One of the central figures of the No Wave movement of the late '70s, James Chance and the Contortions formed in New York City in 1977. They were led by vocalist/saxophonist Chance, a Milwaukee native (born James Sigfried) who also answered to the alias James White.

After relocating to the Big Apple to play free jazz, he fell in with the city's avant-garde community; upon adopting the surname Chance and acquiring a wardrobe of outrageously loud suits, Chance formed the Contortions, an abrasively chaotic funk-noise outfit featuring organist Adele Bertei, guitarists Pat Place and Jody Harris, and drummer Don Christiansen.

In 2003 the small indie label Tiger Style reissued all the official material Chance/White recorded, along with a few ultra rare tracks, on the three disc set Irresistible Impulse. The reissue coincided with Chance's return to playing live again, albeit sporadically. The following year Tiger Style released a two disc compilation Sax Education containing his "greatest hits" with a second disc of a previously unreleased live performance for Radio Holland from 1981.