Off White

For the color, see Off-white. For other uses, see Off-white (disambiguation).

Off White
Studio album by James White and the Blacks
Released	1979
Recorded	September–December 1978
Genre	No wave, art punk, punk jazz, post-disco
Length	42:06
Label	ZE
Producer	James Chance
James White and the Blacks chronology
Off White (1979) Sax Maniac (1982)

Off White is a 1979 album by American no wave band James White and the Blacks.

History

In late 1978, ZE Records co-founder Michael Zilkha approached James Chance and offered Chance $10,000 to record a disco album.[1] Zilkha gave little direction and asked the band for its own take on the genre.[2] Anya Phillips, Chance's manager and girlfriend, came up with the idea to rename James Chance and the Contortions to James White and the Blacks for the album.[1] An alternate name, James White and His Blacks, was rejected by Zilkha. Phillips and the band put together outfits resembling 1960s soul singers.[3]

Chance said that he was interested in the monotonous sound of disco music because it "doesn't have beginnings and ends".[4] His persona is an homage to soul and funk musician James Brown.[5] Chance was also intrigued by the shock value of a punk group embracing disco.[6] He received disco records for free and passed time listening to a record for several seconds before throwing it out a window.[7] Chance wrote a piece for the first issue of East Village Eye, praising disco and denouncing "outdated, cornball 'new/no wave' drivel".[6][8]

Off White includes contributions from Lydia Lunch, Robert Quine, and Vivienne Dick.[9] The band spent most of their budget recording the album's first side and used instrumentals for the second side.[10] The album often discusses racial issues, and most of its titles are references to race.[11] Some responded to the Off White with accusations of racism.[12] Chance later responded, "I was the one that brought black music onto the whole punk scene, and I took a lot of shit for it…I was just playing with my whole image of a white person doing black music."[13]

James White and the Blacks promoted the album with a February 1979 performance at Club 57 in the East Village, Manhattan.[12] ZE rented Irving Plaza for the album's launch party, where the band lip synced its songs. The band's live performances included two teenage dancers called the Disco Lolitas.[3]

The band released "Contort Yourself" as a 12" vinyl single.[9] The song originally appeared on Buy, and the group re-recorded it with a disco beat. Chance observed that the tempo was too fast to be played in discos, so ZE labelmate August Darnell created a remix of it. Darnell used a slower tempo and wrote a new guitar part.[14] James White and the Blacks' version of "Contort Yourself" was later included in ZE's 1981 Mutant Disco compilation,[15] its 2003 NY No Wave compilation,[16] Strut Records' 2008 Disco Not Disco 3,[17] and ZE's 2009 compilation for its 30th anniversary.[18]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[19]
Christgau's Record Guide	B−[20]
DownBeat	[21]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide	[22]

Upon the album's release, Billboard magazine said that it "commands attention" and described the music as "savage, uncompromising, sometimes dissonant, but always interesting".[5] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau described it as "pretty good to dance to" but added that "like so much disco music it gets tedious over a whole side."[20] AllMusic characterized Off White as "an acquired taste" containing "some of the most challenging, intriguing music to emerge from the post-punk era."[19] The Guardian included Off White in its list of "1000 albums to hear before you die".[23]

Track listing

All tracks are written by James White unless otherwise noted

Side One

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Contort Yourself" (produced by August Darnell)		6:15
2.	"Stained Sheets"	Chance, Lydia Lunch	5:51
3.	"(Tropical) Heat Wave"	Irving Berlin	3:55
4.	"Almost Black, pt. 1"	Chance, Kristian Hoffman	3:17

Side Two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"White Savages"	Chance, Hoffman	4:52
2.	"Off Black"		6:29
3.	"Almost Black, pt. 2"	Chance, Hoffman	3:59
4.	"White Devil"		4:36
5.	"Bleached Black"		2:52

Personnel

James White and the Blacks

• James White – alto saxophone, organ, vocals
• Jody Harris – guitar
• Pat Place – slide guitar
• George Scott III – bass
• Don Christensen – drums

Additional personnel

• Robert Quine – guitar on 6, 7
• Vivienne Dick– viola on 8
• Paul Colin – tenor saxophone on 4, 7
• Kristian Hoffman – piano 2, 3, vocals on 3
• Adele Bertei – piano on 1, vocals on 4
• Ray Mantilla – congas on 3
• Lydia Lunch – guitar on 8, vocals (as Stella Rico) on 2
• Anya Phillips – vocals on 3, 4

Notes

1. Masters 92.
2. Howe, Zoë (July 7, 2010). "Bow To The Devilish Prince: James Chance Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
3. Reynolds 155.
4. Silverton, Pete (February 17, 1979). "No New York". Sounds.
5. "James White & the Blacks – Off White". Billboard. November 24, 1979. p. 66.
6. Reynolds 154.
7. Moore and Coley 95.
8. Smith, Duncan; Chance, James; Phillips, Anya (May 1979). "White & Co. Move Uptown" (PDF). East Village Eye. 1 (1): 8. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
9. Masters 93.
10. Moore and Coley 98.
11. Young 40.
12. Masters 94.
13. Mamone, Jordan N. (March 18, 2003). "Wasteland Survivor: James Chance keeps making it, any way he can". New York Press. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
14. Kitching, Sean (November 3, 2014). "Designed To Kill: James Chance & Melt Yourself Down's Pete Wareham". The Quietus. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
15. Linhardt, Alex (December 7, 2003). "Various Artists: Mutant Disco". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
16. Harvell, Jess (October 9, 2006). "Mutants on the Bounty". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
17. Kellman, Andy. "Disco Not Disco: Post Punk, Electro & Leftfield Disco Classics, Vol. 3 - Various Artists". AllMusic. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
18. Powell, Mike (August 14, 2009). "Various Artists: Ze 30: Ze Records Story 1979-2009". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
19. Valdivia, Victor W. Off White at AllMusic. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
20. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: W". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 22, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
21. Birnbaum, Larry (January 1980). "James White and the Blacks/The Contortions: Off White/Buy the Contortions". DownBeat. Vol. 47, no. 1. pp. 32, 34.
22. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1996. p. 130.
23. "1000 albums to hear before you die". The Guardian. November 22, 2007. Retrieved November 22, 2014.

References

• Masters, Marc (2007). No Wave. Black Dog Publishing. ISBN 978-1-906-155-02-5.
• Moore, Thurston; Coley, Byron (2008). No Wave: Post-Punk. Underground. New York. 1976-1980. New York: Abrams Image.
• Reynolds, Simon (2006). Rip It Up and Start Again. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-303672-6.
• Young, Rob, ed. (2009). The Wire Primers. Verso Books. ISBN 978-1-84467-427-5.

External links

• Off White at ZE Records
• Off White at Discogs (list of releases)