Chic: Risque (Atlantic)
Most sampled ever - that is, except for J.B.'s “Funky Drummer” - but,
sadly, these days mostly unlistened-to….Which is a crying shame, given
that this is the finest set from the last unquestionably/consistently
great live rhythm section in broadly popular black American music. To
date, that is…
Most sampled (of course) is “Good Times”. Still as fresh as the day it
was cut, and as supple as a serpent...its intersection of
bass/guitar/drums with similarly percussive piano & vocals +
alternately percussive/floating strings, remains a standard too easily
forgotten - particularly since disco (unlike “soul” or “funk”) remains
lethally mired in irony....which tends to gloss over the simple fact
that some of the very best recordings of the mid/late seventies just
happened to belong to that particular genre.
Admittedly...Chic’s earliest were nothing more than hungry
trend-hopping - as I’m sure they'd be the first to admit. But, from
“Fuck Off” on - classily restructured as “Le Freak” - they were simply
unbeatable. And, to be sure, that album (their second) had its share
of filler... But their next - this one - was pure gold...from start to
finish...
Chic’s particular secret - aside from their truly unnerving & yet
never inhuman perfection - was to combine the sophistication of Gamble
& Huff’s orchestral Philadelphia soul w/the Godfather’s “everything is
a drum” approach, that initially delivered funk from soul in the first
place. Stripping the strings back to a floating/percussive quartet,
they then borrowed Brown's innovative use of piano from the break of
“Sex Machine” - undoubtedly the least imitated moment of his late 60s
work - honed the drum-line down to something that absolutely anyone
could dance to - via the genius of Tony Thompson - and reconfigured
the complexity of the best funk & disco onto Edwards & Rogers’
bass/guitar interplay. The result was a form that influenced every
genuinely interesting rhythm player active in the period. Without
exception…
And, there’s more to this set than just the good times…. Other
treasured moments include the sensual strut of “My Feet Keep Keep
Dancing”, interrupted as it is by a truly sublime bass/tapdancing
break that viscerally connects w/the very roots of Afro-American
rhythm. Or the near - N.O. funk of “Can't Stand to Love You”. And
then, there are the “ballads” - if you can call them that -
sophisticatedly minimalist & hypnotic pieces that effortlessly suspend
time, they are basically forgotten today...as is everything bar the
samples. Look, if you only own one “disco” album, then this genuinely
ought to be it. Forget the compilations and, just try - please - the
very greatest album this overly-ironicized genre produced. Because
it’s a goddamn masterpiece.
John Henry Calvinist
