The Flirts – Passion (The Ben Liebrand Remixes)

Produced by the great Bobby Orlando, ‘Passion’ by the Flirts is a New York-made early ’80s classic that was in part inspired by the heavily electronic sound of European disco music. It was highly influential, too, inspiring a wave of dance-loving synth-pop acts including, most famously, the Pet Shop Boys. These tasteful new mixes subtly update the track for 2023 while retaining much of what made the original such a killer. Check first the A-side ‘Sweet N Simple Mix’, a slightly housed-up take that otherwise sticks closely to the original script, before flipping to Ben Liebrand’s superior (and pleasingly synth-laden) ‘Oldskool Mix’. The rubbery, shuffling, New Jersey deep house style ‘Midnight Mix’ completes a solid package of reworks.