40th anniversary of King Of The World by Sheila & B. Devotion (Luv's former label mates)

In October 1979, Luv' signed an exclusive and lucrative record deal with CNR (a label affiliated with the French company Carrere). Prior to this contract, Luv's previous label Philips/Phonogram already licensed the rights for some records (including You're the Greatest Lover, Trojan Horse and With Luv') to Carrere in Germany. 

Among the label mates of the ladies at Carrere was French disco group Sheila & B. Devotion (fronted by pop singer Sheila) whose heyday coincided with Luv's glory years (1977 - 1980). 

On June 27th, 1980 Carrere released the iconic LP entitled King Of The World by Sheila & B. Devotion. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of this legendary album, Warner Music France reissued it recently in three formats:

2LP+2CD+1DVD Collector's Edition: click here to buy a copy.

2 CD Deluxe edition: click here to buy a copy.

Red vinyl edition: click here to buy a copy.

The album is also available on the major online platforms (Spotify, Deezer and iTunes/Apple Music).

In addition to the eight original album tracks digitally remastered, the reissue of King Of The World includes exclusive remixes by Tom Moulton, Dimitri From Paris, Fred Falke, Young Pulse and Monsieur Willy as well as studio outtakes previously unreleased. 

King Of The World was written and produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers of American R&B band Chic. It included Sheila & B. Devotion's signature song Spacer which came out as a foretaste of the LP in November 1979. 

King Of The World (which was released at the height of the Disco Sucks era) captures the Zeitgeist of 1979-1980: space conquest (Spacer), consumerism (Charge Plates and Credit Cards), Fashion world (Cover Girl). The LP also featured pure American R&B tracks like Your Love Is Good and Don't Go and uptempo pop-rock oriented songs like Mayday, Misery and King Of The World. Nile Rodgers told in interviews that Duran Duran loved this opus. 

Sheila and Nile Rodgers discussing Spacer and the King Of The World Album

Spacer was an international chart hit: #18 on the UK Singles Chart, #8 on the Irish Singles Chart, #5 on the SNEP Singles Chart (France), #6 on the Italian Singles Chart, #9 on the Musikmarkt/Media Control Chart (Germany), #20 on the BT Hitlisten (Denmark), #14 on the Ultratop (Flanders - Belgium), #22 on the Nationale Hitparade (Netherlands), #19 on the Dutch Top 40 (Netherlands), #19 on the South African Singles Chart, #28 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard - USA) and #44 on the Dance Club Songs (Billboard - USA). 

Spacer was sampled by Swedish band Alcazar for their 2001 hit Crying at the Discotheque (which peaked at #13 in UK and reached the Top 10 and Top 20 in other European countries (Germany, Benelux, Italy, Spain...) and even Australia). 

Crying At The Discotheque by Alcazar (2001)

Ooh, Yes I Do by Luv' came out practically at the same time as Spacer (see news posted on November 10th, 2019). Luv' and Sheila & B. Devotion even performed their two big hits on two high-rated TV shows in Germany: Musikladen (broadcast on December 13th, 1979 on Radio Bremen) and ZDF's New Year Eve program Jetzt Geht Die Party Richtig Los! on December 31st, 1979.

Sheila and Will Hoebee (who started to date Luv' singer José at the time) posed for a photograph backstage at ZDF's show. In 1975, Will co-wrote and produced with Peter Koelewijn the pop hit Patrick Mon Chéri by Kiki and Pearly. In 1976, Sheila covered the track in French and had a hit record with it (400.000 copies sold in France). The picture of Sheila and Will (published in the January 9th, 1980 edition of Dutch teen magazine Hitkrant) was to commemorate the success of Patrick Mon Chéri.

Will Hoebee & Sheila

Ooh, Yes I Do by Luv' on Musikladen

Spacer by Sheila & B. Devotion on Musikladen

 

 In addition to Spacer, two other tracks taken from the album were released as singles:

King Of The World (June 1980)

Chart performance:

#11 on the SNEP chart (France)

Your Love Is Good (1980)

Chart performance:

#75 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard - USA)

Source: Wikipedia, Amazon, Sheila's official website, Funku.fr; Chartsinfrance.net, Toutelaculture.com, RTL, Europe 1, Nostalgie, YouTube, Luv' weblog archives.