Wednesday, July 9th 2008
Yazoo Woo Hoo!
Last week I stumbled across a rather catchy remix of Nobody’s Diary by Yazoo on my musical travels. The hook of the song was criminally missing, but as soon as the vocal kicked in I was reminded just how dear that song used to be to me. This led to a bit of a revival of Yazoo hits for me and yesterday a friend I met very recently called to inform me that he had an extra ticket to the Yazoo show at the Orpheum Theatre downtown. Coincidence? Who cares?! Cut to me ditching work early on a production day so I could see two people perform that recorded their last album in separate rooms so they didn’t have to see each other.
When you only have two albums under your belt a ninety minute concert pretty much guarantees play of your entire catalog; especially when it runs to two hours. There were several moments when I literally did not know what to do with myself. I couldn’t scream loud enough or dance hard enough to justify the experience of hearing this music performed live after twenty years of unabashed worship on dancefloors the world over. This was the ideal concert experience for me. There were no tourists. Every person there sang along and acted as though they were holding court in their private shrine at home. It was terrific.
Afterward I visited a few fan sites and found samples of the remixes that were whipped up to commemorate this reunion tour. For your listening pleasure I clumsily assembled the clip below that features the original version of Nobody’s Diary mixed into the new Koishii & Hush Remix that finally elevates this song to the anthem status it so richly deserves. Enjoy!
[audio:https://hazzardahead.com/media/20080708.mp3]
OK. I’m usually not a big fan of ballads turned into dance anthems and this one is no exception. Granted it’s well done, but I always loved the understated poignancy of the original (which the video captured very well, especially in its twist ending.)
I do love the Yazoo dance numbers, like Situation or Don’t Go. But that poignancy is best heard in album tracks like And On or the stunning original version of Ode To Boy – now, that’s a Wonder!
(Don’t get me started on the awful cover Moyet did on her solo album Essex.)
Sorry, old fart from the 80s here.
BTW, I had forgotten about them recording the last one in separate rooms. Did they really hate each other that much?
Wow- LOVE the remix! I’ve always been a huge fan of Alison Moyet; Yazoo, Yaz, and all her solo stuff is awesome too. Thanks for introducing me to the new stuff- I’ll head right out to see if I can get it!
Really? I liked Alison’s version of Ode To Boy. I’m not sure of the relationship between Vince and Alison in those days, but I did see an interview recently where Alison pretty much said she was too much to handle in those days.