Review
Genre and Mood
Jojo Effect’s The Beat Goes On is a cover that moves a sixties pop hit into the lounge. It belongs to nu-jazz and the electro-swing compilations that later gathered it, and its mood is playful and groovy, where the original’s lyric was topical.
Song Summary
Sonny Bono wrote, composed and produced The Beat Goes On for Sonny & Cher. It was recorded on 13 December 1966 at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood, entered the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1967 and peaked at number six. The lyric deals mainly with the events of its day; the refrain answers them by saying the beat goes on. Jojo Effect’s version runs five minutes and a quarter on their album Not With Me, credited to Bono as lyricist and composer.
Musical Breakdown
No review we found describes this recording, so this guide names what to listen for and does not claim what happens.
Intro
Listen for how the cover sets up its groove, and whether it borrows the original’s famous bass figure or builds its own.
Main Section
Last.fm describes the project’s music as lounge flavoured with bossa and jazz, and Soundcharts as a blend of nu jazz, electro swing and Latin music. Listen for which of these the arrangement leans on.
Outro
A song called The Beat Goes On almost asks to fade rather than stop. Listen for how this one ends.
Concepts in Focus
A cover version keeps the song and changes the setting. The 1966 session used the Wrecking Crew, nineteen musicians by Wikipedia’s count, and bassist Carol Kaye says she devised its syncopated bass line in place of the walking bass written into Harold Battiste’s arrangement. Covers have taken the song in every direction since: Buddy Rich Big Band – The Beat Goes On - Live At The Chez Club, Hollywood/1967 turned it into big-band jazz the same year, and Orbit made an electro version in 1982.
A remix extended this cover’s life in turn. In 2016 Club des Belugas, the project Soundcharts links with Jojo Effect producer Maxim Illion, remixed it for the release Nine on Glamjazz Records.
Artistic Context
According to Last.fm, Jojo Effect was founded in November 2005 by the German producers and multi-instrumentalists Jaycay and Maxim Illion, with the singers Anne Schnell and Brenda Boykin. Not With Me came out on ChinChin Records; MusicBrainz dates the French release to October 2006, and the YouTube release gives January 2007. It was album of the month on WDR 5 in January 2007 and received heavy rotation on Ibiza Global Radio.
Impact and Reception
The track found its audience on compilations. MusicBrainz lists Jojo Effect’s The Beat Goes On on Café d’Afrique, Cigar Lounge and Absinth sets in 2006 and 2007, and later on Electro Swing Fever and Electro Swing Essentials, in this and shorter edits. Play Sonny & Cher first, then let the beat go on.
