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Disc 1844 is…Gonna make you sweat
Artist: C + C Music Factory
Year of Release: 1990
What’s up with the Cover? It was the fashion at the time. The baggy pants have aged poorly, but the short tight dress is a timeless classic.
How I Came To Know It: I probably saw a video for one of the singles and decided to buy the record. It’s not a good reason, but any other reason is likely worse. Back in the day I owned this album on cassette, but I only got it on CD last summer when I found it in a thrift store for $2. I might have paid up to $5, but that’s the upper limit.
How It Stacks Up: This is my only C+C Music Factory album, so it can’t stack up.
Ratings: 2 stars
It’s hard to fathom it now, but back in 1990/1991 C + C Music Factory was a big deal, and the songs on this record were ubiquitous across all the clubs in the city.
What were we thinking? Well, at least it gave me a memorable summer – more on that later.
C + C Music Factory was named after cofounders Robert Clivilles and David Cole. Along with rapper Freedom Williams they undertake a project that – according the back of the CD case – was composed of “rock + soul + funk + pop + techno = C + C”. If that means they would sample from all those things then sure. I’d just call this record “dance” since that is its principal value to the world.
For all that, when this record launches with the title track, Martha Walsh’s signature (albeit uncredited) peel of “everybody dance now!” you are suffused with joy and an irresistible drive to dance. Preferably ‘now’.
It’s a great song and the follow up, “Here We Go, Let’s Rock & Roll” is also a club banger. The third song is “Things That Make You Go Hmmmm…” which is a novelty song based on the Arsenio Hall catch phrase of the day. It was a different time. Yes, I watched Arsenio Hall, and probably thought “Things That Make You Go Hmmmm…” was mighty clever. Reader, it was not.
As for the raps on this record, do not expect Rakim or Eminem level word wizardry. Freedom Williams is not that inventive and seems content to land catch phrases rather than innovate with the beat. Nevertheless, I continue to quote a Freedom Williams line from this record 35 years later. It goes:
“I pay the price
to control the dice
I’m more precise
to the point, I’m nice.”
I do not know why I still quote this not-terribly-memorable line. I still feel clever when I say it, and I’m still not. At this time, I would remind you I secured this record for the bargain bin price of $2.
As for his rap style, Williams is talented in his phrasing but he’s not exactly edgy. He has the same staccato, gravelly delivery of Ice T, if you were to rip Ice T’s innards out and replace them with cotton candy and glitter. There’s nothing wrong with cotton candy and glitter, just don’t expect any gangsta vibes.
After the first three “radio friendly” songs, you will be subjected to 50 minutes of questionable dance beats. “Live Happy” is seven minutes of someone singing “Live Happy” while the boring, go-nowhere beat ensures this will not happen until after the song ends. “Ooh Baby” takes the same basic approach, but they sing “ooh baby”. So, you know, variety.
For all my dismissal of this record, it will always hold a place in my heart as the soundtrack for the summer of 1991.
That year I was back in my hometown. The local pulp and paper mill was not hiring summer students, and I had more time on my hands than usual to tool around in my bright yellow 1980 TR-7 convertible (this was early in my ownership, before it broke down in the thousand uniquely annoying ways Triumph automobiles break down).
I spent that summer in the company of a very beautiful young woman who possessed a carefree, disposition, a penchant for Scrabble, and legs for days (she did ballet).
She loved my car and liked me, albeit in an off-handed “just for the summer” kind of way. She also loved this record (at least more than whatever else I had in the glove box), and as a result it was pretty much the only thing that got played on the car stereo. It was hardly high art, but if it increased my chances to take a ballerina to the beach, that was more than enough artistic value for me.
The last song on the album is a ‘hidden’ track called “Shade” which isn’t even on the tape version to my memory. This song has some of the best dance beats on the album. It features a repetitive phrase like all the others, but this time it is a good one:
“We’re not gonna be shady – just fierce!”
A lovely nod to Drag culture, and a reminder that when faced with a choice, don’t tear others down – just be the best version of you.
With that in mind I’m not going to throw any further shade on this record, which has done right by me over the years. When I was in the city, it helped me show off my dance moves in the club. When I was in the country it helped catch the attention of a beautiful young woman who otherwise may have just kept walking.
Best tracks: Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now), Here We Go, Let’s Rock & Roll, Shade
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