One of the first artist profiles I wrote that I was really proud of was a 2007 cover story on Terisa Griffin. I remember having lunch with Terry Hunter and Teresa to talk about their single “Wonderful” (probably on most lists now as one of the greatest soulful house tracks ever made).
Three things stood out about it:
Terry Hunter was about to go to South Africa for the first time, where this house thing had suddenly erupted without any explanation (to us).
Terry also showed us the magic of this new thing called an iPhone that would crawl out of his pocket and destroy all of our lives.
And when someone else called out the name “Terry” in the restaurant, all three of us turned our heads simultaneously.
Eleven years later they’re working together again if they’ve ever truly stopped. “Distant Lover” was co-written and performed by Marvin Gaye and appeared on the famed Let’s Get It On LP released in 1973. The album was regarded by critics as “one of the most sexually charged albums” ever made, but “Distant Lover” was an outlier – a song of yearning for someone, and something, unattainable. The switch from a male to female vocalist passes unnoticed in the Terisa Griffin cover, which adds an uptempo disco influence in both the percussion and teasing background vocals. This originally appeared on Terisa Griffin’s 2015 Revival of Soul LP but gets the T’s Box mix here to wonderful effect.
Terisa Griffin: Distant Lover (Terry Hunter Remixes) (T’s Box)
1. Terisa Griffin: Distant Lover (Terry Hunter Distant Club Mix) (7:51)
2. Terisa Griffin: Distant Lover (Terry Hunter Distant Instrumental) (7:50)
Originally published inside 5 Magazine #164 featuring Cassy, DC LaRue, Sean Haley, Titonton & more. Become a member of 5 Magazine for First & Full Access to Real House Music for only $1 per issue!
