By 1981, disco was out of style and most bands who were popular during the disco age were struggling. Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers were successful as producers - most notably with Diana Ross's 1980 album - but their own band Chic was suffering.
The album 'Take it off' and the only single from that album, 'Stage fright', went by unnoticed by the public. Truth be told, 'Stage fright' is a rather weak track in comparison to Chic's biggest hits. Maybe the bands from the disco age were just not inspired anymore.
My collection: 7" single no. 4562 Found: Empire Records, Den Haag, February 4, 2010 Cost: 0,5 euro Tracks: 'Stage fright' / 'So fine'
'My forbidden lover' is another one of those catchy tunes only Chic could make during the late Seventies. It was the second single from the band's third album 'Risque'.
The single reached number 15 in the UK singles chart and number 23 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 4482 Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, January 30, 2010 Cost: 0,5 euro Tracks: 'My forbidden lover' / 'What about me'
'Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)' is a 1977 disco song recorded by Chic. Luther Vandross, who was a session vocalist at the time, provided backing vocals on the track. The 'yowsah, yowsah, yowsah' of the title, which appears as a spoken interjection in the middle of the song, originated with the American jazz violinist and radio personality Ben Bernie, who popularized it in the Twenties.
It was the group's first hit, reaching number 6 in the UK singles chart and a more modest number 37 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 4226 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 0,5 euro Tracks: 'Dance, dance, dance' / 'Sao Paulo'
'I want your love' was written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers. The track appeared on Chic's 1978 album 'C'est Chic'. It was originally intended for then-protégés, Sister Sledge. The single was slightly less successful than their previous single 'Le freak'.
It peaked at number 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100. In the UK, the single peaked at number 4, making it the biggest hit from the band in that country. In the Netherlands, the single peaked at number 14. I hated the song in 1978, but a decade later I changed my mind.
My collection: 7" single no. 937 Found: All that music, Leiden, July 7, 1989 Cost: 3 guilders Tracks: 'I want your love' / '(Funny) bone'
Chic's Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers created 'Le freak' on New Year's Eve 1977. They were invited at the famous Studio 54 discotheque but they weren't let in by the doorman after their contact forgot to leave their name at the door. They went back to Rogers' apartment and started jamming. The song was originally entitled 'Fuck off', but during the night they decided to change that into 'Freak out', and subsequently named the song 'Le freak'.
The track with the now-famous Chic riff reached number 1 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and was the highest-selling single on Warner Bros. records until it was replaced in 1990 by Madonna's 'Vogue'. The single also reached number 7 in the UK and number 2 in the Netherlands.
I bought the single in 1992, years after its original release, because for a decade I didn't actually like the song. The second time I bought the single was in 1998 when I thought that I didn't have it - but of course I did. Fortunately I now have two different versions of the single, with the second one I bought having the most beautiful sleeve of the two (pictured below).
My collection: 7" single no. 1792 / no. 3043 Found: All that music, Leiden, November 25, 1992 / Disco Market, Den Haag, December 11, 1998 Cost: 3,5 guilders / 1 guilder Tracks: 'Le freak' / 'Savoir faire'
The movie 'Soup for one' was released in 1982, and flopped. However, the soundtrack of this movie, released in the same year, met with critical acclaim and commercial success. The soundtrack was produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers from Chic. Carly Simon provided vocals on this track, 'Why' and was perceived at the time as a conscious attempt to move away from her guitar-based singer/songwriter material from the Seventies.
The single flopped in America, peaked at number 10 in the UK singles chart and at number 29 in the Dutch Top 40. The song resurfaced in 1989 on the 'Hacienda' scene in Ibiza.
The assignment: buy as many singles as you can for 1 pound. The place: a warehouse, either Woolworth or some similar shop. The time: a summer holiday in 1979. I was only eight years old, but I knew what I had to do. I bought no less than 10 ex-chart singles in that shop in London. Almost all of them were in plain white paper sleeves, and all of them were UK pressings, something that I considered to be the best souvenir of this country I could ever have - better than a small Big Ben statue or a t-shirt with the word 'London' on it.
One of those singles was Chic's 'Good times'. Only a few months later this song would be misused for Sugarhill Gang's 'Rapper's delight'. What a waste...
By 1981, disco was out of style and most bands who were popular during the disco age were struggling. Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers were successful as producers - most notably with Diana Ross's 1980 album - but their own band Chic was suffering.
