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Aretha Franklin wanted to be a disco queen?! (excerpt from a book about Chic) I'm currently reading the book 'Everybody Dance:Chic and the Politics of Disco" by Daryl Easlea.It's a very good book....well-written with ALOT of interviews and quotes from the folks connected with Chic,including Mr.Niles Rodgers himself.When I'm done with it,I'll write a more thorough review,but I just had to mention one of the funniest parts of the book.In the late 70s,Aretha invited Niles and Bernard Edwards (the masterminds behind Chic) to her home.She apparently wanted them to produce a disco album for her...
"I know that there several stages when Aretha's career was not going as well as she liked and she was thinking of changing producers",record exec Ahmet Ertegun recalls.The turn of the 80s was one of them.As Chic were white-hot,they were considered to oversee a change of direction for the Queen Of Soul. "We never wrote anything for her",Rodgers remembered."We had one meeting with her and we were so turned off,we couldn't believe that Aretha wanted to do disco.Bernard and I were sitting in the Queen of Soul's house,this beautiful mansion in Los Angeles and she was singing,"I'm going to be the only star tonight down at the disco". And Bernard and I were looking at each other in disbelief,thinking "holy shit!" We're with Aretha Franklin and she's telling us she's going to be the only star in the disco tonight...Is she nuts?".We were stunned and dumbfounded.We were sitting at the piano with her and we couldn't say anything.If we told her that was great,she would say "Are you kidding me,you want me to sing some shit like this?" We didn't know if it's a joke.We were not going to go down in history as the producers of Aretha Franklin's disco record!" 
Even though Rodgers and Edwards declined the offer,Aretha was still determined to make a disco album.She hired producer Van McCoy for her 1979 album 'La Diva',which includes such embarassing lyrics as "come on girls....we're disco queens tonight".  [Edited 3/31/05 2:39am] | |
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DavidEye said: We were not going to go down in history as the producers of Aretha Franklin's disco record!
wise choice  so VanMcCoy fell into that trap  I don't have that album anyway and I'm not eager to get itVanglorious... this is protected by the red, the black, and the green. With a key... sissy! | |
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Dancelot said: DavidEye said: We were not going to go down in history as the producers of Aretha Franklin's disco record!
wise choice so VanMcCoy fell into that trap I don't have that album anyway and I'm not eager to get itWhile it was an ill-advised career move for Aretha,I can undertand why she wanted to do disco.In the late 70s,everybody was doing disco.Hell,Frank Sinatra and Dolly Parton did disco records! Aretha didn't want to get left behind,lol. | |
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THAT IS A VERY SCARY PHOTO OF ARETHA!!!
Looking at this pic makes my penis soft. "haters wanna hate/lovers wanna love/I don't even want/none of the above/I want to piss on you/yes I do/I wanna pee you..." | |
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some other interesting things I've read in this book...
***when Chic turned in their second album 'Risque' to Atlantic,the record execs wanted "My Feet Keep Dancing" to be the first single(!).It was Rodgers and Edwards who demanded that "Good Times" be the first single. ***In 1981,Rodgers and Edwards produced an album for Johnny Mathis.It is titled 'I Love My Lady' but it remains in the vault.His record label (Columbia/Sony) felt that it was too "youthful sounding" (Kinda odd,considering all the success Diana Ross had a year earlier with her own "youth-sounding" Chic-produced album). | |
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gooch said: THAT IS A VERY SCARY PHOTO OF ARETHA!!!
nuh-uh...it is interesting though...she's dressed up like a lost member of vanity 6 in it.  | |
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gooch said: THAT IS A VERY SCARY PHOTO OF ARETHA!!!
Looking at this pic makes my penis soft.  | |
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Really, though...who doesn't want to be a disco queen? The Normal Whores Club | |
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DavidEye said: some other interesting things I've read in this book...
***when Chic turned in their second album 'Risque'... Risque was actually Chic's third album. ***In 1981,Rodgers and Edwards produced an album for Johnny Mathis.....
They pondered (and delivered) that but wouldn't consider Aretha's request? What's the difference? I'm sure both (if a Chic-produced album by Aretha would have come to fruition) would be hilarious! This post not for the wimp contingent. All whiny wusses avert your eyes. | |
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& could an orger please start a thread about James Brown and disco? | |
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Handclapsfingasnapz said: gooch said: THAT IS A VERY SCARY PHOTO OF ARETHA!!!
nuh-uh...it is interesting though...she's dressed up like a lost member of vanity 6 in it. Yeah, she looks like their stage mother. Interesting story, David, thanks for sharing. "We're disco queens tonight...". I wonder if it wouldn't have worked, though. It definately worked well for Diana, but then again, Diana had been doing a lot of disco at the time. I find it funny that while Aretha is not the one who seems to have stood the test of time (crediblity wise, for sure) that people don't remember this album and her wanting to do disco, but unfornately, not doing it well (judging by the comments, anyway). | |
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Supernova said: DavidEye said: ***when Chic turned in their second album 'Risque'... Risque was actually Chic's third album. ***In 1981,Rodgers and Edwards produced an album for Johnny Mathis.....
They pondered (and delivered) that but wouldn't consider Aretha's request? What's the difference? I'm sure both (if a Chic-produced album by Aretha would have come to fruition) would be hilarious! Why? "Diana" wasn't a hilarious album. It's damn good. Everything I've read about the Mathis sessions makes me eager to hear the tracks one day. I guess that album's lack of release puts Fiona Apple's label issues to shame after more than 20 years. | |
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DavidEye said: I'm currently reading the book 'Everybody Dance:Chic and the Politics of Disco" by Daryl Easlea.It's a very good book....well-written with ALOT of interviews and quotes from the folks connected with Chic,including Mr.Niles Rodgers himself.When I'm done with it,I'll write a more thorough review,but I just had to mention one of the funniest parts of the book.In the late 70s,Aretha invited Niles and Bernard Edwards (the masterminds behind Chic) to her home.She apparently wanted them to produce a disco album for her...
"I know that there several stages when Aretha's career was not going as well as she liked and she was thinking of changing producers",record exec Ahmet Ertegun recalls.The turn of the 80s was one of them.As Chic were white-hot,they were considered to oversee a change of direction for the Queen Of Soul. "We never wrote anything for her",Rodgers remembered."We had one meeting with her and we were so turned off,we couldn't believe that Aretha wanted to do disco.Bernard and I were sitting in the Queen of Soul's house,this beautiful mansion in Los Angeles and she was singing,"I'm going to be the only star tonight down at the disco". And Bernard and I were looking at each other in disbelief,thinking "holy shit!" We're with Aretha Franklin and she's telling us she's going to be the only star in the disco tonight...Is she nuts?".We were stunned and dumbfounded.We were sitting at the piano with her and we couldn't say anything.If we told her that was great,she would say "Are you kidding me,you want me to sing some shit like this?" We didn't know if it's a joke.We were not going to go down in history as the producers of Aretha Franklin's disco record!"
Even though Rodgers and Edwards declined the offer,Aretha was still determined to make a disco album.She hired producer Van McCoy for her 1979 album 'La Diva',which includes such embarassing lyrics as "come on girls....we're disco queens tonight".
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WhamBamGlamSlam said: Supernova said: They pondered (and delivered) that but wouldn't consider Aretha's request? What's the difference? I'm sure both (if a Chic-produced album by Aretha would have come to fruition) would be hilarious! Why? "Diana" wasn't a hilarious album. It's damn good. Everything I've read about the Mathis sessions makes me eager to hear the tracks one day. I guess that album's lack of release puts Fiona Apple's label issues to shame after more than 20 years. Please. You really don't see the difference? Diana and/or The Supremes were never as deep in the first place. Singing "Baby Love" or "Stop In The Name of Love" were moon in june type of stuff (Berry Gordy holding up the release of Marvin Gaye's WGO album is testament to that mindset) in comparison to Aretha's "Bridge Over Troubled Water", or "Young, Gifted and Black." Aretha's music during that era had more depth to go from that to a disco queen without being laughed at. She was by turns gutbucket, gritty, and vastly more down-home (as they call it). So Diana becoming a disco queen would be almost second nature, Aretha becoming a disco queen would be almost like Gladys Knight becoming a disco queen. Yeah, picture PFunk asking for production chores from Nile and 'Nard, or the harder-edged, Whitfield-produced Temptations asking assistance from Nile and 'Nard...does not compute... This post not for the wimp contingent. All whiny wusses avert your eyes. | |
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Supernova said: WhamBamGlamSlam said: Why? "Diana" wasn't a hilarious album. It's damn good. Everything I've read about the Mathis sessions makes me eager to hear the tracks one day. I guess that album's lack of release puts Fiona Apple's label issues to shame after more than 20 years. Please. You really don't see the difference? Diana and/or The Supremes were never as deep in the first place. Singing "Baby Love" or "Stop In The Name of Love" were moon in june type of stuff (Berry Gordy holding up the release of Marvin Gaye's WGO album is testament to that mindset) in comparison to Aretha's "Bridge Over Troubled Water", or "Young, Gifted and Black." Aretha's music during that era had more depth to go from that to a disco queen without being laughed at. She was by turns gutbucket, gritty, and vastly more down-home (as they call it). So Diana becoming a disco queen would be almost second nature, Aretha becoming a disco queen would be almost like Gladys Knight becoming a disco queen. Yeah, picture PFunk asking for production chores from Nile and 'Nard, or the harder-edged, Whitfield-produced Temptations asking assistance from Nile and 'Nard...does not compute... But she ended up doing it, though, and apprently the results wheren't pretty. I think Chic could have made a decent disco album for her. | |
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I read this book about a month ago. Was very sad when I finished it (because it was over AND because the last sections about Tony Thompson are quite moving). One of the best music bios I've ever read about one of the most underrated bands in history. SO thorough, and the guy was/is obviously a huge fan. I highly recommend it! So glad to see someone else is reading it. | |
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Ramonachris said: I read this book about a month ago. Was very sad when I finished it (because it was over AND because the last sections about Tony Thompson are quite moving). One of the best music bios I've ever read about one of the most underrated bands in history. SO thorough, and the guy was/is obviously a huge fan. I highly recommend it! So glad to see someone else is reading it.
Yeah,I felt very sad when I got to the end of the book too.Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson are no longer with us,and Luther Vandross (who sang background on many early Chic hits) is recovering from a stroke.It's the end of an era.It also pisses me off the way Chic suffered from the whole "disco sucks" movement,even though they were so much more than just a disco band. | |
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Supernova said: DavidEye said: some other interesting things I've read in this book...
***when Chic turned in their second album 'Risque'... Risque was actually Chic's third album. ***In 1981,Rodgers and Edwards produced an album for Johnny Mathis.....
They pondered (and delivered) that but wouldn't consider Aretha's request? What's the difference? I'm sure both (if a Chic-produced album by Aretha would have come to fruition) would be hilarious! Hey thanks Supa for the info! Btw,did you read the book yet? I'm sure you will love it. | |
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WhamBamGlamSlam said: "Diana" wasn't a hilarious album. It's damn good. Everything I've read about the Mathis sessions makes me eager to hear the tracks one day.
I agree,the 'Diana' album is great.But I just can't imagine Aretha doing songs like that...."Upside Down"? "Tenderness"? "I'm Coming Out"? Nope. But yeah,I wanna hear that unreleased Johnny Mathis album too.As a huge fan of Niles and Bernard,I know that the songs are probably good,even if they are (most likely)inappropriate for a singer like Mathis.Niles is really proud of one of the songs---"Go With The Flow"---that he's gonna release it someday on an upcoming Chic album of rarities. | |
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