100 Greatest Songs of the 00’s #98 Layo and Bushwacka! – Love Story

Released: 2002

All the best things happen simply. Layo Paskin and Matthew Benjamin (AKA Bushwacka!) had met at The End, the club in central London the former co-owned with one time Shamen avatar Mr. C and one which had seen residencies from the likes of Roni Size and Fatboy Slim. Both were veterans of the capital’s early acid house scene and after partnering up they released their debut album Low Life on the club’s in-house label in 1999.

Paskin had begun his career at just 16 by putting on rare groove and hip-hop parties with help from amongst others Richard Russell, who would eventually become CEO of the XL label. Following the success of Low Life Russel signed the much hyped duo and as a result they were on the same roster as The White Stripes, Prodigy, Radiohead and Basement Jaxx.

Love Story was built on a very unlikely chassis, with Paskin lifting a bass riff off Devo’s 1977 track Mongoloid. After then layering in a single bluesy piano chord and some chopped up vocal lines courtesy of Nina Simone, unknowingly the pair had a 2 a.m. classic on their hands, although it was a sign of their uncertainty in it that at first they had only 500 copies pressed up. After some rework it became a top 10 hit, only for the most of the money earned to end up in the hands of those who’d been sampled. It was a simple lesson from a simple track, but as it had paved the way for high profile DJ and production careers for both of them, one they probably knew had been of the most useful kind.