Jigsaw ~ Sky High 1975 Disco Purrfection Version

Jigsaw came to life through Tony Campbell, who assembled a six piece band named after a Manchester hotspot known as "The Jigsaw Club". Original members Dave Beech, Clive Scott, Barrie Bernard, Tony Britnell and Kevin Mahon along with Campbell scored a number of hit singles in the mid sixties with their Beatlesque arrangements. Beech left after one year and was replaced by Des Dyer who took over lead vocals and drumming responsibilities. Soul stalwart Arthur Conley (Sweet Soul Music, #2, 1967) took them on as a backing band for a European tour. At this point, not being interested in life on the road, Mahon left the band and was not replaced. The band had spectacular high energy concerts where drum sets were set on fire and explosive visual effects were employed. Scott and Dyer began writing songs in bits and pieces, stopping one song and jumping to another, write a bit more there and then whenever the inspiration struck, finally gelling with the songs like "Who Do You Think You Are" that Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods (Billy, Don't Be A Hero) recorded and it peaking at #15 in the US during 1974. Their own original recordings of these same hit songs for others sputtered out and resulted in their being dropped from their label, BASF. Their manager signed them to his Splash label and the band soldiered on. Asked to contribute a song to the soundtrack of "The Man From Hong Kong" a 1975 martial arts movie starring ex Bond actor, George Lazenby, Scott & Dyer came up with "Sky High" The version as recorded for the soundtrack is very hard to find on vinyl as it was not a very popular movie. It incorporated a bridge strings only break which interrupted the flow of the energetic song, but fit well with the credits.. The song was edited down to 2:52 when Radio Luxembourg added it to their playlist. The buzz was sufficient enough for commercial release worldwide and it became a huge hit, peaking at #3 on the US charts in 1975. A 1979 remix that added a heavy kick drum track by UK DJ Les "Mixdoctor" Adams who kept the swirling orchestral arrangement of the song virtually intact. Its an excellent respectful updating of this classic 70's tune. The 1979 version did not chart in the US, but the song has been sampled and covered by several bands in the ensuing years, most notably remixed for PWL by Pete Hammond (Dead Or Alive, Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley). Here, I obtained the 1979 disco version on vinyl and peppered it with the sonics that made the original song so appealing. This is the proper speed of the song along with the crystal clear quality you have come to expect from me. My sweet friend niecy asked if I could redo this one for her since she loves the song so much. I could not say no, so here is my take on "Sky High" using the disco and original versions. Happy New Year! All the best in 2014! PS here is the original song heard over the credits to the movie http://youtu.be/v4FOXoAiSmo

Видео Jigsaw ~ Sky High 1975 Disco Purrfection Version канала DJDiscoCat