Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers met in 1970, working as New York City session musicians. They were part of an R&B group named after the city, with a hit record called “I’m Doing Fine Now.”
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Inspired by the glam rock band Roxy Music, Rodgers imagined a new band merging sound and image seamlessly. He was also inspired by the anonymousness of KISS—performing behind stage makeup and outrageous outfits.
Rodgers and Edwards formed Chic and produced their first hit single in 1977, “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah),” featuring a then-unknown session vocalist, Luther Vandross. Chic had a No. 1 disco hit and a recording contract with Atlantic Records, but still, they’d be denied entry into Earth’s hippest discotheque, the infamous Studio 54. All they had to do to get inside was compose the greatest disco song ever.
Studio 54
On a cold New Year’s Eve night in 1977, Studio 54 in New York City was hopping with celebs, hipsters, and wannabes. Grace Jones invited Chic to the club to discuss producing her next project. Edwards and Rodgers tried to enter but weren’t on the list. They couldn’t convince the doorman that their hit song “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)” played frequently inside the club. Chic was turned away at the door with nowhere to go, so they headed home and wrote a spiteful song about the stone-faced doorman.
A new song came together neatly expressing their emotions called “F— Off.” Edwards wanted to remove the curse words, but the replacement titles weren’t working. The lyrics Ah freak off! didn’t quite have the ring of Ah f— off! But the opening lines sparked a new title.
One, two
Ah, freak out!
Le freak, c’est chic
The lyric c’est chic, French for “it is chic” or stylish, became the album title, and “Le Freak,” like most Chic songs, was primed for the dance floor. C’est Chic, their second and most successful album, was released in 1978, but what would’ve happened if Edwards and Rodgers had been let inside Studio 54? Thankfully, a parallel universe without “Le Freak” does not exist.
Have you heard about the new dance craze?
Listen to us; I’m sure you’ll be amazed
Big fun to be had by everyone
It’s up to you; it surely can be done
Young and old are doing it, I’m told
Just one try, and you, too, will be sold
It’s called “Le Freak,” they’re doing it night and day
Allow us, we’ll show you the way
Le History
Studio 54 kept Chic outside, but “Le Freak” was let in. It became Atlantic Records biggest selling single, though the record label wasn’t immediately on board. When Edwards and Rodgers presented “Le Freak,” the label executives left the conference room before the long funk jam had ended—they asked if Chic had anything better for the next single. Chic pushed for the song anyway, and though Atlantic execs missed a hit right under their noses, they trusted the group and eventually released the song.
In 1979, Casablanca Records released A Night at Studio 54, and “Le Freak” was included as the first track. The RIAA certified the album Gold, and Chic no longer had problems entering Studio 54.
“Le Freak” was inspired by Chubby Checker’s “Peppermint Twist,” another soul classic inventing a dance for a new generation. Checker’s song was written to capitalize on the “twist” dance craze in 1961. Just as “Le Freak” was inspired by Studio 54, “Peppermint Twist” was written for the Peppermint Lounge in New York City. Checker’s “Peppermint Twist” knocked his own song “The Twist” from the top of the charts.
Upside Down
Chic changed pop music, and Edwards and Rodgers became in-demand producers and songwriters. The duo wrote and produced a supreme disco hit for Diana Ross, “Upside Down.” They were also responsible for the Sister Sledge hit “We Are Family,” but “Upside Down” was their first time working with a superstar. Tensions flared in the studio with the former Supreme, but her album Diana produced two of her biggest post-Supremes hits, written by Chic.
[RELATED: The Funk Duo Who Wrote the 1979 Sister Sledge Disco Anthem “We Are Family”]
Inside Out and Round and Round
Returning to Chic’s beginnings as a group, Nile Rodgers wanted to be in an image-conscious band like KISS. Gene Simmons, the group’s bass player, calls himself The Demon, and little could he have imagined he might inspire an R&B group like Chic.
But the inspiration shot back on KISS like a mirrored boomerang from Studio 54’s disco ball. Their most popular song these days isn’t a hard rock or heavy metal number written about demons or anything occult. It’s a 1979 disco song called “I Was Made for Lovin’ You.” Neither this song nor “Le Freak” would exist without the other. Ah, freak out!
Photo by Mike Prior/Redferns
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