Soulwax have delivered an epic remix of Sylvester’s empowering disco anthem You Make Me Feel Mighty Real.
Released to coincide with international Pride month, the ‘Soulwax for Despacio’ extends the track to over 10 minutes, a serious dancefloor workout.
David and Stephen Dewaele of Soulwax told Rolling Stone, that they only used elements from the original tune after being granted access to the original recordings by the estate of the late singer.
“Unlike other remixes where we usually replace most of the elements and make something radically different based around the vocal, we made this remix using only the parts we found on the original multitrack that we were so kindly given by the Sylvester estate.”
“Even though we have played this song a million times we discovered a few elements that we had never heard before, like a crazy Patrick Cowley synth solo and somewhere hidden before the start of the multitrack, the ending of what sounds like a gospel version of ‘Mighty Real.’ It was a huge privilege to be asked to remix this seminal track and we hope that Sylvester will dance to it, wherever he is.”
The original song was released in 1978. In 2019 it was added by the US Library of Congress to their National Recording Registry of songs which are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.
Over the years the song has made its mark as one of the most well known anthems for LGBTIQ+ communities around the world, and queer artists Jimmy Somerville and Sandra Bernhard have also recorded versions of the tune.
Sylvester passed away in 1988 after contracting HIV, at the time there were no effective treatments for the virus. Patrick Cowley, the producer who created this hit and others hits for Sylvester was also a victim of the AIDS pandemic, passing away in 1982.
OIP Staff
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