The Dutch DJ Franky Rizardo has withdrawn from the scheduled release of his remix of Everything But The Girl's Missing over concerns about the track's origins.
This came after the American DJ and producer John Summit claimed on X that Pete Tong had originally promised to release his version of the track, before repurposing that track and creating a remix with Rizardo instead.
Summit wrote: "Hey @petetong thanks for promising to release my missing remix with u (while doing nothing in terms of production) then jacking my remix to release with franky rizardo. release class act you are. to think i actually looked up to u too."
The Dutch artist responded by posting his own statement on X, which read: "After learning more today about the background surrounding this release,
"I’ve come to the conclusion that it no longer feels right for me to be part of it. This isn’t about taking sides or blaming anyone - it’s simply the decision that feels right to me."
He continued: "I truly wish all parties involved nothing but the best, and I hope everything gets resolved. I believe everyone acted with the best intentions, but it no longer feels like the right way for me to release my remix."
While he's hardly a volatile character, this isn't the first time Pete Tong has been at loggerheads with other artists over his remixes. In 2017, Massive Attack criticised the well-known radio DJ for covering their seminal single ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ for his ‘Ibiza Classics’ album without their permission. (NME)
"Thanks for covering one of our songs on your nostalgia nightmare roadshow. I don’t recollect you getting in touch to see if we would mind," they said.
"If you do mean to carry on coining it, why don’t you divide your nightly profit by the number of songs you murder in your set, and hand the total of that one song over to [charity] UNHCR.. It would be the least you could do."
Tong never responded to Massive Attack's criticism, and he's yet to comment on Rizardo's withdrawal from the remix.
"For now, it’ll remain a set-only track," Rizardo concluded. "At the end of the day, staying true to my values matters more to me than releasing a record."
