The Definitive Groove Collection

Chic | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 8, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Rhino/Atlantic
• ASIN: B000GGSM26
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #59,542 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)

2. Everybody Dance

3. Strike Up the Band

4. Le Freak

5. Savoir Faire

6. Chic Cheer

7. At Last I Am Free

8. I Want Your Love

9. Good Times

10. My Forbidden Lover

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Rebels Are We

2. Real People

3. Will You Cry (When You Hear This Song)

4. 26

5. You Can't Do It Alone

6. Stage Fright

7. Just out of Reach

8. Flash Back

9. Your Love Is Cancelled

10. Soup for One

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: CHIC
Title: DEFINITIVE GROOVE
Street Release Date: 08/08/2006
Domestic
Genre: SOUL/R & B

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Chic" Out!, September 19, 2006

By 

Neptunian Spirit "Q" (Dayton, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Definitive Groove Collection (Audio CD)

While I of course knew of Chic from their fabulous singles such as "Le Freak", "Good Times", "Everybody Dance", & "I Want Your Love", it was Bernard Edwards & Niles Rogers (the founding members & core of Chic) varied credits as producers that caught my eye & ears. They've worked with Madonna, Deborah Harry, Diana Ross, Jody Watley, & even Carly Simon to name a few. So I already liked their sound, a unique blend of stylish R&B & pop. At insistence of my best friend (a soul & R&B expert) I purchased "The Definitve Groove Collection" to get a starting point with Chic, & am I glad I did!

Chic more than lives up to their namesake as Edwards, Rogers, along with vocalists Norma Jean Wright, Alfa Anderson, Luci Martin, with Tony Thompson on drums lead with their infectious R&B. More than just disco, or R&B even, Chic effortlessly put out groove based cuts, such as their previously mentioned monster cuts. Strings, bass, great keyboard & synthesizer work, with soulful vocal styling makes for great listening.

Other highlights include the melancholic loner "Soup For One", the shimmering "When You Love Someone", as well as the fab "Chic Cheer" to name a few.

This is the best starting point if you are a casual fan & great for old Chic heads to have all the hits & selected cuts from all their records in one space. "The Definitve Groove Collection" for Chic thrills & sparkles, preparing you for their actual albums. Highly recommended!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chic Cheer, January 24, 2007

By 

Curmudgeon "grantc" (West Australia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Definitive Groove Collection (Audio CD)

The 2 good reasons for purchasing Definitive Groove Collection are the improved sound quality - previous "remastered" issues sound very grainy and faint in comparison - and the post-1980 tracks, which are a revelation for those only familiar with the group's hits. Late Chic was an extremely funky proposition, with solo male vocals and a more definite shift to r'n'b. Tracks like Flash Back and Your Love Is Cancelled transcend their time and sound deliriously atmospheric now. A good overview of a great band, with the (admittedly considerable) chaff edited to a set of sparkling gems.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Chic compilation on the market., March 16, 2009

By 

Kevin H. Dudley (Roanoke, VA (USA)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Definitive Groove Collection (Audio CD)

Rhino released a 2 disc compilation for the disco/R&B act CHIC as part of their "Definitive Groove Collection" series which features a total of 29 tracks. These releases always have 30 tracks (to keep the price at a budget minded 14.99 in terms of royalties) and feature great liner notes about the artist in question along with brilliantly remastered sound. They also have a line of Definitive Rock Collections out as well for the rock field.

The only slight complaint I have is that the 30 track limitation usually with most of the sets leaves space on each CD that more tracks could be put and sometimes Rhino inexplicably puts single edits on them when they had plenty of extra space to put the full album version (like they did on the Foghat Definitive Rock Collection).

The great news about the Chic 2 disc Definitive Groove Collection is that on disc one (which contains all of their huge hits from the 70's and is the best of the 2 CD's) Rhino wisely chose to put the full album versions of the songs on there instead of the edited single versions.

What this means for instance is that you get the full 8 minute 21 second album version of "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsa, Yowsa, Yowsa) and the complete 8 minute 15 second version of "Good Times" for example. Disc 2 (which covers their post 70's output which wasn't as good) has a couple of radio edits on it though.

But even with the couple of edits on disc two, the inclusion of all of the album length songs even with the Definitive Collection limitation of 30 tracks causes each disc to time out close to the 80 minute mark.

Disc one contains 13 tracks and is a little over 78 minutes and has 13 tracks.
Disc two contains 17 tracks and is just a little shy of 77 minutes and has 16 tracks.

As with all of the Definitive Collection releases, the liner notes about the history of Chic is extremely insightful and they also list all of the album sources for each song in addition to the chart positions of the single versions. The sound is absolutely breathtaking as well being remastered with great care that preserves the original sounds while also bringing out clarity that I hear things that I never noticed before in some tracks.

So, even if you just want a single disc compilation of Chic, this is worth picking up for just the first disc alone. The second disc contains some good music but as Chic went along into the 80's/90's they really started to lose their way a bit in comparison.

But as a 2 disc anthology/overview of this band, this 2 disc Definitive Groove Collection winds up being the best Chic release to date. Pick it up!