The Michael Zager Band - Let's All Chant (Private Stock Records 1977)

Details

Description

"Let's All Chant" is a song written by Michael Zager and Alvin Fields and performed by the Michael Zager Band. It was based on an idea originally suggested by former head of A&R Jerry Love after he visited clubs in New York and saw people endlessly chanting "Ooh-ah, Ooh-ah". Although Zager was first embarrassed when Love asked him to write a song using these chants, he accepted the proposal and later co-wrote "Let's All Chant" with Fields.

The opening track and lead single from the group's eponymous LP, "Let's All Chant" was released as a single in December 1977, with the track "Love Express" as a B-side. An unexpected smash hit, the single reached number one on the disco chart and crossed over to the Soul Singles chart, where it peaked at number 15, and to the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number 36. In Europe, the single reached the top 10 in several countries, including the UK, Ireland and France. It eventually sold five million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.

Recognizable by both its vocal hooks and its classical section, which is featured in the middle of the song, "Let's All Chant" was well received by critics, who have praised its musical arrangement and its catchiness. Many reviewers regard the song as a classic of the disco era. It also became a turning point in Michael Zager's career. As well as being used in many TV advertisements and movies, it has become an influential dance song which has been extensively covered or remixed by numerous artists and has been interpolated or sampled in many other tracks.

When he was still at A&M Records, Michael Zager met Jerry Love, the former head of A&R for A&M Records. After Love subsequently left the record label, he and Zager formed the Michael Zager Moon's Band in 1976. Love was an habitué of Studio 54 and went to clubs every night. One evening, he went to Greenwich Village to visit several clubs and noted that people were continuously singing "Ooh-ah, Ooh-ah" to every tune which was played in order to increase their own participation and pleasure. The next day, he described the scene to Zager and suggested that Zager write a song incorporating the "Ooh-ah, Ooh-ah" vocals. Zager told Love: "You have to be kidding; that's embarrassing!" Love commented that everybody was doing it and that if Zager wrote a song using these chants, dancers would love it.

In parallel, the group's name was changed to the Michael Zager Band and they signed with the label Private Stock Records. For their forthcoming LP, Zager wrote two songs, "Let's All Chant" and "Love Express", together with Alvin Fields. The co-writer shared lead vocals on "Let's All Chant" with session singers Dollette McDonald and Billy Baker.Zager added a classical section to the track. He later remarked:

The reason I added the piccolo trumpet and classical section in the middle of Let's All Chant' was mainly because I was embarrassed! I thought it was so stupid with that 'Ooh-ah' sound in it that I wanted to add something to lift the track musically. I have a classical background and went to a music conservatory, so I was really feeling embarrassed.

"Let's All Chant" and "Love Express" were both recorded at the Secret Sound Studios, in Manhattan. Once the tracks were recorded, Zager told Fields: "I'm gonna kill you if this isn't a hit!"

"Let's All Chant" is a disco song driven by a repetitive bassline, handclaps and numerous vocal hooks (such as "Ah-ah, eh-eh, let's all chant" and "Your body, my body, everybody work your body"). These typical disco lyrics are about dancing and working one's body. The song's instrumentation also includes Afro-Cuban drums, a "rollicking" piano line and an ensemble of wind instruments, marked by a piccolo trumpet solo which sounds "like it's straight out of the Dynasty opening theme song". The song's tempo is 121 bpm and is very close to the average tempo of a standard disco song (120 bpm). According to AllMusic reviewer Alex Henderson, the combination of the "European-influenced, oddly baroque" feeling with a "catchy disco/funk beat" grabs the attention of the listener and encourages him to discover the rest of the eponymous LP.

Michael Zager is an American record producer, composer, and arranger original music for commercials, albums, network television, and theme music for films. He teaches music at Florida Atlantic University.

Zager has produced Grammy Award winning artists: Whitney Houston, Cissy Houston, Peabo Bryson, Luther Vandross, Deniece Williams, Jennifer Holliday, Joe Williams, Arturo Sandoval, Herb Alpert, Olatunji, and The Spinners. He also co-wrote the Patti Day song "Right Before My Eyes" with Alexander Forbes.

In 1977, Michael Zager Band's single "Life's a Party" features a young Whitney Houston (age 15) and her mother Cissy Houston on vocals. In 1978, the Michael Zager Band had a huge disco hit anthem with "Let's All Chant".

Zager was a member of Ten Wheel Drive from 1968–1973.