Latest remix, ‘Give Me Something,’ is her fourth consecutive No. 1 hit It’s a new era for Yoko Ono.
The woman who has been called the most famous widow in the world and been derided for breaking up the Beatles is now savoring her fourth consecutive No. 1 hit for the Junior Boys’ remix of “Give Me Something.” The song was originally on the Grammy Award-winning “Double Fantasy” album she and her late husband, John Lennon, released in 1980.
On the Web
Get a free download of the Junior Boys’ Remix of “Give Me Something” by Yoko Ono at imaginepeace.com/archives/10441.
“It is a new era for me,” Ono said. “To know that someone thought to take one of my songs and make it a dance remix is exciting, of course. I’m so thankful.” The dance club staple is the latest from Ono’s remix series. The series’s producers and collaborators — who have worked with the Flaming Lips, Pet Shop Boys, Basement Jaxx, the Polyphonic Spree, Antony and the Johnsons, and Spiritualized — have won Ono six No. 1 dance hits.
The songs that climbed the charts as remixes are “Give Me Something,” “I’m Not Getting Enough,” “Give Peace a Chance,” “No No No,” “Everyman/Everywoman” and “Walking on Thin Ice.”
Modest and soft-spoken, Ono said she’s not to be credited for the remixes, that all of the credit goes to the producers and other collaborators.
“I never thought about it,” she said. “I didn’t know there were people who love the work and would take the trouble to remix it.”
The number of people who have remixed Ono’s work has been overwhelming, and the quality consistently has been high. That has resulted in her taking more time to review songs than she had originally planned.
Of course Ono has an extremely busy schedule beyond recording. A multimedia artist, she continually performs in concert, exhibits her own artwork and is beginning work on a new album that may be completed as early as this year.
One of the most exciting parts of the remixes is thinking back to when she first wrote the various songs. She recalled the idea of “Give Me Something” coming to her when she was leaving her apartment to head for the studio.
“I usually write it down in a car, in the studio, or just when I’m sitting around,” she said. “These songs just come through me. This one just came through me.”
From there, Ono begins to fine-tune the song with chords, melodies and lyrics. That part of the process has always come easily to her.
“My father wanted me to be a pianist,” she said. “I never wanted to be one. When I was a child I was writing all these songs already. It just came easier to me.”
