Brief mention of PSB re: Yoko Ono & remixes

[Young Offender]

Yoko Ono
On Solo Work, Being Remixed and The Perils of Being Mrs. Lennon
By Alan Light, Special for MSN Music
Re: Masters is a monthly interview column dedicated to exploring a veteran artist's body of work

May 1, 2007

It would be shocking enough for any septuagenarian to find themselves suddenly becoming a powerhouse on the dance music charts. If that senior citizen also happens to be one of the most vilified figures in pop music history -- well, stranger things have probably happened, but it's hard to come up with too many. In the last few years, though, this is precisely what has happened for Yoko Ono, who's transformed from the notorious Dragon Lady who broke up the Beatles to a staple on dance floors around the world.

Of course, Ono will always be best known for her life with John Lennon, but she was an established avant-garde artist long before she met the Beatle. As a musician, she has worked with such experimental luminaries as Ornette Coleman and John Cage. Though her free-form, caterwauling vocal style has frequently been mocked, such artists as the B-52's and Sonic Youth have claimed her as an influence.

In 2001, Ono gave her blessing for her music to be remixed. Versions of "Kiss, Kiss, Kiss" and "Yang Yang" soon cracked the dance Top 20. Since then, she has had a steady stream of club hits. This renaissance reached a new peak earlier this year with the release (under the single name "Ono") of "Yes, I'm a Witch" on Astralwerks Records. Such celebrity hipsters as Cat Power, DJ Spooky, Peaches and Le Tigre put their spin on songs from the Ono catalogue. Most impressive was the Flaming Lips' remix of "Cambridge 1969" -- a signature piece of Ono's wailing and Lennon's guitar feedback, turned into a slice of swirling, pulsing funk. The album sold well, and received rave reviews.

In the wake of the success of "Witch" comes another set of Ono remixes on Astralwerks, this one titled "Open Your Box." The disc collects new and previously released reconstructions of her songs by such club superstars as Pet Shop Boys, Basement Jaxx and Danny Tenaglia. At the heart of "Box" are three different versions of "Walking on Thin Ice," the song that Ono and Lennon were completing the night of Lennon's murder in 1980. (On the 12-inch mix of the original track, Lennon can be heard saying, "I think we've just got your first No. 1, Yoko," which turned out to be true -- more than 20 years later.)

Ono, 74, spoke about the remix projects, and about revisiting her songs, over the phone from Reykjavik, Iceland, where she was announcing plans for an "Imagine Peace Tower" made out of light; the project is scheduled to open in October. "It's something I conceived around 1965," she says. "John asked if I could build a house out of light in his garden -- he wanted a conceptual house for a conceptual garden."

MSN MUSIC: Were "Yes, I'm a Witch" and "Open Your Box" planned at the same time, or did you decide to do "Box" after seeing the great reaction to "Witch"?

YOKO ONO: No, the "Open Your Box" remixes were done over the last few years -- club mixes that went out and got to top of charts. It's kind of a "Best of Yoko Ono Club Remixes."

I just thought that, at this point, I wouldn't have success with rock and roll albums, but I could have success with remixes because that's where I have had successful numbers. I was hoping it would make a big splash, but I was surprised by the reaction to "Yes, I'm a Witch." I really thought they should wait to put that out until after "Open Your Box."

The song "Yes, I'm a Witch," I wrote that and was going to put it out around 1974, but I was strongly advised not to -- people said, "They'll kill you, don't put it out." So I slipped it into (the 1992 anthology) "Onobox," but didn't really get any reaction. Then the label called and said they wanted to use it as the title for this record -- I was proud of the song, I liked the way the remix was done, so I thought OK.

Why do you think these remixes are so popular? Do you think it only has to do with the music itself, or do you think there's a different feeling about you now, personally ?

I think the success has to do with rise of indie bands and indie songwriters. They're independent-spirited people who don't conform to the way the record companies want them to make music -- they have that rebellious spirit.

I was part of it a long time ago, that attitude. Remember that I wasn't just an avant-garde artist, but I was making music, too. I was sent to a school with early music education. The first song I wrote, I was 4 or 5-years-old. And my early things were a little avant-garde, so they didn't really take, but now it's taking.

Did you learn anything about your own songs from these interpretations?

Well, I think they're musically quite interesting -- they were very kind, actually. Instead of the very far-out, avant-garde songs, most of them took songs that they could make popular. I thought that was very considerate. That on "Revelations," Cat Power used my lyrics instead of stepping on them. Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons) has such a beautiful voice, but he kept my voice on this version of "Toyboat." Each one wasn't making some ego trip, they were really showing respect for my work. I really appreciated that as a fellow songwriter.

Did any of the songs they chose to work with surprise you?

When the Flaming Lips came to me and said they wanted to do "Cambridge 1969," I said, "OK, but how can you do that?" I thought that was very daring, but they did an incredible job putting that stamp on the CD, saying it starts from this point on.

With "Shiranakatta," Craig Armstrong used the Japanese verse -- because there are verses in that song in French, English and Japanese. I thought that was a nice message, that it's alright to be showing your roots like that. These are different times -- when I came out, you couldn't even say that I had an Asian accent, it would have been a little embarrassing. They would say, "She doesn't know how to put English words together," -- I thought, what are you talking about? I was just emphasizing different words because it was funkier that way.

Even though times have changed, as you say, what do you think is the biggest misconception of your work at this point?

That I was Mrs. Lennon, who never had any experience in music, can't sing a note or write a note. I listen to these CDs and the songs are pretty good. I'm one of those artists who is not very modest. If I was, I would have disappeared 30 years ago -- I was under attack from all directions, they tried to crush my identity, and I only survived because I believed in my work.

How do you think that the whole idea of remixing relates to the art community you came from in the 1950s and '60s?

I was an avant-garde musician, and back then an avant-garde musician couldn't put a record out, or even play in a decent hall. So the first record I did with John was "Two Virgins" -- and I snuck in this title, "Unfinished Music Number One." The second record was "Life With the Lions," and that was "Unfinished Music Number Two."

That whole idea of "unfinished" was very important to me because you can get other people to put their creativity on something. In the art field, I sent up that same message of unfinished sculpture and painting, at something like the Indica show (the 1966 London gallery show at which she first met Lennon). The idea that it's untouchable is this ego game that a lot of artists have -- but things change, and you can change them. So I think this is the fruition of that, of the spirit from that time.

The point is, I totally forgot that attitude. When John died, people came to me asking to finish or to remix "Walking on Thin Ice," and I said, "You can't even touch one note," -- of course, it was a very special memory for me, John was holding that cassette when he died and all that. But I totally forgot that beautiful spirit.

Then I was creating the "Blueprint for a Sunrise" album in 2001, and they asked about this idea of remixing, and I was in a creative mood, so I said OK. One day in the studio, they said, "Do you want to listen?" I wasn't that keen on it, but they played me the remix of "Open Your Box" by Orange Factory, and I started crying -- I couldn't believe they did this for me. It showed such appreciation for my work. I cried and cried, and that changed my whole perspective.

I was foolish to think, "Don't change one note." These are very creative people. If they're going to add something creative, I should be thankful. I was very arrogant in the beginning, and that was all mixed up with my private life and everything that happened. I forgot that the first thing I came out with was "unfinished music." I'm so thankful it just happened -- that it happened in a way that I had to just say yes.

http://music.msn.com/music/remasters?GT1=9988

[fluffmoln]

Another mention from Pitchfork, regarding Yoko Ono's new release (review here)

Yoko Ono - Open Your Box
...
It's initially a weird fit with Ono's music-- especially if you're expecting something like the pensive, psychedelicized touches of "Thin Ice"-- basically taking her out of a lineage that includes John Cage and Richard Maxfield and dropping her into one that includes Jocelyn Brown and CeCe Peniston. Sometimes, as with any good mercenary modern day remixer, these producers simply beef Ono's songs up for the dancefloor of their day, as with Felix Da Housecat's "Tribute Mix" of "Walking on Thin Ice", where he keeps the groaning, icebreaker bassline and the piano offbeat and adds louder "Billie Jean" drums and a strobing synth riff, like a modern day electro-house single has been plopped on top the 1980 original. Compare that with the Pet Shop Boys' "Electro Mix" of the same song, which has a beat straight out of a Stevie B freestyle single and the roaring, rusted chainsaw bassline that Vitalic favors when out for blood, with only the vocal remaining from the original. The PSB's "Thin Ice" has been beefed up all right, but for the dancefloor of 1986, not 2007.
...