“You’re Welcome, Stop on By”, a duet with Maiden, also sounds a little out of its element now.

Khan’s vocal in the latter is impressive, but the track is spoiled by (what is now) dated synthesizer work. The ‘80s make their mark with a talk box in “Tell Me Something Good”, written for Chaka by Stevie Wonder, and the same effect makes an appearance in “I’m a Woman (I’m a Backbone)”. And jive seems prominent for much of the album: “Once You Get Started”, with additional vocals by Tony Maiden, is all about the groove, “Dance Wit Me” is similarly high-energy, but an uptight grammatologist’s worst nightmare (the use of “wit” is purposeful, not a typographical error, and the lyrics demonstrate the early adoption of “party” as a verb through the deep and meaningful lyric of “I love the way you party”).ĭespite a “street” feel, much of the material sounds like adult-orientated rock – “Sweet Thing” seems too laid-back, as does the awkwardly spelled “Pack’d My Bags” until it unleashes into a strong funk workout. It’s fun but kind of jivey (ominously, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan covered “Jive Talking” on their eponymous 1975 album). “You Got The Love” (not the same song as recently made popular by Candi Station/Florence and the Machine, but the song written by Khan and Ray Parker, Jr.) was a number 11 hit on the Billboard chart, and is performed with horns and gospel-flavored backing vocals. The live recordings which make up the album are from February 1982, but there remains a distinct ‘70s feel, as if Starsky & Hutch are posing for photos with Huggy Bear at the back of the venue.

By 1982 the band admitted defeat, but Rufus and Kahn got together for three last live performances and this album of the shows (an accompanying documentary film was also made, shelved, then released on VHS). Both of these struggled, and it seems a hard lesson was learnt. Although bassist Bobby Watson states in the sleeve notes to this newly remastered re-release that Rufus was “Chaka’s band”, Rufus put out two albums without Kahn, Numbers and Seal in Red. Stompin’ at the Savoy came about due to Khan’s increasingly successful solo career, and the decline of Rufus.

Over the years this pairing has variably been known as Rufus & Chaka (again, potentially confusing), Rufus featuring Chaka Khan (less confusing) and Rufus with Chaka Khan (not confusing at all). Khan joined a band called Rufus in 1973 (not to be confused with Estonian pop band Ruffus or the Australian indie group RÜFÜS – Rufus were in fact one of America’s most successful funk bands of the 1970s). Younger readers should be made aware that Chaka Khan was at no time married to a man named Rufus.

Rufus and chaka khan