Off White
Off White | ||||
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James White and the Blacks chronology | ||||
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Off White is a 1979 album by American
History
In late 1978, ZE Records co-founder Michael Zilkha approached James Chance and offered Chance $10,000 to record a disco album.[1] Zilkha gave little direction and asked the band for its own take on the genre.[2] Anya Phillips, Chance's manager and girlfriend, came up with the idea to rename James Chance and the Contortions to James White and the Blacks for the album.[1] An alternate name, James White and His Blacks, was rejected by Zilkha. Phillips and the band put together outfits resembling 1960s soul singers.[3]
Chance said that he was interested in the monotonous sound of disco music because it "doesn't have beginnings and ends".[4] His persona is an homage to soul and funk musician James Brown.[5] Chance was also intrigued by the shock value of a punk group embracing disco.[6] He received disco records for free and passed time listening to a record for several seconds before throwing it out a window.[7] Chance wrote a piece for the first issue of East Village Eye, praising disco and denouncing "outdated, cornball 'new/no wave' drivel".[6][8]
Off White includes contributions from Lydia Lunch, Robert Quine, and Vivienne Dick.[9] The band spent most of their budget recording the album's first side and used instrumentals for the second side.[10] The album often discusses racial issues, and most of its titles are references to race.[11] Some responded to the Off White with accusations of racism.[12] Chance later responded, "I was the one that brought black music onto the whole punk scene, and I took a lot of shit for it…I was just playing with my whole image of a white person doing black music."[13]
James White and the Blacks promoted the album with a February 1979 performance at Club 57 in the East Village, Manhattan.[12] ZE rented Irving Plaza for the album's launch party, where the band lip synced its songs. The band's live performances included two teenage dancers called the Disco Lolitas.[3]
The band released "Contort Yourself" as a
Critical reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [19] |
Christgau's Record Guide | B−[20] |
DownBeat | [21] |
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [22] |
Upon the album's release,
Track listing
All tracks are written by James White unless otherwise noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Contort Yourself" (produced by August Darnell) | 6:15 | |
2. | "Stained Sheets" | Chance, Lydia Lunch | 5:51 |
3. | "(Tropical) Heat Wave" | Irving Berlin | 3:55 |
4. | "Almost Black, pt. 1" | Chance, Kristian Hoffman | 3:17 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "White Savages" | Chance, Hoffman | 4:52 |
2. | "Off Black" | 6:29 | |
3. | "Almost Black, pt. 2" | Chance, Hoffman | 3:59 |
4. | "White Devil" | 4:36 | |
5. | "Bleached Black" | 2:52 |
Personnel
- James White and the Blacks
- James White – alto saxophone, organ, vocals
- Jody Harris – guitar
- Pat Place – slide guitar
- George Scott III – bass
- Don Christensen – drums
- Additional personnel
- Robert Quine – guitar on 6, 7
- Vivienne Dick– viola on 8
- Paul Colin – tenor saxophone on 4, 7
- Kristian Hoffman – piano 2, 3, vocals on 3
- Adele Bertei – piano on 1, vocals on 4
- Ray Mantilla – congas on 3
- Lydia Lunch – guitar on 8, vocals (as Stella Rico) on 2
- Anya Phillips – vocals on 3, 4
Notes
- ^ a b Masters 92.
- ^ Howe, Zoë (July 7, 2010). "Bow To The Devilish Prince: James Chance Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
- ^ a b Reynolds 155.
- ^ Silverton, Pete (February 17, 1979). "No New York". Sounds.
- ^ a b "James White & the Blacks – Off White". Billboard: 66. November 24, 1979.
- ^ a b Reynolds 154.
- ^ Moore and Coley 95.
- ^ Smith, Duncan; Chance, James; Phillips, Anya (May 1979). "White & Co. Move Uptown" (PDF). East Village Eye. 1 (1): 8. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
- ^ a b Masters 93.
- ^ Moore and Coley 98.
- ^ Young 40.
- ^ a b Masters 94.
- ^ Mamone, Jordan N. (March 18, 2003). "Wasteland Survivor: James Chance keeps making it, any way he can". New York Press. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
- ^ Kitching, Sean (November 3, 2014). "Designed To Kill: James Chance & Melt Yourself Down's Pete Wareham". The Quietus. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
- Pitchfork Media. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
- ^ Harvell, Jess (October 9, 2006). "Mutants on the Bounty". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
- ^ Kellman, Andy. "Disco Not Disco: Post Punk, Electro & Leftfield Disco Classics, Vol. 3 - Various Artists". AllMusic. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
- Pitchfork Media. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
- ^ AllMusic. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
- ^ ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 22, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ^ Birnbaum, Larry (January 1980). "James White and the Blacks/The Contortions: Off White/Buy the Contortions". DownBeat. Vol. 47, no. 1. pp. 32, 34.
- ^ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1996. p. 130.
- ^ "1000 albums to hear before you die". The Guardian. November 22, 2007. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
References
- Masters, Marc (2007). No Wave. ISBN 978-1-906-155-02-5.
- Abrams Image.
- ISBN 0-14-303672-6.
- ISBN 978-1-84467-427-5.