This wonderful video of Matthew's fabulous version of my old Seventh Avenue Disco classic, "New York's On Fire", was actually shot and edited by Matthew himself. It's quite clear to me that here he has made a video which appeals to Liverpool bricklayers, white van drivers, and readers of the Daily Star, don't you think ?? No ?? You don't ??? Hmmmm.... I wonder why not ???? This song was originally released on AVI records in 1979 by Seventh Avenue, as part of a concept album of a gay love affair around America, love found, love lost, love reunited. And now, in 2008, I could think of no-one else capable of recreating this wonderful sound than my dear friend,Matthew. Matthew James Pateman was the lead singer of my 1990s group Bad Boys Inc, which we signed to A&M in 1993, and had six top thirty pop hits with them. After so many years, I reunited with him for my last album, released last December, and we recorded "Break These Chains" which we also wrote together for "Disco 2007", but now we have just done this most amazing version of "New York's On Fire", my old Seventh Avenue disco classic, for my new CD. Of course this song is yet another performance for my oh so important new project. My brand new album, "Yesterday And Tomorrow", is probably the most dear to my heart project that I have ever undertaken. I decided after thirty three years since I made my very first record, "Reaching For The Best" by The Exciters, to take a trip back down memory lane and recut thirty of my classics on artists who I am currently working with, reinterpreting them in 2008 without losing the magic that made them special in the first place. It's a totally self indulgent project, but one which already has my fans salivating with delight. I first got the idea when I recut Evelyn Thomas's wonderful classic "Have A Little Faith In Me" with Ebony Alleyne, last year. So I'm doing thirty in total, twenty four for the CD and six more extra ones for the DVD, picking either my biggest hits, my most beloved tracks, or the songs which people most requested to see a video. As I must clearly explain, these are not the original versions. And that's what makes the project exciting and new.These are brand spanking new interpretaions of the classics, by Centre City's current roster of artists , built up over a thirty three year career of making records.
REACHING FOR THE BEST - WEAK SPOT - YOUR MAGIC PUT A SPELL ON ME - BABY I'M STILL THE SAME MAN - HE'S SO IRREPLACEABLE - MY HEAD'S IN THE STARS - NO WAY OUT - LOOKS LIKE LOVE IS HERE TO STAY - I'M IN WONDERLAND- TWENTY FOUR HOURS A DAY - MY CLAIM TO FAME - TRUE LOVE IS MY DESTINY - NEVER LET GO - NEW YORK'S ON FIRE - SO MANY MEN SO LITTLE TIME - HIGH ENERGY - HE'S A SAINT HE'S A SINNER - ON A CROWDED STREET - CLOSE TO PERFECTION - ALL OVER THE WORLD - MY HEART KEEPS BEATING FASTER - TECHNICOLOUR - FOOTSTEPS FOLLOWING ME - I FOUND HEAVEN - MORE TO THIS WORLD - FAN THE FLAME - I CAN'T ERASE THE THOUGHTS OF YOU - DANCING ON THE EDGE OF A DREAM - RUNNING IN ANOTHER DIRECTION - WALKING ON AIR.
Happily, whether you're gay, straight, bi-sexual, transexual, transvestite, hermaphrodite, or a fit rugby player in white shorts, Matthew's version of this classic song will have you dancing down the aisles. The album, "Yesterday And Tomorrow" will hopefully be released on March 3rd on Centre City Records, exclusively through the new website, http://www.ianlevine.co.uk - and I hope you will all consider supporting it.
Tags: Yesterday-And-Tomorrow Northern-Soul Gay Motorcity Centre-City Classic Disco Male-Soul-Singers Groups Boybands 70s
