TIME TO GET BUSINESS STRAIGHT
Original song by Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators
Rock'n roll reinterpretation by Overdrive

Syncopated vocals have become something of a rarity these days. Most singers prefer to create melodic lines that fit perfectly into the tempo of the song -- because it's much simpler, the vocals can be created in one go, on the same day, without too much effort. But every now and then a talented singer comes along who decides to break the tempo of their vocals in an absolutely original way. 

This is the case of soul singer Nicole Willis in the song "Time To Get Business Straight". 

The first time I heard this song, I was absolutely fascinated by the broken rhythm of her vocals. And the way the second part of the song repeated the first part made it clear that those vocals were far from improvised -- on the contrary, each intricate part was designed to be there, as if it were a mathematical structure.

Check out the original version:

https://youtu.be/5fYKRt6ZtJk

I extracted the vocals using Ultimate Vocal Remover and realized that the melodic line fit very well into rock songs. In fact, they were even the provisional vocals for the song "Rocket", before the amazing singer Sumi took over the microphone and did a brilliant job. But the idea of using Nicole's vocals remained and after the good response to the cyberpunk reinterpretation of "I'm Bored", I thought it would be interesting to attempt a rock'n roll reinterpretation of "Time to Get Business Straight".
 
Of course, I tried to get in touch with Nicole Willis during the process of creating the song and after the track was posted on Soundcloud. She currently lives in Finland and is still active as a singer in her sixties. Here's one of her most recent performances:

https://youtu.be/Q9AAF-QRQ5o

Her social networks, on the other hand, seem to be rarely accessed and I've had no success in contacting her. Damn, it would have been an unforgettable collab, I'm sure of it. 😄

Hope you enjoy my rock'n roll version of this soul music classic.

Time To Get Business Straight

CONTACT
e-mail: muzik.overdrive[at]gmail[dot]com 
Or DM in Soundcloud/Instagram