C'est Chic (1978)

C'est Chic is the second studio album by American band Chic, released on Atlantic Records in 1978.

Release

C'est Chic includes the band's signature hit "Le Freak", which topped the US Hot 100 chart, US R&B, and US Club Play in October 1978, selling six million copies in the US. The album also contains the hit single "I Want Your Love" (number 5 R&B, number 7 Pop, number 4 UK).

C'est Chic was the band's most commercially successful album, reaching number 4 on Billboard's album chart and topping the US R&B chart for eleven weeks. C'est Chic was Billboard's 1979 R&B Album of the Year, claiming the number one spot on Billboard's Year End Review. The album was certified platinum by the RIAA, selling over a million copies. In the UK it peaked at number 2 and has been certified Gold by the BPI.

The European version was originally called Très Chic, with the cover featuring a woman wrapped around a neon light tube. It was withdrawn and replaced with the C'est Chic version with a less risqué cover. Très Chic had a different track listing.

C'est Chic was released on compact disc by Atlantic Records/Warner in 1991 (catalogue number 7567-81552-2). The album has been digitally remastered and re-issued twice: first in 2011 by Warner Music Japan and then in 2018 at Abbey Road Studios by Atlantic.

Critical reception

The Globe and Mail deemed C'est Chic "a sleekly elegant variation" of disco. The Los Angeles Times opined that, aside from "Le Freak", the album "consists of pedestrian disco pieces and plodding R&B ballads."

Cover Versions

Robert Wyatt had a top 20 UK Indie Chart hit with a cover of "At Last I Am Free" in 1980.