There can be little argument that Chic was disco's greatest band; and, working in a heavily producer-dominated field, they were most definitely a band. By the time Chic appeared in the late '70s, disco was already slipping into the excess that eventually caused its downfall. Chic bucked the trend by stripping disco's sound down to its basic elements; their funky, stylish grooves had an organic sense of interplay that was missing from many of their overproduced competitors. Chic's sound was anchored by the scratchy, James Brown-style rhythm guitar of Nile Rodgers and the indelible, widely imitated (sometimes outright stolen) bass lines of Bernard Edwards; as producers, they used keyboard and string embellishments economically, which kept the emphasis on rhythm. Chic's distinctive approach not only resulted in some of the finest dance singles of their time, but also helped create a template for urban funk, dance-pop, and even hip-hop in the post-disco era. Not coincidentally, Rodgers and Edwards wound up as two of the most successful producers of the '80s.
Rodgers and Edwards first met in 1970, when both were jazz-trained musicians fresh out of high school. Edwards had attended New York's High School for the Performing Arts and was working in a Bronx post office at the time, while Rodgers' early career also included stints in the folk group New World Rising and the Apollo Theater house orchestra. Around 1972, Rodgers and Edwards formed a jazz-rock fusion group called the Big Apple Band. This outfit moonlighted as a backup band, touring behind smooth soul vocal group New York City in the wake of their 1973 hit "I'm Doin' Fine Now." After New York City broke up, the Big Apple Band hit the road with Carol Douglas for a few months, and Rodgers and Edwards decided to make a go of it on their own toward the end of 1976. At first they switched their aspirations from fusion to new wave, briefly performing as Allah & the Knife Wielding Punks, but quickly settled into dance music. They enlisted onetime LaBelle drummer Tony Thompson and female vocalists Norma Jean Wright and Alfa Anderson, and changed their name to Chic in summer 1977 so as to avoid confusion with Walter Murphy & the Big Apple Band (who'd just hit big with "A Fifth of Beethoven").
Augmented in the studio by keyboardists Raymond Jones and Rob Sabino, Chic recorded the demo single "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)" and shopped it around to several major record companies, all of which declined it. The small Buddah label finally released it as a 12" in late 1977, and as its club popularity exploded, Atlantic stepped in, signed the group, and re-released the single on a wider basis. "Dance, Dance, Dance" hit the Top Ten, peaking at number six, and made Chic one of the hottest new groups in disco. Chic scrambled to put together their self-titled first album, which spawned a minor follow-up hit, "Everybody Dance," in early 1978. At this point, Wright left to try her hand at a solo career (with assistance from Rodgers and Edwards), and was replaced by Luci Martin. It was a good time to come onboard; "Le Freak," the first single from sophomore album C'est Chic, was an out-of-the-box smash, spending five weeks on top of the charts toward the end of 1978 and selling over four-million copies (which made it the biggest-selling single in Atlantic's history). Follow-up "I Want Your Love" reached number seven, cementing the group's new star status, and C'est Chic became one of the rare disco albums to go platinum.
1979's Risqué was another solidly constructed LP that also went platinum, partly on the strength of Chic's second number one pop hit, "Good Times." "Good Times" may not have equaled the blockbuster sales figures of "Le Freak," but it was the band's most imitated track: Queen's number one hit "Another One Bites the Dust" was a clear rewrite, and the Sugarhill Gang lifted the instrumental backing track wholesale for the first commercial rap single, "Rapper's Delight," marking the first of many times that Chic grooves would be recycled into hip-hop records. Also in 1979, Rodgers and Edwards took on their first major outside production assignment, producing and writing the Sister Sledge smashes "We Are Family" and the oft-sampled "He's the Greatest Dancer." This success, in turn, landed them the chance to work with pop / R&B superstar Diana Ross on 1980's blockbuster opus, diana , and they wrote and produced "Upside Down," her first number one hit in four years, as well as another top-ten smash, "I'm Coming Out."
If you listen closely to Chic's early productions, the strings play a prominent role, especially on the beautiful ballads from the recordings for the band and Sister Sledge. It is also very significant to note the strong background vocalists on those recordings -- many of New York's finest session singers -- among them, one who would soon become a superstar Grammy winner in his own right, Mr. Luther Vandross, who also was a featured vocalist with the studio disco group, Change.
The disco fad was fading rapidly by that point, however, and 1980's Real People failed to go gold despite another solid performance by the band. Changing tastes put an end to Chic's heyday, as Rodgers and Edwards' outside production work soon grew far more lucrative, even despite aborted projects with Aretha Franklin and Johnny Mathis. Several more Chic LPs followed in the early '80s, with diminishing creative and commercial returns, and Rodgers and Edwards disbanded the group after completing the lackluster Believer in 1983. Later that year, both recorded solo LPs that sank without a trace. Hungry for acceptance and respect in the rock mainstream (especially after accusations that they had ripped off Queen instead of the other way around), both Rodgers and Edwards sought out high-profile production and session work over the rest of the decade. Rodgers produced blockbuster albums like David Bowie's Let's Dance, Madonna's Like a Virgin, and Mick Jagger's She's the Boss. Edwards wasn't as prolific as a producer, but did join the one-off supergroup The Power Station along with Tony Thompson as well as Robert Palmer and members of avowed Chic fans Duran Duran; he later produced Palmer's commercial breakthrough, Riptide. Edwards also worked with Rod Stewart (Out of Order), Jody Watley, and Tina Turner, while Rodgers' other credits include the Thompson Twins, the Vaughan Brothers, INXS, and The B-52's' comeback Cosmic Thing.
Rodgers and Edwards re-formed Chic in 1992 with new vocalists Sylver Logan Sharp and Jenn Thomas, and an assortment of session drummers in Thompson's place; they toured and released a new album, Chic-ism. In 1996, the reconstituted Chic embarked on a tour of Japan; sadly, on April 18, Edwards passed away in his Tokyo hotel room due to a severe bout of pneumonia. Rodgers continued to tour occasionally with a version of Chic, and, in 1999, his Sumthing Else label issued a recording of Edwards' final performance with the band, Live at the Budokan.
CHIC has been nominated for inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nine times: 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2014. Rodgers and Chic continue to perform to major audiences worldwide as CHIC ft. Nile Rodgers.
In October 2010, Rodgers began his fight with prostate cancer. In October 2011, he released his autobiography entitled Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco, and Destiny. On July 29, 2013, Rodgers posted on Twitter that he was cancer free.
In 2013, CHIC ft. Nile Rodgers headlined the West Holts Stage on Friday night at the Glastonbury Festival in the UK, and played a variety of tracks both from Chic and from Nile Rodgers' extensive list of songs he had worked on for other artists. A compilation album, Up All Night, credited to The Chic Organization and featuring their productions for various artists between 1977 and 1982, was released the following Monday, 1 July, and entered the UK Compilation Albums Chart at number 2 a week later.
CHIC ft. Nile Rodgers played the iTunes Festival in London on September 14, 2013. CHIC ft. Nile Rodgers, opened The X Factor (UK TV series) live show on 2 November 2013 for Disco week. They performed a medley of hits including "Le Freak", "He's The Greatest Dancer" and "Good Times".
Rodgers announced in 2013 that he was working on a new Chic album, based on recently rediscovered tapes of unreleased material from the early 1980s. He also stated that Daft Punk is interested in working on at least one song of the unreleased material with him. Rodgers co-wrote and performed on three songs off Daft Punk's 2013 Grammy Award winning Album of the Year Random Access Memories including the Grammy Record of the Year Get Lucky with the duo and Pharrell Williams.
CHIC ft. Nile Rodgers headlined at the 2014 Essence Festival curated by Prince. Special guests performing with Chic during a segment of the show that highlighted Chic's songwriting and production work for other artists, were Kathy Sledge for Sister Sledge's "We Are Family", Janelle Monae for Sister Sledge's "He's The Greatest Dancer" and Prince for David Bowie's "Let's Dance". CHIC ft. Nile Rodgers headlined Bestival in the Isle of Wight, UK on September 7, 2014. Nile Rodgers played tribute to his guitar technician Terry Brauer at Bestival after learning of his death from cancer.
While chatting with Billboard's Kerri Mason, Rodgers announced a new Chic album and shared a never-before-heard new solo track. The upcoming album is set to feature collaborations from the David Guetta and Avicii. Rodgers described how a lick he played to test a freshly-repaired guitar caught the ear of DJ Nicky Romero, ending as an important part of a "huge song" on the upcoming album. Rodgers assumed "It sounds like a pop record".
A year later, it was announced that Nile Rodgers has signed a new record deal with Warner Bros. with a release of a new Chic album for the first time in in more than two decades this June. The album will be titled It's About Time. The lead single from the record, titled "I'll Be There", will come out March 20th. Beside this, Warner Bros. signed a deal with the label that Rodgers and music exec Michael Ostin formed, Land of the Good Groove. Rodgers decided to officially unveil the track “I’ll Be There” during the vernal equinox on March 20 to signify the rebirth of the Chic Organisation. The star received a box of lost Chic demos back in 2010, and “I’ll Be There” is one of those lost tapes finished for a new generation of Disco fans.
In other news, Rodgers gave an update on his new solo material with a new track called "Do What You Wanna Do" and announced that a Chic-inspired musical is in the early stages of production.
I'll be there
Chic Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'll be there
I'll be there
Life began for me
When a single DJ
dropped the needle on my vinyl (everybody Dance)
People on the dancefloor
living proof of our revival
Every night night was a blast
We were flying fast
flying free, we were driven
No I don't (wanna live in the past
But it is a nice place to visit)
And if you come along
I'll be there
If you come along
I'll be there
And if you come along
I'll be there
And if you come along
I'll be there
If you come along
Equal days and nights
All around the world
There was an explosion (the clock keeps turning)
I was more alive (it's getting late)
'Cause we worship music and it symbolized emotion
Smash after smash after smash
I appreciate all the gifts I was given
Now I don't wanna live in the past
But its a nice place to visit
So if you come along
I'll be there
If you come along
I'll be there
And if you come along
I'll be there
And if you come along
I'll be there
If you come along
I'll be there
I'll be there
And if you come along
I'll be there
If you come along
I'll be there
And if you come along
I'll be there
No place like home
I'll be there
So if you come along
I'll be there
I'll be there
I'll be there
I'll be there
(Let's get through it, we almost did it)
The song "I'll Be There" by Chic & Nile Rodgers is a disco-infused track that pays tribute to the disco scene of the past. The lyrics talk about the singer's love for music and the impact it has had on their life. They describe how their life began when they discovered their love for music, and how there was an explosion of music that made them feel more alive. The line "equal days and nights all around the world" suggests that the music they love transcends borders and has a universal appeal.
The chorus of the song repeats the line "If you come along, I'll be there," emphasizing the importance of community in the disco scene. The singer is inviting others to join them in experiencing the joy and freedom of dancing to music. They acknowledge that they don't want to live in the past but that it's a nice place to visit. This suggests that the singer understands that the disco era is over but still looks back on it fondly.
Overall, the song celebrates the power of music to bring people together and make them feel alive.
Line by Line Meaning
I'll be there
I will be present and available
I'll be there
I will be present and available
Life began for me
When a single DJ
dropped the needle on my vinyl (everybody Dance)
My life truly began when I first heard a DJ drop the needle on my vinyl and everyone started dancing
I look out to see
People on the dancefloor
living proof of our revival
When I look out and see people dancing, it is proof that our musical style is still alive and thriving
Every night night was a blast
We were flying fast
flying free, we were driven
Every night was fun and exciting, we felt liberated and energized
No I don't (wanna live in the past
But it is a nice place to visit)
Although I don't want to live in the past, I can appreciate the happiness and joy that it brought
And if you come along
I'll be there
If you join me, I will be there for you
Equal days and nights
All around the world
There was an explosion (the clock keeps turning)
There was a musical explosion happening all around the world, with equal enjoyment during both day and night
I was more alive (it's getting late)
'Cause we worship music and it symbolized emotion
Music brought me to life and made me feel more alive because it embodied emotion and meaning
Smash after smash after smash
I appreciate all the gifts I was given
Song after song after song, I am grateful for all of the musical gifts I have received
Now I don't wanna live in the past
But its a nice place to visit
Although I don't want to dwell on the past, nostalgia has its own pleasant appeal
So if you come along
I'll be there
If you decide to join me, I will be there for you
No place like home
I'll be there
There is no place like our musical home, and I will be present there
I'll be there
I'll be there
I'll be there
I will be there, over and over again
(Let's get through it, we almost did it)
Let's push through and finish the song, we are almost there
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: NILE RODGERS, BERNARD EDWARDS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@feastofstephenmusic
love it - Chic was the first album I ever bought when I was a little kid :-) perfect blend of the past & present
@ThePaigeBen
I want to give Brandon Maxwell (the stylist) an applause because everything Karlie had on looked amazing. So chic! I loved that Versace bodysuit and the first mini dress (halston?). Outstanding. The music is banging too. 💯
@soundseeker63
This is good! Old school vibes but modern production quality....the best of both worlds! Disco is not dead after all! 🤩
@eunicemakeup6783
I am in heaven. Have not felt so excited about a track in YEARS & years .... this is sublime. Thank you Nile xx
@EDDSMITTY1
Like the song says: "Don't want to live in the past, but its a nice place to visit"
That's as real as it gets, family! 👍
@YounesHH
Chic and Nile Rodgers have brought old school disco flying back!!! Thank you!!! Disco LIVES! :D
@fortresssnug
Her ballet background. So loving her moves and her, the way she is, everytime, of course!
@CUTEFRENCH1
Another disco masterpiece from Mr Rodgers! Love it.
@clausperriis9025
36 years after the big Chic time, he made this. And he is still going strong all the way
@fjn667
Completely awesome as always when it comes to Nile and Bernard. It grooves and swings and everything in between.