As a celebration of being cancer-free, CHIC guitarist and producer extraordinaire Nile Rodgers announced today that Warner Japan was releasing a new compilation of material that spans both his work with the legendary disco band and in the producer's chair.
Everybody Dance!, billed as "a tribute to my longtime partner Bernard Edwards" on the front cover (it's approaching the 15th anniversary of the bassist's death), is a two-disc set full of hits, one new track - and one absolute oddity. Disc 1, the "CHIC side," collects the biggest hits and favorite tracks from every CHIC record, including "Good Times," "Le Freak," "I Want Your Love," "My Feet Keep Dancing" and more. (One would expect the quality to be relatively pristine, with much of this material remastered for Rhino France's excellent CHIC box from last year.) Disc 2 is the "producer side," featuring major hits from the usual suspects (Madonna, Sister Sledge, David Bowie, Diana Ross, Duran Duran) and a few obscure Rodgers-produced singles for Thompson Twins, Al Jarreau and the Coming to America soundtrack. One new track, "I Wanna Dance," is present, featuring Rodgers with Kool & The Gang.
It looks to be an excellent set - but there's one very weird occurrence in the track list. The penultimate track on Disc 2 is David Bowie and Mick Jagger's cover of "Dancing in the Street" from 1985, a track that was not primarily produced by Rodgers, but British hitmakers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. Rodgers is listed on the original single under "additional production," but this author doesn't consider it a full Rodgers work - and seeing as how it was licensed from another label, it only costs Warner more money.
Regardless, Everybody Dance! should be a hit when it's released in Japan on April 6. Hit the jump to check out the track list.
Various Artists, Everybody Dance! (Warner Japan WPCR-14103/4, 2011)
Disc 1: CHIC Side
- Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)
- Sao Paulo
- Everybody Dance
- Le Freak
- I Want Your Love
- CHIC Cheer
- At Last I Am Free
- Good Times
- My Forbidden Lover
- My Feet Keep Dancing
- Rebels Are We
- Real People
- Open Up
- Stage Fright
- Soup for One
- Hangin'
- Give Me the Lovin'
- CHIC Mystique
- Your Love
Disc 2: Producer Side
- Like a Virgin - Madonna
- Let's Dance - David Bowie
- Upside Down - Diana Ross
- We Are Family - Sister Sledge
- Notorious - Duran Duran
- Material Girl - Madonna
- Lay Your Hands on Me - Thompson Twins
- Lost in Music - Sister Sledge
- I'm Coming Out - Diana Ross
- Thinking of You - Sister Sledge
- L is for Lover - Al Jarreau
- He's the Greatest Dancer - Sister Sledge
- Coming to America - The System
- Frankie - Sister Sledge
- Roam - The B-52's
- Dancing in the Street - David Bowie & Mick Jagger
- I Wanna Dance - CHIC and Kool & The Gang
Disc 1, Tracks 1-3 from CHIC (Atlantic, 1977)
Disc 1, Tracks 4-7 from C'est CHIC (Atlantic, 1978)
Disc 1, Tracks 8-10 from Risqué (Atlantic, 1979)
Disc 1, Tracks 11-13 from Real People (Atlantic, 1980)
Disc 1, Track 14 from Take It Off (Atlantic, 1981)
Disc 1, Track 15 from Soup for One: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Mirage, 1982)
Disc 1, Track 16 from Tongue in CHIC (Atlantic, 1982)
Disc 1, Track 17 from Believer (Atlantic, 1983)
Disc 1, Tracks 18-19 from CHICism (Warner Bros., 1992)
Disc 2, Tracks 1 and 6 from Like a Virgin (Warner Bros., 1984)
Disc 2, Track 2 from Let's Dance (EMI, 1983)
Disc 2, Tracks 3 and 9 from diana (Motown, 1980)
Disc 2, Tracks 4, 8, 10 and 12 from We Are Family (Cotillion, 1979)
Disc 2, Track 5 from Notorious (EMI/Capitol, 1986)
Disc 2, Track 7 from Here's to Future Days (Arista, 1985)
Disc 2, Track 11 from L is for Lover (Warner Bros., 1986)
Disc 2, Track 13 from Coming to America: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Atco, 1988)
Disc 2, Track 14 from When the Boys Meet the Girls (Atlantic, 1985)
Disc 2, Track 15 from Cosmic Thing (Reprise, 1989)
Disc 2, Track 16 from EMI America single EA-204, 1985
Disc 2, Track 17 is a new track
RoyalScam says
Great to hear he's cancer free!
I'll just comment on the set that they could do with one less Sister Sledge track, and should've shoehorned in "Hard To Be" or "White Boots" from the excellent Vaughan Bros. album he produced.
Kym says
Not to mention "I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect For You)" by Grace Jones.
Scott says
The name of the original Madonna album for Disc 2, Tracks 1 & 6 was "Like A Virgin" not "Material Girl."
Mike Duquette says
Yikes! You're absolutely right. Sorry about that!
Nathan says
Where's the critically panned 2002 guilty pleasure single "Soulmate #9" from Australian singer Tina Arena?