RAPTURE RIDERS (ORIGINAL)

Listen to RAPTURE RIDERS (ORIGINAL) by Go Home Productions.

Jason dropping in.

I have a thing for (pi and) mashups - songs that are created from the pieces of other songs. Those of you who were at Bill's wedding would have heard me play a killer track without realising it was mash - Callin' Up The Pieces (mashing Lyrics Born and The Average White Band).

"Go Home Productions" is the alias for Mark Vidler, a UK-based producer/remixer/DJ. He made mash for 5 years, featured on radio and (M)TV and remixed records. In 2007, Vidler decided to let it loose - putting every mash he'd ever done online - for free.

One of these tracks is today's feature for 2 reasons:

1. It takes two songs that both suffer badly from over-familiarity and breathes new life into them. Those songs are "Riders of the Storm" by The Doors and "Rapture" by Blondie.

2. I dig it.

Rapture was the first song featuring rap to hit the top of the charts in the US and its this rap that's critical to the success of this mash.

Jim Morrison's vocal kicks things off over Rapture's funk (based on Chic's "Good Times"). At 1:19 we hear Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger wandering around.

So far, nice enough.

Then, at 1:46, its bass-only until Debbie Harry slides in with THAT rap.

I challenge anyone to name a rap that is cooler than this - not just for its languid delivery but also its character references of that time: Fab Five Freddy, Grandmaster Flash, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lee Quinones....

Jim returns at 3:21 and you think that's it - that maybe the song will just drift out and verge on boring you with the rest of "Riders" - but 30 seconds later Debbie's back to bring it all home.

Put this on at a party and watch people go quiet and groove to the rhythm.

Photo: Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy, France, 2004. Taken by Jason Bryant.