Disco legend Leroy Burgess has criticized in detail two Marquis Hawkes remixes of his Logg project.
In a lengthy Facebook post, Burgess sought to "respectfully" offer his opinion on the work of Hawkes, who edited two tracks from Burgess's 1981 Logg self-titled album. The edits came out this year on Salsoul, the same label that released the Logg album originally, though Burgess's post implies he didn't get the chance to hear the edits until after they were released.
"I'm surprised at the execs at Salsoul Records (a company I have huge respect for) in accepting and releasing these clearly substandard versions my work," Burgess said. "Ken and Stan Cayre (the company's original owners) would not have permitted this to occur, for fear of their company's reputation."
Burgess described Hawkes' rework of "Something Else" as a "muddled, unrecognizable piece that's difficult to listen to," and also said that Hawkes' version of "I Know You Will" is "smothered with unnecessary echoes and digital delays... obscuring the entire groove."
"In closing, I will only suggest that you please keep in mind that reworks derived from previously released material should demonstrate a reverence and appreciation for the original work," he added.
Burgess has a long and storied career in American R&B and disco, starting as a member of the band Black Ivory and going on to feature in a number of Patrick Adams' disco projects, including Logg, Bumble Bee Unlimited, Inner Life and The Universal Robot Band.
Marquis Hawkes provided Resident Advisor with a statement via email:"I was recently commissioned by Salsoul to officially re-edit and remix old tracks from their catalogue, and took on two tracks from Leroy Burgess' Logg project, of which I'm a huge fan.
Unfortunately, Leroy doesn't like what I've done and has aired his issues publicly. That's his prerogative but some websites have decided to put this out there as news which has resulted in significant criticism and vitriol aimed towards me. I do very much feel for Leroy, as I know what it's like when music is personal to you, and you don't want someone to come along and change it, but that's something I feel he should take up with his label.
I think certain purists have their own idea about what a disco edit should be, or perhaps think edits should never be done as it's some kind of sacriledge. Whatever, we all have opinions about music, it's a totally subjective thing and that's the joy of it."
Read Burgess' post in full here, and listen to the original "Something Else."