The Chic Organization!
Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards met in New York in 1970. After going through a few bands together, they hooked up with Labelle’s drummer Tony Thompson and keyboard player Raymond Jones and started playing covers.
The boys soon recruited Norma Jean Wright for lead vocals and Bob Clearmountain to engineer what would become some of the best-known tunes of the Disco era, not just for their own band Chic, but let’s start with them!
Particularly the first three albums Chic released in 77-79 did extremely well thanks to the now legendary singles I Want Your Love, Dance, Dance, Dance, Le Freak, Everybody Dance, and Good Times.
Also worth mentioning is the side project the band ran with vocal group Sister Sledge during this time, here they had even bigger hits, especially on the We Are Family album. Released in 1979, this is possibly the best Disco album ever made.
This must have spurred Nile Rodgers on as he would extend his collaboration work to include not just Sister Sledge but also Madonna, Duran Duran, David Bowie, Jeff Beck, Mick Jagger, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The B-52’s, Thompson Twins, Grace Jones, INXS, David Lee Roth, Diana Ross, Paul Young, Avicii, and Daft Punk (Get Lucky).
One of my favorite things to do is to read autobiographies by artists and without a doubt, the craziest one I’ve ever read was that of Nile Rodgers entitled Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco, and Destiny.
In it, he tells the story of how his best friend, Bernard Edwards died on stage for a few seconds. After the gig Nile went up to him and said: I really like how you dropped out for that section, we should do that again tomorrow!
The next morning, Bernard was found dead in his Hotel room.
Chic tunes | Related pages
Everybody Dance
| Cm7 Bb11 | C11 |
Everybody dance, do-do-do,
| Abmaj7 Am7b13 | Bb11 |
clap your hands, clap your hands.
Le Freak
| Am7 | D9 |
Have you heard about the new dance craze?
| Am7 | D9 |
Listen to us, I’m sure you’ll be amazed.
Good Times
| Em7 | E7sus4 | Asus4 | A6 |
Good times, these are the good times,
| Em7 | E7sus4 | Asus4 | A6 |
leave your cares behind, these are the good times.
Get Lucky
| Bm | D | F#m | E |
Like the legend of the Phoenix, huh. All ends with beginnings.
| Bm | D | F#m | E |
What keeps the planet spinning, ah. The force from the beginning, hm, love.
He’s The Greatest Dancer
| Cm7 Dm7 | F#dim7 Gm7 |
Oh, what, wow, he’s the greatest dancer.
| Cm7 Dm7 | Gm7 |
Oh, what, wow, that I’ve ever seen.
He’s The Greatest Dancer chords.
I’m Coming Out
| Dm7 Am7 | Gm7 | F/A Bb Bb6 | F/A Bb Bb6 Am7 |
I’m coming out, I want the world to know, got to let it show.
| Dm7 Am7 | Gm7 | F/A Bb Bb6 | F/A Bb Bb6 Am7 |
I’m coming out, I want the world to know, got to let it show.
Let’s Dance
| Bb7sus4 | N.C | Bbm6 | N.C |
Let’s dance. Put on your red shoes and dance the blues.
| Gb6 | N.C | Bbm6 | N.C |
Let’s dance. To the song they’re playin’ on the radio.
Lost in Music
| C Dm7 | Dm7 | C G | G |
We’re lost in music, caught in a trap,
| C Bbmaj7 | Bbmaj7 | Bbmaj7 C | C |
no turnin’ back, we’re lost in music.
Thinking of You
| Gm7 Dm7 | Eb Bbmaj7 |
Everybody let me tell you ’bout my love,
| Gm7 Dm7 | Eb Bbmaj7 |
brought to you, by an angel from above.
Upside Down
| Bb B C | F Gm | Bb B C | F Gm |
Upside down, boy you turn me. Inside out and round and round.
| Bb B C | F Gm | Bb B C | F Gm | 2/4 Bb B C |
Upside down, boy you turn me. Inside out and round and round.
We Are Family
| A (A6) | G (G6) | D (Dadd9) | F/G (Fadd9/G) |
We are family, I got all my sisters with me.
| A (A6) | G (G6) | D (Dadd9) | F/G (Fadd9/G) |
We are family, get up everybody and sing