Here’s a statement that will have a lot of our parents feeling distinctly worried: the Beatles’ debut album Please Please Me is celebrating its fiftieth birthday. Happily the classic recording has aged very well indeed, still holding the top spot of one of pop music’s greatest albums. In recognition of just how influential the album has been, BBC Introducing in Suffolk have decided to embark on an ambitious project. Richard Haugh and Graeme Mac have retained 14 of Suffolk’s hottest young artists to each do a bespoke remix of one of the album’s tracks, to be played in a special broadcast on this Friday’s show.

Thus far the majority of the details are still largely under wraps but there have been a few sneak peeks that have crept their way out into the audiosphere. And all in all they sound really rather promising.

Alex Highton’s offering, Do You Want to Know a Secret?, certainly seems like the perfect example of how to remix a classic. Previewed last week on the Tom Robinson show, Highton’s cover manages to further the haunting aural quality of the original, creating some very odd cranial harmonics indeed. Never before have I felt Harrison’s vocal in my wisdom teeth. It’s all very crisply arranged and recorded and the production is novel enough without seeming disloyal; Lennon and McCartney’s backing is expertly reproduced. There are also some nice hints to later Beatles’ stock elements – a cheeky sitar pluck certainly does the ensemble’s chorus no harm at all.

Caomhe’s cover really captures something of Twist and Shout showing why it always was such an excellent closer. Beginning with a slight mix of her delightful vocals and little sprigs of guitar, it builds up to a satisfyingly summery reworking of the original’s chorus. New elements, such as the sneaky hint of mandolin, add a real depth to the whole and make it rather hard to resist. All of the vibrancy of the original is there and yet it’s smoother and more stylish, giving a wonderfully fresh perspective on one of the era’s greatest tunes.

What would the album be though without Love Me Do? In this incarnation? Much much cleaner. Dingus Khan’s offering is very dirty and very gutsy. Whilst there are a whole lot of familiar elements, for example the familiar fuzz of the main hook, the entire piece has been given a twist of balls-out blues that makes it somehow seem all the more solid. It’s a little like the clean cut Liverpudlians have been possessed by Tom Waits and turned out a growly, gritty hit. All in all it’s a fantastic twist on the hit song and shows why the band are currently making such huge waves.

Given this is only a taste of what’s to come, it really is all rather exciting. When you take into account that there are also covers from the ilk of Big In Albania, DUCK HOUSE, Languid, Joseph Grand, Benjamin Bloom and Refracture even waiting till tomorrow becomes positively torturous. It really is going to be a special offering and one of the most novel projects to hit local music in some time. Make sure you tune in and catch some quintessential British pop brought to you by the biggest names in local music.

Words: Josh Russell