Customer Reviews

King of the World

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Even if you were on that ill informed 'Disco Sucks' bandwagon, there is no denying the seemlessly brilliant combination of Rock and Dance exhibited on this album. Originally selftitled 'Sheila And B.Devotion', (for all the vinyl junkies out there), this 1980 masterpiece was written, arranged, conducted, and produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers for THE CHIC ORGANIZATION L.T.D. The same people that brought you 'Le Freak', 'Good Times', 'We Are Family', 'Upside Down', etc., etc., etc... Unarguably two of greatest and most underappreciated musicians of the 20th Century. The guitar solo on 'Spacer' alone is worth buying two copies! Call it Disco, New WAve,Pop, Whatever! Great music will last beyond time and space!

This Chic-produced album is one of their more obscure projects from the late 70s. Everyone knows their work with Sister Sledge and Diana Ross, but French singer Sheila's only Chic album received more attention in Europe, perhaps not surprisingly. Sheila's "English with a French accent" vocals are quite charming, and the UK hit single "Spacer" is, like Sister Sledge's "Lost In Music", one of Chic's masterpieces.

Thanks to Rhino for re-releasing this cd! Sure you could find it on Ebay for $200, but now you can just laugh and laugh at the sellers who are demanding that price. Now about the cd itself... We all know "SPACER" is the only reason to get this cd because of the full-length version which runs 6:15 (just like the 12" single). But there are a couple other songs that aren't bad like, KING OF THE WORLD and YOUR LOVE IS GOOD. The thing about a Chic composition is that anyone- Norma Jean Wright, Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, Debbie Harry or Carly Simon could easily have sung these songs. And thanks to the Chic Organization, they did. Now that all Chic Organization LP's have been issued on cd you can obtain them all for a nice collection: Norma Jean Wright "NORMA JEAN", Sister Sledge "WE ARE FAMILY", Sister Sledge "LOVE SOMEBODY TODAY", Sheila & B. Devotion "KING OF THE WORLD", Diana Ross "DIANA" (get the 2-cd deluxe version of this one because it contains both the original commercially released version, PLUS the original unreleased Chic produced version), Debbie Harry "KOO KOO", and on the SOUP FOR ONE SOUNDTRACK is the Chic produced song "WHY" for Carly Simon. So there you have it, the entire line of other artists they produced all on cd now. And of course their own line of cd's are available, especially on e*bay. So for all you Chic fanatics, go splurge!

This Nile Rogers and Bernard Edwards creation from the early 80s would definitely rank amongst one of their best.

Hardly known in the USA, Sheila is a talented artist with a great voice and suave accent.

'Spacer' has a smooth guitar background which will impress every listener however sophisticated in music appreciation.

'Cover Girls' have cheeky lyrics (like 'I'm hoping I'm not just another pretty face' - and Sheila is more than that) whilst 'Charge Plates and Credit Cards' has a catchy and captivating rhythm. 'King of the World' will also grab you.

This album is a follow-up to an earlier Dance album 'Singing in the Rain' (the title song of which is a dance version of the famous Gene Kelly song). I'd also recommend that album if you like late 70s dance music.

Finally, if interested in Sheila's more melodious French songs, try 'Les plus grand succes de Sheila'.

This is the album that I had been curious about for a long time. The original cd of this album has been out of print for a while and hard to find. If it is found, a fortune would have to be paid for it, but now, I finally have this album on cd. Was it worth the wait? Yes, especially if you're into Chic the way I am. Unfortunately, it's Sheila who performs the lead vocals and I have the feeling the beautiful Parisian didn't understand a lot of the lyrics she was singing. She's in tune, for the most part, but she's just not very soulful. On the other hand, when it comes to the intrumentation, you won't find a tighter group of players. Chic frontmen Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers head the very talented group of musicians on this album and rock out a bit more than usual. There's still tracks on here that have more of the traditional Chic sound. "Your love is good" is probably one of the best examples. I have the sneaking suspicion this song was originally intended for Diana Ross's "diana" album, which came out the same year. It's sounds very similar to Ross's "Tenderness." The most intriguing song on here would have to be "Spacer", which was a hit in Europe. The beat is more rock than soul and Sheila's offbeat vocal delivery works best on this track. Nile Rodgers aggressive guitar work on "Charge plates and credit cards" is a lot of fun and really propels the song. And of course, all throughout the tracks we have Bernard Edwards very fluid bass playing and Tony Thompson's solid drumming.
Pick this cd up. The transfer sounds great and if you're a Chic fan, this will keep you happy.

Wow, is this finally out again on CD? Thank god for that, that means no more scouring eBay for over-priced rare original releases. So what's it like, you're asking? Well, don't get your hopes up.

If there are any other CHIC-produced disco anthems as good as "Spacer", chances are you already have them. "Spacer" is in a league of it's own, though, an ultra-smooth disco work-out, made unforgettable by it's being unusually gentler than other disco songs of the period. But what a rhythm...it grabs you right after the twinkling intro finishes and never lets up for it's full 6 minutes. The song had drifted in and out of being "cool" over the decades since it first came out, but now I think it can safely be logged as one of disco's finest. Some people don't like the vocal performance be Sheila herself, in fact I've seen reviews on CHIC-related topics that refer to her rather meanly as the "disco robot". Well, I think she has a lot of charm and don't forget she is singing in a second language. Her pronunciation of "I'm so lucky!" gets me every time - plus she was simply stunning as well, one of France's most beguiling singing stars of the 1970's.

Well, that's enough about "Spacer", what about the rest of it? Well I'm afraid that's the problem because the rest of this CD is bland, bland, bland! There are really only two other good tracks: "Mayday", is the funniest, a chugging dance workout that seems to be about impotence, and is full of the funniest puns I have ever heard in music lyrics "You can't raise your landing gear"...arf arf! It also has a great guitar solo, but what's this..."Mayday" only just scrapes over 3 minutes in length? What a waste. The same problem comes with the other good track, "King of the World". This track makes good use of its racing driver theme, with some very clever rhyming and a good catchy tune, but as the second biggest draw on the album (it was the follow-up single to "Spacer"), it is a let down at just over four minutes.
The rest of the 5 songs are extremely formulaic CHIC disco-by-numbers with really weak tunes and hackneyed lyrics. I like Sheila's voice, but it would take a skilled vocalist indeed to turn the repeating of "Don't go, I love you so.." thirty times over into something exciting.

It's also extremely short, and without bonus tracks you are looking at barely half an hours worth of music. If I had paid big-bucks for this on eBay I would be kicking myself, but at a proper price like this, it's worth buying for the perfection of "Spacer", and the other two good songs. The rest are sadly instantly disposable.

Though it contained just one moderately-charting hit, this underrated and scarce album is a solid set of disco with much of the instantly recognizable robustness that you'll hear on albums by Chic, Change, and Sister Sledge, among others. Led by French singer Sheila (born Annie Chancel on August 16th, 1946 in Paris) and backing trio B. Devotion, they managed to hit #28 R&B with this album's track "Spacer." However, the best tracks in my opinion are "Cover Girls," which has a super-funky beat, and "Don't Go" which is not as danceable but has some very Rodgers/Edwards-inspired singing.

An "ok" album. Still a surprise to me even after all these years how Sheila & the Chic organisation ever got together considering it's such an odd combination. Still, "Spacer" is the main reason to get this. "Don't go" & " Your love is good" are the other very Chic sounding tracks. This album is an interesting option for Chic fans, however, takes a bit of getting used to. "Spacer" was such a bit hit in the UK and I bought the vinyl album back then on the strength of that single and being a huge Chic fan (I still am). The French CD release has extra tracks & uses the original master tapes so sounds better than the re-mastered version (lots of hiss & tracks speeded up etc - the usual suspects on that one). This version is still available from Amazon.Fr. I cringe just a little bit nowadays at the somewhat questionable singing but Nile Rodgers & Bernard Edwards must have realised this as Sheila's voice is kept to the verses only - the rest so obviously being left to the normal Chic singers.

Add this to your Chic collection, with the Diana Ross & Sister Sledge albums and be grateful that you have the full version of "Spacer", but don't expect much else from it.

This album is a testament and a good example of the CHIC influence (tubular bells, strings, violins, harps) on music in the post disco era. The title cut "Spacer" and "Don't Go" a song with a phrase that is repeated over and over again is actually not bad to me because I love the CHIC beats/sounds. The rest of the music in this compilation I can do without.