Never The Twain Shall Meet
Shania's coming back over-alone.
Shania Twain, country's reigning bombshell, sure is hard to hold. Just ask Bryan White, her duet partner on the top ten country radio hit, "From This Moment On." Twain and her label, who clearly have their eyes on establishing more of a mainstream pop following, are ready to take the single to top 40 radio later this month. But, like a babe who dumps her date when she arrives at a swinging party, Twain is going top 40 alone.
How? Twain's husband/producer Mutt Lange simply sat down with the song, worked the knobs, came up with a new re-mix and, voila, no more Bryan White. Suddenly, the duet had morphed into a Twain solo suitable for the masses.
"None of us knew it was going to happen," says Luke Lewis, president of Twain's label, Mercury Nashville. "Mutt just came up with this magical version." That version features more of a flamenco guitar flavor, a reflection of the fact the song was at one time considered for the soundtrack to The Mask of Zorro.
White himself seems nonplussed by the snub. "They're releasing this song as a pop record, and I'm not a pop artist, so my feelings aren't hurt," he says. White's spokesman at Asylum Records echoes that sentiment, suggesting that the country singer's fans are used to more traditional fare any way: "We've certainly heard knocking on our door about ["From This Moment On"] being too contemporary for Bryan's sake. So it's fine if they want to go to top 40 without him."
Once a Nashville no-no, Twain has perfected the crossover move, thanks in part to Lange. He was responsible for Def Leppard hits back in the Eighties and has framed Twain's country beat with irresistible pop sounds. Twain's recent country hit, "You're Still the One," peaked all the way at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Lange even came up with a dance mix of that song, which charted on R&B and dance radio stations. "A few people did say that went over the line," Lewis concedes. "But the song worked."
Whatever Mercury and Twain are doing, it's working. Twain's Come On Over has sold more copies this year (2.3 million according to SoundScan) than recent releases by Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins and Van Halen, combined.
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