Everybody Dance by Daryl Easlea

Author:Daryl Easlea
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Omnibus Press
Published: 2020-03-17T16:00:00+00:00

Although Love Somebody Today represented the law of diminishing returns, the project that Rodgers and Edwards had begun working on during the end of the sessions was to cement their production reputation. In December 1979, the basic tracks for The Chic Organization’s next project were being laid down at the Power Station. But this was not to be for an aspiring starlet or a group of down-home singers. This was to be for none other than Diana Ross.

Ross could not be bracketed with the artists then turning disco – she had done it already, in the high-water mark of the first flush of disco. What were 1976’s sumptuous US number one ‘Love Hangover’, or the July 1979 remix of ‘I Ain’t Been Licked’ from The Boss, if not disco stormers? What was the discofied version of The Wizard Of Oz, The Wiz – which had seen the 32-year-old Ross take the role of Dorothy from the 17-year-old Stephanie Mills who had played the role on Broadway – all about? What Ross undeniably was, in terms of commercial popularity, was the first lady of African-American song. Not necessarily the first singer, but, as an artist, she proved the American dream could know no colour. Thanks to The Supremes and the promotion of Berry Gordy, Ross had risen from the projects in Detroit to become one of the most recognisable faces and voices in popular music across the globe.

It was Ross’s children – Rhonda, Tracee and Chudney – who goaded their mother into the Chic project. Ironically, during this period, Ross was deep in her affair with Gene Simmons from Kiss, the group that Rodgers and Rob Sabino had so idolised in The Big Apple Band days. Ross turned up to see Chic at the Santa Monica auditorium in California. As Rodgers said to Adam White, ‘Diana couldn’t believe the crowd reaction. She said, “I haven’t seen this since The Jackson 5.” She was backstage, dancing and into it. “My kids made me come and see this show, all they were talking about was Chic, Chic, Chic. That’s what I want my record to sound like.”’ She wanted a record that her children could sing.

News that Chic were about to produce Ms Ross was the talk of their autumn 1979 British tour, their last commitment before going into the studio with her in New York. Smash Hits stated, ‘If Chic have their way, Diana Ross may win a brand new audience of young fans in time for a new decade.’ But they posited the question that was on everybody’s lips: ‘What does it feel like to produce an album for a singer who was your idol when you were a teenager?’

‘I love the lady’s voice,’ Bernard Edwards replied. ‘But at this point in my career I don’t get that impressed by meeting famous names. Nile and I want to show people that we can really write with this album. We want to bring her to a new audience. We want to put back the kind of dancing, fun and variety she used to have without losing the sophistication.

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