Push the Feeling On

Did You Know?

• Push the Feeling On was a Box Top on British music television channel The Box for 8 weeks from April 1995.
• In 2020, AJ Tracey sampled the track for Dinner Guest featuring MoStack, which reached the UK top 10 singles chart.

Background and release

The original song was first issued in the United Kingdom in 1992, reaching number 86 on the UK chart before quickly dropping. A US reissue in 1993 reached number 80 on the Billboard Hot 100, with success driven by the Dub of Doom remix by Marc Kinchen, which used only one verse. The original version was rooted in acid jazz and disco; vocalist John Reid later noted it was out of date for the time. The B-side of the 1992 single was a remix by Kinchen originally called MK's Nocturnal Dub, renamed Push the Feeling On (The Dub of Doom) for the US. This remix became a hit in the UK underground scene, played heavily for about two years, and was released as a single in Europe in 1994, reaching number 22 in the UK and number 76 on the Eurochart Hot 100. A later issue titled Push the Feeling On (New MK Mixes For '95) included the MK Dub Revisited Edit, which became a major international commercial success. The band subsequently deleted the original version from their catalogue, reclassified the remix as the first single from their debut album Lets Push It, and shifted to house music. The song was re-released in remixed versions in 2003 and 2007. In 2014, Push the Feeling On 2014 credited to Nightcrawlers vs DJ S.K.T. appeared on house compilations and broke the UK iTunes top 40. A 2017 garage version titled Push the Feeling credited to Nightcrawlers x John Reid featuring Big Narstie was released with a lyric video, followed by an official music video in 2018 featuring Reid. The original CD single credits John Reid as Jon Reed; the 1995 release credits him as J. Reed.

Critical reception

Larry Flick from Billboard magazine described the track as a delightfully retro romp with a chunky midtempo groove, snakey funk guitar licks, bright horn thrushes, and pulses of strings, noting its radio viability from a traditional structure and contagious hook. A reviewer from Lennox Herald called it confident sassy soul with good hook and chorus. James Hamilton from Music Week's RM Dance Update commented that the soulful John Reed led Glaswegians get really classy with this Seventies-style chantingly harmonized joyful swirling and soaring brassy jiggler. AllMusic editor John Bush deemed it a deep-house hit and a house anthem. Flick also stated that Push the Feeling On is one of those records that simply will not go away, highlighting Marc Kinchen's sinewy rhythms. James Masterton wrote that with hindsight it is easy to see why it became a hit, comparing it to You Got the Love and Show Me Love as a simple but insistent rhythm with layered production. Ben Turner from Melody Maker stated in 1994 that pure house is still the saviour of contemporary music. Music & Media noted that the Brits finally scored a hit with the MK Dub Revisited Edit, crediting them with the canned vibraphone sound popularised by Robin S. Hamilton described the remix as a bouncily honking and jolting infectious 121.8bpm beefy strider that chops up Jon Reed's vocal into almost continuously looped gibberish. Iestyn George from NME commented that the reissue was faithfully deconstructed by Mark Kinchen, retaining garage-friendly sparkle with neatly layered vocal samples and sparse rhythms.