DJ SPEN and his QUANTIZE gang really love that classic Philly sound and take real delight in re-tooling PIR classics. Remember their 2021 take on ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’ from Teddy Douglas and Richard Burton? Then there was RANDY ROBERTS and RICHARD BURTON’S wonderful cover of the old O’Jays song ‘Stairway To Heaven’. Well that latter duo – Roberts and Burton are the principals on a new Quantize Philly cover – a scintillating version of Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes’ classic ‘I Miss You’. That song, of course, along with ‘If You Don’t Know Me By Now’ re-vitalised the Bluenotes career and more importantly introduced the world to the huge talents of Teddy Pendergrass.
At first, maybe it sounds dubious to treat as searing, emotion-tugging ballad to a soulful house make over but it really works. Like we said Spen and his team (here Gary Hudgins, Ike Burnstein, Thommy Davis, and DJ Spen himself) treat the tune with total respect. Sure they crank up the beats but keep all the magical little flourishes that made the original so captivating while the chorus remains a classic ear-worm. As he’s done before, “Ricardo” Burton “does” a fabulous Teddy Pendergrass and as bonus on the extended mix the team even include a version of that famous tear-jerking monologue.
Spen and the guys see the release as a tribute to the Bluenotes, Teddy P and the whole Philly sound, saying, “The tune has remained a staple in soul circles for nearly 4 decades and this up-tempo, dance performance will have audiences singing this amazing song with their hands in the air once more.”
This new ‘I Miss You’ will be good to go very soon via Quantize but it’s already available via Traxsource.
