Grace — Not Over Yet (Perfecto Allstarz Mix)

Written by Patrick Woodroffe and Steve Osborne under the Perfecto Allstarz banner and voiced by Dominique Atkins, 'Not Over Yet' is Paul Oakenfold's Perfecto imprint in one four-minute pop-trance manifesto. Released on Perfecto in July 1995 and reaching #6 on the UK Singles Chart, it argued — before most listeners were ready to believe it — that a trance-adjacent instrumental could carry a full song-writing vocal without either half apologising for the other.

'Grace' was Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne's Perfecto in-house vocal-trance project. Dominique Atkins was a session singer Osborne had used on earlier Perfecto productions. The lyric was written by Patrick Woodroffe (better known as a Rolling Stones lighting designer) after a conversation with Oakenfold about 'writing a proper pop song that doesn't insult the dancefloor.' The record was cut at Oakenfold's Perfecto studio in London in early 1995.

The Perfecto Allstarz Mix — the definitive — is Oakenfold and Osborne together at the console. The lead is a Korg M1 organ patch layered with a Roland JD-800 pad; the bassline is a Roland TB-303 filtered through a Sherman Filterbank. The famous 'It's not over yet' vocal line is triple-tracked in A minor. Osborne (who went on to co-produce Elbow, KT Tunstall and Doves) has said in interviews the vocal took 'three days and about 40 comps' to get right.

Reached #6 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1995 and #12 on the Dutch Top 40. Spent 11 weeks in the UK Top 75. Voted Muzik magazine's Vocal Record of the Year 1995. Cream Liverpool made it a resident-DJ closer for the entire 1995-96 winter season; Rollo & Sister Bliss's rework kept it in Gatecrasher rotation through 1997.

• UK Singles Chart#6
• Dutch Top 40#12
• Muzik Vocal Record of the Year 1995#1

• 0:45Dominique Atkins's first vocal line enters.
• 2:20The Sherman-filtered 303 bassline drops.
• 4:10Full breakdown; a-cappella vocal over pad.
• 4:50The kick returns with the triple-tracked hook.

• Perfecto Allstarz Mix (1995)

  The definitive Oakenfold/Osborne version.

• Rollo & Sister Bliss Remix (1995)

  Faithless's own reworking; kept it in club rotation.

• Planet Perfecto Mix (1999)

  Oakenfold's harder reissue; Cream Liverpool weapon.

• Bunkka Mix (2002, with Shifty Shellshock)

  The rap-verse rebuild. Divisive.

'Not Over Yet' is the template every subsequent 'vocal-trance crossover' record argued with — Delerium's 'Silence', Chicane's 'Don't Give Up', iiO's 'Rapture', DJ Sammy's 'Heaven', all of them descend from this. Planet Perfecto's harder 1999 reissue turned it into a Cream Liverpool peak-time weapon and gave the record a second commercial life. Oakenfold rebuilt it again for his 2002 Bunkka album with a rap verse from Shifty Shellshock — that version is largely disowned by classic-trance purists.

• Lyricist Patrick Woodroffe designed the lighting for the Rolling Stones' Voodoo Lounge and Bridges to Babylon tours.
• Dominique Atkins never released a solo record; she now teaches vocal technique in Sussex.
• Steve Osborne went on to co-produce Elbow's The Seldom Seen Kid, which won the 2008 Mercury Prize.