Show Notes
Welcome to Pride Anthems volume 13. It must be June - the traditional Pride month around the world. This years Pride celebrations have come under attack, particularly in the USA from predominantly Christian conservative groups. These people don't like the idea of a section of the community carving out a living space for themselves and seem to be jealous of our innate ability to have a fabulous time while supporting each other against their prejudice. Our community is very diverse and very accepting of pretty much everyone. So in that spirit, I present to you the 2024 edition of Pride Anthems. Was there ever a more appropriately titled song than ABBA's "Dancing Queen"? The Jackers Revenge remix of it is awesome and kicks off the set. I wanted the track selection on this set to reflect empowerment and freedom of choice in life and love. These 21 songs do that I believe. Some are classic dance floor anthems such as "Touch Me", "Hot Stuff", "Believe" and "Searchin". Others have been purposefully written and recorded for the community such as "Fight On" and "Chosen Family". Included are hit songs from Whitney, Mariah, Rihanna, Taylor, and of course, Kylie. Remixes come from across the spectrum with standouts from Division 4, Moto Blanco and 7th Heaven. The wonderful Mark from Dirty Disco once again came to my rescue and generously forwarded me some advance mixes as well as a private one. I always seem to be thanking him in my comments but I truly mean it Mark. There is drive and energy in this set which is indicative of the LGBTQ+ community. Happy Pride month everyone. Enjoy Anthony
1/ "DANCING QUEEN" (Jackers Revenge Remix) - ABBA 2/ "FIGHT ON" (Original Club Mix) - CACTUSHEAD ft. EDDY QUEENS 3/ "TOUCH ME" (eSQUIRE Remix) - SAMANTHA FOX 4/ "CRAZY IN LOVE" (Division 4 Remix) - BEYONCE` 5/ "THIS IS WHAT YOU CAME FOR" (Barry Harris Club Mix) - RHIANNA ft. CALVIN HARRIS 6/ "HOT STUFF" (Ghostbusterz Remix) - DONNA SUMMER 7/ "BLEEDING LOVE" (Moto Blanco Full Vocal Club Mix) - LEONA LEWIS 8/ "CHOSEN FAMILY" (Dirty Disco & Matt Consola Rainbow Remix) - SHAUNA JENSEN 9/ "CALL ME MAYBE" (Almighty Club Mix) - CARLY RAE JEPSEN 10/ "BELIEVE" (Dirty Disco 25th Anniversary Classic Club Rework) - CHER 11/ "BAD BLOOD" (Dirty Disco Private Remix) - TAYLOR SWIFT 12/ "FUNKYTOWN" (Dirty Disco Classic Club Rework) - LIPS INC. 13/ "SHOW SOME LOVE" (Funky Junction & Priyon Joni Remix) - FIRST LADIES OF DISCO 14/ "LIVE YOUR LIFE BE FREE" (Sagi Kariv Remix) - BELINDA CARLISLE 15/ "GREATEST LOVE OF ALL" (HenriqMoraes Classic Club Mix) - WHITNEY HOUSTON 16/ "AGAINST ALL ODDS" (TAKE A LOOK AT ME NOW) (HenriqMoraes Club Mix) - MARIAH CAREY 17/ "SEARCHIN" (7th Heaven 40th Anniversary Club Mix) - HAZELL DEAN 18/ "CALL ME" (7th Heaven Club Mix) - SPAGNA 19/ "I BELIEVE IN YOU" (Wayne G. vs. Club Junkies Club Mix) - KYLIE MINOGUE 20/ "I WILL FLY" (Wayne G. & Porl Young Atlantis Anthem Club Mix) - THE DISKO KATZ ft. INAYA DAY 21/ "WE CAN GET THERE" (Thunderpuss Club Mix) - MARY GRIFFIN
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