Voiceover by Lawrence Standifer Stevens
Written by Joseph E. Casanova
011
70’s disco band Chic resurrects its legendary grooves with its first studio album in 23 years.
It was 1979 and superstars Donna Summer, the BeeGees and Chic dominated the airwaves and filled dance floors everywhere.
We were too young to get into Burgundy Woods, San Antonio’s answer to the notorious Studio 54. So for my 14th birthday, we transformed the local civic center into our very own disco, complete with strobe lights and A-list junior high and high-schoolers. Liza Minnelli, Halston and the Jaggers were on the guest-list, but they didn’t RSVP. Oh, well, their loss.
I couldn’t wait to show off the moves I practiced for weeks. I was John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, except with glasses and big curly locks. I wore a black and purple disco shirt, which was as loud as the records my Uncle John spun. We thought that scene would last forever.
Guitarist Nile Rodgers formed Chic in 1976 with bassist Bernard Edwards in New York, later recruiting drummer Tony Thompson the next year.
Rodgers revived the group’s infectious grooves with its first studio album since 1992’s Chic-ism called, It’s About Time.
They performed the new funky single “I’ll Be There” on Jimmy Kimmel Live in March, and the track recently cracked the dance charts. The song recalls Chic’s earlier classics such as “I Want Your Love” and “Good Times.”
My friend Lexi Salazar attended that Kimmel show, noting the group also performed their biggest hit “Le Freak” and Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.” Rodgers contributed his signature riffs to the German electronica duo’s #1 record and nabbed a few Grammys for their collaboration in 2013.
With Chic back on the scene, it’s time to dust off my old club mixes and 12” maxi-singles. Everyone has no excuse but to dance, dance, dance! Hmm, I wonder if that disco shirt still fits.
