In 1997, 4hero took the Nuyorican Soul (Masters At Work) version of the classic 1971 track by The Rotary Connection, with some standardly cracking vocals by Minnie Riperton, and turned it into a downtempo breakbeat banger.
4hero have been around a while in the UK dance music scene, producing music ranging from techno, to breakbeat, to drum and bass. This particular scene has a definite drum and bass influence, but it is debatable whether the song is strictly a D’n’B one. The group have released jungle under the alias of “Tom & Jerry”, so 4hero is an outlet for their more innovative material.
The song actually doesn’t deviate much from the original soul version until halfway; at that point, the bass becomes more recognisably a dance sub bass, and the breakbeat intensifies. The remix does a great job at preserving the silky, warm glow of the original song, keeping the vibes nice and sunny.
The song is just drenched with a soulful warmth in the same way as “Everybody Loves The Sunshine”, featured earlier on this blog. The Masters At Work hip-hop remix of their own track is also pretty great, but the fact is, the 4hero remix is just fantastic.
It comes together so well; the strings, the synths, the pianos, the lush arpeggios, and of course those wonderful vocals!
What a beautiful song…