Reissue Theory: Various Artists – “Soup for One: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack”
There may not be enough positive words to write about Nile Rodgers. The sole surviving member of The CHIC Organization (which included bassist Bernard Edwards and drummer Tony Thompson), Rodgers helped shape the sound of late ’70s and early ’80s pop and R&B, either as a performer with CHIC, a producer – often alongside Edwards – for Diana Ross, Sister Sledge, Madonna and others or even as a sampled artist (see The Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” and “The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel,” two of the best rap records ever).
It’s probably that CHIC stuff that gets the least recognition, it seems, at least on compact disc. A few of the band’s original LPs have only recently been reissued on CD by Wounded Bird Records. Some have still inexplicably never been remastered – notably C’est CHIC and Risque, their two biggest and best albums – but one of the most interesting of their offerings has never been released on CD.
The 1982 film Soup for One was a sex comedy that is, by many accounts, total crap. Far less crappy was the soundtrack, to which CHIC and associated artists extensively contributed. There were ten CHIC performances or productions in the film and eight of them were included on the original soundtrack. None of the songs were “Le Freak”-sized hits in the U.S. – despite some intriguing collaborations with Teddy Pendergrass and CHIC vocalist Fonzi Thornton (the two Thornton songs featured in the film were taken from his never-released solo record Frostbite) – but “Why,” a killer groove track sung by Carly Simon, was a Top 10 hit overseas and is now considered one of her best-loved songs.
Perhaps Wounded Bird will serve up Soup for One someday; until then, though, here’s a look at how it would go down Reissue Theory-style.
Various Artists – Soup for One: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Mirage WTCG 19353, 1982)
- Soup for One – CHIC
- Why – Carly Simon
- Dream Girl – Teddy Pendergrass
- I Work for a Livin’ – Fonzi Thornton
- I Want Your Love – CHIC *
- Let’s Go on Vacation – Sister Sledge *
- Tavern on the Green – CHIC
- Jump, Jump – Deborah Harry *
- Riding – Fonzi Thornton +
- Open Up – CHIC * +
- Soup for One (12” Mix) – CHIC (12” A-side – Mirage DM 4287, 1982) +
- Why (12” Mix) – Carly Simon (U.K. 12” A-side – Mirage K 79300 T, 1982) +
- Why (12” Instrumental) – Carly Simon (U.K. 12” B-side – Mirage K 79300 T, 1982) +
* indicates track was not exclusive to the album
+ bonus tracks not on the original LP
Revel in the delight of the 12″ mix of “Why” below. And hey – if you’ve got a Reissue Theory idea, send it to theseconddisc@gmail.com!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=040DaJmnpQE]
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4 thoughts on “Reissue Theory: Various Artists – “Soup for One: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack””
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Hey Mike, thanks for bringing this to the attention of the general public ;-). I have been waiting for a cd reissue of Soup For One forever! However, most tracks have now appeared on cd, the 12″ Version on Carly Simon’s “Why” has been featured on a few compilation cd’s and both the Teddy Pendergrass and Fonzi Thronton songs appeared on FunkytownGrooves Mirage Records compilations. What the world still needs are the 12″ instrumental of “Why”, the version of “Soup For One” as used in the movie and Fonzi’s “Riding” which we’ll hopefully get on the loooong awaited CHIC box set!
That box was supposed to be released sometime this year in Europe, with at least one Johnny Mathis track (“I Love My Lady”).
We’ll see…
That Fonzi (#4) was used as the music sample for Janet Jackson recent release Make Me from her #1s package.
Her control needs a remaster and release.
To the delight of all fans in the world of CHIC ORGANIZATION, our extraordinary NILE RODGERS said on his Twitter:
– “@ MikeDuquette Found all of the masters that make up this record http://bit.ly/d97zFE (SOUP FOR ONE SOUNDTRACK) Working on all out takes & mixes alt-STAY TUNED-THANKS”.
With that statement in my opinion we have 2 products related to the project SOUP FOR ONE:
In 2010 I think the CHIC BOX SET will have the following tracks of this project:
01) CHIC – Soup For One (12″ Extended Version)
02) TEDDY PENDERGRASS – Dream Girl
03) FONZI THORNTON – I Work For A Livin’ (Frostbite Album Version – Nearly 7 minutes)
04) FONZI THORNTON – Riding
05) CARLY SIMON – Why (12″ Extended Version)
06) CHIC – Why (12″ Extended Instrumental Version)
And in 2012, celebrating 30 years of SOUP FOR ONE movie, I think it will be released the original album with many bonus tracks (all extended versions, all instrumental versions, the version of Soup For One from the beginning of the movie, the short instrumental version of Why and many demos, out takes and alternative mixes versions).