Don't call it a comeback

One known sample I really like is 'More, More, More' by Andrea True Connection which was recently used as the basis of 'You're Still My Sunshine' by Len. I remember dragging home a huge batch of records from Record & Tape Exchange around 1991 (one of the Notting Hill shops had a dusty basement crammed with 7" & 12" singles at 10p each). I hadn't previously heard 'More, More, More' but was amazed by the piano break on it and duly constructed a backing track with it (although I never did anything with it).

Following on from this, one excellent sample that I'm amazed *hasn't* yet been used (at least not to my knowledge) is the acoustic guitar intro to Alexander O'Neal's 'If You Were Here Tonight' (his early, 1985 hit - think I've got the title right). I looped this, again around 1991, but the resulting track fell by the wayside. I'm absolutely positive that someone could become very rich from using that sample.

Secondly, the "Fressssshhhh!" sample (just that bit, but I suppose the whole vocal phrase is good), which is from "Change Le Beat" by Fab 5 Freddy. The line between a sample and a scratch is pretty narrow, I suppose, but that's my favourite scratch sample.

They're both really obvious choices but there's a reason they're so over-sampled.

It has a crisp, almost savage quality that fits the ethos of that aggressive style of Jungle. There's nothing laid-back or mellow about it. But on top of that there's a sense of the loop reinforcing its power the more it was used (in the same way that records using the 'funky drummer' loop in the late 80's started as a trickle and then became a flood).

I don't know that St. Etienne track, but if it sounds similar to the Len track then I suppose it must have the same source. The Len backing track basically *is* the 'More, More, More' piano/drum break.

"Hug My Soul" is on the singles collection Too Young To Die, which I'm sure you once told me was the only Saint Etienne album you had heard up to then.

It doesn't actually *sound* similar to the Len track; the resemblance to "More More More" is essentially in the vocal hook in the verse (the "oooh ... what are you thinking of ... you're thinking about my love") line. "Hug My Soul" sounds something like a combination of disco circa 1976 / 77, early 90s dance-pop, and testcard / programme music (the flute and orchestration).

Oh I see what you mean - the St. Etienne track adapted the main hook of 'More, More, More'. The Len track samples the strangely unrelated- sounding piano/drum break that comes out of the blue about halfway through 'More, More, More'.

i've also always liked Run DMC's use of Take Me To The Mardi Gras by Bob James - obvious, I know, but made me like the Bob James version of that song better than Paul Simon's