Kiss Me Again

This month I'm celebrating the four year anniversary of this blog, and what better way to do that than post my all-time favorite song and one of the earliest tracks to ever appear on this site in Dinosaur's 1978 classic "Kiss Me Again". If there has been one thing that has stayed the same on this site throughout the last four years, it has to have been the constant discussion and sharing of Arthur Russell's music and influence. This track which represents Arthur's first exploration into disco and dance music, was co-produced with legendary Gallery deejay Nicky Siano. Unfortunately, the single was considered by many in the industry at the time as a failure, as the record initially sold very poorly. As I've mentioned in previous posts, Arthur blamed the record's bad showing due to both Jimmy Simpson's more dancefloor-friendly extended mix and Sire Records' lack of promotion and willingness to get behind the twelve-inch single. A better argument for the song's lack of success,in my opinion, is that the track was just well ahead of it's time as many Arthur Russell songs have shown to be. That would explain the reason why the original twelve-inch single continues to be one of the most sought after records by disco collectors worldwide. Regardless of the song's early tough goings, judgement of the track has gotten better over time and "Kiss Me Again" is now looked at as a true disco masterpiece and one that I proudly stand by as my personal favorite track of all-time. Enjoy!

Dinosaur - Kiss Me Again (Jimmy Simpson Mix)



UPDATE: I regret that I forgot to mention that this week (May 21st) we celebrate Arthur's 59 birthday. It's been almost twenty years since he passed at the young age of 40. He obviously left this world way too early, however we will continue to honor him by enjoying and appreciating the music and legacy that he left behind. Happy Birthday Arthur...

Kiss Me Again and Again

It's the beginning of a new week, therefore let's start it off with a disco classic and personal favorite track of all-time in Dinosaur's 1978 gem "Kiss Me Again". As many probably already know, Dinosaur is the short-lived tag team of Arthur Russell and Nicky Siano. As I continue to read Tim Lawrence's "Hold On to Your Dreams", I was intrigued by the section of the book that covered the recording process and background to this amazing track. According to the book, "Kiss Me Again" completely bombed in the charts and in the record shops. Arthur Russell blamed the record's bad showing to Jimmy Simpson's more dancefloor-friendly extended mix, which he never liked. He also blamed Sire records, who released the record, because of there lack of promotion. Regardless, all of that is history and as time has gone on, I believe the track has continued to receive more and more praise because in my opinion, the song was just a bit ahead of it's time as most of Arthur's songs truly were. Here is the original version of the track. Sit back and enjoy!

Dinosaur - Kiss Me Again (Original Version)