King of the World (album)

For other albums of this name, see King of the World (disambiguation).
King of the World
Studio album by Sheila and B. Devotion
Released June 27, 1980
Recorded 1979
Genre Disco, funk, R&B, jazz, samba
Length 34:31
Label Mirage Records / Carrere Records
Producer Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards
Sheila and B. Devotion chronology
Sheila and B. Devotion
(1979)		 King of the World
(1980)		 Little Darlin'
(1981)

King of the World is a 1980 album by French disco act Sheila and B. Devotion. The album which was both written and produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers of American R&B band Chic includes the hit "Spacer" which reached #18 on the UK charts in early 1980 and was a Top 10 hit in most of Europe, selling more than 5 million copies worldwide, and was twenty years later to be sampled by Swedish band Alcazar for their 2000 hit "Crying at the Discotheque" (#13 UK). The album displays some elements unusual in Chic productions, such as prominent guitar solos in place of the breakdowns that were normally a staple part of the Chic sound, and some unusual lyrical subject matter, such as the sci-fi themed "Spacer" and a humorous song about credit cards.

King of the World was one of four albums to be written and produced by Edwards and Rodgers in 1980, the other three being Sister Sledge's Love Somebody Today, Chic's fourth studio album Real People and Diana Ross' multiplatinum selling Diana.

King of the World was first released on compact disc in 1996 by both East-West Music and Rhino Records. A remastered edition was issued by Warner Music France in 2006 including bonus tracks which are remixes dating from 1992 and the unreleased US promo version of "Your Love Is Good," whose instrumental can also be found on an outtake from Chic's 2010 box set "The Chic Organization" (there was also an alternate version that featured a piano break in place of the Chic guitar riffs). The latter also had been rerecorded by Sheila on numerous occasions.

An 18 CD box-set of all Sheila's recordings was released in 2006 and a new remix of "Spacer" was included. The "Freak Out - Respect to CHIC" remix using the original instrumental and vocal tracks. Sheila re-recorded "Spacer" only once in 1998 and six remixes were released.

The original American tapes have been digitally remastered for the first time and released on a deluxe edition in October 2008 by Warner Music France; the sound was definitively improved. It includes a 32-page booklet with exclusive interviews of Sheila and Nile Rodgers and unknown out-takes from the recording sessions. In 2013, the two reunited for the first time since the album was released to do a brief acoustic version of "Spacer."[1]

Track listing

All tracks written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers

Side A
  1. "Spacer" - 6:15
  2. "Mayday" - 3:44
  3. "Charge Plates And Credit Cards" - 4:26
  4. "Misery" - 3:02
Side B
  1. "King Of The World" - 4:37
  2. "Cover Girls" - 3:17
  3. "Your Love Is Good" - 4:38
  4. "Don't Go" - 4:32
Bonus tracks 2006 French deluxe edition
  1. "Your Love Is Good" (Original US 12" Promo) - 4:50
  2. "Spacer" (Lost In Space Mix) - 6:45
  3. "Spacer" (Lost In Space Dub Mix) - 6:09
  4. "Spacer" (Down To Earth Mix) - 7:29
  5. "Spacer" (Remix Radio Edit) - 0:02
  6. "Spacer" (DMC Remix) - 1:24
  7. "Spacer" (Trevor is King) - 5:49

Personnel

Production

Reception

The single "Spacer" was ranked at number eight among the top "Tracks of the Year" for 1979 by NME.[2]

References

  1. ↑ from YouTube
  2. ↑ "Albums and Tracks of the Year". NME. 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
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