YOWZA

YOWZA

YOWZA

...

I love the rhythym combination Bernard Edwards, Nile Rodgers and Tony Thompson--I keep mentioning it in the Chic threads, but when they locked into a groove, Good Lawd!!!

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that's Luther Vandross saying "yowsa! yowsa! yowsa!" in this song during this period,he was basically a member of Chic (in the studio,at least)

SoulAlive said:

that's Luther Vandross...during this period,he was basically a member of Chic (in the studio,at least)

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Yup, for all intent and purposes.....

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SoulAlive said:

that's Luther Vandross saying "yowsa! yowsa! yowsa!" in this song during this period,he was basically a member of Chic (in the studio,at least)

WOW I did not know that thats so cool.... I think its funny everytime I hear it.

that's Luther Vandross saying "yowsa! yowsa! yowsa!" in this song during this period,he was basically a member of Chic (in the studio,at least)

Actually, that's not Luther doing the "yowsah, yowsah, yowsah" part but Kenny Lehman, who held his nose to do that particular effect with his voice. The line came from the movie They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, which Rodgers and Edwards had recently seen and asked Lehman to say that in the song. But Luther was an unofficial member of the group at this time. He got credited as "special guest artist" on the C'est Chic album.

[Edited 2/27/13 18:32pm]

"Dance, Dance, Dance" sounds an aweful lot like:

yanowha said:

"Dance, Dance, Dance" sounds an aweful lot like:

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Interesting, especially with the strings and all........

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paligap said:

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I love the rhythym combination Bernard Edwards, Nile Rodgers and Tony Thompson--I keep mentioning it in the Chic threads, but when they locked into a groove, Good Lawd!!!

...

Yes Indeed!! I 've always felt that Tony was very underated, when people mention drummers his name never comes up but it should!

According to Nile Rodgers, this song was the first one that he and the late Bernard Edwards completed as songwriting-producing partners.

ps. can one explain the meaning of "Yowza" ???

seriously, I wanna know this... just in case it means something.. as a dane I wonder what it means..

it sure sounds a bit weird.. great song neverthe less.

thedance said:

ps. can one explain the meaning of "Yowza" ???

seriously, I wanna know this... just in case it means something.. as a dane I wonder what it means..

it sure sounds a bit weird.. great song neverthe less.

Old southern Black vernacular, a form of "yes,sir". Supposedly first introduced in the early 1920s by Ben Bernie, a popular radio personality and band leader. The term would become his unofficial trademark.

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[Edited 2/28/13 11:15am]

SoulAlive said:

that's Luther Vandross saying "yowsa! yowsa! yowsa!" in this song during this period,he was basically a member of Chic (in the studio,at least)

I love early Luther, the Change years.

[Edited 2/28/13 7:29am]

mjscarousal said:

YOWZA

YOWZA

YOWZA

I wanna boogie with you

I enjoyed seeing Nile talking about Chic, and Studio 54 on the Unsung disco episode.

thank you Identity -- for your reply with the explanation..

I would never have guessed that myself..

I tried to translate it without any luck - I did not think of google.. silly me..

Google, yes. And it helps that I have a library copy of Nile Rodgers' autobiography close at hand.

.

[Edited 2/28/13 8:15am]

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Just to add on, it's actually, a corruption of "Yes sir". 'Yowza' was first thought to have appeared in the black minstrel shows of the Jim Crow south...

The phrase later became a popular chant for MCs at Dance Marathons in the early half of the 20th Century. In the Book, "Everybody Dance: Chic and the Politics of Disco" by Daryl Easlea, Nile Rodgers recounts that one night they were watching the Movie, "They Shoot Horses, Don't They"(1969), about the exhausting dance marathon craze of the Depression era, and he got the idea for the song....

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[Edited 2/28/13 11:08am]