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



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