by Moe Zilla

Created on: March 14, 2008

"Supreme Evil" is one of the most remarkable songs I've ever heard. Go Home Productions spliced together three famous songs from over 20 years ago - finding a new way to highlight what's good about them both, while still creating something new and original.

What's most amazing about the song is that it's a perfect fit. It opens with ELO's "Evil Woman," a 1975 track built on a simple piano foundation. (moving up and down through three chords, each a whole step apart). There's the familiar cymbals and the band's wail that "You made a fool of me, but them broken dreams have got to end" - but then the song introduces a surprise. "Baby, baby I'm aware of where you go," Diana Ross sings sweetly, "each time you leave the door..." The vocals for the song come from the Supremes' 1965 hit "Stop In the Name of Love" - and they complement the ELO piano line perfectly.

And suddenly Michael Jackson turns up in the mix, singing a riff from his 1987 song "Bad." ("Your butt is mine, gonna take you right, just show your face in broad daylight...")

There's something thrilling about the way an old, familiar song can become something new and exciting. Diana Ross's tender vocals aren't diminished by the new re-mix. Instead, audiences are given a fresh chance to hear and appreciate them. It's such a compelling technique, that I can see this becoming so popular that it sets a trend in the near future. (In 2002 Dutch musician Junkie XL was able to re-mixed Elvis Presley's "A Little More Conversation"into a song which reached #1 on the music charts in over 20 counties.)

If that's true, then "Supreme Evil" offers a chance to catch a glimpse of both the future and the past at the same time. The 70s piano, violins, and backing singers mix with the 60s Motown vocals, with Michael Jackson's sassy 80s cameo proving that anything can happen. Music has always created a kind of magic dreamscape where emotions get touched by icons who are far away. This mashup simply confirms that magic, proving the feeling can transcend not only time, but even a song's original boundaries.

There's only one problem with the song. After listening to it, the original tracks seems ordinary and unchallenging. "Supreme Evil" has found a way to double-up the creativity - and by doing that, they may even have upped the ante for all popular music.

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