Dance, Dance, Dance: The Best of Chic

I am a massive fan of Chic and the Edwards / Rodgers songwriting powerhouse, but this is a mess sonically. I am NOT talking about the tunes, they are genius timeless creations. This album states that it was digitally remastered from the original master tapes - these would have been quarter-inch (or possibly half-inch) reels of tape at 15 or 30IPS. Unfortunately, this seems to have been banged out as a "rush job". Sonically the tracks are all VERY different on this compilation, with no attention to detail or getting them to work properly together. Yes, you have to respect the original mixes, but no care has been taken with this - that is properly disrespectful to the recording artist and the legacy of these tracks. Oh, and worst of all - when the engineer lined up the tape machine to play the reels back, he didn't even bother to check the reproduce head azimuth was set up correctly - check it in Mono, you'll see what I mean (it goes all swishy and out of focus - you only get this when the playback angle of the replay head is wrong). Shame on the people responsible............

Of course, we initially hated it in the white-hot days of punk and after-punk, but it's rather clever and refined renaissance in the early 8o's made it blitheringly obvious that there was more going on in disco/dance music than met the average Bono-mutated ear.None more so than the driving, teeming-stringed bounding of Chic. Appearing superficial to the anti-fashionista Fall and Joy Division Fan Clubs, but, deeper in, sharing a lot more in common with both than they might've imagined.Through the mists, I remember stealing a 12" of 'Le Freak' (God, I was SUCH a rebel!) from some dozy jock (DJ, not Scotsman..) and secretly wearing it down, while indignantly putting on a Factory/Rough Trade/Crépuscule front. It felt weird at the time, like listening to vinyl Oxford Bags, but I adored it. That thing throbbed with passion. It had a 'Transmission'-like insistence .. sprawling and mysterious.Here, on the very wonderful 'Dance, Dance, Dance' cd, there's almost an hour and a quarter of that exact same glossily-rigid, extended lushness. Cleaned up from that crackly old hammered thing I punished so harshly all those years ago, tho not replacing any of the frisson I felt cueing it up after nicking it, it has the feel of a solid album, and not just a collection of ancient raves from before a lot of you reading this were born. Everything about it is terseness and space, reach and self-identity. It forces an early Fall-like melodic texture through the surface foot-tapping sweetness.The sliding intro to the belting 'My Forbidden Lover' is very 'It's The New Thing' - in more than one sense.The fade, 'Savoir Faire', is a longer, fleshed-out take on the 'New York Ripper' theme, ending this genuinely epic album with some cable-knit, funk-tempered jazz-rock.There really isn't a dud aboard. I can do no more, fellow bargain-bin browser, than recommend it without dissension.I haven't been to a club for the proverbial donkeys so I haven't heard Chic in their natural habitat lately, and it'd be interesting to see how they'd fare against the likes of Sigma and DJ Snake with the poppers..But for full effect, and in a sane, perspicacious sense, 'Dance, Dance, Dance' needs hearing immediately before/after 'Unknown Pleasures' to give it true, of-it's-era context.

Well worth buying for the 12" versions it includes, this is an excellent compilation of Chic's best and most familiar output. When these discs were first released, the concept of dance - certainly in heterosexual clubs - was often much less fervoured and intense than it has now become and breaking into a sweat as a female dancer, unless having a go at Northern Soul, would mark you out as some kind of pariah. Ah, them were the days....Many will remember the 12" dance track with fondness. But how many stayed the course? Well I remember the dance floor emptying as Chic tunes soared beyond the three minute comfort zone. This is great music, at times even sublime music that defined at least one significant part of an age and music that has stood the test of time. Better still, since the recent great Nile Rodgers' revival, Chic need no longer be anyone's guilty pleasure. My favourite track is without doubt the instrumental Savoir Faire - I wish this was a 12"! But a similar effect can be gained by hitting repeat.....

One of the quintessential bands to emerge from the disco period, Chic's music was driven by the superb guitar combination of Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, responsible for many hits for the likes of Diana Ross and Sister Sledge. Here though they showcase extended versions of their hits and lesser known singles. All the hits are in place, including 'Dance, Dance, dance', 'I Want Your Love', 'Le Freak' and the oft-sampled 'Good Times'. Their unique playing style and funk derived sound hit a note in the late 70's but their star had faded a little by the early 80's, with a tapering off of hits but still enjoyable tracks.This is a good import and arrived in a reasonable time at reasonable cost. Unless you want a combined greatest hits with the likes of Sister Sledge this is probably the one to go for if you just want Chic.

Listening to this again brought back some wonderful memories of being on the dance floor in the seventies and dancing to classic disco music and disco music from that era does not come any better than Chic's. This collection of their greatest hits has the advantage of most of the songs being the longer twelve-inch versions. Being nostalgic for that seventies era, my wife and I just want to play the album again and again, but don't be surprised if you find as we did, that your children fall in love with the music too.

This CD is excellent, I've always liked Nile Rogers, its good to have the 12" versions of some of the songs on CD. Excellent sound quality bringing back the days of disco. Well worth buying.