| Life is a Dance: The Remix Project | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Remix album by | ||||
| Released | June 15, 1989 | |||
| Recorded | 1978–1989 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 75:51 (cassette: 82:03) | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Chaka Khan chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Robert Christgau | (C+) [2] |
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 limited cassette edition with one bonus 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. [3]
The Dancin' Danny D. and Frankie Knuckles remixes of "I'm Every Woman" and "Ain't Nobody" were in fact both originally released on the B-side of the US 12" single "´Soul Talkin'", taken from the 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.
Yvette Marie Stevens, better known by her stage name Chaka Khan, is an American musician, singer and songwriter. Her career has spanned nearly five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the "Queen of Funk", Khan was the first R&B artist to have a crossover hit featuring a rapper, with "I Feel for You" in 1984. Khan has won ten Grammy Awards and has sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide.
Rufus is an American funk band from Chicago, Illinois, best known for launching the career of lead singer Chaka Khan. They had several hits throughout 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, with four consecutive number one R&B albums, ten Top 40 Pop Hits and five number one R&B singles, among other accolades.
Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting-production team and recording duo of Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson.
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is a pop/soul song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla label, a division of Motown. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and became a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes frontwoman Diana Ross. The song became Ross's first solo number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award.
"Dancing Machine" is a song recorded by American R&B outfit the Jackson 5, and 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 for a response to the success of the single.
"I Feel for You" is a song written by 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 I Feel for You. 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 the debut solo single by American singer Chaka Khan from her debut solo studio 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, 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. It has become one of Khan's signature songs.
What Cha' Gonna Do for Me is the Gold certified third solo album by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan, released on the Warner Bros. Records label in 1981.
Chaka Khan is the eponymous fourth solo album by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan, released on the Warner Bros. Records label in 1982.
Chaka is the debut solo album by singer Chaka Khan. It was released on October 12, 1978 through Warner Bros Record label.
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.
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".
"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.
