The hitmaking remix/production team of Barry Harris and Chris Cox, collectively known as Thunderpuss, added an impressive name to their client roster when Madonna tapped them for a megamix of her greatest hits earlier this year.
The duo completed a “Thunderpuss GHV2 Megamix” for her, which was released on a promotional-only basis to radio in support of the release of her greatest-hits package, GHV2: Greatest Hits Volume 2. The set, which showcases the pop icon’s work from 1991 through 2001, has sold more than 300,000 copies in its first two weeks of release.
Madonna joined a growing list of artists that have requested the services of Thunderpuss, which includes Britney Spears, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Tamia, Eurythmics, the Pet Shop Boys, Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias, Donna Summer, Jennifer Holliday, and Amber, among others.
The megamix, which was personally approved by Madonna, is a collage of all the original versions of “Don’t Tell Me,” “Erotica,” “Secret,” “What It Feels Like For A Girl,” “Take A Bow,” “Deeper And Deeper,” “Music,” and “Ray Of Light”.
Cox explained to LAUNCH that they were one of many remix/production teams that Madonna approached about the project, but they eventually got the gig: “Basically, they were dong the greatest-hits album, the Greatest Hits Volume 2, and so they approached actually a couple of different remix entities to take a stab at doing a megamix, and it was kind of a cattle call, actually. They basically liked ours the best and so they put it out.”
Harris and Cox added that Madonna’s music is as ever-changing as her look, and blending 10 years of hits into a single smooth flowing track was no easy task. Harris said, “It was a very tough project to do. I think that was why there were so many people trying to give a shot at it-because it was a very difficult thing to do, and make. Matching all those songs and the different producers that had done it over the years and the different styles, it was a real challenge to try and make all of that stuff flow evenly.”
Cox added, “Yeah, technically it was just, like, a bear.”
Cox added that the megamix and its music video, which was compiled from her past music videos and tour footage, all helped to generate excitement about the release of the Madonna set, saying, “They’re using it as kind of the cornerstone for the promotional stuff for this whole greatest-hits album.”
Madonna fans can check out the track at Madonna’s official Warner Bros. website (wbr.com/madonna/), but don’t expect to see it released as a single anytime soon. “It’s not been released commercially, and at this time there are no plans to release it commercially,” a Warner Bros. spokesperson revealed.
This year Thunderpuss worked its magic on remixes of Janet Jackson’s “All For You,” as well as Christina Aguilera, Lil Kim, Mya, and Pink’s “Lady Marmalade” and Tamia’s “Stranger In My House.” Cox recently co-produced Cher’s version of the Amber single “Love One Another” with renowned producer Rick Knowles for Cher’s upcoming album Living Proof.
