INTERVIEW: Marcia Hines releases new remix of hit single 'You': "Music is an expression that we all share, and I can't imagine life without it."

Marcia Hines is nothing short of Australian music royalty. After moving from the US to Australia in 1970, aged just 16, to star in the musical Hair, she became Australia’s biggest pop star throughout the 1970s and early 1980s - winning the title ‘Queen of Pop’ three years in a row - becoming a cultural icon in the process. She solidified this status in the early 2000s, and again in the 2020s, when she became a beloved judge on Australian Idol.

Hines released her debut single ‘Fire and Rain’ in 1975, which peaked at number 17 on the Australian singles chart. It was the first hit of many, with Hines remarkably placing a song in the Australian Top 50 singles charts every single decade from the 1970s through to the 2000s.

In 1977, Hines released the single ‘You’. A funky pop song with a splash of psychedelic synths, it would go on to be Hines biggest ever hit, peaking on number 2 on the Australian singles charts. Today, ‘You’ gets an exciting new lease of life as Hines releases a new remix of the song in collaboration with electronic artist Teddy Cream.

In it’s original form. ‘You’ was always a joyous track that compelled you to dance, and this new version amps up the dance factor to a glorious 10, with a thumping electronic beat and repeated vocal hooks while still retaining original features such as the piano and synths, breathing new life into them via a reinvented backdrop.

This new remix of ‘You’ is the first taste of exciting things from Hines this year, primarily her concert tour in October that will see her perform the hits of Donna Summer in her Marcia Sings Summer tour, which will also feature special guest Casey Donovan. Backed by a nine piece band, they will perform Summer’s greatest hits including ‘Hot Stuff’, ‘She Works Hard For The Money’ and ‘I Feel Love’. The tour will start in Melbourne on 5 October, before wrapping up in Perth on 24 October. Tickets are on sale now.

One of Australia’s greatest, and most inspirational artists, Hines continues to shine into her sixth decade as a recording artist, and the ecstatic new version of ‘You’ opens up another new era in her career. Women In Pop recently caught up with Hines to chat all about ‘You’ and her upcoming Marcia Sings Summer shows.

Hi Marcia, so good to speak with you today. Can I just say, leading into this new remix of ‘You’, I went back to revisit not just the original one, but also the video and honestly, your music video for ‘You’ makes me so happy!
It’s funny, because it was my idea, you know. I thought, how am I gonna do this song? And the song was so joyous and happy, I said, let's shoot a park bench, some fake trees, and let's see what happens. And that’s what happened. Isn’t that cool?

It's so cool because you could have gone to an actual park, but I was like, ‘no, she's going to move into the Magic Roundabout’!
Absolutely! It was really a nice thing and it's great when you're allowed to use your artistic flair. And I just thought simple is going to be pretty, because it's a great song, and it's a happy song.

It's such a great song, and now it has been reimagined. And maybe because I'm old school, I sometimes get scared when that happens, like ‘don't do it!’
You and me both!

But what I love about this mix is it's so very much the old track. It's just got the late night dial turned up.
It actually goes to show you what a good song it is.

100%. it doesn't need anything over the top, it just needs to be reintroduced to the dance floor.
In love it, but I love dancing. That's one of my favourite things. I love going to a dance party and having a bit of a boogie.  

What was it that made you decide, yep, now is the time to go with it?
Teddy did a great job of it. I get lots of requests about redoing stuff, and I'll listen, but I won't clear it. [This time] Peter, my manager, and I, we cleared it. We thought it's really nice. It's on time, it's 21st century, but keeping the original song, keeping the song that made everybody happy. It's a very happy song. Joyous.

I love that. Also, your vocals are still shining. It's almost terrifying how beautiful they are! You're about to go on this epic Marcia Sings Summer tour, I’m curious to know what your the vocal maintenance look like?
Oh it's big, hello! It's like when an athlete has to keep their body trained, I have to keep my voice trained. I'll rest myself for a few days and then, especially if I know I'm going to do a gig, I'll start warming up a few days before the gig, for a couple hours, maybe an hour a day. Before I do the gig, I'm sure the band get really pissed off with me, but I do about a two hour warm up. Because then you know where you are, it's kind of like a road map that shows you where you can go and where you can't go. This is my gift, and for me to abuse it, not take care of it, would be really dumb.

Well, it's your instrument. You love to perform, and we've seen this, it's always high energy. How do those physical aspects of your art influence the recording aspect of who you are. Are you always seeing it as a dance and a performance?
It's one of those interesting things. As a singer, I hear myself and go, Why did you sing that note? Marcia you could have chosen a better note than that. So I don't really listen to myself. I find it really…not traumatising, but I just think, given the chance I'd sing that differently. That's just trying to be a better performer all the time, all the time.

You know, I just saw Jane Fonda, who blew me out, at the ICC. People asked ‘do you watch yourself’ and she went, ‘No!’ If she watches herself, she thinks ‘I could have done that part better.’ And I thought oh gee, that's me! I don't listen to myself, you just don’t. I'm terribly critical of myself in a quiet kind of way, in a constructive kind of way, and I think that's how one becomes better at what they do.

100% I love that. Let's talk a little bit about your upcoming tour Marcia Sings Summer. You're performing Donna Summer’s catalogue, and for someone so iconic like yourself, how do you then become, or take on the persona of another artist who is just as iconic?
I won't become Donna, but I grew up with Donna in Boston, so I knew Donna, and I knew her sister. Her sister was one of my closest friends when we were growing up. We remembered Donna's fame, because none of us were famous, none of us had done anything. I was still about 14 or 15 when Donna hit, I think. She did ‘Love To Love You Baby’ and we all went, ‘oh my goodness’, because it was so sexual. But we thought, ‘how cool is she? What a cool chick.’ She broke away and did this. Singing Donna Summer songs, it'll be great. And it's Casey, Donovan and me, Casey is one of my favourite people to come out of Australian Idol, and she's a fine performer. She's become not just a singer, but a great performer. Casey, she's a great chick.

How did the two of you doing this tour come about?
I talked to my manager about who I wanted to do the Donna tour with, because this is our idea. I talked to Peter about who I wanted to sing it with, and it was Casey, which is really great. It’s got nothing to do with the Idol thing, it’s just got to do with Casey's voice. Casey's cool.

Also, she's just got that big show energy, which is perfect. Donna Summer has an incredible catalogue, what is the song you most enjoy singing?
Oh, probably ‘State of Independence’. I really like that, and I like ‘MacArthur Park’, but I'm a huge fan of Jimmy Webb [who recorded the original version]. I've been studying, and there's much study to do, so I say to my Google thing in the house, hey, Google, play a Donna Summer station. God, she recorded a lot of stuff, and stuff I don't even know. So I'm just listening to her, her tonality, her pitch, how she goes about it. Donna sang a lot higher than I do, so a lot of these songs will be transposed for me and Casey.

Beautiful. We’ve spoken about this a little bit. You have mentored so many young women, not just an Idol, but across your life, just being who you are. What is the thing that you hope that they know going into the industry?
Do it because you love it. No other reason, and it makes sense in your life. Doesn't matter what anybody else says. Don't listen to what other people say. Listen to the people that mean you well. Don't listen to the haters. Whatever you do, don't listen to the haters. Don’t do it because you want to be famous, because I don't know how that works.I just know there's a lot of work in the scene, behind the scene, in the middle of the scene, and then you have to have people around you who mean you well.

I had a mother that wasn't sycophantic, but she knew I was a talented kid, and she encouraged me, because I've been a musician since I was about four years old. I just listen to music all the time, still drive my family crazy listening to music now. People say, ‘what would you tell 16 year old Marcia?’ She wouldn’t listen to me! It's her journey, you know what I mean? I just say, do it because it fills your soul, it makes you happy, it brings some joy to your life. Music's such a beautiful thing to be a part of and to make. I've got this thing in my head. I got to do something, there's something I want to do musically, and it's sort of like I gotta get up off my ass and sit in front of the computer and write something. It's funny, because when you know you need to write something, it's like a birth. You can feel the contractions!

Obviously music is your life, and it's been your life from the age of four. I'm curious how you stay creatively inspired?
Well, one reinvents and music is a metamorphosis you know? It tends to metamorphosize, and it changes into things. You listen to music when you're happy, you listen to music when you're sad. It's an expression that we all share, and I can't imagine life without it. For any of us, even non musicians I've only met one person in my life that didn't like music and it was a bizarre soul, another word, the only word I could find is bizarre. It was like ‘no turn that noise off’.

This so weird. I can't do anything without it, so I find it weird when people don’t like it.
I hear you. You know, our noses have got a memory, and I think so do our ears. You remember where you were when you heard a song, and it's a beautiful thing. Those are our senses, I suppose. I think when you're a musician, your senses are heightened. You tend to hear things, like I'm listening to the air conditioning that's happening in this room, thinking, gee, that's loud, but it doesn't sound too bad, I could live with that!  

Last thing, if there was one word to describe the next phase of Marcia Hines, what would it be?
Exciting. Because I never know, so it's exciting. There's something amazing about walking on stage and singing for people and seeing them in a happy place. So many of us live in the misery, and I think Donna is going to conjure up great memories of people's youth and what they were doing and what they wore because they're all one and the same, aren't they?

‘You (Teddy Creams Remix)’ is out now via Sony Music Australia. You can download and stream here.
Follow Marcia Hines on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
Read out six page interview with Marcia Hines in Issue 15 of Women In Pop magazine.

MARCIA SINGS SUMMER
5 October 2025 - Hamer Hall, Melbourne VIC 
10 October 2025 - Sydney Opera House, Sydney NSW 
11 October 2025  - Sydney Opera House, Sydney NSW 
12 October 2025 - Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane QLD 
22 October 2025  - Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide SA 
24 October 2025  - Regal Theatre, Perth WA