Already, as I understand it, a "hooj choon" in the clubs of Ibiza, I am of the view that such things as Xavier's reworking of the George Benson song Give Me The Night are no better than the holiday singalongs that haunted the Spanish resorts of the Eighties such as Baltimora's Tarzan Boy, Sabrina's Boys Boys Boys or anything by Black Lace. The only difference is that, rather than coming up with a cheesy song of their own, the new breed of summer dance "anthem" producers take cheesy songs from the past and unimaginatively recycle them for a new audience. Like Eric Prydz taking Steve Winwood's Call On Me and sticking girls dancing in leotards into that video (just to prove they're not copycats, however, the video for this one contains girls dancing in underwear holding glow sticks. Not the same at all).
Thus the reworking of the song (which has, there can be no doubt about it, one of the best disco middle eights in history) appears to have no higher object than to line Richard Branson's coffers a little further, promote the alleged talents of producers Babydaddy and A Touch Of Class, and, of course, introduce us to the androgynously-vocalled Xavier himself.
I have always thought the point of doing a cover version was to layer fresh meaning onto a song, such as Eva Cassidy's Somewhere Over The Rainbow. This one's so cynically conceived, in my view, that it makes you long for Benson's original with its soulful, jazz-scatting accompaniment rather than the over-tweaked, Bobby McFerrin-esque contribution of Xavier. It really doesn't deserve the oxygen of publicity that this review is giving it. And I have a sneaking suspicion that the coy giggle at the beginning is directed at us, laughing at our willingness to buy any old rubbish.
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