Take It Off is the fifth studio album by American R&B band Chic, released on Atlantic Records in November 16, 1981. It includes the single "Stage Fright", which reached #35 on the US R&B chart, but was the first Chic single failing to enter the US Pop charts, and this album only proved to be moderately successful as well, stalling at #124 on the US albums chart and #36 on the R&B chart.
In 1981, a lot of rock & rollers were claiming that the disco era was officially over. Disco, of course, never really died -- a lot of the dance-pop, house music, Hi-NRG, and Latin freestyle that was recorded in the '80s and '90s was essentially disco -- but as far as many of the radio stations and record company A&R men of 1981 were concerned, disco was dead. And that was bad news for Chic, a group closely identified with the disco era. Even though a lot of Chic's work had as much to do with funk and soul as it did with the Euro-disco sound, Chic was unable to live down its reputation as a disco group.
But Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards gave it a try with 1981's Take It Off, an admirable, if uneven, project that finds the group downplaying the Euro-disco elements. With R&B and funk as the foundation, Chic tries to branch out by incorporating elements of pop-rock on "Your Love Is Canceled," and jazz on "Flash Back" and "So Fine" (which shouldn't be confused with the "So Fine" that Kashif produced for R&B singer Howard Johnson in 1982).
In fact, a few of Rogers' guitar solos give the impression that he'd been listening to a lot of Wes Montgomery. But as likable as the LP is, it didn't contain a major hit -- the single "Stage Fright" only made it to #34 on Billboard's R&B singles chart. And for a group that had enjoyed #1 pop and R&B smashes only two and three years earlier, that was certainly disappointing.
Side A
A1. Stage Fright - 3:55
A2. Burn Hard - 5:12
A3. So Fine - 4:10
A4. Flash Back - 4:28
A5. Telling Lies - 2:28
Side B
B1. Your Love Is Cancelled - 4:12
B2. Would You Be My Baby - 3:34
B3. Take It Off - 5:12
B4. Just Out Of Reach - 3:45
B5. Baby Doll - 3:10
Notes
Release: 1981
Format: LP
Genre: Soul / Funk
Label: Atlantic Records
Catalog# 19323
Vinyl: VG
Cover: VG
Prijs: €10,00
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