The_Dr Fox's Cresta Cola Chart...
Top 11 Bootlegs of 2001
2001 was a fantastic year for good music - and one major part of that was bootlegs. On the net, radio and magazines, bootlegs were big news. It's something everybody can enjoy and has the DIY factor - anybody can make a remix with just a few pieces of software. A mention has to be given, of course, to Missy Elliot and the many many bootlegs of her songs - some good, some not so good :) Because of all this -and the great work done by XFM's The Remix, Radio 1's Breezeblock and German Radio's Back To The Basics - that I have decided to make a list of my 11 favourite bootlegs of the year, and put them all up on the web in MP3 format. I have left out many many cool records and artists, like The Avalanches, because what they do isn't strictly bootlegs. The definition of bootleg I have taken here is two or more famous records mixed together with little much else. I could list hundreds of remixes - but bootlegs are something a bit different and special. So here's the list... If you don't agree then email me, and also email me if you have any cool tunes that you think I'd like to hear. MP3s are always welcome :)

P.S - I've added a few more bootlegs and I will add some more soon, but I've had some trouble finding MP3s of the songs I want. If you have any Freelance Hellraiser bootlegs (Step On Man especially) or Soulwax's Magnificent Romeo then please email them to me! Or if you have any other bootlegs that you think should be on this list. Ta!

01 The Freelance Hellraiser
A Stroke Of Genie-us
The Strokes vs Christina Aguilera
NME #4 Bootleg of 2001
XFM's The Remix #1 Bootleg of 2001
MP3 (1.6megs) c/o XFM/Monkey
What more can I say? It's bloody fantastic. It's the dogs bollocks. It's the tune that amazes, entertains and makes you want to listen again and again. It's also the tune that may have influenced another song by a band called 65daysofstatic, who heard A Stroke Of Genie-us on this website, and were maybe inspired by it when they made their latest tune (which I received a few days ago). It contains a sample of a rare Christina Aguilera Christmas song messed up Kid606 style. It's very cool. I've had mountains of emails about A Stroke Of Genie-us, as this was the first site on the internet to house it. It was banned from being played on radio by RCA, but The Freelance Hellraiser "mixed it live" on The Remix (30/12/01) and did a short interview in which he revealed that he was working on an album and James & Eddy claimed that The Strokes had actually heard it and loved it. Fantastic stuff, and a fantastic year for Roy Kerr, the man behind the track.

02 Osymyso
Introspection
Just about everything! But here's some of the tunes/artists I recognise:
Simply Red - ?
Beatles - Hey Jude
Soft Cell - Tainted Love
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Bran Van 3000 - Drinking In LA
Funkmaster Flex - The Message
Spice Girls - Wannabe
All Saints - Pure Shores
Eye Of The Tiger
Dexys Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen
Fatboy Slim - Praise You
Marvin Gaye - Heard It Through The Grape Vine
Pump Up The Volume
Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax
Kylie Minogue - I Should Be So Lucky (?)
Don't You Want Me Baby
I Will Survive
I Will Always Love You
Pink Panther Theme Tune
Deelight - Groove Is In The Heart
Eurhymics - Sweet Dreams
Blur - Song #2
MP3 (3.5megs) c/o Back To The Basics
I was worried that I wasn't going to get any Osymyso in this chart, since what he does isn't usually strickly bootlegs and 'Pat N Peg' came out last year, but OMFG. What an absolutely amazing tune, and if it wasn't for The Freelance Hellraiser this would have been bootleg of the year. If you can call it a bootleg - it's more like a retrospective (geddit?) of pop music of the last 40 years with samples of what must be going on 100 songs. Watch you face light up as you think - I know what that's the intro to! A true masterpiece - 7 minutes long at the moment, but according to the man himself, he's added more stuff onto it to bring it up to about 15-20 minutes long and the even better news is that he's releasing it on his own label! Listen to this NOW. Nuff said.

03 Kurtis Rush
George Gets His Freak On
George Michael vs Missy Elliot
MP3 (1.4megs)
This is the one that started it all. This tune was the first Get UR Freak On bootleg (as far as I know) and it's still as cool as ever. Fits nicely, but a few George Michael vocals wouldn't go a miss - you keep waiting for him to start singing! It's high up in the chart, not particularly because it's a good bootleg - but because of it's influence on so many other bootlegs. The country thing is a nice twist as well. Theres a video to this on the net somewhere :) Have a search around, it features two people in Missy/George Michael masks prancing round a town.

04 Soulwax
Smells Like Booty
Nirvana vs Destiny's Child
NME #2 Bootleg of 2001
MP3 (1.4megs) c/o XFM
Very cool tune, was used to in and to advertise the Soulwax 'Hang The DJ' set on Christmas Day Radio 1. Mixing Nirvana's possible contender for best song of all time and certainly one of the best riffs/intros of all time (btw, why the fuck wasn't this intro in introspection? a mix with Blur's Song #2 would have fitted nicely.... maybe he just didn't want to be clichéd), Smells Like Teen Spirit, with the modern day Diana Ross and The Supremes (pitch raise just ever so slightly :). Absolutely fantastic - and methinks Destiny's Child is the new Missy Elliot :)

05 Jacknife Lee
Get UR 9lb Cock On
Jacknife Lee vs Missy Elliot
Pulp says: "There have been lots of Missy Elliot bootlegs this year. This came out three or four months ago. Pretty trashy. A jump-up-and-down record."
MP3 (1.1megs) c/o XFM
Very very infecious. The latest in Missy Elliot bootlegs - and very good it is too. Currently getting heavy play on daytime XFM. It's decent. If you think about it, a tune quite similar to the rock backing of this would be Andrew WK's Party Hard. Anybody want to have a stab at mixing Party Hard with Freak On? :)

06 Picasio
Do You Really Like It?
Piped Piper vs Axel F
MP3 (1.8megs) c/o notbitch.com
.... Or as this artist is otherwise known 'Picasio from the label Barry's Bootlegs, home to Cassette Boy'. And I'm pleased to say that this bootleg is every bit as humourous as Cassette Boy's work. I first heard about this from Monkey, but only heard it a few days ago after a guy from notbitch.com emailed it to me. Ta! It's a classic riff mixed with some of the funniest MCing seen this year - it's a winner. All sing along now #Hardcore, you know the score
#Rhymes so good, they deserve an encore

07 DJ BMC
Country Inferno
Nelly vs The Trampps
NME #5 Bootleg of 2001
MP3 (3.5megs) c/o DJ BMC
I'm glad to see this up here. It's a remix that was made on an guy's computer who then emailed it me, and then I put it up on this site. The response was good, but imagine my surprise when I open my NME to find this tune - only available on this site - #5 on NME's top 10 bootlegs of the year. Well deserved, because it's a good tune, and not sticking to the recent rap-vocals-over-a-rock-track formula. D.I.S.C.O.

08 Soulwax
Dreadlock Child
10cc vs Destiny's Child
MP3 (1.1megs) c/o XFM
Pulp says: "There's been a lot of bootlegs this year, which I guess was started by Richard X from Girls On Top, but this one I like called 'Dreadlock Child', which is Destiny's Child and the Charlie's Angels theme with 'Dreadlock Holiday' by 10cc, it's quite a good mix. I mean, they're good those bootlegs when they work, they add a twist to a pop record."
It's the smurfs again... very nice track, the 10cc tune isn't that famous, but it's actually a really nice tune. Very chilled and well executed.

09 Kurtis Rush
Forgot About Overload
New!
Dr Dre ft. Eminem vs Sugababes
MP3 (2.0megs)
Now this makes me smile :D I only heard it the other day but it's a fantastic song. From the man who brought you George Gets His Freak On, this is another great bootleg that works. A great pop song and that catchy speed rapping from Forgot About Dre. It's similar to Do You Really Like It in the way that it makes you laugh. It's cheeky and it's CLASS! P.S. - Just a little note about bootleg titles - they're a load of shite aren't they :) Think of a song, think of another song, take one word from song #1 and another from song #2. Tada! You have a weak pun that would get you a job with the headline department of the Sunday Sport. I wasn't sure about the title to this song, so I just made it up!

10 Girls On Top
I Wanna Dance With Numbers
New!
Kraftwerk vs Whitney Houston
MP3 (2.1megs)
Mix a talented singer with a classic electronic track (way ahead of its time) and a cool remixer (Richard X) and what have you got? This super cool and chilled track. Retro goodness, and it's not cheesy! Girls On Top are big news at the moment - they did the Missy Elliot vs The Normals bootleg 'Warm Bitch' which I don't really rate and they've also done a cool one 'I don't give a damn about my friends' (#Freak In The Morning, Freak In The Evening) which may be added to this list in the near future.

11 Soulwax
I Wish
New!
Skeelo vs Eye Of The Tiger
MP3 (2.2megs)
Now now. I heard this months ago on Lamacq Live and loved it, got it on mp3 and then forgot about it. When I put up this list (with 8 tracks on it) I got a few emails asking for this song to be on the list. Now I didn't really see it as a bootleg - as it's so well produced and I have never heard the Skeelo track in it's original form (was it just big in America or is it just me?). Anyway, it's a funky tune with a classic riff and should really be higher in the chart - but I just didn't consider it a bootleg (and besides, Soulwax have enough entries in this chart!)

the_dr
sheldon@gnutty.co.uk
http://thedr.n3.net | http://boomselection.n3.net