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Written by Shauna

April Release - "Oh Happy Day"

 “Oh Happy Day” was recorded by the Edwin Hawkins Singers in 1967. This was a new gospel music arrangement of an 18th-century hymn, and quickly became an international hit, landing in the top 5 of musical charts all over the world. Hawkins’ new arrangement has since been covered by many recording artists and was also featured in the film, Sister Act 2. Somehow, this song had never been translated to a square dance singing call (that we could find), and we decided it was about time it joined the square dance gospel music catalog. It’s the icing on the cake that we were able to release this song on Easter Sunday. “Oh Happy Day,” indeed!

Once we decided to adapt “Oh Happy Day” for a singing call, I knew this was the perfect song to feature the talents of the entire Chic Recordings Staff. It took some doing to get all the vocals gathered, and wasn’t without some hiccups along the way, but you’ll hear why I feel so blessed to have such talented callers in the Chic Recordings family. The Chic family wouldn’t be complete without the talents of Jimmy Mac. It’s his unique skill set that pulled all the tracks together, played the amazing music to go with it, built the background vocal “wall of sound” (which included singing some of the BGV himself), and once again made what I believe is some Chic magic.

CHIC1040 in the male vocal range features the vocal talents of the Chic Recordings men.

CHIC2040 in the female vocal range features the vocal talents of the Chic Recordings women.

To purchase, just head on over to the Chic Boutique for fast and easy mp3 downloads.

Introductory price is $7.50 and includes the music with and without melody, and the vocal cut.

Both are being sold separately since they were produced separately.

Click on the youtube links (to the left) for previews!

Details

Written by Shauna

March Release - "Love is Strange"

 This month we add another song to our "Duets" catalog. “Love is Strange” was originally released in November 1956 by rhythm and blues duet artists, Mickey and Sylvia. Written by Mickey and Sylvia, along with Bo Diddley, the opening hook of the song was based on a Jody Williams guitar riff. The same guitar riff was also used in the ‘62 song “Rinky Dink.”

Although previously recorded (quite well, I might add) by Chaparral Records, we felt that Chic’s “Duets” series was the perfect place for a remake that would capture the authenticity of the original Mickey & Sylvia hit. As always, Jimmy Mac managed to recreate the sounds of the original, this time using his Gretsch guitar for those iconic blues riffs. We made an effort not to overproduce this cut and capture the simplicity of the original hit.

Chic Recordings Staff Caller, Scott Smith, was the perfect choice to record the male portion of the new duet, as it was his voice that brought the original Chaparral recording to life. The female portion of the duet was recorded by producer, Shauna Kaaria, who also had some fun attempting to capture the feel of the answer-back “Yeah-ays” and “no-o-nos” of the original. Bonus, now she can knock “record a duet with Scott Smith” off her bucket list.

CHIC 3039 a duet suitable for both male and female vocal ranges, features Shauna and Scott's vocal.

To purchase, just head on over to the Chic Boutique for fast and easy mp3 downloads.

Introductory price is $7.50 and includes the music with and without melody, tracks for either vocal range to sing along with the second voice, and the vocal cut.

Click on the youtube links (to the left) for previews!

Details

Written by Shauna

February Release - "Time of the Season" and a

"Time of the Season" sale on love songs!

 We are back to the 60's this February with The Zombie's 1969 hit ,“Time of the Season.” “Time of the Season” is built around the bassline heard in the intro, along with a hand clap and that iconic breathy "ahhhh" vocal. We knew that if we were going to take on this song, we had to be able to replicate the classic intro. It didn’t take long to figure out that Jimmy Mac’s list of talents includes breathing on the beat. Once again, he nailed it! A little bit of Zombie trivia… The famous lyrics, "What's your name, who's your daddy, is he rich like me?" are a nod to the Gershwin standard "Summertime," which The Zombies released on their first album. (That song contains the lyrics, "Your daddy's rich and your mama's good looking.")

Staff Caller Vic Kaaria delivered such a great vocal on our release of the 60’s classic “For What It’s Worth,” we just had to give him the vocal on the male key of this 60’s classic as well. Once again, he perfectly captured the sound and feel of the original.

In January, Chic Recordings welcomed Patty Greene as an official Staff Caller and we quickly put her to work for our February release. We had fast-tracked the production of this song and with a very short window before our deadline, Patty delivered a great vocal with just the feel it required. Background vocals for both courtesy of Shauna Kaaria, with bass assists by Vic Kaaria and Jimmy Mac.

BUT WAIT...there's more! Since February really IS the "time of the season for loving," we are having a "Time of the Season" sale on our love songs. Chic's love songs will be discounted to $6.00 each through Valentine's Day, 2/14/18.

CHIC 1038 in the male vocal range features Vic's awesome vocal.

CHIC 2038 in the female vocal range features the great vocal from Patty.

To purchase, just head on over to the Chic Boutique for fast and easy mp3 downloads.

Introductory price is $7.50 and includes the music with and without melody, and the vocal cut.

Both are being sold separately since they were produced separately.

Click on the youtube links (to the left) for previews!

Details

Written by Shauna

January Release - "He Don't Love You"

 “He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You)” written by Jerry Butler, Curtis Mayfield and Calvin Carter, was released by Tony Orlando & Dawn in 1975 and quickly became a number one hit. It had previously been a top ten hit for Jerry Butler under its original title, “He Will Break Your Heart.” The song was also recorded by Dolly Parton with a title/lyric change to “She Don’t Love You,” which is just what we’ve done with the vocal for the female key.

Staff Caller, David Mee, was the only choice for a Tony Orlando song. “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” was the first singing call he ever learned, and he used it often in his first caller school. (Yes, there is a story there.) We considered making a Chic version of “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” for David to sing, but it has been done so many times already, we didn’t feel there was anything new we could add. While sorting through old Tony Orlando CD’s we found “He Don’t Love You” and knew it was a great choice for David and he delivered a great vocal! Background vocals courtesy of Shauna Kaaria

The female key was recorded by Chic's producer, Shauna Kaaria (me), with background vocals courtesy of Shauna and Jimmy Mac.

CHIC1037 in the male vocal range features David's awesome vocal.

CHIC2037 in the female vocal range features the vocal from Shauna.

To purchase, just head on over to the Chic Boutique for fast and easy mp3 downloads.

Introductory price is $7.50 and includes the music with and without melody, and the vocal cut.

Both are being sold separately since they were produced separately.

Click on the youtube links (to the left) for previews!

Details

Written by Shauna

December Release - "Greater" Patter

 Our December release is another patter that is truly "Greater" and already receiving positive reviews. One caller said "I just downloaded my new favorite hoedown. Great job!"

The original "Greater" is a song by the Christian group, MercyMe, and was brought to my attention by a recent class member. Using his iPod, I played the song over the speaker during a break at class. I was immediately hooked by the groove, and I wasn't the only one. Many other dancers rushed the stage to ask me the name of the song because they loved it! I went home and purchased the MercyMe track and began using it for patter with a great response from dancers. My girlish voice didn't battle too much with the male vocals on the original track, but a few of the male callers I know who tried to use it for patter didn't have the same success. So...into the studio we went to create an instrumental version that all callers (and dancers) could enjoy. The result is a fun track, full of dance, that will also be an uplift for any dancers who happen to know the original song. If they don't, the beat is gonna grab them anyway!

CHIC4036 (4000 series identifies patters and hoedowns) is a "greater" piece of patter music that starts the feet moving from the first beat.

To purchase, just head on over to the Chic Boutique for fast and easy mp3 downloads.

Introductory price is $7.50.

Click on the youtube links (to the left) for previews!

Details

Written by Shauna

Holiday Release - "Santa's Reindeer Ride"

 The holidays are nearly upon us, so here we are with our annual holiday release! We have discovered that finding Christmas songs that have not already been adapted for singing calls can be a challenge. Last year we released "Baby, It's Cold Outside" as a duet, and followed it with Garth Brook's brand new song, "Ugly Christmas Sweater." This year, we step back to 1979 with a cute little Christmas gem by Amy Grant. "Santa's Reindeer Ride" is a catchy and whimsical song we discovered on a Christmas compilation CD. The melody is just so very merry! It had to be a singing call.

The male vocal was recorded by our newest Staff Caller, Scott Smith, and we invited his former Chaparral mate, Ken Bower to join him. What a treat to hear them calling together again! They both embraced the spirit of this fun song. This is Ken's first guest appearance on Chic Recordings, and we certainly hope it won't be his last. Ken and Scott also recorded the harmonies except for a little "la-la-la" help from Shauna Kaaria.

The female key was recorded by Chic's producer, Shauna Kaaria (me), with background vocals courtesy of Shauna and Jimmy Mac.

CHIC1035 in the male vocal range features Scott and Ken's amazing duet.

CHIC2035 in the female vocal range features the vocal from Shauna.

To purchase, just head on over to the Chic Boutique for fast and easy mp3 downloads.

Introductory price is $7.50 and includes the music with and without melody, and the vocal cut.

Both are being sold separately since they were produced separately.

Click on the youtube links (to the left) for previews!

Details

Written by Shauna

October Release - "Runaway"

 Our release for October is just a little bit late (there's a good reason we'll explain shortly), but we think you'll find it was worth the wait! "Runaway" is a mega-hit, written and recorded by Del Shannon in 1961, and pretty much recognized simply by the title. When we received an email from one of our customers suggesting Bonnie Raitt's cover as an idea for Chic Recordings, we knew the song by title, but her bluesy rendition was quite a departure from the original cut. It only took one listen to know that yes, the "customer was right," and this rendition of the song needed to be made into a singing call.

We went to work in the studio, and Jimmy Mac did his always amazing job with the music. Similar to our inaugural release of "You're No Good," we went a little more rock/grunge with the male key and more pop/bluesy with the female key. The vocals were recorded and it was ready to go to market by the first of October, but as I listened to the final tracks I realized it was missing a key ingredient. Bonnie's version opens with an amazing blues harmonica riff, and we needed to have it! As luck would have it, I happen to know an amazing blues harp player (worked with him at the day job for many years before he retired), so I reached out and asked if he might be willing to share his talents with Chic. There are not words to describe how thrilled I was when he agreed to play. He matched the style of each key with two different harp sounds, and as soon you hear those opening (and closing) riffs, you'll agree that the wait was worth it. A huge Chic Shout-Out to Michael "Mo" Grundy (pictured above) for coming to our rescue with his incredible talent!

A great song needs a great vocal and we knew that Scott Bennett's voice would be perfect for this bluesy rendition. Even though expectations were high, the vocal track he sent blew us away! This is his fourth guest vocal for Chic Recordings and perhaps his best one to date! Scott appears courtesy of Crest Recordings and we sure appreciate his continued support of Chic Recordings!

The female key was recorded by Chic's producer, Shauna Kaaria (me), with background vocals for both courtesy of Shauna and Jimmy Mac.

CHIC1034 in the male vocal range features Scott's awesome vocal.

CHIC2034 in the female vocal range features the vocal from Shauna.

To purchase, just head on over to the Chic Boutique for fast and easy mp3 downloads.

Introductory price is $7.50 and includes the music with and without melody, and the vocal cut.

Both are being sold separately since they were produced separately.

Click on the youtube links (to the left) for previews!

Details

Written by Shauna

September Patter Release - "The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly"

 Another patter, another movie theme. This one is perfect for all those Western-themed dances! We start and finish the extended patter track of "The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly" with the vibe of the Ennio Morricone original release and sandwich the sound of the 60's hit from Hugo Montenegro in the middle. We blended it all together witih some class Jimmy mac guitar. (Jimmy did some impressive chanting and grunting, too.)

I even got to make a personal contribution to the music. We couldn’t find the right trumpet samples for the classic “wah-wah-wah” of the song, and we happened to have a real trumpet in the studio. It’s been a few years since I’ve played, but after a little warm-up, I managed to get some usable sounds out of it! We didn’t have the right mute, so we improvised with a plastic mug. Way too much fun!

CHIC4033 (4000 series identifies patters and hoedowns) is a fun piece of patter music that your dancers will recognize and love.

To purchase, just head on over to the Chic Boutique for fast and easy mp3 downloads.

Introductory price is $7.50 and includes the music with and without melody, and the vocal cut.

Click on the youtube link (to the left) for a preview!

Details

Written by Shauna

September Release - "Here Comes the Sun"

 We had such a positive response to our first two Beatles classics, that we return to the Fab Four for another. “Here Comes the Sun” was written by George Harrison and was introduced on the “Abbey Road” album. Harrison’s songwriting was greatly influenced by Indian classical music, which resulted in a series of unusual time changes in “Here Comes the Sun.” These time changes made translation to the 64-beat/section structure of a singing call a bit of a challenge. We refused to give up, and after an hour and a half in the studio with Jimmy Mac and Vic (not just my favorite caller, but also the biggest Beatles fan I know)…we found an arrangement that made us all happy. It also helps to have the Beatles’ number one fan in the studio while guitars are being recorded. Jimmy had just recorded his final strum, and was setting down the guitar and Vic says… “Uh, Jimmy, you’re not done…you haven’t played the ending riff.” Before we called it a wrap, the ending riff (along with the rest of George’s classic guitar) was played (in both keys), double bass was laid down, the Moog synthesizer was recorded, strings were added, hand claps and background vocals were done, and goosebumps were had (by me).

The Beatles’ number one fan may have been in the studio with us, but as Beatles fans go…Joe Saltel is a close second. Maybe even tied for first! Joe did such a great job with “I Will,” we had to invite him back to record the vocal for this one, too. Joe appears courtesy of Royal Records and we sure appreciate their support and enthusiasm for Chic Recordings!

The female key was recorded by Chic's producer, Shauna Kaaria (me), with background vocal assistance from Jimmy Mac.

CHIC1032 in the male vocal range features Joe's awesome vocal.

CHIC2032 in the female vocal range features the vocal from Shauna.

To purchase, just head on over to the Chic Boutique for fast and easy mp3 downloads.

Introductory price is $7.50 and includes the music with and without melody, and the vocal cut.

Both are being sold separately since they were produced separately.

Click on the youtube links (to the left) for previews!

Details

Written by Shauna

August Release - "Fallen"

 It’s nearly Fall and our new release, “Fallen,” is a perfect fit for the season. “Fallen” is a beautiful smooth jazz ballad, recorded by Lauren Wood in 1989. The response from people who have heard it range from: “I don’t think I know this song,” to “I feel like I’ve heard this song, but I can’t remember where,” and then those who know…“It’s ‘Fallen!’ I love that song from ‘Pretty Woman!’” No matter where you fall in the “Fallen” spectrum, the beautiful melody will grab you and stay with you, and it dances like a dream!

We haven’t had a vocal from Mike since “A Summer Song” (a Chic best-seller), which was our second release back in September of 2015. I’ve been waiting for just the right song for his second vocal, and I knew this was it. Mike came into the studio prepared and delivered an amazing vocal. He test-drove the final cut at his class and his students reported they “loved it” and it “dances like butter.” Everyone who has heard this track agrees, this is Mike’s best vocal yet!

The female key was recorded by Renee' Ruud (courtesy of Fine Tune Records). Renee has a beautiful, Karen Carpenter-esque, kind of voice, and I knew it was exactly right for this beautiful song. When she sent me the “Fallen” vocal track, it was every bit as good as I had imagined!.

CHIC1031 in the male vocal range features Mike's vocal.

CHIC2031 in the female vocal range features the vocal from Renee'.

To purchase, just head on over to the Chic Boutique for fast and easy mp3 downloads.

Introductory price is $7.50 and includes the music with and without melody, and the vocal cut.

Both are being sold separately since they were produced separately.

Click on the youtube links (to the left) for previews!