"Let's All Chant" is a song written by Michael Zager and Alvin Fields and performed by the Michael Zager Band. It was based on an idea originally suggested by former head of A&R Jerry Love after he visited clubs in New York and saw people endlessly chanting "Ooh-ah, Ooh-ah". Although Zager was first embarrassed when Love asked him to write a song using these chants, he accepted the proposal and later co-wrote "Let's All Chant" with Fields.

The opening track and lead single from the group's eponymous LP, "Let's All Chant" was released as a single in December 1977, with the track "Love Express" as a B-side. An unexpected smash hit, the single reached number one on the disco chart and crossed over to the Soul Singles chart, where it peaked at number 15, and to the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number 36. In Europe, the single reached the top 10 in several countries, including the UK, Ireland and France. It eventually sold five million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.

Recognizable by both its vocal hooks and its classical section, which is featured in the middle of the song, "Let's All Chant" was well received by critics, who have praised its musical arrangement and its catchiness. Many reviewers regard the song as a classic of the disco era. It also became a turning point in Michael Zager's career. As well as being used in many TV advertisements and movies, it has become an influential dance song which has been extensively covered or remixed by numerous artists and has been interpolated or sampled in many other tracks.

Background and recording

When he was still at A&M Records, Michael Zager met Jerry Love, the former head of A&R for A&M Records.[1] After Love subsequently left the record label, he and Zager formed the Michael Zager Moon's Band in 1976.[2] Love was an habitué of Studio 54 and went to clubs every night. One evening, he went to Greenwich Village to visit several clubs and noted that people were continuously singing "Ooh-ah, Ooh-ah"[1] to every tune which was played in order to increase their own participation and pleasure.[2] The next day, he described the scene to Zager and suggested that Zager write a song incorporating the "Ooh-ah, Ooh-ah" vocals. Zager told Love: "You have to be kidding; that's embarrassing!" Love commented that everybody was doing it and that if Zager wrote a song using these chants, dancers would love it.[1]
In parallel, the group's name was changed to the Michael Zager Band and they signed with the label Private Stock Records.[2] For their forthcoming LP, Zager wrote two songs, "Let's All Chant" and "Love Express", together with Alvin Fields.[1] The co-writer shared lead vocals on "Let's All Chant" with session singers Dollette McDonald and Billy Baker.[2] Zager added a classical section to the track. He later remarked:
The reason I added the piccolo trumpet and classical section in the middle of Let's All Chant' was mainly because I was embarrassed! I thought it was so stupid with that 'Ooh-ah' sound in it that I wanted to add something to lift the track musically. I have a classical background and went to a music conservatory, so I was really feeling embarrassed[1]
"Let's All Chant" and "Love Express" were both recorded at the Secret Sound Studios, in Manhattan.[2] Once the tracks were recorded, Zager told Fields: "I'm gonna kill you if this isn't a hit!"

Composition

"Let's All Chant" is a disco song[3] driven by a repetitive bassline, handclaps and numerous vocal hooks (such as "Ah-ah, eh-eh, let's all chant" and "Your body, my body, everybody work your body").[4] These typical disco lyrics are about dancing and working one's body.[3] The song's instrumentation also includes Afro-Cuban drums, a "rollicking" piano line and an ensemble of wind instruments, marked by a piccolo trumpet solo which sounds "like it's straight out of the Dynasty opening theme song".[4] The song's tempo is 121 bpm[5] and is very close to the average tempo of a standard disco song (120 bpm).[6] According to AllMusic reviewer Alex Henderson, the combination of the "European-influenced, oddly baroque" feeling with a "catchy disco/funk beat" grabs the attention of the listener and encourages him to discover the rest of the eponymous LP.[3]

Commercial performance and sales
"We thought it would be a club hit, but it never entered my mind it would be a global hit. I thought it would be a two-month record and that would be the end of it."
—Michael Zager[1]
"Let's All Chant" was released as a single with "Love Express" as a B-side[2] in December 1977, on Christmas week.[1] Zager thought it was the worst time to release the single because many artists usually released their albums during this period[1] and thought the single would only become a "disco hit".[7] However, the single became an unexpected smash hit.[1][2] It climbed to number one on the disco chart on February 18, 1978, knocking Cerrone's "Supernature" off the top spot, and remained atop the chart for one week, before being toppled by Bionic Boogie's "Dance Little Dreamer".[8] In the US, "Let's All Chant" also charted at number 15 on the Soul Singles chart,[9] number 25 on the Cash Box Top 100 Singles,[10] number 31 on the Record World[11] and number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100.[9] In Canada, the single peaked at number two on the dance chart (behind "Supernature")[12] and at number 27 on the singles chart.[13] A music video was simultaneously released.[14]
The single did even better in Europe, reaching the top 10 in several countries. It peaked at number eight on both the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Chart.[15][16] In the Netherlands, the song reached the fourth place on the Dutch Top 40 and the Single Top 100 charts and stayed for thirteen weeks on both charts.[14][17] It also reached number four in Switzerland, where it became the 25th best-selling single of the year 1978.[18][19] In France, "Let's All Chant" peaked at number five and became the eleventh best-selling single of 1978 in this country.[20][21] In Belgium, it peaked at number two for three weeks, being kept from the top spot by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John's "You're the One That I Want",[22] and remains the eight best-selling single of the year.[23] The single also reached number 14 in Germany and stayed for 21 weeks on the national chart.[18]
By July 1979, the single sold over three million copies worldwide[24] and eventually went on to sell five million copies worldwide,[1][6] selling about 6 to 700,000 copies in the US[1] and about 763,000 copies in France.[25] It was also certified gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) for certified sales of 75,000 copies.[26]

Critical reception

Critically, AllMusic's Henderson provided a mixed description of the track. Although he criticized the lyrics for being "usual disco clichés", he also called the song "quirky", "infectious" and "interesting" and viewed "Let's All Chant" as one of the most "unorthodox disco hits of 1978".[3] In their book Saturday Night Forever: The Story of Disco, Alan Jones and Jussi Kantonen described the song as being "supremely catchy and melodic, with a quite miraculous classical chamber music-style break in the middle" and considered the track "a key recording that instantly defines the disco era."[2] They also regarded "Let's All Chant" as the high point in Michael Zager's career.[2] In 2006, Slant Magazine ranked the song number 50 in its 100 Greatest Dance Songs list, describing it as a "deft mix of disco, funk and baroque-pop" and writing that the song's breakdown made it special.[4] The track was also ranked 165th on the 700 Top Disco Songs, a list drawn up by several DJs from all over the world.[27]