Gwen McCrae
All This Love That I’m Giving
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Album: Melody Of Life (1979)

Cassius
Feeling For You
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Album: 1999 (1999)

This time out on Musical Cousins, two tracks that will make you shake your booty. Spaced 20 years apart, Gwen McCrae’s disco-funk classic, “All This Love I’m Giving,” inspired the arch French duo Cassius to produce “Feeling For You,” a bouncy electro-house track from their underappreciated 1999 album. Two very different approaches to dance music, but don’t make me choose.

Gwen McCrae is one of those 70s soul divas who never quite penetrated the mainstream in the same manner as her contemporaries (e.g. Donna Summer, Diana Ross). Emerging from the shadow of her (allegedly) abusive ex-husband, George McCrae (responsible for the mid-70s hit “Rock Your Baby”), Gwen released a few mildly successful records before getting rediscovered in the UK and enterprising hip hop producers. She’s still at it, but has shifted her talents to gospel music.

Cassius started their career remixing tracks from French house progenitors Daft Punk and Air. 1999 was their debut album, and burned up the dance charts all over the planet. For the single “Feeling For You,” Cassius took a phrase from “All This Love That I’m Giving,” sped it up and looped it, and dropped layers of synthesizers and beats behind it. Sounds simple, but there’s a mathematical precision to how Cassius constructs their tracks, maximizing their danceability quotient.