Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco and Destiny

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At the age of 13 he was already sniffing glue and had been turned on to acid by Timothy Leary himself. Their Big Apple Band quickly became Chic, a black fusion of Roxy Music and KISS, and although Chic quickly became synonymous with the disco movement, their roots in jazz, rock and R’n’B and desire to always include a Deep Hidden Meaning (or DHM) in their lyrics always kept them at some remove from the likes of the Bee Gees. In fact, one of the surprise gifts of “Le Freak” is that a third of it covers Rodgers’s own opening act — a coming-of-age tale every bit as impressive as the musical insights and star-time chronicles that follow. He has worked with many of my favorite artists, but is like an honorary member of my all time favorite band Duran Duran. At that point, the profits were so big that the deals became more complicated, chaotic, and crooked” The Chic composer also picked out a special mention for Beethoven, picking his collection of letters as perfect reading material: “Whenever I’ve seen the famous bust of Beethoven, he looks like the ultimate tortured soul.

but as this diagnosis was some time ago - 2010 - I'm surprised there was nothing more after this, maybe an afterword, or an extra bit added to the text to say what happened next, but that aside it was a thoroughly entertaining read. But while all of these play a part, nothing makes or breaks a musician more than what goes on behind the scenes, where invisible, detail-oriented taskmasters like Rodgers toil late into the night while the stars are signing autographs. The stars of the scene were his glamorous teenage mom and heroin-addicted Jewish stepfather, but there were also monkeys, voodoo orishas, jazz cats, and serial killers in the mix. For a while he took up residence in the “Park Avenue pied-à-terre” of the filmmaker-heiress Cinda Firestone.His childhood was very hard to receive as cavalierly as he shared it, however when it came time to him sharing his music, there are three words that come instantly to mind. The epilogue jumps ahead fourteen years with a curt “it’s been a busy decade”, encompassing his work with his “We Are Family” foundation and the fundraising around 9/11 that I would have liked to have read in more detail. It's possible the name Nile Rodgers doesn't ring a bell, but if you've been a fan of popular music during the last 35 years it's certain you've heard his work. About that particular title, Rodgers said: “This is an amazing look at the dirty underbelly of the recorded music business. If I was to criticise the book does seem to end rather suddenly, with Nile's cancer diagnosis (literally on the last page, along the lines of "yesterday I was told I had cancer, and I'm going to see the doctor today.

This book is an absolute knockout: exhilarating, warm, and courageous, deeply moving and deeply funny. Rodgers, best known as the founder of Chic who went on to produce landmark albums for Madonna and David Bowie, was raised by downtown heroin junkies in the 1950s and ’60s, and it's fascinating to see how profoundly his worldview was shaped by the ups and downs of this experience.The rest go by in a blur, and the unfortunate—and genuinely bizarre—part is that he never actually discusses what he does as a producer apart from managing each project's calendar and budget. The two musicians parted company eventually, but several of the hits Rodgers had a hand in continue to be club standards.