Let's All Chant

Personnel: Michael Zager (keyboards); Bill Baker, Ullanda McCullough, Alvin Fields, Maretha Stewart, Loni Clark, Dollette McDonald, Frank Floyd (vocals); Cliff Morris, Jeff Mironov (guitar); Gloria Agostini (harp); Raymond Crisara (trumpet); Tom "Bones" Malone, David Taylor , Gerry Chamberlain (trombone); Brooks Tillotson, John Gatchell, Alan Rubin, James Buffington, Bob Millikan (horns); Rob Mounsey (keyboards, synthesizer); Allen Schwarzberg (drums); Dave Garey, Rubens Bassini (percussion); George Marge, Walter Kane, Phil Bodner, Ronnie Cuber (wind).
The Michael Zager Band's "Let's All Chant" was among the more unorthodox disco hits of 1978. Lyrically the tune was nothing special; "Let's All Chant" offered the usual disco clichés about dancing and working your body. But musically, Zager's single grabbed your attention by combining a disco/funk beat with a European-influenced, oddly baroque (some would say pseudo-baroque) sensibility. "Let's All Chant" was as infectious as it was quirky, and it made you want to hear what the rest of this debut album by producer/arranger/composer Zager sounded like. Unfortunately, the other songs on this uneven LP fall short of the excellence of the title song. "Freak," "Music Fever," and "Love Express" are catchy, if generic, disco items that aren't as interesting as "Let's All Chant" but worked well on dancefloors. The only thing on Let's All Chant that one would want to go out of his/her way to avoid is the corny, ultra-cheesy "Dancin' Disney," a disco medley of Disney songs. But this LP has more ups than downs, and it remained in the libraries of many dance club DJs long after its initial release in 1978. ~ Alex Henderson