DJ, master mixer and producer Paul Oakenfold [ tickets ] wasn't entirely comfortable having a pop hit, "Starry Eyed Surprise" with Crazy Town's Seth "Shifty Shellshock" Binzer, explode in the United States.

"It was strange having a pop record in America," said England-born Oakenfold during an interview with LiveDaily from his California home. "I found myself playing Madison Square Garden supporting Destiny's Child and Justin Timberlake. Obviously, they're extreme pop artists. It was a strange thing. It was very awkward playing to young kids--12, 13, 14 year olds. Not enjoyable."

Now, Oakenfold, dubbed the world's most popular DJ by the Guinness Book of World Records, is returning to his club roots to support "Greatest Hits and Remixes," a 20-song collection that hit No. 1 on Billboard's Electronic Album and the iTunes Dance Album Sales charts. The track listing includes, among other songs, "Starry Eyed Surprise," which was the centerpiece of a Diet Coke ad, "Ready Steady Go” and “Faster Kill Pussycat” featuring actress Brittany Murphy. In addition, there are remixes of artists like Justin Timberlake, Madonna, The Smashing Pumpkins and Underworld. "Greatest Hits and Remixes" also features four new remixes of Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place,” Oakenfold’s “Southern Sun,” Everything But The Girl’s “Missing” and Mark Ronson featuring Daniel Merriweather’s “Stop Me.”

With a wealth of material, Oakenfold explained it was difficult to choose songs for "Greatest Hits and Remixes," which hit stores in October. The no-brainer choices were his favorites: Massive Attack's "Unfinished Symphony" and his own "Southern Sun."

"I've done over 100 remixes, so I had a tremendous amount of product to choose from," Oakenfold said. "I also wanted to incorporate some of my own stuff and certainly some scores of various different films that I've worked on. So it was a very difficult process. It actually took a few good months to decide.

"I had a lot more than 20 favorites. With the record company and the way it works in the industry, you can't have an album with 40, 45 tracks on it, unfortunately. Otherwise, I would have done that."

During his recently concluded November tour, fans got a retrospective of his career and cuts from "Greatest Hits and Remixes." His next live appearances are set for next March.

"I don't do a lot of DJing, so it's good to be back on the road," Oakenfold said.

Oakenfold, who counts DJ Sandra Collins and Nat Monday among his favorites, will retreat to his studio soon to finish scoring the Danny DeVito/Alan Rickman film "Noble Sun." That will take him until the end of the year.

"I enjoy the process of scoring films. I really do. That's why I took more of a back seat with DJ-ing and spent more time working on the scores."