Show Notes
This edition of Essential Taylor Swift took months to put together and is the culmination of her musical career up until the time of publishing. Unlike the previous 2 editions which were loosely chronological in track listing, this edition covers the whole span of her career but in no particular order. Admittedly there are fewer songs from her early years but there a very few remixes of her earlier music that I could find. Her Era's World Tour is in full swing and is on track to become the highest grossing tour by any artist in the world. I didn't even try to get tickets for her Australian tour dates. I thought I'd save myself that disappointment and be satisfied seeing the movie :) She has released some high quality music since my last edition in 2021 so naturally, I was keen to get the club remixes which I knew would be awesome overall. This Era's edition features remixes from Ray Isaac, Ryan Skyy, Optical Disco, Barry Harris, CLX, Dark Intensity, Joe Gauthreaux, Brett Oosterhaus, Jasmin, Dario Xavier and Toy Armada & Jace M. I would like to give special thanks to Russ Rich & Andy Allder, Division 4 and Mark De Lang of Dirty Disco. I badgered them all for new remixes that they might have been hiding and being the extremely generous people they are, they provided me with some advance and private remixes. I can't thank them enough as their contributions helped make this edition the massive compilation that it is. There are 37 tracks here covering a decade of Taylor's music in 3.5hrs. This is my love letter to Taylor Swift and also my Xmas gift to all of the Swifties around the world. Enjoy Anthony
1/ "DELICATE" (Dark Intensity Remix) 2/ "OUT OF THE WOODS" (Division 4 Remix) 3/ "ME!" (Robert Eibach Club Mix) ft. Brendon Urie 4/ "SNOW ON THE BEACH" (Optical Disco Club Rework) ft. Lana Del Rey 5/ "EVERMORE" (Russ Rich & Andy Allder Evermore Dancefloor Club Mix) 6/ "THE ARCHER" (Russ Rich & Andy Allder Combat Club Remix) 7/ "THIS IS ME TRYING" (Dirty Disco Eagle Houston Remix) 8/ "MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE" (Dirty Disco Pure Love House Remix - Taylor's Version) 9/ "WE ARE NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER" (Dirty Disco Mainroom Remix - Taylor's Version) 10/ "LOVE STORY" (Ray Isaac Remix) 11/ "BAD BLOOD" (Ryan Skyy Remix) 12/ "STYLE" (CLX Remix) 13/ "BLANK SPACE" (Dirty Disco Mainroom Remix - Taylor's Version) 14/ "I DON'T WANNA LIVE FOREVER" (Barry Harris Remix) ft. Zayn 15/ "THE MAN" (Stormby Remix) 16/ "ANTI-HERO" (Dirty Disco Mainroom Remix) 17/ "YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN" (Division 4 Remix) 18/ "LOOK WHAT U MADE ME DO" (Handbag House Club Mix) 19/ "TWO IS BETTER THAN ONE" (Mike Rizzo Club Mix) ft. Boys Like Girls 20/ "I CAN SEE YOU" (Dirty Disco Mainroom Remix) 21/ "KARMA" (Dario Xavier Remix) ft. Ice Spice 22/ "BEJEWELED" (Dario Xavier Club Remix) 23/ "22" (Joe Gauthreaux 2022 NYE Remix) 24/ "CARDIGAN" (Dario Xavier Club Remix) 25/ "SAY DON'T GO" (Dario Xavier Remix) 26/ ""SLUT" (Dario Xavier Remix) 27/ "ALL OF THE GIRLS YOU LOVED BEFORE" (Dario Xavier Club Remix) 28/ "HAUNTED" (Toy Armada & Jace M Remix) 29/ "CRUEL SUMMER" (Brett Oosterhaus Remix) 30/ "EXILE" (Jasmin's Understudy Club Mix) 31/ "SHAKE IT OFF" (Joe Gauthreaux West Side Club Mix) 32/ "WILDEST DREAMS" (Dirty Disco Mainroom Remix - Taylor's Version) 33/ "I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE" (Dirty Disco Mainroom Remix - Taylor's Version) 34/ "MIDNIGHT RAIN" (Russ Rich & Andy Allder Club Mix) 35/ "THIS LOVE" (Russ Rich & Andy Allder Club Version) 36/ "YOU BELONG WITH ME" (Dirty Disco Mainroom Remix - Taylor's Version) 37/ "TIMELESS" (Russ Rich & Andy Allder Era's Club Mix)
More from Anthony Whitlock's Podcast
Speaking of divas, it's time I focused some attention on the fabulous Deborah Cox. Canadian born Deborah Cox signed to Arista records in 1994 and her first album launched her career with the second single "Who Do U Love". From there, she climbed the charts around the world with hits such as "Nobody's Supposed To Be Here", It's Over Now", Absolutely Not" and Mr Lonely" in the late 1990's and 2000's. In the 2010's she continued with hits such as "Let The World Be Ours Tonight", "Beautiful U R" and "If It Wasn't For Love". While it was the urban and R&B versions of her songs that hit the mainstream charts, it was the club mixes that launched her in the night club scene. Her songs were mixed by the heavy hitters of the time including Hex Hector, Junior Vasquez, Davis Morales, Wayne G and Tony Moran. This was the 90's and 00's where club mixes regularly clocked in over 10 minutes. This first edition of the sublime Ms Cox features songs from the start and middle of her career right up to her more recent releases. More to come from this amazing singer. Enjoy Anthony
The October edition of UP! is filled with chunky house and vocal house anthems. I'm on annual leave this month so I'm in a happy/camp mood :) The front end of the set is vocal house with tracks from Toya, Alex Newell and Clubland. Russ Rich & Andy Allder have a brand new original song out which Russ very kindly gave me an early copy of. "Disco Lights" is an absolute euphoric slice of dance floor heaven. Russ wrote the song himself and the production and vocals are extraordinary. Andy also features a mix later in the set for ELMNTS. Wayne G. features two exceptional mixes in the set. The first is Miley's "Bass Persuades" which he has previewed as a fund raiser only release for Dementia UK, a very worthy cause. The second is Rita Ora's "Ask & You Shall Receive". I first met Wayne about 500 years ago on one of his regular visits to Sydney and we've stayed in touch over the years. He is an extraordinarily generous man and just a wonderfully kind soul and I can't thank him enough for the private mixes he has given to me. Madonna's renaissance is in full swing and her collaboration with Kylie Minogue on "Love Sensation" is a great example of it. Producer eSQUIRE features two awesome remixes before the set heads into camp, main room territory with standout remixes from Dirty Disco, GSP and 7th Heaven. I'm releasing this month's edition of UP! on my younger brother's birthday so, Happy Birthday Nick. Enjoy Anthony
The September '26 edition of UP! is jam packed with wall to wall vocal house anthems. The set kicks of with a great song "Let There Be Love" from Tess Merkel followed up by Harry Styles' "American Girls"' I pulled a classic Mariah Carey track from the vaults as well as Madonna's smash hit "Danceteria" from her current album Confessions II. Kristine W is back with her new song "Music's Gonna Save Us" and club diva Gypsy Love has a new song "Synchronicity" gaining traction in the clubs. Stand out remixes come from pretty much everyone featured here including Division 4, Dirty Disco, Rafael M, Andy Allder, Matt Moss and Tracy Young. Take yourself on a house journey with this month's edition of UP! Enjoy Anthony
This month's edition of UP! has been one of the most difficult for me to put together. One of my dearest friends of over 30 years passed away this month and it has been difficult to reconcile the profound feelings of grief and loss that have swallowed me, his beautiful partner, his family and friends. David was a bright light in the lives of everyone who knew him. I wasn't sure how I could translate that into a musical set that would do him justice. We had so many amazing nights out and in over the years. I have selected some songs that have uplifting, positive and powerful messages. These are some of my all time favourites mixed by some of my favourites in a T-Dance format. And to Derek, if you are reading this then you will know the significance of the closing song. This is the one that pulled David out of his mood on the dance floor at the Midnight Shift all those years ago. David, you will be missed but never forgotten. xx
Heading into July '26 is the latest edition of UP!. This set starts out with some fantastic house and pop tracks and progresses into some big room anthems. The set kicks off with Russ Rich and Andy Allder's brand new original track "Body And Soul". This is a beautiful house track with excellent vocals and production. The pair also lend their remix magic to "Raise it Up - Together" by Stephen Jusko & DJ Blacklow ft. Debbie Holiday. Andy appears again on his remix of "Eternal Flame" with Matt Consola. Division 4 turns in two stellar remixes for Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo respectively and of course Dirty Disco delivers thumping remixes for Lady Gaga & Doechii and Peyton respectively. There are some excellent covers in this set including "Eternal Flame", "In The Air Tonight" and "Freedom". Kylie Minogue's "Light Up" is transformed by Edson Pride and Tony Moran and Danny Verde also features a couple of tracks here. Enjoy Anthony