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Cherry Pop is knocking on wood with the new reissue of Amii Stewart’s 1985 remix collection The Hits: Remixed.  Though often characterized as a one-hit wonder for her storming 1979 disco cover of Eddie Floyd’s “Knock on Wood,” there was much more to the talented disco chanteuse’s career, as this vibrant set so aptly proves.

Washington, DC-born Amy Paulette Stewart was performing in a London company of the musical Bubbling Brown Sugar when she was spotted by Hansa Records’ Barry Leng.  The producer groomed Stewart for pop stardom, a feat she achieved with her very first album.  1979’s Knock on Wood primarily comprised original songs penned by Leng and Simon May, but was named for one of its cover tracks.  Her reinvention of the 1966 Eddie Floyd/Steve Cropper hit actually, bested their Stax original on the charts when it hit No. 1 on the American Hot 100, No. 6 R&B and No. 5 Disco.  It fared just as well around the world, topping the Pop, AC and Disco surveys in Canada, going to No. 6 in the U.K. and No. 2 in Switzerland, Italy and France.  Sanny X’s remix of the Grammy-nominated “Knock on Wood” leads off this compilation, and a dub version entitled “Ash 48” is also included.

Knock on Wood, the original album, also introduced a number of tracks you’ll hear here, among them Leng and May’s uptempo “You Really Touch My Heart” and ballad “Only a Child in Your Eyes,” and an effervescent, eight-minute medley of The Doors’ timeless “Light My Fire” with Leng and May’s “137 Disco Heaven.”  Though perhaps an unlikely candidate for the dancefloor treatment, the adaptable “Light My Fire” gave Stewart a No. 6 hit the U.K., though it only made No. 69 in America.  “Light My Fire” and “137 Disco Heaven” are represented on The Hits as separate tracks, the former remixed by Sanny X and the latter by Leng and Dave Hewson.

Though Stewart’s sales fell victim to the disco backlash, Stewart and Leng pressed on with three more albums – two for the U.K. market and one for the United States.  The Hits: Remixed has the ethereal title track of 1979’s sophomore effort Paradise Bird as well as the album’s “Step Into the Love Line” and “Jealousy,” all written by Leng and May (“Jealousy” with Gerry Morris).  All were remixed by Leng himself.

1981’s Images (retitled and resequenced in America as I’m Gonna Get Your Love) broadened Stewart’s scope, boasting reworkings of “Where Did Our Love Go,” “Great Balls of Fire” and one track that made the cut for The Hits: Remixed – an inevitable medley of Smokey Robinson’s immortal Mary Wells and Temptations hits “My Guy” and “My Girl.”  However, the version on The Hits isn’t the Images duet with Johnny Bristol, but a unique recording remixed by Leng with duet vocals by Deon Estus.

The Hits: Remixed gave each one of Stewart’s classic tracks a contemporary sheen circa 1985.  Cherry Pop’s reissue has been produced by Wayne A. Dickson and Malcolm McKenzie of Cherry Red’s Big Break Records imprint, and has been newly remastered by Dickson.  Two bonus tracks have been appended for maximum dance enjoyment: the 1985 12-inch extended versions of “Knock on Wood/Ash 48” and “Light My Fire/137 Disco Heaven.”  Stephen “SPAZ” Schnee has provided two pages of insightful liner notes.  Amii Stewart is still recording and performing today, but The Hits: Remixed serves as an energetic introduction and a timely reminder of some of her most cherished recordings.

Amii Stewart, The Hits: Remixed (Sedition Records SED-9000, 1985 – reissued Cherry Pop CRPOP 176, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. Knock on Wood (Remixed by Sanny X)
2. You Really Touch My Heart (Remixed by Barry Leng)
3. 137 Disco Heaven (Remixed by Barry Leng and Dave Hewson)
4. Paradise Bird (Remixed by Barry Leng)
5. My Guy/My Girl (Remixed by Barry Leng)
6. Light My Fire (Remixed by Sanny X)
7. Only a Child in Your Eyes (Remixed by Barry Leng)
8. Step Into the Love Line (Remixed by Barry Leng)
9. Ash 48 (Remixed by Barry Leng and Dave Hewson)
10. Jealousy (Remixed by Barry Leng and Alan Coulthard)
11. Knock on Wood/Ash 48 (12-Inch Extended Version) (Remixed by Sanny X) (Sedition 3303-A, 1985)
12. Light My Fire/137 Disco Heaven (12-Inch Extended Version) (Remixed by Sanny X) (Sedition 3303-B, 1985)