Day 30: Chic - Risque
Album cover courtesy of Atlantic Records
Happy first month of anal buman album a day-ing to me! Only 11 to go. I’ve got to be honest, the only times when I’m not really feeling it is when I’ve been doing a lot of writing that day, and today is one of those days. I’ve probably done a good 6+ hours already, so I definitely needed something fun to get me going. I chose Chic’s Risqué.
I’ve heard about the disco backlash a few times here and there but I didn’t know what it actually was. Reader, it’s the most fragile-sounding garbage I have ever heard in my life. In 1979, Detroit rock radio DJ Steve Dahl was sad that his favourite bands had been knocked off the charts by disco music and he thought disco sucked, so he decided to be at the helm of an anti-disco movement. Then he asked spectators to bring disco records to a baseball game for them to be blown up. Fans got so riled up that a riot ensued. Big fat babies! Allergic to fun!
Anyway, Chic were active from 1972 to 1979 and became one of the biggest disco bands of the era. Chic struggled to get airplay and sales after the disco backlash, so they disbanded in the early ‘80s. Before that, Chic made music history and Nile Rogers went on to become one of the biggest music legends of his generation. I wonder what happened to Steve.
When I told my friend what today’s album was, he said “oh, you’re gonna have a great time.” And I sure did. Both Chic and disco rules. I had another disco shower and listened to it for the first time, and then I listened to parts of it again with headphones. The album is just a fantastic from beginning to end.
The subject matter on some of the songs on the record are a bit grittier than expected. “Can’t Stand to Love You” and “What About Me” both deal with being in a bad relationships from a woman’s point of view, but the tone is more defiant than sad. Other songs like “Good Times” and “My Feet Keep Dancing” seem to mainly be about dancing and having a good time. There’s a fair amount of simplicity and repetition to the songs, but they still end up sounding very complex. Maybe my least favourite songs are the ballads, and they’re still great.
Today’s album is a very strong 9.0/10. I couldn’t have picked any better and will definitely listen again. Listen to Chic’s Risque and tell me you hate disco! Please. This is just a great record all around.