Christmas Special Editorial: 20 years of RKO (The charts revisited)
Published: 24/12/2020 by Neil Carr
In the year 2000 Jan Lund Thomsen's RKO (remix.kwed.org) was born. Finally, a resource that enabled remixers to uploaded their remixes for the world to enjoy. Before that time the remixing scene were made up of several websites spread around the internet. Finding these sites and jumping around from one to another was a painful and a somewhat chaotic experience. Over the years RKO would establish itself to be the one stop shop to get your c64 remix fix. In this Christmas editorial special we go back through the years and present the top 3 remixes voted by our readers from each year to the current day. So grab a cuppa sit back and enjoy whilst we take you on a nostalgia trip. Oh! and if you haven't voted yet on these remixes here's a chance to do so. Happy Christmas everyone.
*Ratings are correct at the time of publish. Ratings subject to varience should votes be cast.
YEAR: 2000
Wilfred: I have listenea t least 50 times, but still very enjoying experience. Simply brilliant piece of music!
banador: Just so good and interesting picture of the Nemesis that this music creates.
Nebdar: Very good atmosphere build up and orchestral arrangment. Brilliant play and great work
92%
Nebdar: This tune has sole and purpose… Similar to the Twin peaks Tv series tune
eliot: The original can not be beaten by any remake 😀
LaLa: Almost two decades later still a powerful, emotional remix, a must-have classic!
93%
Melaure: Excellent, I have found Jarre's fealings in this tune 😃
Nebdar: How such a small tune can be so much beautiful
eliot: Very very very outstanding 😊
92%
Year 2001
machinae supremacy - Great Giana Sisters
NecroPolo: Instant get. Very few arrangers can reach this musical competence. The only downside is the small amount of machinae supremacy C64 tunes.
Imphenzia: 100% for me, superb production quality, composition and arrangement. Retrointro and passage to modern remix is outstanding too.
kyl1000: Good job!
96%
Tonka - Last Ninja - Palace Gardens (Loader)
redbow: Definetly an outstanding enterpetation of one of my favorite tunes from the C64 era. Kudos Kudos
Dr Hambone: Absolutely perfect from start to finish apart from the snare build up at 1.15 which I find a bit over the top. Well done. This is my favourite remix I've heard!!!
NecroPolo: A masterwork on a masterpiece. Period.
93%
DHS - Max Headroom (Orbital 3241 Elevator Mix)
madrigal: Wonderful remix, DHS is a guarantee for quality!😉
plokolp: Love this. 2 tunes in one.
chairmankaga: One of my favourite SID remixes.
90%
Year 2002
Glyn R Brown - Firelord - Symphonic
xerex: Great emotional tune
raiden: Fucking Awesome! Glyn Keep this up will ya 😉
vassago: LOVE IT!!!
96%
Mahoney - Armageddon Man (Vocal Jazz feat. Karin Öjehagen)
kaus: Really tender…
EricF: Man, this is a haunting remix with some awesome rhythm in the second half.
redhot: Supreme
95%
Glyn R Brown - Gordian Tomb Adventures
Mitch van Hayden: OMFG! Nobody could do this better.
Sodden: Red face… Is a understatment, Simply stunning. After 31/01/02 Glyn is the master.
brix: WTF?! ! This is great!
95%
Year 2003
Lagerfeldt - Dutch Breeze/Robocop 3 (Progressive Uplift)
schnaggi: Yeeeeah!
saulc12: Slicker than a very slick thing in the middle of an oil slick and love that lead sound
decibel: I simply love this remix, I defy you to sit still while listening to it
93%
Thomas Detert - Supernova (the slow tune)
lolicon: Love Vangelis, love this tune! Very well composed. This delivers!
Amok: OMG… Powerful, Epic, Awesome… Speechless…
humorguy: I give this an Outstanding, because it Satnds Out from the rest by quite a margin. Excellent.
93%
Gildan: Sit back, put your feet up and enjoy!
bar: The art of Vangelis+The sound of Neuronium+The touch of Suzanne Ciani=one of the best tune on RKO
jelly: Hauntingly haunting.
91%
Year 2004
exo: Its gettin hot in here.
denise: Great
Mitch van Hayden: Classis meets Dance! And it really works. Great tune!
97%
mahoney: I found Vangelis. He has taken the shape of Mr. Donné! Great mix!
omoroca: Donné is god! Added to my collection.
GlenBenton: Superb!
97%
DHS - The Human Race (Bando alle Seghe)
liontamer: I agree, a true stunner of a mix. I liked it initially, but the texture really grows on you over time. Very hot work.
vhold: Wow. The unorthodox elements work so well and really give this a totally unique character.
load_error: Splendid work, atmospheric, emotional, solid… And the ENIGMA basis rocks!!!
94%
Year 2005
Makke - Artura(Dublin Delight Mix) feat. Andreas Wallström
vosla: Excellent! Makes me want to storm a local irish pub and have a keg of beer!
weasel: Haha!! GREAT version!! Reminds me of certain mahoney tracks, too!! 😃
karter: Woooow… This is it…
95%
Marcel Donné - Something Stranger Remake
Melaure: Very relaxing
DHS: Standing ovation from me. This is spine chilling and procured some erections too 😊
ifadeo: F**k'n brilliant! OUTSTANDING!
92%
Tas: I almost knew this would be outstanding before hearing it… As usual another top quality (mike oldfield-esque) track from Glyn.
robertmansfield: Very nice arrangement and beautiful choir-sounds, so here goes the read smiler…
Dumper: Everything Glyn touches turns to gold. Another classic.
92%
Year 2006
Andy Gilmour & LMan - Robocop Title
streki: Nice and best!,)
the_jinx: One of the best remixes ever… I have a lot of late 80's early 90's feelings pop up evrytime I play it…
Fdi: Just excellent! I listen it again and again! GREAT!!!
95%
moog (Sebastian Bachliñski) - Tristess
LMan: The strings… Goosebump alert!!!
REYN: Great great remix! And also a very nice composition! Superb…
weasel: He did it AGAIN!! That piano definitely _rocks_!! The lead is a bit 'special' indeed. Maybe there could be still some enhancements though! V2 release? 😉 But nevertheless. This _is_ a RED one again for sure!
93%
machinae supremacy - Sidology 2 Trinity
buzzard: Wasn't overkeen compared to their others, but hell its grown on me big time!!!
jokesoldier: Orange face + you got boost powa for the F-Zero intro!
duffbeer: Absolutely great. I even recognized a short excerpt from F-Zero - Mutant City 1, one of the first Super-Nintendo games.
93%
YEAR 2007
Reyn Ouwehand - Green Beret (live at The Church)
Melaure: Exellent
bordeaux: 😊 enjoyed the entire session 😊 thumbs up!
Zatuffli: GIGANTOMANISCH!
97%
Dafunk - Destruction - The New Beginning (rmx)
Skitz: Dafunk needs a god damn recording contract! Everything he is producing lately is seriously good and commercially viable!
_steve_: Fantastic sounds. Absolutely brilliant track
bratac: Excellent, it has melody and yet is trancy.
93%
Skitz: Dafunk keeps on producing these amazing remixes full of punch and originality - top marks
Nada: This is professional stuff. Depeche Mode sound like Michael Bolton next to this!!! Dafunk, you rule!
kwed: Just gets better and better each time I listen to it. If this one doesn't end up in the top-5 ROTY 2007 list I'll be *very* disappointed.😊
93%
YEAR 2008
Mordi - Plastic Pop (I Miss You mix)
selvatico: Simply outstanding
Codestars: Brilliant! One of my alltime favourites!!!
Quixcube: It took me somewhere else for a while. That's about as awesome as it gets for me.
93%
Dafunk - Hardcore Power (We Believe In Goa - Remix)
migu: Simply great!
BeeZerk: Top notch tune, clear production, great transitions, prof arrangement and perfect lenght. The hookline is the thing I like the most, awesome work.
Caboose: This is nice!
93%
Peter W - Stargate (Not As Trancelucent As)
Zilog: Simply PERFECT
xo: Su-bloody-perb.
Amok: Just great…
92%
YEAR 2009
Firestorm - Commando (Sound of SceneSat Edit)
Metal: Hands down - this is the best remix for a very long time! Simply an amazing piece of work!!
Blue Max: I yet fucking good Commando like this I did not hear processing more! 6 minutes are brief pleasures!
xgener8or: If Commando was made into a film by Jerry Bruckheimer, this would be the main title 😊 Hans Zimmer style, never thought this old dog could be remixed in a Zimmer-style so well 😊
96%
Jogeir Liljedahl - Synth Sample - The Stationary Ark
Zilog: Smooth as always, Jogeir…
mfe: Poignant in its simplicity, this piece that could have easily become boring to listen carries you all the way through on a journey that never gets tedious.
Jezza: Amazing remix of a great sid!
95%
94%
YEAR 2010
nummer2: Waited long time for a new sweet remix and this is just perfect.
xo: OMFG - a masterpiece!😀
The SIE: Do u mean Tears in my eyes? Cuz I have them. Great Duo. Expand it.
95%
Chabee - Baboon (Skydive ReMix)
TheZee: A beautiful blend of sounds! You've got real talent mate, keep up the good work!😀
Mordi: Cool tune. Great sounds and lovely percussion. I love your style!
Dees Productions: Great pads, sweet leads, fresh bassline, fine percussions = Lovely choon! Can't wait for your next masterwork! Respect.
92%
SIDrip Alliance - From First to Last (AROK12 tribute mix)
Mordi: Flakey lead, but otherwise great.
Danceaway: Love it, top mix and it blends through each track perfectly, looking forward to seeing you guys live at somepoint in the future… Keep it up guys!!!
Makke: Standing ovations from me. Only one complaint: The drums sound way too flat, static and thin for this heavy track.
92%
YEAR 2011
moog (Sebastian Bachliñski) - Jazzcat (007)
_steve_: How can this be rated bad?! - were you even listening to the same song as everyone else?
Mordi: Been listening to this regularly since it's release on SceneSat Vol 2. Outstanding as ever.
LMan: The name's Funk. Moog Funk.
93%
hillsman: An absolute screamer!
_steve_: Great as usual… Very chilled
Ryrynz: Once again Mordi delivers us beautiful sounds.
94%
Peter Clarke - Ocean Loader 3 (Cinematic remix)
Pandarific: I absolutely LOVE THIS!
Staticborris: Excelent. Love the movie score feel to the track, keep up the great work
YogibearRenoise: This sounds really great and is now one of my favs of RKO! Could you please make an orchestral version of song 1 in HVSC of Tai-Pan? That's my fav sid of you! Thanks for this!
94%
YEAR 2012
ZnL: Awesome, good work!
redhot: Still a great classic
winc: The sound in this the way it just mixes together, and the harmony just made this the best song of 2015!!
94%
Andreas Wallström and NecroPolo - DMC demo IV 2 (Celtic Mission mix)
drax: Pure awesomeness!!! One of the best remixes I have heard 😉
Frida Katarina: Wow! I heard this and wondered if it was Steve Morse on the guitar. Made me happy!
Mordi: Sweet track!
93%
bordeaux: Great tribute, awesome guitars - thanks a lot!
Zilog: Powerful & Sweet as always, a masterpiece!
drm: Love the guitars!!! Awesome!!!
93%
YEAR 2013
Nebdar: You hit my soft spot witthis remix too great job
C64ever: Nice track.
horizoner: Really Outstanding!
93%
LukHash - Supremacy (youtube vid)
Crono: Masterpiece!
_steve_: Very powerful chip mix. Another fantastic mix
L0rd3vyL: My favorite remix of this tune. Good job, LukHASH!
93%
BeeZerk - BeeZerk - Blasphemy (Feat. Pallaso & Kage)
JLD: Amazing remix!!
Amiga4eveR: Wow!!!
_steve_: Wow. Beezerk does it again! This is just fantastic.
93%
YEAR 2014
Slaygon - Platoon (Inexperti belli)
Kate Eternal: Wonderful!
Worped: Absolutely epic!
Jojje70: Awesome guitars, very well produced with lots of atmosphere!
95%
Robert Engstrand - The Mansion Gardens (Last Ninja medley)
thomassd: Cool!
timmya4000: Outstanding!!! Great choice of sounds. Love that bass
K8-bit: Beautiful. Hairs on the back of neck rising kind of good. Please do more Last Ninja themes like this!
93%
Markus Schneider - Enlightenment - Druid II
NecroPolo: Man I must admit that in general I greatly dislike orchestral remixes. At least the ones that are not created with so much expertise like this one. It blasts the rest out of the pool (sorry guys). Kudos Markus!
Sokratekk: A think 90 % of all tunes here are only transcriptions of the original tune - but this is a real great remix
rico: … Gives me a lot of Game of Thrones vibes - in a very good way!
93%
Year 2015
Slaygon - Never Die (Skitz lives forever)
GlenBenton: Brilliant!
Jojje70: Incredible. Touching. Inspiring. Simply beautiful…
gator: This is an amazing track!
96%
Dr Future - Fist II - The Legend Continues
N.o S.kill P.erformance: Das ist der erste C64-Remix-Track den ich sogar runtergeladen habe, um ihn in meinen Musikordner zu packen
linus: Extremely lovely!❤️
XxDUSTYxX: Great work! Very enjoyable!
95%
MRT - Eagles (Easy Flight mix)
James T. Kork: Just brilliant.
timmya4000: Absolutely fantastic, top notch, faultless
Ryrynz: Wow, that's quite the remix.
94%
YEAR 2016
mika: Aaaaand that one is going straight to my car playlist
Blackstar: For me this is a just as a perfect remix of a C64 tune should sound like.
Megaboost: Absolutely Fantastic! Haven't heard anything this good in Years.
96%
Johan Andersson - Out Run - Splash Wave (surf mix)
symbols: So Pulp Fiction! 😃
Blackstar: Love it!
Tomsk: So much fun to listen to! Excellent
94%
NecroPolo: Despite that I hate dancing and dreamy stuff to quite a high degree I'd be a fool not to see the values of this quality track. Great work and a floor filler contender on a demoscene party.
JustPhreak: Just great!!
Dr.Piotr: Leds dance!!! Greats!
94%
YEAR 2017
SIDNIFY - Supremacy (Overprime mix)
chabee: Great work guys!
Mordi: Wow! Cool stuff!
DJs. DoMoDo: Great remix music 😀
97%
russ: Awesome. Really enjoying this 😀
Mordi: Well done! A pleasant listening experience. Edit: Relistening two months later. It's really nice!
redhot: Awesome, especially the bass line
94%
96%
YEAR 2018
FastLoaders - Commando High Score
Breadbox Bill: This Remix is amazing!
Shark: Perfect!
Amiga1200: Woooooow man!
96%
95%
FastLoaders - Ghouls and Ghosts
Ryrynz: Professional. Excellent.
hillsman: Unbelievable. Please do a Ghouls 'n' Ghosts album!!
GlenBenton: Wow, man!
94%
YEAR 2019
Peter Clarke - Firelord - Symphonic (a nod to Glyn)
Breadbox Bill: I love it!
C64_Gamer: Love the 2002 version and now I love this too
JustPhreak: Outstanding work!
97%
Glyn R Brown - Firelord (from 8Bit Symphony)
speedy: EDIT: Great stuff after several listenings and better than first one.
grin: I really love these interpretations, very effective ear libricators!
kwed: Turns out the only way to top Glyn R Browns 16-year old symphonic remix was to have Glyn himself come back and update it. Amazing stuff and instant classic if I ever heard one!
98%
PixelGrinch: Outstanding Remix! THANK YOU, Jogier
rnuls: Fantastic song from Jogeir
mrt: Fantastic work! Thanks
97%
YEAR 2020
peltazoid: Amazing!
Mordi: Awesome track, Peter! Your britishness is really shining through in this one, with the ELO references.😃
Paulie68000: One of my all time favourite arcade pieces; I love the seamless blend of genres from the opening strings to the guitar break near the end. Pure class.
96%
Peter Clarke, ziona & Slaygon - Tales of Boon (The Collaboration Mix)
MagicMosher: You guys should absolutely keep up the work together the harmony between the 3 styles of music takes me on a journey
Marcus: I can't remember the game but wow what a score!. If this great track is 3rd place what is 2nd and 1st in the remix competition.
Ryrynz: The synths don't really have the punch I want, they really need to be front and center, orchestra sounds good. Overall a nice atmosphere. Dat Slaygon tho… @3:30 my jam.
95%
SIDNIFY - The Last Ninja - The Wilderness
Makke: Solid rocker!
Ryrynz: Doesn't get much better than this, it's got all the elements of a top notch remix, love the fresh new SID sound, what an evolution! Holy shit @3:00, bro we need more remixes from you here!
Ahriakin: Great remix, lots of energy while respecting the source.
95%
People, we should considder ourselves lucky to be part of a community diverse enough to cover everything from the solitary hobbyist with a copy of Fruityloops to an 80-piece symphonic orchestra. The solitary remixer can afford to be out of pocket on a remix since the music isn’t his/her day job - the professional musician doesn’t have that luxury. Dismissing one over the other isn’t a way to take the hobby in new directions. If you prefer the freely available renditions, that’s fine by me - but don’t knock commercial efforts simply for having a cost. No one is in this to get rich.
Comments