Word was this song was a loser. Most people didn't even know there was a new song in "Rocket Man." And even though I was invited to multiple screenings I did not go, because I'm not into fantasy, I'd rather keep my memories intact, the ones I grew when Elton John went from instant hit newcomer to album after album of killer material.
And, of course, Elton burned out after "Blue Moves" and Geffen could never achieve the same success he had on Uni.
Yes, he had hits, he was on MTV, but the songs did not quite resonate the same way until 1989's "Sleeping With The Past," with a return to greatness with "Club At The End Of The Street," which could fit on any early seventies album, and the haunting "Blue Avenue."
But Elton moved on to the Great White Way and Africa, with great success, but it appeared he was done on the hit parade. 2004's "Peachtree Road" delivered, but it was out of time. Elton was too old, the scene was too pop and hip-hop, and it was mostly ignored.
Like everything else that doesn't fit the niche.
It's so hard to get noticed if you're not pop or hip-hop, especially if you're over forty, it's like you don't even exist.
And here comes "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again."
Like I said, word was bad. But I was in an Elton mood, so I pulled up the cut on Amazon Music, its ULTRA HD tier is genius, and...
So was the track.
Huh?
This didn't make sense. Everybody had dismissed this cut as a throwaway, tacked on to the movie, an injection of something new that you did not need to hear.
And if you listen to the original, that's the truth.
But somehow that's not what came up on Amazon Music. I searched on "Elton John" and I got the Purple Disco Machine remix of "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again." I looked at my phone to do research, because this couldn't be, this track was too good to be dismissed.
That's when I found out the version I was listening to was not the original.
Which I then pulled up.
It misses. It's not that it's bad, it's just that you don't need to hear it again, it doesn't stick to your bones, there's no magic enticing you, getting you addicted, it sounds like a track that would play over the credits.
But not the remix.
I went back to it. And I still got it.
It was that guitar sound, the walk, the slurp, it's hard to listen to the Purple Disco Machine take and not get up and dance, it's the essence of music, something that immediately grabs you and won't let go, puts a smile on your face, reinforces the feeling that life is worth living and that when done right music delivers a hit you cannot get anywhere else.
Purple Disco Machine...did I miss a memo? I mean I'd never heard of it, which turned out to be just one guy anyway. He had some success in the electronic music world, but he was no Deadmau5, he was not a household name, but today almost no one is a household name, and if you're not deep into a scene you've got no idea what's going on.
Now the skinny jean and black leather jacket crowd will scoff that this is disco. Then again, so is Prince's "Dirty Mind," his best effort if you ask me. Actually, there's been more disco since the demolition back in '79, seems like the disco beat is everywhere, even though this is called "house."
Music is like pornography, you know it when you hear it. When done right, it's inexplicable, it just reaches you. A musicologist can analyze it, but the truth is the people who made it don't have those skills, they've just got the music in them.
Now there's no place on radio for Purple Disco Machine's remix of "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again," but it could be a bar mitzvah/wedding staple.
Sure, the song won an Oscar, but I don't expect any bounce.
Yet I'm bouncing as I listen to Purple Disco Machine's remix of "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again." It's got that same feeling as "Philadelphia Freedom," and isn't that what we're looking for from music, TO BE SET FREE?
P.S. I love tracks that you can play over and over again, for hours. Yup, every once in a while one comes along, it puts me in a mood, I put it on endless repeat and revel in the feeling. I don't want to turn the Purple Disco Machine remix off, I don't want to lose that feeling, OH, WHAT A FEELING!
Spotify: spoti.fi/2Hedu7q
YouTube-
Purple Disco Machine remix: bit.ly/38iQTSS
Original: bit.ly/2tREiaA
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