A series on songs that became far more famous as a remix than they ever were in their original form, and the history behind each one.
Some of the biggest records in pop history did not start out big. They started as album tracks, B-sides, and commercial flops, and a remix is what made them famous. Culture Club tells those stories: what the original was, who reimagined it, what they changed, and why the second version is the one the world remembers. Every entry is also a small argument for the thing we are building. A great vocal is an asset that can pay out more than once.
An a cappella album track became a global hit after two producers added a beat without permission. The label released the bootleg instead of suing.
Read →A 1990 flop became one of house music's defining records after StoneBridge stripped it to the vocal and a kick and added an iconic organ bassline.
Read →A single that barely charted in 1994 became a global top-three hit after Todd Terry's New York house remix, and redrew the band's whole career.
Read →A quiet 2010 French folk track topped the charts in roughly twenty countries four years later, after a deep-house remix.
Read →A country album closer that was never a single became a number-one record across Europe after a Belgian teenager's tropical-house edit.
Read →A moody soul ballad became a pan-European number one and the biggest record of Imany's career after a Russian duo's deep-house remix.
Read →An indie tribute song that reached number 60 became a UK number one after a Fatboy Slim remix that mostly just sped it up.
Read →Intense, harpsichord-driven art-rock became a foundational house record after a remix kept one vocal line and invented the rest.
Read →An ambient album track that reached number 73 became one of the defining vocal-trance records of its era after a Tiësto remix.
Read →A slow, downbeat acoustic track became a global hit after a deep-house remix, the second dormant song Robin Schulz woke up.
Read →The Remix.me app is out now on iPhone and iPad. Android and macOS are coming. Get notified.
