james chance the contorions

youngEINSTEINyoungEINSTEIN 2,443 Posts
edited October 2005 in Strut Central
anybody know something about this dude? maybe NY strutters? a friend was telling me to check him out. peace, stein. . .

  Comments


  • hcrinkhcrink 8,729 Posts
    NY No Wave guy. Most of his records are as "James White". I think he just has one as Chance & the Contotrions. Cool stuff, sorta funky new wave with some free jazzish touches.

  • bull_oxbull_ox 5,056 Posts
    Classic NY rock

  • awallawall 673 Posts
    get this

    and this


  • thanks ya'll. peace, stein . . .

  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts
    Here's an MP3 of James Chance & the Contortions live in Paris, 1980 - covering "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough"



    James Chance

  • RezRez 164 Posts

    thanks ya'll. peace, stein . . .

    I have the one WITHOUT the female on the front for trade - PM me if ya interested...cheerz...M Rez

  • RezRez 164 Posts

    thanks ya'll. peace, stein . . .

    I have the one WITHOUT the female on the front for trade - PM me if ya interested...cheerz...M Rez

  • DrWuDrWu 4,021 Posts
    get this

    and this

    and . Great scene of him with Defunkt in Dowtown 81.

  • I just got that Live in Paris LP in my store. Wanna check it out. I just scored a No new York Lp for 5 bucks


    Sweeeeeeet

  • buttonbutton 1,475 Posts
    James Chance fun-fact:

    Hated his early NYC audiences because they didn't dance as hard as the folks he knew back in his hometown of Milwaukee, WI.

  • funny james chance story...i was djing an Insound christmas party a few years ago when they were reissuing the james chance stuff and he came to the gig with an entourage. he was dancing and asked to hear some funk and i threw on syl johnson "different strokes" and that didn't cut it because he stopped dancing.

  • akoako https://soundcloud.com/a-ko 3,413 Posts
    check for the track "Roving Eye"...only track i REALLY like that ive heard..

  • puppup 133 Posts
    http://www.downtown81.com/synop.htm

    There is great live footage of him and his band in the movie downtown81. It stars Basquiat and he wanders from club to club in New York checking out all these ill no wave bands. Worth checking out.

  • DongerDonger 854 Posts
    Funny you bring him up, Irresistable Impulse has been in heavy rotation in my house the last 2 days.








  • awallawall 673 Posts
    yo, i'll post a couple albums in the album upload thread tomorrow.

  • DongerDonger 854 Posts
    funny james chance story...i was djing an Insound christmas party a few years ago when they were reissuing the james chance stuff and he came to the gig with an entourage. he was dancing and asked to hear some funk and i threw on syl johnson "different strokes" and that didn't cut it because he stopped dancing.

    when he was dancing, what was it like? Was he all thrashed out to JB or something?

  • he dances and looks just like you'd expect...still wears sharkskin suits and has the pompadour...dances all spastic like a true no-waver should. and yes some jb moves thrown in.

    speaking of jb...on james chance's third record "sax maniac" he does a song called "sax machine" which is no doubt a jb reference.

  • p_gunnp_gunn 2,284 Posts
    he dances and looks just like you'd expect...still wears sharkskin suits and has the pompadour...dances all spastic like a true no-waver should. and yes some jb moves thrown in.

    speaking of jb...on james chance's third record "sax maniac" he does a song called "sax machine" which is no doubt a jb reference.

    his version of "king heroin" off that live in europe thing is off the hook...

  • p_gunnp_gunn 2,284 Posts
    i saw Gogel Bordello blow him off stage at the Cooler in 98 or 99... it was painful. i still love his records from back in the day, but he was kinda a big joke when i saw him live. dude did not age well.

  • canonicalcanonical 2,100 Posts
    I think you can get both of those albums in a re-issue 2LP. They're both pretty interesting. I liked them a lot. I would recommend.

    That's cool they did shit with Defunkt, i just picked up their two first records on Hannibal and I like them a lot.

  • darendaren 28 Posts
    i saw Gogel Bordello blow him off stage at the Cooler in 98 or 99... it was painful. i still love his records from back in the day, but he was kinda a big joke when i saw him live. dude did not age well.

    Isn't he just a straight up alcoholic that will play a gig every so often? I read recently that at the height of no wave back in the day, he broke a bottle on a pregnant girl's head. This girl just so happened to be Robert Christgau's girlfriend, and Robert Christgau beat the shit out of James White.

    (note: Robert Christgau is a music critic for the Village Voice.)

  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts


    (note: Robert Christgau is a music critic for the Village Voice.)

    Sonic Youth did a track called "I Killed Christgau With My Big Fucking Dick" for a Forced Exposure comp back in the late 80's...never heard got to hear it, though.
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