James Chance and the Contortions (initially known simply as Contortions, a spin-off group is called James White and the Blacks) was a musical group led by saxophonist and vocalist

James Chance James Chance, also known as James White (born James Siegfried, April 20, 1953 – June 18, 2024), was an American saxophonist, keyboard player, and singer. A key figure in no wave, Chance played a combination of improvisational jazz-like musi ...

, formed in 1977. They were a central act of New York City's downtown

no wave No wave was an avant-garde music genre and visual art scene that emerged in the late 1970s in Downtown New York City. The term was a pun based on the rejection of commercial new wave music. Reacting against punk rock's recycling of rock and r ...

music scene in the late 1970s, and were featured on the influential compilation ''

No New York ''No New York'' is a no wave compilation album released in 1978 by record label Antilles under the curation of producer Brian Eno. Although it only contains songs by four different artists, it has been considered important in defining and docu ...

'' (1978).

Recording history

Their first recording, credited solely as ''Contortions'', was on the 1978 compilation, ''

'', produced by

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

. The following year, two albums were issued almost simultaneously on

ZE Records ZE Records was a New York–based record label, started in 1978 by Michael Zilkha and Michel Esteban, and closed in 1984. It was reestablished by Esteban in 2003; its website was last updated in 2019. History Michael Zilkha (b. 1954) is a Br ...

; '' Buy'' and '' Off White'' under the moniker James White and the Blacks. The same musicians recorded both records, though none are credited on the album covers. The Contortions appeared in

Rosa von Praunheim Holger Bernhard Bruno Mischwitzky (born Holger Radtke; 25 November 1942), known professionally as Rosa von Praunheim, is a German film director, author, producer, professor of directing and one of the most influential and famous LGBT social move ...

's film ''Das Todesmagazin'' in 1979. In 2016, Chance released his first single with his original Contortions band in nearly 30 years, entitled "Melt Yourself Down". A music video for the single was directed, filmed and animated by 19 year old Dylan Greenberg and is considered the first Contortions music video to make significant use of dramatic digital effects, such as Chance's face being manipulated to appear as if it were melting.

Band members

Original Contortions guitarist

Pat Place Pat Place (born 1953) is an American artist, photographer, and musician noted for her work as a founding member and guitarist of no wave bands James Chance and the Contortions and Bush Tetras. Art Place grew up in Chicago. She studied art in coll ...

went on to found the group Bush Tetras. Bass player George Scott played with

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

and Michael Paumgarten in 8-Eyed Spy. Shortly thereafter, guitarist

Jody Harris Jody Harris is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and composer who was born in Kansas and became a central figure in the seminal no wave scene in New York City in the 1970s. Career history Harris was lead guitarist in the Contortions, an ...

formed Raybeats with Don Christensen, George Scott III and Pat Irwin. Keyboardist Adele Bertei formed the Bloods, after which she released a solo record, ''Little Lives'', in 1988. In 1979 George Scott toured with

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styles across rock, dr ...

, as documented on the album ''Sabotage Live''. Scott died of a heroin overdose on August 5, 1980. Steven Kramer played organ and percussion in the second incarnation of the Contortions in 1979–80, and later led the Twin Cities MN funk/polka band The Wallets. Some of the members of James White and the Blacks, notably

Joseph Bowie Joseph Bowie (born October 17, 1953) is an American jazz trombonist and vocalist. The brother of trumpeter Lester Bowie, Joseph is known for leading the jazz-punk group Defunkt and for membership in the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble. Career Bo ...

, separated from Chance and formed the band Defunkt. On November 30, 2010, James Chance, Pat Place, Don Christensen, Jody Harris,

Adele Bertei Adele Maria Bertei (born 1955) is an American singer, songwriter, writer, and director. Early life Bertei was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1955. She is the oldest of three children born to Katherine (née Murphy) and Umberto Bertei. Her father w ...

, and Robert Aaron reunited as James Chance and the Contortions at Le Poisson Rouge for a single performance. Robert Aaron was not an original member but frequently collaborated with Chance. James Chance died on June 18, 2024 at the age of 71.

Legacy

The Contortions were featured in 2023 at the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

in a Nicolas Ballet curated

No Wave No wave was an avant-garde music genre and visual art scene that emerged in the late 1970s in Downtown New York City. The term was a pun based on the rejection of commercial new wave music. Reacting against punk rock's recycling of rock and r ...

exhibition entitled ''Who You Staring At: Culture visuelle de la scène no wave des années 1970 et 1980'' (''Visual culture of the no wave scene in the 1970s and 1980s'').
''Who You Staring At?: Visual culture of the no wave scene in the 1970s and 1980s'' February 1 – June 19, 2023, Film, Video, Sound and Digital Collections

Discography

* ''

'' (1978) (compilation contribution, as Contortions) * '' Buy'' (1979) (as Contortions) * ''Live aux Le Bains Douches, Bains Douches'' (1980) * ''Live in New York'' (1981) * ''Soul Exorcism'' (1991) * ''Lost Chance'' (1995) * ''Molotov Cocktail Lounge'' (Enemy, 1996) * ''White Cannibal'' (2000) * ''The Flesh is Weak'' (2016)

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

"X-Magazine Benefit"
by Coleen Fitzgibbon and Alan W. Moore 1978/2009, video, 11 minutes of

Colab Colab is the commonly used abbreviation of the New York City artists' group Collaborative Projects, which was formed after a series of open meetings between artists of various disciplines. History Colab members came together as a collective in ...

's X Magazine Benefit that documents the

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

performances of James Chance and the Contortions,

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

and Boris Policeband
James Chance & the Contortions played LPR (pics & video)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chance and the Contortions, James No wave groups American sound artists American experimental musicians American noise rock music groups ROIR artists Jazz ensembles from New York City Free jazz ensembles Punk rock groups from New York (state) American experimental musical groups American post-punk music groups Musical groups established in 1977 Musical groups disestablished in 2016 Enemy Records artists ZE Records artists 1977 establishments in New York (state) 2016 disestablishments in New York (state)