Listen: Brimful Of Asha (Norman Cook Remix) / Cornershop
Brimful

Went to my first Knick’s game at Madison Square Garden last week. Well, in full disclosure, went to my first ever professional basketball game. As a whole, the event was flawlessly slick, very big time and an absolute wildcard of fun. It’s music programming, both intricate and super tightly timed out, literally crested the audience into cheers of excitement repeatedly. Very impressive.

I was ready to hear bits of Queen ‘We Will Rock You’ and The Ramones ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’, but not ‘Brimful Of Asha’. In all honesty, I wasn’t expecting, even in my wildest, to hear anything by Cornershop. Seriously, it took me by such surprise, but the sing-a-long really was the shocker. Wow, did this record sound ever so great in that huge room.

The original band version of ‘Brimful Of Asha’ fell rather flat upon release and was basically on life support until Wiija, the label, or maybe their manager or hopefully the band, had the magic idea of a timely remix. Luckily, Cornershop were groovy enough in that moment to sway a very in-demand Norman Cook toward reinvention. Credit where credit is due, he and his remix made a world of difference, turning the song into both a hit, and dare I say, the definitive version thereafter.