not to say cranky, rum and outta here. But, with the wonders of modern science, and the discovery of the atom, the impossible becomes possible and 'Tom's Diner'-previously a lispy a cappella on Vega's second album 'Solitude Standing'-has become the hottest dance tune in Poptown. All the Bristol based production team DNA have done is put a Soul II Soul drum and bass loop beneath the track. But, it's a masterstroke, an improbable symbiosis: bringing Vega's atmospheric, distant tale of Manhattan streetlife out of its shell, gives it movement.
This unlikely marriage could easily have gone unheard. DNA were breaking copyright laws when they remixed 'Tom's Diner' without permission and released it as a limited edition club white label. Vega's record company, A&M, had two options when they heard about the record-either take DNA to court or release the single themselves. After some speedy detective work A&M traced DNA, who prefer to remain anonymous, and instead of handing them a writ handed them a contract that gave the record, with Vega's blessing, an official release.
Bootlegging is becoming more and more common as the dance scene grows and investigates previously forbidden areas. Producers are unofficially remixing tracks: Canadian folky Edie Brickell's 'What I Am' and 'Circle' were recently given a much-acclaimed dance treatment and currently a dance mix of Velvet Underground's 'Sunday Morning' is a much sought after white label; or doing unsolicited covers such as the many versions of 'Nothing Compares 2 U' imported from Italy after Sinead O'Connor's Number One hit, and house reworkings of, amongst others, 'Fools Gold'. It's unfair to say they're cashing in on artists' existing success, only a few hundred are pressed for a specialist market; they're merely music lovers using technology to break down the limitations of musical categories.
Determined to keep their identity shrouded in mystery-they deal with A&M via a go-between-I'm told that a member of DNA will be phoning me sometime during Thursday.
"Hello, is that *Record Mirror*. Er, I'm from DNA."
Oh hello. What's your name?
"Just say it's 'N'."
N?
"It could become tricky if people find out who we are," says the voice of N cagily. "And we're not really interested in becoming popstars. It's all happened so quickly. We made the record, and the first we heard of someone picking it up on it was when Jeff Young played it on Radio 1."
Where did you get the idea to remix 'Tom's Diner'?
"It's just a really good song, it's got a good natural beat anyway. We heard the vocal refrain sampled in a Public Enemy track and we just thought it would make a good record."
So what does funky Suzanne Vega make of all this? Half way through a Canadian tour, she chose not to hide her identity when we phoned. Hello, calling planet Vega. What do you think of this dance mix then?
"Oh I like it, it's good," she says, leaving a three secong pause between each word. "I just wished they'd ask me first. I'd like to have been involved."
Maybe you could do a remix of the remix?
"I'd have liked more samples, more instruments. Actually I was thinking of doing something similar with 'Predictions' from my last album."
People don't really think of you as, er, very upbeat Suzanne.
"Well you know, I like to dance."
What was the last record you danced to?
"Lloyd Cole."
Dance? To Lloyd Cole??!!??
[colour picture of Suzanne wearing a pair of sunglasses]
Submitted by Arriwong Suporn
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