One of the most sought-after pop producers of the 00s so far has been Richard X. His career began as a remixer, particularly known for his “mash-ups”, including a mix of Adina Howard’s Freak Like Me vocals on top of the backing track of Gary Numan’s Are Friends Electric. This remix became popular and was chosen by the Sugababes as the song to cover for their comeback single – their first with new member Heidi. It soon became the band’s biggest hit and the first of several no.1s.
This success meant Richard X was in high demand and those who worked with him were sure to get their song noticed. He continued to work with his favourite acts, including Tiga and one of my many beloved Norwegians, Bertine Zetlitz. Then Liberty X, who obviously felt a connection with Richard due to their similar names, followed in the Sugababes’ footsteps by covering another of his remixes, this time a combination of 80s electro legends the Human League’s Being Boiled and Ain’t Nobody by Chaka Khan. The result was a no.3 hit and soon there was a whole album (Richard X Presents His X Factor – nothing to do with the TV show) of songs created in a similar way, featuring pop stars such as Jarvis Cocker, Javine and Kelis, and spoken word tracks from radio DJ Mark Goodier and an as yet unknown singer named Annie.
After that Richard moved away from mash-ups and concentrated on doing remixes for whichever acts he took a liking to, as well as creating some brand new tracks for established pop stars such as Rachel Stevens and lesser known acts like MIA and Annie, whose fantastic track Me Plus One I have uploaded for your listening pleasure below:
Most of you will know the story behind this track by now, but for those who don’t, it is about the lady formerly known as Ginger Spice. The height of Richard X’s career coincided with one of the many low points in Geri’s, when she was desperate for a song from Richard which she believed would elevate her back into the top of the charts. There was one song in particular that she wanted, and that was Some Girls, the song that gave Rachel Stevens one of her biggest hits. Geri was so upset about not being given the song that she sat crying in Richard’s car, hence the lines, “Get out of the car, you know it’s time, you’ve got to let it go, it’s gone”.
Richard’s current projects include new material for Annie and the forthcoming solo work of Alesha Dixon from Mis-teeq.