Name: Out Of Your Mind - True Steppers Feat. Dane Bowers & Victoria Beckham. by mwardenier
Duration: 3 min 12 s
Description: I did this back in 2001 and just been sat on my old hard drive doing nothing so thought id upload it.

Even though it isn't part of the song, that transition is GOLD

Where is this intro from? Is it an album version or something? 

# UK Garage - DJ Luck & MC Neat - Kc & JoJo -Tell Me That Its Real [Club Asylum Remix](1)

re-e-wind

just realised the downloads are maxed out, hit me up on facebook or twitter for the track!

Re-rewind - Artful Dodger ft. Craig David (Dr. Sensible's Jackin' Edit)

I did this back in 2001 and just been sat on my old hard drive doing nothing so thought id upload it.

Out Of Your Mind - True Steppers Feat. Dane Bowers & Victoria Beckham.

Toddla T - Take It Back

Dubstep remix of an all time classic garage track by the legends artful dodger for fun


Artful Dodger-Think about me [Dirtee Tacticz Bootleg remix]

Top T & Danny C Ft Jade- Magic

Moving Too Fast (Radio Edit) - Single

Moving Too Fast - Radio Edit

Stormzy - Sweet Like Chocolate (Shanks & Bigfoot cover) in the Live Lounge

Side A. Track 1. This is the final version that was sent to radio. All the samples, sounds and musical instruments were played/re-played by myself & Stu B. Back story, below. Enjoy :)

The original song was written & produced by Nile Rodgers & Bernard Edwards (of Chic) for Carly Simon. It was a Top 10 hit in 1982. It later became a staple in the bars and clubs of Ibiza around 1988. The idea for me covering this came about around this time. I presented a demo version idea to A&R Mickey Davis @ WEA/Warner Bros UK in 1996. I had known Mickey personally as a fellow DJ in London and as staff at Black Market Records, in Soho. During the late 1990's I had produced or mixed a number of his artists, including Shola Ama, Mark Morrison, Cleopatra, Akin, Martin Okasli. His latest signing was Glamma Kid - a young Dancehall/Ragga rapper from Hackney, East London of Jamaican descent. I say 'rap' as it wasn't what I would call 'toasting' (reggae stylee). A cd of about 20 demo instrumentals & beats was rejected, but I everytime I had a meeting with Mickey D, I would remind him what a great idea "Why" is. Hint! It wasn't until Glamma's debut single "Taboo" went to #10 in 1999, he realised he didn't have a strong follow-up single. One day, I received a phone call from Mickey (essentially caving in to my friendly pressure) saying 'i think that "WHY" idea of yours could work!'.

Green Light: The original backing track had quite a hard sounding dancehall beat. It was partly a ploy to appeal to GK, as he wasn't feeling "Why" - too pop. y'see. Why he thought he could sign to WEA and continue to make underground dancehall records that sell in small quantites, I'll never know! The beat/riddim served its purpose for providing familiarity for GK. However, it was limiting and felt more like a remix thing. My 2nd idea was based on the Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love" rhythm. This version had what I called 'pop legs', i.e. far less limiting and more widely appealling. It eventually became the final version, and I never revisted the dancehall idea.

Recording: To keep costs down MD linked me up with GK's A&R Publisher/Manager @ Universal Music UK - Thad Baron. He found me a room in the building (Hammersmith) and we set up camp for the day recording vocals. The first day was an audition for the female singing part (chorus). Thad was responsible for finding a lot of the singers. Amongst the many were: Belinda 'Blue' James (who had just cut a wicked track with Basement Jaxx - "Red Alert") & rapper/singer Phoebe One. With all due respect to everyone who tried out, none of them were suitable to my ears. GK came down to the studio the next day - late and reluctantly. He brought a friend (forgotten his name) who I thought was there solely for moral support and encouragement. Indeed, he fulifilled that role perfectly but, it turns out, he was a rap writer too. Whoever he was/is, I can testify that he wrote 'almost' all the lyrics for GK's verses, and I said yes or no to every word/line that he came up with - even making the odd suggestion myself. When the cd came out I noticed GK hadn't credited his friend for bailing him out, let alone sharing the publishing - poor guy! - I later learnt that this happens a lot in the music industry. GK did come up with the answer/response 'glamma, glamma, glamma, glamma' in the middle eight section, though.

Weeks went by and I was struggling to find the right female singer for the track. I was searching for someone tonely smooth like Brandy, but to no avail. It was looking like the single would have to be shelved. During those weeks, I had to complete a remix for another artist and I needed a UK rapper. Jean Paul Esq was recommended to me. He had rapped for UK Remix outfit, Ignorants. Nice guy, even though I didn't rate his rapping skills or faux American voice stylings. But, by chance, I happen to mention my 'female vocal' dilemna to JP and he suggested that his girlfriend, (actress/singer) Marcelle Duprey, sounded like she'd fit the bill. Very soon after that, she came down to our studio out in Berkshire. A cute pint-sized svelte of a thing with a coffee coloured complexion and a scouse accent. She had played a nightclub singer in the 1994 film 'Backbeat' and had just completed filming a lead role in "Virtual Sexuality". She went into the booth, the backing track rolled and out came a very girly sounding, Brandy-esque vocal. Although, she wasn't the greatest of singers, her voice just 'sat in the track' like it was meant to be there - for me the most important thing :) I called in Rita Campbell, a session singer friend of mine, to do the lushly padded backing vocals, and then hurried to finish the single. I delivered it to MD and it was thringily accepted. He said, "We've got another hit here. This is gonna be big on radio". He was right.

I wasn't completely happy with the mix and the plodding beat led intro. So, I went back in the studio again to mix it from the ground up. After much messing around, I managed to create an impacting intro with an edited, pitched, & pinched drum fill from an old Coxone/Studio One reggae record. Before I could re-deliver it, Mickey D had abruptly left WEA - as he had been headhunted by Sony Music UK. Unfortunately for him, that fell through and he was left without a job. With no A&R and three weeks of silence, I rang up Moira Bellas - (then) Managing Director of WEA. I remember she was unaware of the single's existence. Strange, huh? But, I had a meeting with her and she happily took the master away as she thought it was a potential hit too. Makes one wonder, if I had not chased the record label up "Why" may never gotten released. Who knows? Luckily, that wasn't the case.

BBC Radio 1 DJ, Chris Moyles, took great delight in not only playing the single everyday on his show, but repeating the drum roll/a-yo! intro over and over again! I remember thinking, thank goodness I changed it from what it originally was. The first few seconds of a single are crucial. UK Radio lapped it up. A-List/Heavy Rotation spins. Club mixes did their thing too. TV spots on The Big Breakfast, in the caravan. I attended the filming of Top of the Pops @ BBC Elstree Studios. Marcelle insisted WEA buy her an expensive dress for the ocassion or she wouldn't show. Backstage drama, huh? On the week of release, Nick Phillips (Chairman of Warner Music UK) invited for me "a cup of tea and a chat". He told me the single had sold enough to land inside the Top 10. It reached #10. I didn't get invited to work with GK on his album, "Kidology". His follow-up single, "Bills 2Pay", was partly based on Blondie's "Rapture" - by coincidence, a track I had previously sampled for Foxy Brown/Jay-Z "I'll Be" (Def Jam America). One of the producers, Kwame Kwaten (of D'Influence) called me up just to make sure I was cool with it. I don't own the Blondie song or the right to use it. But, it was gentlemanly of him to do so. That single sadly only charted at #17 and, with no other strong singles in the cannon, momentum was lost... project faded out.

Mickey D returned a year later to WEA with his own (short-lived) label, Inner Life - of which, I produced a remix of Marissa "Dedicated To Love" & co-wrote & produced demos for his new signing Irina Sitnikov. But, all was not well at the label. Love was lost between MD and Roger Ames (Warner Music Group, CEO). He never did shake off that feeling of MD's broken loyalty - jumping ship to Sony. Also, WEA had a new Managing Director, John Reid (who didn't have a lot of love for MD). He wanted to drop a lot of the UK roster, including Mickey's old artists - Shola Ama, Mark Morrison etc. I remember him going around the building banging on desks, demandly shouting "Where are my hits?!". Not a pleasant man, perhaps, but he was right to ask.

Follow me on Twitter: @DamienMendis

Out Of Your Mind - True Steppers Feat. Dane Bowers & Victoria Beckham.

mwardenier

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