AOR Disco presents The Smooth Side of Chicago by Martijn Soetens

Many thanks to Martijn Soetens, the man behind the superb Jeff Porcaro Collection and West Coast Sounds of the Netherlands series, for this exclusive mix which celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Chicago. Today the band are best known as the gargantuan balladeers who scored a series of David Foster-produced hits in the 1980s - such as Hard Habit To Break - but this mix showcases their smooth and funk/jazz influenced work from the 1970s when they were a highly regarded virtuoso live act. 

It draws mainly from the era of Terry Kath, their gifted guitarist who was praised by Hendrix and died tragically young in a gun-accident in 1978 (there's a documentary about him in the works). After that the band started to radically change their style as their singer Peter Cetera and then David Foster took control. This mix also features a couple of tracks from Chicago's brief disco period in 1979, much maligned at the time but which enjoyed a reappraisal in the 1990s when Street Player was sampled by The Bucketheads. So much of Chicago's early work remains neglected though. Until now...

No Tell Lover

Life Is What It Is

Bright Eyes (Rehearsal)

Closer To You

Mama Mama

Policeman

Skinny Boy (with The Pointer Sisters)

Saturday In The Park

Love Was New

Happy Man

Just You ’N’ Me

Streetplayer

Call On Me

Paradise Alley

If You Leave Me Now

Another Rainy Day In New York City

Jenny

Tired Of Being Alone (with Al Green)

Little One

Download