Street Players

Chicago recorded the track during the May–June 1979 sessions for Chicago 13 at Le Studio in Montreal and A&M Studios in Hollywood. Phil Ramone co-produced the sessions with the band, and Airto Moreira played percussion on the track. It appeared on Chicago 13, the band’s 1979 move into a more disco-funk direction, and Columbia issued it as a single in October 1979. The song became one of the album’s defining cuts and was performed on Saturday Night Live later that year. The track later became a major sample source for dance music, most famously in The Bucketheads’ “The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall Into My Mind).” Its looping groove and vocal hooks kept it in circulation well beyond Chicago’s original release.