I vividly remember my introduction to Tony Esposito’s Pagaia. I was working in a lab, London Bridge, when it came on the stereo. Distracting me momentarily from tending to cultured cancer cells. The song was part of a mix put together by Balearic Mike Smith. It was a DJHistory.com “Mystery Mix”, I think. I’d downloaded it via the forum anyhow. Mike had done a super sharp segue out of Boney M’s Boonoonoonoos. Just before that track starts its bloody awful second half. I had no idea what Tony’s tune was, but someone on the DJH thread had very kindly ID-ed it.

In those days, finding these things was also relatively easy – if sometimes expensive. I simply gave Mark Seven a call. Mark, of course, had a copy. He probably had several. I’m pretty sure it was Mark who had sorted Mike out as well. Pagaia was a Daniele Baldelli Cosmic Club favourite, and Mark, like a lot of us back then, was obsessed with the pioneering Italian DJ’s “oeuvre”. Mark had quickly and quietly become an expert.

I don’t think that Pagaia was ever a big spin on The Balearics. I’ve interviewed a few folks who created the island’s “Beat” and it doesn’t appear on any of their lists. However, its tumbling tom toms, funky, tongued flute, and slapped bass, would have been perfect for prancing around Ibiza’s Amnesia off your face on E. With congas, tambourine, and a scatted, sky blue “lyric”, its a buoyant brass and piano-led march. A catchy, infectious piece of Italian pop. A ray of musical sunshine somewhere between Tulio de Piscopo’s Stop Bajon and Adriano Celentano’s Prisencolinensinainciusol.  Joyful and jaunty, and a little cheesy, it still lifts my spirits and raises a smile. Even an old misery like me can’t help but sing along (I might stop short of “air trumpet” mind).

In the early 2000s an original 12 set me back something like 60 Euros, which was breaking my budget a bit, but over the years it came to be worth more than double that. This was until Archeo Recordings did the decent thing in 2014 and repressed it. Archeo have since built up a strong relationship with Mr. Esposito, resulting in a string of reissue and remix projects, the latest of which finds Perugian producer, Feel Fly, turn out a trio of terrific reworks of Pagaia. His Cosmical Remix uses the keys to establish a groove before re-building the track from the bottom up. Adding a throbbing electronic pulse and taking the tune in a deeper direction. Allowing the original fanfares to rise in feel-good swells, and then dropping them into echo. The Instrumental Cosmical Remix is even deeper, and now darker. Tribal. Like a diabolical drum circle ritual. A trance-y tarantella. A suitable soundtrack for a datura ceremony. Tempo-wise, at the opposite end of the spectrum, Feel Fly’s Dub Dub Version is an infinite drift of delayed bongo (bong?) hits and booming Basic Channel / Rhythm & Sound-esque low frequency oscillations.

The Feel Fly versions of Tony Esposito’s Pagaia are officially released on July 12th, care of Archeo Recordings.