Opplysninger:
| Red Hot + Blue is the first compilation album from the Red Hot Organization in the Red Hot Benefit Series. It features contemporary pop performers reinterpreting several songs of Cole Porter, and the title of the album originates from Cole Porter's musical Red, Hot and Blue.[2] Released in 1990, it sold over a million copies worldwide and was heralded as one of the first major AIDS benefits in the music business. The accompanying ABC television special featured music videos for the songs.[2] The clips portrayed the societal effects of AIDS. Neneh Cherry's reworked version of "I've Got You Under My Skin" was released as the lead single for the album in the UK and Europe and reached N° 25 in the UK Singles Chart.[3] "Well, Did You Evah!" by Deborah Harry and Iggy Pop received a commercial release in Europe and Australia and reached N° 42 in the UK Singles Chart,[4] N° 18 in Ireland[5] and N° 106 in Australia.[6] Although no singles were released from the album in the United States, the song "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", covered in a techno style by Thompson Twins, received regular airplay on San Francisco's Live 105 (KITS). This was one of the two songs not to have a video counterpart. U2's cover of "Night and Day" reached No. 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart,[7] and presaged the electronic sound the band would explore on Achtung Baby the following year. -- There's a long tradition of artists banding together for a noble cause, but--needless to say--good intentions are no guarantee of good art. Fortunately, the twain do meet and the project even succeeds with creative flair in this compilation. It kicked off the Red Hot AIDS Benefit series back in 1990 and in fact launched its own sort of minigenre, including theme albums devoted to George Gershwin and Duke Ellington. In fact, this eclectic mix of Cole Porter covers interpreted by a wide swath of contemporary artists unfurls a pretty ambitious agenda in addition to its message of AIDS awareness and compassion. Here, the legacy of this ultra-sophisticated, closeted master of the popular song from the era of the "lost generation" is presented as a source of rejuvenating inspiration. Porter's craft seems validated by the very flexibility of the original songs as they get retrofitted to encompass styles ranging from U2 and Tom Waits to Jungle Brothers. There's an occasional miscalculation (Debbie Harry and Iggy Pop's didactic "updating" of Porter's bon vivant wit doesn't compare well with the original), but moments of stunning fusion abound (Sinéad O'Connor and Annie Lenox contribute especially memorable gems). Instead of getting lost in translation, Red Hot + Blue adds a whole new dimension to the art of swellegance. --Thomas May
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