Valli Peaks!
Beg, borrow or steal a copy of this killer re-edit!
This year's unlikely summer dance music smash comes from a strange source indeed. Best known for cutting the 'Grease' theme tune, Frankie Valli is not a name generally associated with hip dancefloor cuts. But a re-edit of his classic 1968 Northern soul stomper 'Beggin', by Parisian producer Pilooski - out now on 679 Recordings - has set tongues a-wagging and arses percolating with its infectious vocal and tough beats.
In its new remixed form, it's a slab of monster soul with the potential to blow up big style. Attracting the attention of DJs from Erol Alkan to Gilles Peterson, the track has taken on a life of its own.
Pilooski too is a little amazed at how it's exploded, but reckons this is because of the original's universal appeal.
"Of course I'm surprised, but on the other hand it's a track you can listen to no matter what your age. The original was a good song anyway."
Adding some FX to the track and toughening it up has turned it into a disco destroying beast.
"I just boosted the beats and changed the structure, made it more psychedelic," Pilooski revealed.
A true soul nut, the producer's encyclopaedic knowledge of the genre meant that Valli's track had been close to his heart for some time, and with a little tinkering he finally hit upon the correct formula to bring the Italian-American crooner bang up-to-date.
"I just love soul music and there are a lot of different versions of this track. Originally I was going to do another one, and then maybe because this one is rougher I chose this one," the producer explained.
So what's next on the horizon for Pilooski?
"I'm doing a project with a band called Octet. We used to work for Diamond Trax - Benjamin Diamond's label - so we're doing a project, a soul disco psychedelic sort of thing."
We're beggin' you to check him out!