By the time Evelyn “Champagne” King released Take A Chance in 1982, she was already one of the defining voices of post-disco R&B. Discovered as a teenager while cleaning offices at Philadelphia International Records, King had exploded onto the scene in 1977 with the timeless anthem Shame. But Take A Chance proved she was far more than a one-hit wonder – it showed an artist evolving confidently into the new decade.
The track appeared on her album Get Loose, a record that marked a clear shift from lush late-70s disco toward the tighter, funk-infused R&B sound of the early 80s. Written and produced by Morrie Brown and Paul Lawrence Jones III, Take A Chance rides on a crisp mid-tempo groove built around punchy basslines, glossy synth chords, and those unmistakable early-80s drum machine textures. It’s sophisticated dance music – smoother than straight funk, more soulful than pure pop.
Vocally, King is in top form. Her voice carries both strength and sweetness, effortlessly gliding between flirtatious playfulness and emotional sincerity. The lyrics are classic feel-good romance: an invitation to be brave, to trust your feelings, and to risk it all for love. In King’s hands, it becomes more than just a pop sentiment – it feels genuine, warm, and irresistibly optimistic.
Commercially, Take A Chance performed well, reaching the Top 20 on the US R&B charts and becoming a staple on dance floors and urban radio. While it never quite reached the iconic status of Love Come Down (her massive hit from the same album), it remains a fan favorite and a key track in her catalog.
Musically, the song captures a moment in time when disco was transforming rather than disappearing. It bridges eras: the glamour of the 70s, the electronic sheen of the 80s, and the emerging boogie sound that DJs and collectors still obsess over today. That’s why Take A Chance continues to show up in modern DJ sets, re-edits, and nostalgic playlists – it simply hasn’t aged.
More than four decades later, Evelyn “Champagne” King’s Take A Chance stands as a reminder of how effortlessly she blended soul, pop, and dance music. It’s classy, confident, and endlessly groovy – exactly what great R&B should be.
Fast forward forty-four years. Somewhere, in a room lined with records and possibilities, Sam Shelley is digging through the archaeology of groove. Fingers walking across worn cardboard spines, dust motes dancing like tiny disco balls. Then it happens – his hand lands on this small black circle from 1982. A relic, a survivor, a certified slice of boogie history.
He pauses. Recognition. That familiar flicker in the eyes of a man who knows exactly what he’s found.
What follows is the modern equivalent of alchemy. Needles drop, tempos shift, loops get lovingly teased apart and stitched back together. Shelley does what Shelley does – takes something already brilliant and polishes it until it shines like it just rolled off the factory line.
And here we are.
Another re-edit wearing the unmistakable fingerprints of the master. Proof, if any were needed, that inspiration never retires, it just waits patiently in the racks for the right pair of hands.
Right now, Sam Shelley’s mojo isn’t just alive and well. It’s positively colossal.
