2009 Pop Conference Bios/Abstracts

Andy Zax

Andy Zax is a reissue producer, writer, DJ and former co-star of Comedy Central’s Beat The Geeks. He has produced boxed sets and reissues for such artists as Talking Heads, Television, Judee Sill, Nico, John Cale, Lee Hazlewood, David Axelrod, Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band, Little Richard and The Neon Philharmonic. Current projects include a revamp of Rod Stewart’s catalog and the upcoming Woodstock 40th anniversary anthology. He lives in Los Angeles.
Panel(s):
Liminal Grooves
Sunday, April 19, 2009, 10:45 - 12:30
Abstract:

"Lost in Lost Music: Rediscovering Johnny Mathis' I Love My Lady"
In 1981, crooner Johnny Mathis--fresh from a successful collaboration with Deniece Williams--entered the studio with Chic, the innovative disco/funk band. Chic auteurs Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers were then at their commercial and critical peak, and the album they wrote and produced for Mathis, I Love My Lady, was intended to reinvent the vocalist for a younger generation.

But upon its completion, the record was perceived—whether by Mathis, his management or the record company remains unclear—as having Gone Too Far. I Love My Lady sounded too funky, too black, too intertwined with the kind of musical sound Mathis had spent his entire career avoiding. Amidst fear that the album would alienate a straight-laced audience that Mathis had cultivated for more than two decades, the project was killed. 28 years after it was recorded, I Love My Lady remains unreleased. Since then, the album's mysterious disappearance has made it the subject of considerable myth and speculation; despite the fact that virtually no one has ever heard a note of it, it is often included on lists of “Great Lost Albums.”

In 2007, I discovered a set of masters to the album while combing through the Warner Bros. vaults for material related to an upcoming Chic boxed set. As the producer of that project, I will be discussing both the history behind the album’s original recording and subsequent suppression as well as the current attempt to bring it back into light. I’ll also be touching on some of the challenges facing recovery projects of this sort, especially in a time where record companies are making it more difficult to search through archived material for just these kinds of forgotten recordings.

PANEL ABSTRACT:

This panel builds on last year’s Liminal Soul panel for EMP, once again exploring a premise raised by Gayle Wald in her research on Sister Rosetta Tharpe: “forgetting takes place through a series of discrete, intentional acts.”

In keeping with this year’s conference theme, our new panel proposes to explore both acts of “forgetting” and “recovery” as it applies to several examples from dance genres such as funk and hip-hop. Our four papers examine a variety of moments and artists both lost to - and brought back from - history’s shadows. Through them, we will also be tackling larger questions around the politics of race, gender and the global travels of media.

Thank's Rick for this info

We wait for the April 19 ...

Think we need to get hold of contact details for Andy Zax. Firstly to find out which tracks will be on the Chic Box Set and when it's due for release and also further details of the Mathis album and whether he would be able to give us samples of each track.

Very interesting stuff though. Wish I lived in Seattle!

Just to let you guys know that I've been in touch with Andy Zax who states although by no means definite, he hopes the Box Set will be released by the end of the year. I asked him a number of questions in respect of the Box Set but, understandably, he says it's inappropriate to release information on it at this stage that proves to be incorrect as things with the Box Set develop.

He's asked me to keep in touch, which I will, and should anything come from this I will, of course, let you guys know.

According to extremely serious and verified informations we had in French CHIC Fan Club (we promised to not give details, sorry guys ), It will be not only a CHIC Box but a CHIC Organization Box including some real treasures.
The CHIC Box seems to be an international project.
Simon is right, It will be released (if it will be...) only in several month.

The CHIC Org. Boxset will be released (if it will...) under the Rhino UK label.
Rhino UK (www.rhino.co.uk) already released a lot of boxsets.
It's Andy Zax who re-discovered some masters (Chic, Sheila B Devotion, maybe Johnny Mathis, ...).
He works with Rhino UK and Warner Music France for the CHIC Org. Boxset tracklisting.
But he will not be the boxset producer.

Andy,

It feels good that the project is in professional hands.

Are you also involved with the box packaging, if not do you know who is, can you tell us?

I would like it if the box came in a special edition package (as well as an ordinary edition), styled like a luxurious jewel box, nice enough to have placed on a table as an object of art. Maybe a shiny black or red silk (or shiny black plastic) box encrusted with the typical CHIC logo in diamond like crystals.