Stars on 54 if You Could Read My Mind
Released: xvith November 1998
Writers: Gordon Lightfoot
Peak position: #23
Chart run: 23-43-69
Billboard Hot 100 chart run: 75-71-66-69-66-66-62-58-62-57-64-66-56-52
When Ultra Naté, Jocelyn Enriquez and Amber came together to class Stars On 54, the result was one of the most mind-bogglingly brilliant encompass versions of the '90s.
If You Could Read My Heed started life as a tender mid-tempo from folk-stone fable Gordon Lightfoot. However, you lot'd be forgiven if the name doesn't necessarily ring any bells since his commercial peak came in the 1970s and was predominantly localised to Canada and America. This song was a product of that era, becoming 1 of his biggest hits. It even managed to make its way over to the U.k., where it peaked at #30 in 1971. Needless to say, when If Yous Could Read My Heed landed in the easily of Ultra Naté, Jocelyn Enriquez and Amber – who between take amassed more 30 acme ten hits on the US Trip the light fantastic toe chart – information technology didn't sound quite the aforementioned anymore. Collectively known as Stars On 54, this supergroup of divas transformed the song into a thumping dance-pop song and i of the most joyously inspired – proudly homosexual – cover versions of the '90s.
And what caused all of this to happen? A movie soundtrack, of course. If You Could Read My Mind was created for 54, which ostensibly told the story of the iconic Studio 54 nightclub. Directed past Mark Christopher, information technology promised a keen deal, with a loftier-profile bandage including Ryan Philippe, Mike Myers, Salma Hayek and Neve Campbell. However, the project plant itself mired in controversy every bit Miramax scrapped the original edit and ordered a plethora of re-shoots. The studio was obviously surprised that a movie about Studio 54 – famed for a hedonistic image of sex, drugs and disco – would contain subject area thing deemed likewise risqué for the mass-market. In all, 40 minutes of content was dropped from Marking Christopher's version and patched together with 30 minutes of new footage that changed many aspects of the original plot and removed some altogether. But…it was all worth it, correct? The end product was critically slated and bombed at the box office, so plainly not.
Whether If You Could Read My Mind fit into the original vision for the movie is unclear, but information technology certainly seems to. There'due south an onetime-school disco vibe running through the track, which is melded perfectly with more current (at the fourth dimension) '90s product elements but never loses sight of the context behind its existence. The relative anonymity of Stars On 54 very much plays into this unmarried'south favour; while Ultra Naté was enjoying some success at the time, none of the acts were big enough for their presence to serve as a lark. The trio brings so much to the track, but mayhap most strikingly – and and so often absent-minded from many loftier-profile collaborations – is the fact that If Y'all Could Read My Listen is fun. The sheer joy coursing through the vocal is positively life-affirming. One can only imagine what it might have sounded like had Ultra Naté, Jocelyn Enriquez and Bister been in the studio together (they recorded their parts individually).
The rails is assembled from its component parts incredibly well. With 3 dancefloor divas joining forces, there was the potential for If Y'all Could Read My Mind to get over-indulgent. All are undoubtedly capable of delivering more (check out the TOTP performance) simply don't need to; they give precisely what is required of them. The vocals are slick, soulful and blend seamlessly, while the occasional ad-lib cuts through (Ultra Naté's growled: "Never" during the final chorus is sublime).
Wisely, the track isn't a strict re-reading of the original; a few of the verses have been trimmed to ensure yous're never too far from the euphoric chorus: "Never thought I'd feel this way, and I've got to say that I JUST don't Get IT…". Of the lyrics that are retained, in that location's now a striking juxtaposition between their quaint mundanity: "What a tale my thoughts would tell, merely like a paperback novel, the kind that drug stores sell" and the flagrant product, which is utterly charming. Similarly, some of the sections now lend themselves perfectly to a scrap of disco-drama: "And when you reach the function where the heartache comes, the hero would be you…heroes often neglect". This might non exist the story that Gordon Lightfoot originally intended to tell, but it'due south one that works perfectly within this context withal.
The music video for If You lot Could Read My Mind is a pleasingly campsite affair, although not in the pastiche mode that 1 might accept expected. Ultra Naté, Jocelyn Enriquez and Amber bring actuality to the visuals which reflects the blazon of artists that they are and the audience they would traditionally play to. Similar the song, the video pays homage to aspects of the disco-era presented through a '90s lens. There'south a futuristic corridor bathed in icy-blue lighting, a room where every surface is covered in LED dancefloor tiles and lots of shiny disco balls (including a sequence where Ultra Naté performs to one with smouldering intensity). The video is very much the perfect accompaniment to If You Could Read My Listen and enhanced immeasurably by the fact that Stars On 54 commit fully to the concept, consummate with some light character acting. This is an act that has the feel and self-awareness to have pop music seriously while recognising that in itself, this is non a serious pop song (how can it be when Jocelyn Enriquez spends nigh of the video swinging from a giant disco ball). As a issue, our divas genuinely look like they're having fun – not just pretending to have fun for the benefit of others – and it'southward utterly infectious.
Instinctively, it feels like If You lot Could Read My Listen should have been a much bigger hit. The track peaked at #23 in the UK – so, information technology outperformed the original at least – and #52 on the Billboard Hot 100. But the critical and commercial reaction to 54 was e'er going to exist problematic because the song is intrinsically aligned with the aesthetic of the movie; it needed that context. And once Miramax decided to try and capitalise on the popularity of the younger actors in 54, there was a fundamental mismatch in the target markets of the two products. Ultra Naté, Jocelyn Enriquez and Bister had consistent form on the trip the light fantastic charts, merely that didn't mean annihilation to Ryan Philippe's (more often than not) teen fanbase. In that sense, If You Could Read My Mind actually did rather well; there was an audience for the track (surely pinkish pounds were the most common course of currency used to buy the single), it's just 1 that 54 – cheers to studio politics – went out of its manner to ignore.
Few expected Mark Christopher's original version of the movie ever to come across the calorie-free of solar day, simply 54 became a cult classic thanks in no small role to the controversy surrounding its creation. In 2015, the director's cut – which restored all the removed content and ditched the re-shoots – finally premiered. It might not have undone the frustration endured by Mark Christopher dorsum in 1998, but at the very least it vindicated his vision, which was rightly regarded as superior to that which he was credited with at the fourth dimension. Yet, regardless of the backside-the-scenes controversy which marred the projection, If Y'all Could Read My Mind remains a deeply fabulous single. It's a proudly '90s homage to disco that is equally uplifting and joyous as there could be – and can now be rightly enjoyed as a triumphant celebration of everything that 54 represents.
Source: https://www.cantstopthepop.com/2020/11/16/stars-on-54-if-you-could-read-my-mind/
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