C'est Chic

C'est Chic
Studio album by Chic
Released August 11, 1978
Recorded 1978
Genre Disco, R&B, Funk[1]
Length 41:23
Label Atlantic
Producer
Chic chronology
Chic
(1977)		 C'est Chic
(1978)		 Risqué
(1979)
Singles from C'est Chic
  1. "Le Freak"
    Released: September 21, 1978[2]
  2. "I Want Your Love"
    Released: January 29, 1979[3]
  3. "Chic Cheer (1984 Mix By Bernard Edwards)"
    Released: November, 1984[4]
Le Freak
Chic's "Le Freak" from C'est Chic
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C'est Chic is the second studio album by American R&B band Chic, released on Atlantic Records in 1978. Arriving when the disco craze was in full swing, this album is a prime example of the genre.[1]

Release

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Robert ChristgauB[5]
Rolling Stone[6]

C'est Chic includes the band's classic hit "Le Freak", which topped the US Hot 100 chart, US R&B, and US Club Play in October 1978,[7] selling six million copies in the US alone and is to date both Atlantic Records' and parent company Warner Music's best-selling single ever – a record it's held for 35 years. The album also contains the hit single "I Want Your Love" (#5 R&B,[7] #7 Pop,[7] #4 UK[8]).

C'est Chic reached #4 on Billboard's album chart and topped the US R&B chart for eleven weeks.[9] C'est Chic was Billboard Magazine's 1979 R&B Album of the Year, claiming the number one spot on Billboard's Year End Review. The album was certified platinum by the RIAA,[10] selling over a million copies. In the UK it peaked at #2[8] and has been certified Gold by the BPI.[11]

The European version was originally called Trés Chic, with the cover featuring a woman wrapped around a neon light tube. It was withdrawn and replaced with the C'est Chic version with a less risqué cover. Trés Chic had a different track listing.

C'est Chic was released on compact disc by Atlantic Records/Warner Music in 1991 (catalogue number 7567-81552-2). The album was digitally remastered and re-issued by Warner Music Japan in 2011.

Track listing

All songs written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers; except where indicated.

C'est Chic

Side one
  1. "Chic Cheer" – 4:42
  2. "Le Freak" – 5:23  Listen 
  3. "Savoir Faire" – 5:01
  4. "Happy Man" – 4:17
Side two
  1. "I Want Your Love" – 6:55  Listen 
  2. "At Last I Am Free" – 7:08
  3. "Sometimes You Win" – 4:26
  4. "(Funny) Bone" – 3:41
    • (LP only hidden track- moog solo)

Trés Chic

Side one
  1. "Chic Cheer" – 4:42
  2. "Le Freak" – 5:23  Listen 
  3. "I Want Your Love" – 6:55  Listen 
  4. "Happy Man" – 4:17
  5. "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)" (Edwards, Kenny Lehman, Rodgers) – 3:35
Side two
  1. "Savoir Faire" – 5:01
  2. "At Last I Am Free" – 7:08
  3. "Sometimes You Win" – 4:26
  4. "(Funny) Bone" – 3:41
  5. "Everybody Dance" - 3:22

Personnel

Musicians
Production
  • Bernard Edwards – producer for Chic Organization Ltd.
  • Nile Rodgers – producer for Chic Organization Ltd.
  • Marc Kreiner, Tom Cossie - associate producers
  • Bob Clearmountain – sound engineer
  • Burt Szerlip – engineer
  • Jeff Hendrickson – assistant engineer
  • Ray Willard as "Positively No Way Ray (Willard?)" – assistant engineer
  • Bob Defrin - art direction
  • Joel Brodsky - photography
  • All songs recorded and mixed at Power Station in New York. Mastered at Atlantic Studios, N.Y.

Trivia

In 1979, the track Chic Cheer was used by Dutch satirists Van Kooten & De Bie in a sketch about two scheming gangsters (Jacobse & Van Es) purchasing an equally dodgy car.

Early 1980 their compatriot Dingetje (more or less the Dutch Weird Al Yankovic) made it the backing track for Dit is de zender van Illegale Joop chronicling a 27 MC-conversation on soon-to-be-closed pirate-radio.

In 1980 Robert Wyatt released his version of "At Last I Am Free" as a 7" single on Rough Trade Records. It was later included on his 1981 album Nothing Can Stop Us. Singer Elizabeth Fraser released a cover of the song in 2003 for the Rough Trade Records compilation album Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before....

The intro cinematic in the video game Krazy Ivan has this song as part of its background music.

"Le Freak" is one of the featured songs in the video game Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova 2.

"Chic Cheer" was sampled in Faith Evans' "Love Like This", which in turn was sampled in Fatman Scoop's "Be Faithful".

"Le Freak" is heard in the 2004 movie Shrek 2.

"Le Freak" was also used in a 2013 commercial for the Toyota Corolla vehicle.

"Le Freak" is heard on the third Toy Story movie during the scene where Ken is trying his clothes and Barbie is watching.

See also

References

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