Todd Terje collaboration “Johnny and Mary”
4 April 2014
Bryan Ferry features on Todd Terje’s debut album, reworking Robert Palmer’s 80’s classic “Johnny and Mary” – which Pitchfork describes as a “lovingly dedicated homage and a remarkable discovery of a classic song’s hidden possibilities.”
BF says, “When we were finishing my ‘Olympia’ album in 2010 we started to get some of the tracks remixed by contemporary producers. Terje did a fabulous version of ‘Alphaville’, a song I had written with Dave Stewart. After that we asked him to try remixing ‘Love Is the Drug’ and more recently ‘Don’t Stop The Dance’, both of which worked very well. I eventually met Terje in Oslo when I was on tour with my band, and we got on famously.
“I said he should visit my studio the next time he was DJ-ing in London, so he came and spent two days working intensively with me and my team.
“I have always liked Robert Palmer’s beautiful song ‘Johnny & Mary’ with its haunting lyrics… Initially we tried it fast like the original, but later Terje gave it a different slower feel, which was much better.
I played some piano on this version which I hope compliments Terje’s futuristic programming. It is a real pleasure to collaborate with such a rising talent.”
Listen to the song here; Todd Terje’s ‘It’s Album Time’ album featuring Bryan Ferry is released on April 8th Worldwide