If it weren’t for a busted car, Murder on the Dancefloor might never have existed, songwriter Gregg Alexander – formerly of the New Radicals – told Dave Simpson today, in a very rare interview detailing the creation of a song experiencing a huge renaissance thanks to its spot in the film Saltburn. Unable to head out for a night in Detroit, he grabbed the acoustic guitar on the back seat and started singing “it’s murder on the dancefloor, but you’d better not kill the groove”.
That’s one of the lyrics that made it into Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s finished recording of the song, though many others from its demo – “I won’t make us hit the hay!” – were left on the cutting room floor. For the first time ever, you can hear a sample of that demo right here, shared with a message from Alexander:
