Another chart-topping remix, in a summer full of them…
Are You Ready for Love, by Elton John (his 6th of ten #1s)
1 week, 31st August – 7th September 2003
Although, I think calling this a remix is generous. It’s more of a remaster, a sharpening of the mix, cleaning the tapes, that sort of thing. Even though it has been ‘remixed’, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between the 2003 chart-topping version and the 1977 original.
Which is a good thing. This is a slice of late seventies disco, almost unknown and unearthed, crashing incongruously to the top of the charts twenty-five years too late. All the flourishes that we remember from the golden age of disco are present and correct: a frisky beat, a natty bassline, swooshing strings… It begs the question why this didn’t do better than reaching #42 at the time.
John had recorded it in ’77, but released it in 1979 on an E.P. of songs recorded with legendary soul producer Thom Bell, during a period in which he and Bernie Taupin were not working together. The Spinners recorded a version, and also guested on a special mix of the song with Elton.
Fast-forward to 2003, and a remixed version of the song was being used to advertise Sky Sports’ coverage of the coming football season. Demand built up and, hey presto, Elton had his sixth chart-topper. It was also his third, and final, completely solo number one (though Ashley Beedle, the DJ who remixed it, might argue with that).
This great but slightly random #1 adds to the sense of 2003 as being the year for great but slightly random #1s… From Russian lesbians, to disco remixes from adverts for Lynx deodorant (and Sky Sports), to Bollywood covers of ‘Spirit in the Sky’ and proper heavy, emo rock, there’s a feeling of falling sales allowing the charts to breathe, and indulge in something more fun, rather than being an endless week-by-week parade of the biggest names in pop.
It also adds to the sense of Elton John’s later career being marked by slightly strange hits, such as this. It follows on sharply from his duet with Blue a few months earlier, the first time he had ever had two chart-toppers within a year. Stranger number ones are to come for Elton, before very long…
The UK Number Ones Blog 
I’d never heard this – looks like it didn’t chart in NZ. Pretty cool – you can hear the Thom Bell touch for sure.
I like the original but this always struck me as a bit of a pointless remix!
~ Alasdair
Can you tell the difference? It seems more of a remaster, a slight beefing up of the sound, than a remix.
We’re back to the late-70s! Really nice. I’ve enjoyed some of the songs that have topped the charts in the early-2000s, but this type of music is much more much jam. It’s nice to have an actual 70s disco-pop song at the top of the charts, and sung by Sir Elton when his voice was near it’s peak.
You’re right, this is not a remix, this is just a remaster. This sounds like we’re right back in 1977 (I know it came out two years later but this sounds more classic disco than the more electronic disco in 1979) instead of 2003. It’s a great song – a nice slice of disco with a lot of soul influence. The best kind of disco. How the heck did this get to the top in 2003? I know older songs topping the chart has been a thing in the UK charts, but this sounds so out of place compared to what’s happening in 2003. That’s a good thing IMO.
Interestingly, 1979 is the period where Elton John was so high and drugged up on cocaine that he probably doesn’t remember recording this song (and he didn’t even contribute to the songwriting, which is quite…unusual). Unlike his version of “Johnny B Goode”, this is a good disco song from Sir Elton John.
I thought Dua Lipa was gonna bring about a disco revival with Future Nostalgia in the early 2020s but alas, that and that Kylie Minogue song were basically one-offs.
It was only rereleased on the back of a Sky Sports advert, which is something that happened fairly regularly throughout the 80s-00s. The Clash, Hollies, Ben E King, Babylon Zoo, Flat Eric… loads more that I can’t think of right now.
I’m going to stop calling these moments disco revivals because they seem to come along every couple of years, to the point where it’s clear that disco never went away. It’ll be back again soon, mark my words.
I liked this track when it came out in 79 – but I preferred the US single at the time (Mama Can’t Buy You Love) which was a big hit in the USA while I was on holiday – so I bought the 12″ version of the EP. In the UK it really should have come out in 1977 while the Philly sound still had legs, by 1979 the music scene was manic and fragmented and exciting so it got lost in amongst the sheer number of iconic dance tracks: Think Heart Of Glass, Tragedy, Voulex Vous, Gimee GImme Gimme, I Will Survive, Another Brick In The Wall (disco beat), Off The Wall album, and Chic at their peak along with Donna Summer and numerous others. The record just seemed pleasant in comparison.
So this rebirth was most welcome, sounding pretty fine amongst the 2003 music scene. I thought Fatboy Slim’s label had a hand in it the rebirth, I remember his name getting bandied about at the time.
I’m not sure if Fatboy Slim was involved… I didn’t see anything mentioning it while doing my research for the post.