Full Details Christmas Remixes

Blue Christmas - what a mess! The stop-start beginning is amateurish and the rest is neither one thing nor another. I'm not against remixes as such but prefer alternative or added orchestration or instruments and/or voices where appropriate. The added strings on Merry Christmas Baby for the film This Is Elvis, for instance, were really bluesy and suited the song.

To hnour Elvis. You break his legaycy spancocx.How many money do get for this CRAP. Comon tell a better joke.And what do we get next year. Army remixes? Stop with this CRAP if it was a good mix ok .But that are these not.

I just listened to remix of White Christmas. It's total diaster! There's obvious lack of understanding the music! Does Spankox have any idea about music and its form? This remix will be his judge! White Christmas is a ballad (should be nice, easy, in slow tempo, with gentle touch/feeling...). That what he done shows that guy have abolutely no idea about musical forms (and music at all)! How on earth can somebody like him "make music"?! This is very sad. If Elvis' music should be like this in the future, I'll pass it. I don't understand how he's work is appreciated (also by EPE)? I beg you, all Elvis' Fans: let's do somethiung about it, because by our silence in this matter (lack of action, only words and comments), we're destoying wonderful Elvis' Legacy!

On 'White Christmas' Elvis's voice certainly stands out well & sounds rather good to me; I don't feel the overall treatment is that disastrous – if it wasn't a bit different there'd be no point in releasing it! Hopefully this will appeal to new fans. However, I can see some people won't like it, but then we don't have to buy it! Also I don't think Leiber/Stoller making daft remarks about previous remixes being 'better than the originals' is actually helping Spankox very much... why can't those two prats stop trying to rewrite history & resist trying to show us how 'clever' they are....

WOW. That is absolute GARBAGE. Terrible, terrible, terrible. Very sad.

I think White Christmas could have got a nice new taste if it was done in the The First Noel (from Christmas Duets) way. If you can't add something creative (like new orchestration, other arrangement), but only a beat that doesn't quite match rhytm of the song (voice is speeded up a little bit and sounds almost like a caricature - like a movie version of Girl Happy) - keep your hands off. Such beat and White Christmas? It's like ice-skating on the sand. Apparently, some people would love to show they can do it! I wonder how will Spankox "remix" songs as: I'll Be Home For Christmas and I Believe, cos you can see that Silent Night (a timeless and worldwide classic!) has drum (stronger beat?) overdubb... I'm not only saying all this as an Elvis fan, but also as a music student. And mainly because of that I won't buy this CD.

This is garbage, absolutely. Who can stand this scrab?

i like it

CRAP!

TOTAL CRAP

I have been a defender for the whole remix thing going on the last few years but I have to say that to me this is absolutely awful. Sure I listen to Elvis 365 days a year but during Christmas time it's something special. If you ask me, the Christmas recordings are not really meant to be remixed, although I kinda liked the Christmas Duets CD.

Awfull.The best song with an alternative was "Clean Up Your Own Backyard" but I still prefer the original. This is TOTAL dire.End of.

Only just listened to "White Christmas" as available above. It 'aint that bad, a bit of fun. Better than that "Duets" attrocity they had the cheek to produce. One thing you can say about our Mr Spankox- he does like his Elvis, fair play to him for at least attempting to widen the scope of Elvis' appeal. He's done more for Elvis than EPE ever have.

Steve you are right with "The stop-start beginning is amateurish".. first thing I noticed too. For the rest, well I met a guy who likes Elvis and happens to dig this kind of music. Too simple for my taste but I can imagine some of those around who likes it. Although the remixes must bring some modernization, in fact it doesn't bring anything new or innovative. I find that beat quite disturbing actually..

Well, it put me off so much that I called it "Blue Christmas" instead of "White Christmas" (see below)! But, if "blue" means "sad", then perhaps I was partly right. This Spankox guy seems to be devoid of any feel for music. And exactly just what is a "highpass radio edit" ?

Steve (and others who seem to misinterpret this,) Highpass is actually an alias of a record producer that assists Spankox with many of his mixes. There are certain tracks on each of the Elvis Re:Versions/Mixes albums that Highpass did not assist with (and are thus lacking the "Highpass" credit.) My opinion is one of full support. I am so sick and tired of the same old compilations. Spankox actually respects Elvis and ALL his music and isn't just doing it for the paycheck, unlike JXL (under hire from Nike.) Not to say that JXL doesn't respect Elvis, but his focus was on producing a mix for Nike, whereas Spankox wasn't forced or coerced into doing remixes, but seems to be doing it just because he LIKES to. I really just want new product. I applaud Ernst, FTD, and somewhat Sony for their attempts at providing alternate takes and collectible music products, but the "essential" and "hits" packages always seem to have similar track lists, and I now have (like many of you) every master Elvis ever recorded that has been released. I know I do, I verified it with recording session info. So I don't need new CDs with Heartbreak Hotel and Jailhouse Rock and Suspicious Minds in varying quality when I have 30 #1 Hits and all others in the best quality yet. I cannot wait for the Viva Elvis soundtrack, and I certainly do not mind the Spankox albums thus far. One-Sided Love Affair remix was a dud, but others on the recent Re:Mixes album stood up fairly well. Christmas Duets was a great concept, and the way it was carried out, technically, was an amazing achievement in turning mono into stereo, but that project too fell flat in my opinion by using only female country artists. I want a big mainstream release for America, and I hope that is what Viva Elvis will be, but it's apparent that the Spankox releases are mostly for the European audience, and they do seem to be more successful over there. I think a lot of fans here don't seem to "get" why "this Spankox guy" keeps doing these. He's a professional DJ. You may call his material amateur, but he's the one out in the clubs with young people and he knows what tracks to play; what records to spin, as they might say. He knows what makes young people tick; what they will and won't get out and dance to. That's the purpose of these remixes. They aren't meant to be played regularly as background music to your household chores or your morning drive to work. They are to be played at clubs, or at parties as loud as they can be blasted. It's a celebration of that party spirit. And we should be thankful that anyone wants to have Elvis played anywhere other than gimmicky sock hops. Because that's where Elvis' real "legacy" has the potential of going. Time has not yet proven good to Elvis. How many fat, slobbering imposters are there still out there? Good mainstream releases with real promotion and care for Elvis' potential legacy have been few and far between, even moreso in the United States. The 40th Anniversary From Elvis In Memphis had the potential to show EVERYONE how AMAZING Elvis was and how he was so much more than just a guy who wiggled his hips and spouted "uh huh huh." The music from those sessions alone have turned so many of my previously non-Elvis friends into good fans. No one is destroying Elvis' legacy more than EPE and Sony themselves right now. Spankox is trying to keep Elvis in the minds of young people, who still to this day remain the biggest audience for CD sales, period. When is Elvis going to get his own Guitar Hero/Rock Band video game? When will he reach that level of mainstream "cool" that has continually passed him by for decades? At least someone is trying. Because the people behind Elvis now sure as hell aren't. -Gibbers Ganfa - aka Justin Gausman, Age 21.

Well said Justin! I (and many others) have bought R:V1 and R:V2 and loved it! Those are the people that just listened to the CD and said "This sounds good to these ears!". I wholeheartedly support the CD's that Spankox has come up with so far. Good to see that he does not change his work just because of the reactions of some people on this website. Or to quote Elvis: " Even Jesus wasn't loved in His days!". +++ The proof of the success of the CD's lays in the fact that it has been a profitable venture. Why else would he release this (third!!!) re-mix CD in just a couple of years? And to those people who say that this is a cheap product which anybody can achieve on a computer..., I challenge them! Proof me wrong! Get your mixes produced in large quantities, get your Graceland permission, get global distribution, get your video-clip filmed in Ibiza. Who dares to invest a large sum of money and not knowing that you will get your profit in the end! Put your money where your mouth is: Any volunteers...?

I posted this on the other thread about Chritmas Remixes, but the debate seems to have moved to here. I repeat the post (apologies) because I wanted to register how important I think it is that the 75th Anniversary is CELEBRATED: I first became an Elvis fan when my uncle gave me £5 (a fortune for me as a 16yo) for Christmas 1974 and I bought "Elvis 40 Hits" released I think by Arcade for £3.25. The release was part of the build up for the celebration of Elvis' 40th birthday. I bought the record because of the promotion and adverts and was then absolutely blown away by the content. I write this because I hope that the powers that be (EPE? CKX? BMG? Sony?) will promote Elvis this Christmas and make a real drive to honour the man on his 75th anniversary. Not for money (their usual motivation) - but maybe to re-introduce the King to those fed style-less X-factor pap and also to honour one of the greatest cultural influences of our (and any) time. I think Spankox is a fan and at least he is giving it a go.

Gibbers, Very interesting to read your well-written piece, and to see another point of view.

horrible

I listened and it was annoying to my ears. Sorry.

And like gibbers said. "young people". Im almost 40 and that's make my an oldfashion guy. Because i don't like this CRAP. But the problem here is It's the same thing again. Its the same sound,bad starts and endings.Public domain songs (no paying for right) and when we buy this ,we get more'of this CRAP. but it's like elvis is only populair when it's with a (pc) sound by the young people. Sorry but ALLC was a good mix ,but not my thing.But this guy with makes money with cheap ,bad mixes. mabey he hopes to get the same results as JXL. And when Sp...... is a fan he does it one time and not coming with album after album.

i sure hope old jolly saint nick drops this under my hunka hunka christmas tree........

I don't like it. I don't like the idea of remixing the Xmas songs. Leave them as they are.

Take it easy, please..I kind of like these remix'(!) And it kind of swings. Could be good listning at a disco around Xmax. But I look more foreward to when someone starts to remix some of the 70' material :-) There is a lot more remix potential in it. And you have to listen to this kind of music under the right circumstances. Thank you very much ;-?

Very, very well said GibbersGanfa. What a pristine case you put forward, nice one.

Im sorry but Spankox does NOT understand the music. White Christmas, I'll Be Home for Christmas is appalling and Silent Night is horrendous. He changes the whole set up of these traditional songs, its like listening to 2 completely different songs at the same time. Abysmal to say the least and that goes for his previous releases as well.