May 1, 2007

It would be shocking enough for any septuagenarian to find themselves suddenly becoming a powerhouse on the dance music charts. If that senior citizen also happens to be one of the most vilified figures in pop music history -- well, stranger things have probably happened, but it's hard to come up with too many. In the last few years, though, this is precisely what has happened for Yoko Ono, who's transformed from the notorious Dragon Lady who broke up the Beatles to a staple on dance floors around the world.

Of course, Ono will always be best known for her life with John Lennon, but she was an established avant-garde artist long before she met the Beatle. As a musician, she has worked with such experimental luminaries as Ornette Coleman and John Cage. Though her free-form, caterwauling vocal style has frequently been mocked, such artists as the B-52's and Sonic Youth have claimed her as an influence.

In 2001, Ono gave her blessing for her music to be remixed. Versions of "Kiss, Kiss, Kiss" and "Yang Yang" soon cracked the dance Top 20. Since then, she has had a steady stream of club hits. This renaissance reached a new peak earlier this year with the release (under the single name "Ono") of "Yes, I'm a Witch" on Astralwerks Records. Such celebrity hipsters as Cat Power, DJ Spooky, Peaches and Le Tigre put their spin on songs from the Ono catalogue. Most impressive was the Flaming Lips' remix of "Cambridge 1969" -- a signature piece of Ono's wailing and Lennon's guitar feedback, turned into a slice of swirling, pulsing funk. The album sold well, and received rave reviews.

In the wake of the success of "Witch" comes another set of Ono remixes on Astralwerks, this one titled "Open Your Box." The disc collects new and previously released reconstructions of her songs by such club superstars as Pet Shop Boys, Basement Jaxx and Danny Tenaglia. At the heart of "Box" are three different versions of "Walking on Thin Ice," the song that Ono and Lennon were completing the night of Lennon's murder in 1980. (On the 12-inch mix of the original track, Lennon can be heard saying, "I think we've just got your first No. 1, Yoko," which turned out to be true -- more than 20 years later.)

Ono, 74, spoke about the remix projects, and about revisiting her songs, over the phone from Reykjavik, Iceland, where she was announcing plans for an "Imagine Peace Tower" made out of light; the project is scheduled to open in October. "It's something I conceived around 1965," she says. "John asked if I could build a house out of light in his garden -- he wanted a conceptual house for a conceptual garden."

MSN MUSIC: Were "Yes, I'm a Witch" and "Open Your Box" planned at the same time, or did you decide to do "Box" after seeing the great reaction to "Witch"?

YOKO ONO: No, the "Open Your Box" remixes were done over the last few years -- club mixes that went out and got to top of charts. It's kind of a "Best of Yoko Ono Club Remixes."

I just thought that, at this point, I wouldn't have success with rock and roll albums, but I could have success with remixes because that's where I have had successful numbers. I was hoping it would make a big splash, but I was surprised by the reaction to "Yes, I'm a Witch." I really thought they should wait to put that out until after "Open Your Box."

The song "Yes, I'm a Witch," I wrote that and was going to put it out around 1974, but I was strongly advised not to -- people said, "They'll kill you, don't put it out." So I slipped it into (the 1992 anthology) "Onobox," but didn't really get any reaction. Then the label called and said they wanted to use it as the title for this record -- I was proud of the song, I liked the way the remix was done, so I thought OK.

Read more of this exclusive interview on page 2 >>>

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