Life is a Dance: The Remix Project | ||||
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Remix album by | ||||
Released | June 15, 1989 | |||
Recorded | 1978–1989 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 75:51 (cassette: 82:03) | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Chaka Khan chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Robert Christgau | C+ [2] |
Number One | [3] |
Life Is a Dance: The Remix Project is a remix album of recordings by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan, released by the Warner Bros. Records label in 1989. The compilation takes its title from a track included on Khan's 1978 solo debut album Chaka .
The album, which was released as a double-record set, on CD and as a cassette edition with one extra track, comprises remixes made in the styles of late 1980s dance music genres like house music, hip hop and acid house of tracks originally recorded between the years 1978 and 1984, including two from Rufus & Chaka Khan's final album Stompin' at the Savoy – Live : "Ain't Nobody" and "One Million Kisses".
Life Is a Dance: The Remix Project resulted in three single releases; "I'm Every Woman" ('89 Remix), "Ain't Nobody" ('89 Remix) and "I Feel For You" ('89 Remix). The 1989 remix of "Ain't Nobody" became a #6 hit on the UK Singles Chart while "I'm Every Woman" peaked at #8 hit and Paul Simpson's take on "I Feel for You" peaked at #45. The album itself reached #14 on the UK Albums Chart, making it the best-selling Chaka Khan album in the UK since 1984's I Feel for You . All cuts from the album peaked at number one on the American dance play charts for one week. Life Is a Dance would mark the final time all cuts from an album would make the top spot on the dance play charts. [4]
The Dancin' Danny D. and Frankie Knuckles remixes of "I'm Every Woman" and "Ain't Nobody" were both originally released on the B-side of the US 12" single "Soul Talkin'", taken from Khan's 1988 album ck .
The 1989 remixes of "This Is My Night" and "Eye to Eye" also appear on Warner's 2006 greatest hits compilation The Platinum Collection .
Note: the remixes of the tracks "I Feel for You", "This Is My Night" and "Eye to Eye" appearing on this album should not be confused with the original 12" remixes made in 1984 by the original producers Arif Mardin and Russ Titelman, all of which remain unreleased on CD in both the United States and Europe.
Prince's 1979 original track of "I Feel for You" is sampled shortly in Paul Simpson's remix.
Life Is a Dance: The Remix Project was transferred from vinyl to CD in 1989 and remains in print.
In 1993, Warner Bros. Records re-released the album in Germany and Japan as The Remix Project: Greatest Hits with the inclusion of a house remix of "Love You All My Lifetime", not present on Life Is a Dance: The Remix Project.
Chart (1989) | Peak position |
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Australia Albums (Kent Music Report) [5] | 143 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [6] | 47 |
UK Albums (OCC) [7] | 14 |
US Dance Club Songs ( Billboard ) [8] | 1 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI) [9] | Gold | 100,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Yvette Marie Stevens, better known by her stage name Chaka Khan, is an American singer. Known as the "Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. With the band she recorded the notable hits "Tell Me Something Good", "Sweet Thing", "Do You Love What You Feel" and the platinum-certified "Ain't Nobody". Her debut solo album featured the number-one R&B hit "I'm Every Woman". Khan scored another R&B charts hit with "What Cha' Gonna Do for Me" before becoming the first R&B artist to have a crossover hit featuring a rapper, with her 1984 cover of Prince's "I Feel for You". More of Khan's hits include "Through the Fire" and a 1986 collaboration with Steve Winwood that produced a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, "Higher Love".
Rufus is an American funk band from Chicago best known for launching the career of lead singer Chaka Khan. They had several hits during their career including "Tell Me Something Good", "Sweet Thing", "Do You Love What You Feel", and "Ain't Nobody". Rufus and Chaka Khan were one of the most popular and influential funk bands of the 1970s; they had four consecutive number-one R&B albums, ten top 40 pop hits, and five number-one R&B singles among other accolades.
"Dancing Machine" is a song recorded by American R&B group the Jackson 5; it was the title track of their ninth studio album. The song was originally recorded for the group's 1973 album G.I.T.: Get It Together and was released as a remix.
"I Feel for You" is a song written by American musician Prince that originally appeared on his 1979 self-titled album. The most successful and best-known version was recorded by R&B singer Chaka Khan and appeared on her 1984 album of the same name. It became the recipient of two Grammy Awards for Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for Khan.
"I'm Every Woman" is a song by American singer Chaka Khan, released in September 1978 by Warner Bros. as her debut solo single from her first album, Chaka (1978). It was Khan's first hit outside her recordings with the funk band Rufus. "I'm Every Woman" was produced by Arif Mardin and written by the successful songwriting team Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. The single established Chaka's career outside the group Rufus, whom she would leave after their eighth studio album, Masterjam, was released in late 1979.
I Feel for You is the fifth solo studio album by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan, released on the Warner Bros. Records label in 1984.
"Ain't Nobody" is a song by American funk band Rufus and American singer Chaka Khan. It was released on November 4, 1983 by Warner Bros., as one of four studio tracks included on their live album, Stompin' at the Savoy (1983). "Ain't Nobody" quickly gathered popularity, and reached number one on the US Billboard R&B chart and number 22 on the US Billboard Hot 100. In 1984 at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards, "Ain't Nobody" won for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. It has become one of Khan's signature songs.
What Cha' Gonna Do for Me is the third solo album by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan, released on Warner Bros. Records in 1981. It was certified gold by the RIAA.
Chaka Khan is the fourth solo album by American singer Chaka Khan. It was released on the Warner Bros. Records label on November 17, 1982. Khan worked with frequent collaborator Arif Mardin on the album, who would produce all the tracks on Chaka Khan. The "Be Bop Medley" won the pair Grammy Award for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices at the 26th awards ceremony.
Chaka is the debut solo album by American singer Chaka Khan. It was released on October 12, 1978, through Warner Bros. Records. Following the release of the Chaka album, Khan reunited with Rufus for the recording of 1979's Masterjam, produced by Quincy Jones. Her second solo album Naughty followed in 1980.
Destiny is the sixth studio album by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan, released on Warner Bros. Records in 1986.
Stompin' at the Savoy – Live is an album by American R&B/funk band Rufus with singer Chaka Khan, released on the Warner Bros. Records label in 1983.
ck is the seventh studio album by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan, released on the Warner Bros. Records label in 1988.
The Woman I Am is the eighth studio album by American singer Chaka Khan. It was released by Warner Bros. Records on April 14, 1992, in the United states. Dedicated to her friend Miles Davis, who had died the previous year, the album was Khan's first full-length project since 1988's CK. Khan worked with a variety of producers on the album, including multi-instrumentalist Marcus Miller, Scritti Politti's David Gamson as well as frequent collaborator Arif Mardin and his son Joe Mardin.
Epiphany: The Best of Chaka Khan, Vol. 1 is a compilation album of recordings by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan, first released on the Warner Bros. Records label in 1996. Although the compilation, which reached #22 on Billboard's R&B chart and #84 on Pop, was given the "Vol. 1" tag, it remains without a sequel to date.
Dance Classics of Chaka Khan is a compilation album of recordings by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan released on the Warner Bros. Records label in Japan in 1999.
The Platinum Collection is a compilation album of recordings by American funk/R&B singer Chaka Khan, released by the Warner label in 2006.
The Very Best of Rufus with Chaka Khan is a greatest hits album by funk band Rufus and singer Chaka Khan, originally released on the MCA Records label in 1982. The collection comprises ten of the group's biggest hits on the ABC/MCA labels, including "You Got the Love", "Sweet Thing", "At Midnight ", "Do You Love What You Feel", "Tell Me Something Good", "Stay", "Hollywood" and "Dance Wit Me".
American R&B/soul singer Chaka Khan has released thirteen albums during her solo career. Her first solo single was "I'm Every Woman", also released in 1978. She has released a total of 46 solo singles throughout her career. Khan has placed four albums in the top twenty of the Billboard albums chart, scored one top 10 and four additional top-40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. On the Billboard R&B Songs chart, Khan hit the top 10 ten times including five number ones (including two as a featured artist. On Billboard's Dance Club Chart, Khan had six number ones and another number one as a featured artist. On the UK Singles Chart, she has scored three top 10s, eight additional top 40 singles.
"Eye To Eye" is a 1985 song by American R&B singer Chaka Khan from her album I Feel For You. The song was a major hit in the United Kingdom where it peaked at number 16. Later, it was used as the theme song to Phillipine TV talk show Eye to Eye (1988-1996).