Malcolm McLaren’s wide-boy dilettante act led him to hype up and/or steal a variety of sounds and styles over the years — Punk, African drums, Hip Hop — but the most unlikely of them all was when he plundered the world of Opera for his 1984 album Fans.
Splicing electronic beats together with famous Opera tunes is an idea that should sound terrible in a naff “Hooked On Classics” way, but the old shyster just about made it work. The gorgeous single “Madame Butterfly” was especially successful, with McLaren narrating the voice of Lt. Pinkerton and the part of Cho-Cho San beautifully sung by both Debbie Cole and the soprano Betty Ann White.
FYI: This mix is 10-minutes long so it’s a big file.
Download: Madam Butterfly (On The Fly Mix) – Malcolm McLaren (mp3)
Photo: Devon Aoki by Nick Knight (for Alexander McQueen), 1997.
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This is much better than it should have been and still sounds surprisingly good.
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Was thinking he may have invented/influenced the genre of downtempo Chill Out electronica with this one too
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I’ve been known to argue that ‘Duck Rock’ is the single most influential album since ‘A Hard Day’s Night’. Certainly in the UK.
This single was tainted for me by being used as ‘hold’ music by a privatised utility – I think it was British Gas – when I was trying to get a straight answer about a grossly over-estimated quarterly bill..
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