Peggy Lee’s Big Spender album turns 60 this year and the jazz icon’s estate is celebrating the milestone anniversary in two fun ways. First is the release of Girl Math’s remix of the title track.
The electronic music duo (comprised of producers/DJs Nala and VNSSA) spins the classic Broadway show tune into a club-ready anthem, adding buzzy house synths and thumping percussion that elevate Lee’s signature sultry vocals.
“I love the idea, with a remix, of bringing it to a new audience. It’s about exposing her music to everybody. And there’s something for everybody with ‘Big Spender,’” Holly Foster Wells, Lee’s granddaughter, said of Girl Math’s modern rendition. “She may not have known about remixes, but she did her own share of reimagining. She often reinterpreted songs in her own style.”
Along with the remix, a new animated visualizer for the original recording of “Big Spender” has been released. Inspired by the Bob Fosse choreographed dance sequence in 1966’s Sweet Charity musical, the video honors the song’s Broadway origins.
Released in 1966, Big Spender was recorded during one of the most celebrated periods of Lee’s Capitol Records career. The LP married her love for jazz, traditional pop, and contemporary songwriting, while also showcasing her versatility through its balance of Broadway favorites and modern standards.
Its title track was originally written by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields for Sweet Charity. It quickly became one of Lee’s signature hits. Recalling a phone conversation with Coleman as cited in her autobiography, Lee said of the tune: “The day he had completed writing it for Sweet Charity, he called me from New York and sang me that, among other things, and he had something else in mind for me. I said, ‘But I want ‘Big Spender,’ and he said, ‘Well, sure, if you want to.’ So he let me sing it six months before the play came out. And you could just feel that it was a hit.”
The song remains a music staple to this day. “The one thing I love seeing is how many people dance to it,” Wells shared. “I’ve seen on social media numerous beautifully choreographed [routines], from kids to older groups. People still love to dance to it.”
Lee herself continues to live on through modern pop culture: last year, a HoneyLuv remix of “Fever” was the soundtrack for the WNBA team Indiana Fever, while her 1975 Mirrors album received a reissue in celebration of its 50th anniversary.
Listen to girl math’s remix of Peggy Lee’s “Big $pender” here.
