133-466: Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. The co-founder of Chic , he has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 500 million albums and 75 million singles worldwide. Formed as the Big Apple Band in 1972 with bassist Bernard Edwards , Chic released their self-titled debut album in 1977; it featured
266-520: A Brit Award in the "Best International Group Category", in January 2019. In July 2018, Rodgers co-founded Hipgnosis Songs Fund with Merck Mercuriadis . An IP investment and song management company, Hipgnosis Songs Fund went public later that year. In November 2018, to mark the 40th anniversary of "Le Freak", Rhino/Atlantic released The Chic Organisation 1977-79 , a 6-CD box set containing Chic's first three albums, Sister Sledge's We Are Family and
399-407: A 1989 birthday party where Rodgers, Edwards, Paul Shaffer , and Anton Fig played old Chic songs, Rodgers and Edwards organized a reunion of the old band. They recorded new material – a single, " Chic Mystique " (remixed by Masters at Work ) and subsequent album Chic-ism (1992), both of which charted— and played live all over the world, to great audience and critical acclaim. During 1996, Rodgers
532-467: A Japan-only album consisting of old Chic material rerecorded with guest vocalists, Chic Freak and More Treats . Edwards and Rodgers performed with Sister Sledge , Steve Winwood , and Slash in a series of commemorative concerts in Japan. Edwards died following a concert on April 17, 1996. Rodgers discovered his body. He later said that he "cried like a baby and suffered intensely but eventually realised
665-613: A Virgin . He also worked with artists including Kylie Minogue , Nervo , Jake Shears , the B-52s , Keith Urban , Jeff Beck , Daft Punk , Mick Jagger , Coldplay , Grace Jones , the Vaughan Brothers , Bryan Ferry , Christina Aguilera , Lady Gaga , and Beyoncé . He won three Grammy Awards in 2014 for his work on Daft Punk 's Random Access Memories , and two in 2023 for his work with Beyoncé on her album Renaissance . In 2018, Rodgers co-founded Hipgnosis Songs Fund ,
798-399: A band called The Big Apple Band, in 1977 Rodgers and Edwards changed the band's name to Chic. Inspired by Roxy Music , Chic developed a sound that was a fusion of jazz, soul, and funk grooves with melodies and lyrics with a European influence. Between gigs, they recorded the song "Dance, Dance, Dance", with then-boss Luther Vandross on vocals. Originally released by Buddah Records , it was
931-401: A checkered shirt. Reading from a prepared text, Kerouac reflected on his beat beginnings: It is because I am Beat, that is, I believe in beatitude and that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son to it ... Who knows, but that the universe is not one vast sea of compassion actually, the veritable holy honey, beneath all this show of personality and cruelty? Kerouac's statement
1064-863: A collection of rarities, including a facsimile of Chic's first single – a 12″ promo for "Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)" released by Buddah Records in 1977. In January 2019, Rodgers offered 600 free tickets to furloughed US Federal workers during the US Government Shutdown to the Nile Rodgers & Chic concert at the MGM National Harbor in Washington, DC. He played at Cardiff Castle on July 12, 2019, and on February 17, 2020, he participated in Eric Clapton's tribute concert for Ginger Baker. Rodgers has hosted
1197-571: A compilation album featuring songs written, played or produced by Rodgers and Bernard Edwards for Chic and various artists, including Diana Ross, Sister Sledge, Carly Simon, Debbie Harry, Johnny Mathis, Sheila & B. Devotion and Norma Jean Wright. Up All Night reached No. 2 on the UK Compilation Album Chart for the week ending July 13, 2013. In October 2013, Rhino released Nile Rodgers Presents The Chic Organization Up All Night (The Greatest Hits Disco Edition) , which included
1330-515: A hit when it was re-released by Atlantic in the summer of 1977. Atlantic picked up an album option with Rodgers and Edwards, who quickly wrote more songs, and Chic's self-titled debut was released in November. The band scored numerous top ten hits, including " Le Freak ", " I Want Your Love ", " Everybody Dance ", " Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah) ", " My Forbidden Lover ", and " Good Times " becoming club/pop/R&B standards. "Le Freak"
1463-600: A hit. Rodgers and Edwards subsequently joined forces with drummer Tony Thompson to form the Boys, playing gigs up and down the East Coast. Although there was label interest, record companies passed on the band after discovering its members were black, believing that black rock artists would be too hard to promote. As the Big Apple Band, Rodgers and Edwards worked with Ashford & Simpson and Luther Vandross , among others. Since another New York artist, Walter Murphy , had
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#17328022347131596-587: A key element in the art of beats, whether it was the Theatrical Event of 1952 at Black Mountain College or Jack Kerouac typing in 1951 the novel On the Road on a typewriter in a single session on a single roll of 31-meter long paper. Representatives of the movement were united by hostility to traditional culture with its conformism and brightly degenerate commercial component. They also did not like
1729-508: 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 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
1862-746: A medley taken from Chic ft. Nile Rodgers' live performance at the 2013 Glastonbury Festival . Rodgers and Bernard Edwards were nominated to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in October 2013. In January 2014, Rodgers performed "Get Lucky" with Daft Punk on the Grammy Awards, along with Pharrell Williams and Stevie Wonder , with a medley including elements of Chic's " Le Freak " and Wonder's " Another Star ". Rodgers won three Grammy Awards for his work with Daft Punk on Random Access Memories , including Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Record of
1995-402: A mixture of elements of pop art and mysticism. Among other artists and works, one can single out the work The Rose by the artist Jay DeFeo , the work on which was carried out for seven years, a huge painting-assembly weighing about a ton with a width of up to 20 centimeters. Alan Bisbort's survey Beatniks: A Guide to an American Subculture was published by Greenwood Press in 2009 as part of
2128-473: A multi-day event with a diverse line-up of artists including Beck , Duran Duran , Chaka Khan , Keith Urban , Janelle Monáe , Ginger Minj , Chic and others. Rodgers collaborated with Lady Gaga to remake Chic's hit, "I Want Your Love" for Tom Ford 's Spring/Summer 2016 collection video in lieu of a fashion show. Rodgers and Bernard Edwards were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 9, 2016. In 2017, after 11 nominations for Chic, Rodgers
2261-557: A new version of Mark Knopfler 's " Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero " in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust , produced the song "Electric Energy" (with Ariana DeBose and Boy George ) for Maetthew Vaughn 's film Argylle , and worked with Alfie Templeman on his second studio album, Radiosoul , featuring on the track "Just A Dance". He provided guitar on Norwegian DJ Kygo 's self-titled fifth studio album , on
2394-550: A podcast on Apple Music since August 2020. Titled Deep Hidden Meaning , he has interviewed guests including David Foster , Carole Bayer Sager , Bryan Adams , Timbaland , and Paul McCartney . It was nominated for a British Podcast Award in 2024. On November 13, 2020, Rodgers was featured on " Stop Crying Your Heart Out " as part of the BBC Radio 2's Allstars' Children in Need charity single. The single debuted at number 7 on
2527-663: A publicly traded music intellectual property investment company. Rodgers is a Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame via the Musical Excellence category in 2017. He has received six Grammy Awards , including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement/Special Merit Award . Known for his chucking guitar style, in 2014 Rolling Stone wrote that "the full scope of Nile Rodgers' career
2660-474: A quotation here and a photograph there—and it was their job to wrap it up in a comprehensible package—and if it seemed to violate the prevailing mandatory conformist doctrine, they would also be obliged to give it a negative spin as well. And in this, they were aided and abetted by the Poetic Establishment of the day. Thus, what came out in the media: from newspapers, magazines, TV, and the movies,
2793-492: A rebellion against the middle-class culture of beauty salons. Marijuana use was associated with the subculture, and during the 1950s, Aldous Huxley 's The Doors of Perception further influenced views on drugs. By 1960, a small "beatnik" group in Newquay , Cornwall, England (including a young Wizz Jones ) had attracted the attention and abhorrence of their neighbours for growing their hair beyond shoulder length, resulting in
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#17328022347132926-424: A record contract. Both joined the band New York City , which had a hit record in 1973 with "I'm Doing Fine Now ". The original demo tapes were made by DJ/studio engineer Robert Drake, who first played lacquer records while DJing at a New York after hours club called Night Owl. New York City broke up in 1976. After Walter Murphy released the single and album " A Fifth of Beethoven " under the name Walter Murphy and
3059-508: A release of a new Chic album for the first time in more than two decades. The lead single from the record, titled " I'll Be There ", was released on March 20, 2015. Besides this, Warner Bros. signed a deal with Land of the Good Groove, the label formed by Rodgers and Michael Ostin, son of longtime Warner Bros. head Mo Ostin . Rodgers unveiled the track "I'll Be There" during the vernal equinox and total solar eclipse on March 20 to signify
3192-559: A rock band for the disco movement "that made good on hippie peace, love and freedom". In 2017, Chic was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the eleventh time. Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards met in 1970 as session musicians working in the New York City area. They formed a rock band initially named The Boys, but soon changed it to The Big Apple Band, and played numerous gigs around New York City. Despite interest in their demos, they never garnered
3325-926: A significant impact on American culture and society as they challenged the norms and values of their time. They influenced many aspects of art, literature, music, film, fashion, and language. They also inspired many social movements and subcultures that followed them, such as the hippies , the counterculture , the New Left , the environmental movement , and the LGBT movement . Some of the more notable figures who were influenced by or associated with beatniks include Bob Dylan , The Beatles , Andy Warhol , Ken Kesey , and Timothy Leary . Beatniks have been portrayed or parodied in many works of fiction, such as The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis , A Charlie Brown Christmas , The Munsters , The Flintstones , The Simpsons , and SpongeBob SquarePants . In 1948, Jack Kerouac introduced
3458-438: A specific purpose or program ... It was many different, conflicting, shifting states of mind. Since 1958, the terms Beat Generation and Beat have been used to describe the antimaterialistic literary movement that began with Kerouac in the 1940s and continued into the 1960s. The Beat philosophy of antimaterialism and soul searching influenced 1960s musicians such as Bob Dylan , the early Pink Floyd and The Beatles . However,
3591-762: A spiritual path in their quests to provide answers to universal questions and concepts. As a result, the Beat philosophy stressed the bettering of the inner self and the rejection of materialism , and postulated that East Asian religions could fill a religious and spiritual void in the lives of many Americans. Many scholars speculate that Beat writers wrote about Eastern religions to encourage young people to practice spiritual and sociopolitical action. Progressive concepts from these religions, particularly those regarding personal freedom, influenced youth culture to challenge capitalist domination, break their generation's dogmas, and reject traditional gender and racial rules. Beatnik art
3724-457: A stereotype found in cartoon drawings and (in some cases at worst) twisted, sometimes violent media characters. In 1995, film scholar Ray Carney wrote about the authentic beat attitude as differentiated from stereotypical media portrayals of the beatnik: Much of Beat culture represented a negative stance rather than a positive one. It was animated more by a vague feeling of cultural and emotional displacement, dissatisfaction, and yearning, than by
3857-479: A television interview with Alan Whicker on BBC television's Tonight series. The Beat philosophy was generally countercultural and antimaterialistic, and stressed the importance of bettering one's inner self over material possessions. Some Beat writers, such as Gary Snyder , began to delve into Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Taoism . Politics tended to be liberal , left-wing and anti-war, with support for causes such as desegregation (although many of
3990-518: A touring musician for the Sesame Street stage show. Together they formed The Big Apple Band and initially worked as back-up musicians for the vocal group New York City (" I'm Doin' Fine Now "). New York City's one hit allowed them to tour extensively, opening for The Jackson 5 on the American leg of their first world tour in 1973. The band dissolved after their second album failed to yield
4123-565: Is also much-cited in music circles, as is Thompson's recorded drum work. Queen got the inspiration for its single " Another One Bites the Dust " (1980) from Bernard Edwards' familiar bass guitar riff on " Good Times " after John Deacon met the band at the Power Station recording studio. The French duo Modjo used the guitar sample from Chic's "Soup for One", as the basic theme for their single, " Lady (Hear Me Tonight) ". Chic influenced
Nile Rodgers - Misplaced Pages Continue
4256-400: Is an American disco band founded in 1972 mainly by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards . It recorded many commercially successful disco songs, including " Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah) " (1977), " Everybody Dance " (1977), " Le Freak " (1978), " I Want Your Love " (1978), " Good Times " (1979), and " My Forbidden Lover " (1979). The group regarded themselves as
4389-587: Is claimed that Caen coined the term by adding the Yiddish suffix -nik to Beat as in the Beat Generation. Nik, a suffix was also due to Sputnik craze, the first satellite orbiting the planet and fired up in 1957. Became used in many colloquial synthetics, as in Nogoodnik, etc. However, an earlier source from 1954, or possibly 1957 after the launch of Sputnik , is ascribed to Ethel (Etya) Gechtoff,
4522-553: Is known today. "Good Times" was used also by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five on its hit " The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel ", which was used in the end sequence of the first hip-hop movie, Wild Style , from 1982. Blondie 's 1980 US number-one song " Rapture " was not only influenced by "Good Times" but was a direct tribute to Chic, and main singer Deborah Harry 's 1981 debut solo album KooKoo
4655-399: Is set to feature collaborations from 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". In February 2015, it was announced that Nile Rodgers had signed a new record deal with Warner Bros. with
4788-505: Is still hard to fathom". In 2023, Rolling Stone placed Rodgers 7th on a list of the 250 greatest guitarists of all time, writing: "There's 'influential,' then there's 'massively influential', then there's Nile Rodgers... a true innovator who never slows down, still making history with his guitar." Rodgers was born on September 19, 1952, in the Lower East Side , New York City , to Beverly Goodman. She gave birth to Rodgers when she
4921-524: Is the direction of contemporary art that originated in the United States as part of the beat movement in the 1960s. The movement itself, unlike the so-called " Lost Generation " did not set itself the task of changing society, but tried to distance itself from it, while at the same time trying to create its own counter-culture. The art created by artists was influenced by jazz , drugs, occultism , and other attributes of beat movement. The scope of
5054-814: The Great Depression during their formative years , seeing slightly older people serve in WWII and being influenced by the rise of left-wing politics and the spread of Communism . The name was inspired by the Russian suffix "-nik", which was used to denote members of various political or social groups. The term "beat" originally was used by Jack Kerouac in 1948 to describe his social circle of friends and fellow writers, such as Allen Ginsberg , William S. Burroughs , and Neal Cassady . Kerouac said that "beat" had multiple meanings, such as "beaten down", "beatific", "beat up", and "beat out". He also associated it with
5187-542: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 11 times: 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. In 2017, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Nile Rodgers for Musical Excellence. The group was not nominated for induction in 2018. Rodgers and Chic continue to perform to major audiences worldwide as Nile Rodgers & Chic. In 2019, Chic received a nomination for the Brit Award for International Group . Chic has been nominated eleven times for
5320-657: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame , but has yet to receive enough votes to become an inductee. They officially became the most nominated act in the Hall's history to not earn induction. Beatnik Beatniks were members of a social movement in the mid-20th century, who subscribed to an anti- materialistic lifestyle. They rejected the conformity and consumerism of mainstream American culture and expressed themselves through various forms of art, such as literature, poetry, music, and painting. They also experimented with spirituality, drugs, sexuality, and travel. The term "beatnik"
5453-712: The September 11 attacks , Rodgers brought together more than 200 musicians and celebrities to record "We Are Family". It was recorded in New York at Avatar Studios (previously The Power Station, where the original recording of "We Are Family" took place in 1978), and in Los Angeles at the Record Plant . The accompanying music video was directed by Spike Lee . An 80-minute documentary, The Making and Meaning of We Are Family , directed by Danny Schechter , premiered at
Nile Rodgers - Misplaced Pages Continue
5586-689: The Sundance Film Festival in 2002. In a collaboration between Disney , Nickelodeon and PBS , more than 100 children's television characters participated in a "We Are Family" children's music video, and on March 11, 2002, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and PBS aired the video to promote tolerance and diversity on the 6-month anniversary of 9/11. In July 2002, Rodgers co-founded the We Are Family Foundation with his life partner, Nancy Hunt. A non-profit organization that promotes "cultural diversity while nurturing and mentoring
5719-814: The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium on September 3, 2022. In 2023, Rodgers won two Grammy Awards , for Best Electronic/Dance Album and Best R&B Song (" Cuff It "), for his work with Beyoncé on her 2022 album Renaissance ; in the same occasion, he also received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award . In the same year, he was featured on the title track of South Korean girl group Le Sserafim 's album Unforgiven . He also collaborated with Duran Duran on their single " Black Moonlight ", one of three original songs on Duran Duran's Halloween-inspired album Danse Macabre . Finally, he starred in
5852-547: The Thompson Twins successful Here's to Future Days album, and appearing live with them and Madonna at Live Aid in Philadelphia. During 1986, Rodgers produced the fourth album from Duran Duran , Notorious . Bernard Edwards later gave Duran Duran's bassist John Taylor the bass guitar he played on many of Chic's songs. Taylor had long been a Chic fan, his style influenced greatly by Edwards' playing. After
5985-463: The communist movement , other than the antipathy both philosophies shared towards capitalism. Those with only a superficial familiarity with the Beat movement often saw this similarity and assumed the two movements had more in common. The Beat movement introduced Asian religions to Western society. These religions provided the Beat generation with new views of the world and corresponded with its desire to rebel against conservative middle-class values of
6118-461: The 1950s, old post-1930s radicalism, mainstream culture, and institutional religions in America. By 1958, many Beat writers published writings on Buddhism. This was the year Jack Kerouac published his novel The Dharma Bums , whose central character (whom Kerouac based on himself) sought Buddhist contexts for events in his life. Allen Ginsberg's spiritual journey to India in 1963 also influenced
6251-481: The 1998 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group . In 1998, Rodgers founded Sumthing Else Music Works record label and Sumthing Distribution , an independent music label distributor. Sumthing focused on distributing video game soundtracks, and released the world's first 5.1 surround DVD game-soundtrack album. Its titles include the Halo , Resident Evil , Gears of War and Borderlands series. In
6384-493: The 2023 Chanel eyewear campaign. In October 2023, he re-united with Chic for a live performance at NPR 's Tiny Desk Concert : the half-hour set included "Le Freak". "Let's Dance", "Get Lucky" and "Soul Glo", a fake commercial jingle Rodgers wrote for the 1988 film Coming to America . In January 2024, the World Economic Forum announced that Rodgers would receive its 2024 Crystal Award. Presented during
6517-528: The B-52's multi-platinum album Cosmic Thing ; it reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and yielded the singles "Love Shack", and "Roam". He produced Workin' Overtime , Diana Ross ' return to Motown , and the soundtracks for Alphabet City , Gremlins , White Nights , and The Fly . He later composed an orchestral soundtrack, his first, for the film Coming to America . Rodgers formed
6650-450: The Beat movement. After studying religious texts alongside monks, Ginsberg deduced that what linked the function of poetry to Asian religions was their mutual goal of achieving ultimate truth. His discovery of Hindu mantra chants, a form of oral delivery, subsequently influenced Beat poetry. Beat pioneers who followed a Buddhism-influenced spiritual path felt that Asian religions offered a profound understanding of human nature and insights into
6783-491: The Big Apple Band, Edwards and Rodgers changed their band name to Chic. Inspired after attending a concert by English glam rock band Roxy Music , Rodgers began developing the idea for the group whose music and image would form a seamless and immersive whole, taking additional influence from the anonymous, make-up wearing American rock band Kiss . During 1977, Edwards and Rodgers recruited drummer Tony Thompson , formerly with Labelle and Ecstasy, Passion & Pain , to join
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#17328022347136916-746: The Budokan (1999). Chic continued to tour with new musicians. Chic released four new albums during the 2000s (three compilations, and one live album): The Very Best of Chic (2000), Good Times: The Very Best of the Hits & the Remixes (2005), A Night in Amsterdam (2006), and The Definitive Groove Collection (2006). A box set, Nile Rodgers Presents The Chic Organization, Vol.1: Savoir Faire would be released in 2010, covering Rodgers and Edwards' productions both for Chic and for other artists up to
7049-473: The Greatest Dancer " and Prince for David Bowie 's " Let's Dance ". Chic and Nile Rodgers headlined Bestival on the Isle of Wight on September 7, 2014. 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
7182-636: The Greatest Dancer " and the title cut " We Are Family " both reached No. 1 on the R&;B chart, and No. 6 and No. 2, respectively on the pop chart. In April 2018, "We Are Family" was selected to be preserved in the Library of Congress. The 1979 disco backlash derailed Chic, and Edwards retreated from work, while Rodgers' drug use accelerated. Rodgers and Edwards delivered their final Atlantic album under contract, Believer , in 1982. They completed one of their last projects together in 1980, writing and producing
7315-683: The Official UK Singles Chart and number 1 on both the Official UK Singles Sales Chart and the Official UK Singles Download Chart. Among other artists, in 2021, Rodgers worked with Jack Savoretti (for his album Europiana ) and Keith Urban. In April 2021 he teamed with Urban and Breland on the music video for "The Cage", a track from Urban's 2020 album The Speed of Now Part 1 . He produced The Big Decider ,
7448-560: The Sugarhill Gang 's " Rapper's Delight ". With Edwards, Rodgers wrote and produced music for other artists, including the songs " He's the Greatest Dancer " and " We Are Family " (for Sister Sledge ) and " I'm Coming Out " and " Upside Down " (for Diana Ross ). After Chic's breakup in 1983, Rodgers produced albums and singles for other artists, including David Bowie 's Let's Dance ; " Original Sin " by INXS ; Duran Duran 's " The Reflex " and " Notorious "; and Madonna 's Like
7581-601: The United States but nowhere else ... I've had records which have done well [in the UK], but not in the States. But to have this ubiquitous record, that is a hit everywhere ... It's amazing to me! I'm out on the road and I can hear it wherever I go. I'm flabbergasted!" "Get Lucky" became one of the UK's biggest-selling singles of all time. Rhino Records released Nile Rodgers Presents The Chic Organization Up All Night (The Greatest Hits) ,
7714-680: The We Are Family Foundation. A year later, in March 2015, Rodgers released Chic 's first single in more than 23 years, " I'll Be There ", with a live streamed concert from The Roundhouse in London. The song was produced using original Chic outtake tapes from the 70s, with Bernard Edwards , Tony Thompson , and vocalists Alfa Anderson and Luci Martin. The song went to #1 on Billboard's Dance Music Chart on June 20, 2015. In August, Rodgers launched FOLD Festival (FreakOut! Let's Dance),
7847-703: 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. Noel Gallagher noted "My favorite act at this year's Glastonbury, when I went, was not the Rolling Stones, as great as they were; was not the Arctic Monkeys, as good as they were; was not Disclosure, as good as they were; but it
7980-650: The Year Random Access Memories including the Grammy Record of the Year " Get Lucky " with the duo and Pharrell Williams . Chic and 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 Monáe for Sister Sledge's " He's
8113-487: The Year and Album of the Year. In March, Rolling Stone named Rodgers one of the 50 Most Important People in EDM, stating, "The full scope of Nile Rodgers' career is still hard to fathom, and it's not just ongoing, it's in overdrive." In December, NARAS announced that "Le Freak" would be inducted into The Grammy Hall of Fame. Rodgers' solo single "Do What You Wanna Do ( IMS Anthem)" was released on August 10, 2014 to benefit
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#17328022347138246-625: The activity was concentrated in the cultural circles of New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and North Carolina. Prominent representatives of the trend were artists Wallace Berman , Jay DeFeo , Jess Collins , Robert Frank , Claes Oldenburg and Larry Rivers . The culture of the beat generation has become a kind of intersection for representatives of the creative intellect of the United States associated with visual and performing art, which are usually attributed to other areas and trends of artistic expression, such as assemblage , happening , funk art and Neo-Dadaism . They made efforts to destroy
8379-488: The album Diana for Diana Ross , which yielded the hits " Upside Down " and " I'm Coming Out ". They produced Deborah Harry 's 1981 solo album Koo Koo , and produced the hit "Spacer" for the French disco act Sheila and B. Devotion . During the same time period, Chic's song " Good Times " was sampled on the Sugarhill Gang 's " Rapper's Delight ", the first multiple-platinum hip hop single. The song continued to influence
8512-692: The album Notorious . In 1985, Rodgers produced albums for Sheena Easton , Jeff Beck , Thompson Twins , Mick Jagger , and others, and performed at Live Aid with Madonna and the Thompson Twins. He was named the #1 Singles Producer in the World by Billboard at the end of the year. At the end of the decade, he produced albums for Grace Jones , Al Jarreau ( L is for Lover ), Earth Wind and Fire 's vocalist Philip Bailey , and performed on " Higher Love " with Steve Winwood , as well as on records for Cyndi Lauper , and others. In 1989, he co-produced
8645-465: The approach of traditional culture to hushing up the dark side of American life – violence, corruption, social inequality, racism. They tried through art to create a new way of life based on the ideals of rebellion and freedom. Critics highlight the artist Wallace Berman as the main representative of the movement. In his work concentrated many of the characteristic features of hipsters, especially in his collages made on photocopied photographs, which are
8778-872: The band performed at New Year Live at the Methodist Central Hall in London . On June 12, 2018, the band announced its ninth album It's About Time , which was initially scheduled for release on September 7. It was later released on September 28. The lead single, "Till the World Falls" featuring Mura Masa , Vic Mensa and Cosha, was released on June 21, 2018. The album features: Lady Gaga , Mura Masa, Vic Mensa, Cosha, Stefflon Don , Craig David , Teddy Riley , Nao , Hailee Steinfeld , Philippe Saisse , Danny L Harle , Lunchmoney Lewis , Thomas Troelsen , Emeli Sande and Elton John . In August 2018, Nile Rodgers confirmed on his Facebook account that
8911-522: The band's debut album. For the Sister Sledge project, Edwards and Rodgers wrote and produced "He's the Greatest Dancer" (originally intended to be a Chic song), in exchange for " I Want Your Love " (intended originally to be performed by Sister Sledge). The group endeavored to express "deep hidden meaning" in every song they wrote. During late 1978, the band released the album C'est Chic , containing one of its better-known tracks, " Le Freak ". It
9044-404: The band's recording studio sound when performing live with sound and visuals, they needed to add another female singer. Wright suggested her friend Luci Martin, who became a member during late winter/early spring of 1978. Soon after the sessions ended for the debut album, the band members began to work on Wright's self-titled debut solo album Norma Jean , released during 1978. This album included
9177-493: The band; they performed as a trio doing cover versions at various gigs. Thompson recommended keyboardist Raymond Jones, 19, to join the band, as he had worked with him in Ecstasy, Passion & Pain. Needing a singer to become a full band, they engaged Norma Jean Wright by an agreement permitting her to have a solo career in addition to her work for the band. Using a young recording engineer , Bob Clearmountain , they created
9310-657: The bass line for Daft Punk ’s " Around the World " (1997). At the same time, Edwards and Rodgers composed, arranged, performed, and produced many influential disco and R&B records for various artists, including Sister Sledge 's albums We Are Family (1979) and Love Somebody Today (1980); Sheila and B. Devotion 's "Spacer"; Diana Ross 's 1980 album Diana , which included the successful singles " Upside Down ", " I'm Coming Out " and " My Old Piano "; Carly Simon 's " Why " (from 1982 soundtrack Soup for One ); and Debbie Harry 's debut solo album KooKoo (1981). I Love My Lady , an album recorded with Johnny Mathis
9443-574: The beatnik epicenter of Greenwich Village and the Lower East Side in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Among the humor books, Beat, Beat, Beat was a 1959 Signet paperback of cartoons by Phi Beta Kappa Princeton graduate William F. Brown, who looked down on the movement from his position in the TV department of the Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn advertising agency. Suzuki Beane (1961), by Sandra Scoppettone with Louise Fitzhugh illustrations,
9576-416: The being, existence and reality of mankind. Many of the Beat advocates believed that the core concepts of Asian religious philosophies had the means of elevating American society's consciousness, and these concepts informed their main ideologies. Notable Beat writers such as Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Gary Snyder were drawn to Buddhism to the extent that they each, at different periods in their lives, followed
9709-405: The best tribute to him would be to carry on and be the best I could be." A year later, Rodgers returned to Japan to pay homage to Edwards, and in 1999, Rodgers released Live at the Budokan , a live recording of Edwards' final performance. The album was not overdubbed or changed in order to keep the recording pure. Rodgers started playing live concerts again while composing and producing music for
9842-426: The dead wall window of our civilization ... Kerouac explained what he meant by "beat" at a Brandeis Forum, "Is There A Beat Generation?", on November 8, 1958, at New York's Hunter College Playhouse. The seminar's panelists were Kerouac, James A. Wechsler , Princeton anthropologist Ashley Montagu and author Kingsley Amis . Wechsler, Montagu, and Amis wore suits, while Kerouac was clad in black jeans, ankle boots and
9975-404: The early 2000s, Rodgers worked extensively on film and video game soundtracks, including Halo 2 , Rush Hour 2 , Snow Dogs , and Semi-Pro starring Will Ferrell , who co-wrote the title song " Love Me Sexy " with Rodgers. In 2002, Rodgers returned to work again with the original five members of Duran Duran when he co-produced Astronaut . The album rose to No. 3 in the UK. Following
10108-586: The early success of Madonna during 1984 with her Like a Virgin album, which again reunited Rodgers, Thompson, and Edwards, with keyboardist Rob Sabino and collaborators Jeff Bova, Jimmy Bralower and Oren Bar. During 1984, Rodgers was involved with a project of the band The Honeydrippers and helped produce that band's only EP . Thompson and Edwards worked with the group Power Station on its successful 1985 album, as well as Power Station main singer Robert Palmer 's solo success Riptide that same year, both of which Edwards produced. 1985 saw Rodgers producing
10241-493: The evening of 25 June 2017, Rodgers and Chic returned to the Glastonbury Festival , as headliners on the Pyramid Stage, for an audience of close to 100,000. In September of the same year, a version of George Michael's song " Fantasy " was released, credited to "George Michael featuring Nile Rodgers." The track, released as a B-side by Michael's label in 1990, was reworked by Rodgers and featured him prominently on guitar. It
10374-429: The figures associated with the original Beat movement, particularly Kerouac, embraced libertarian and conservative ideas). An openness to African American culture and arts was apparent in literature and music, notably jazz. While Caen and other writers implied a connection with communism, no obvious or direct connection occurred between Beat philosophy, as expressed by the literary movement's leading authors, and that of
10507-470: The film soundtracks Beverly Hills Cop III , Blue Chips , The Flintstones and Feeling Minnesota , working with Bob Dylan , among others. In 1997, The Notorious B.I.G. released " Mo Money Mo Problems " sampling Rodgers and Edwards' song " I'm Coming Out " from Diana Ross's platinum album Diana . "Mo Money, Mo Problems" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks and was nominated for
10640-669: The first album by The Zutons 13 years. In the summer of 2021, Rodgers, with Constellation Immersive, launched DiscOasis, an ongoing 1970s-themed disco and roller skating pop-up party at the South Coast Botanic Garden in Rancho Palos Verdes . Developed in part to provide an outside experience during the COVID-19 pandemic , DJs select music from crates of records that Rodgers hand picked from his personal collection. In July 2022, Hipgnosis Songs Fund
10773-657: The guitar at 16, Rodgers played the flute and the clarinet . As a teenager, he played guitar with African, Persian, Latin, jazz and Boogaloo bands. He became a subsection leader of the Lower Manhattan branch of the New York Black Panther Party . He was raised as a Catholic . Rodgers' cousin, trumpeter Robert "Spike" Mickens, was a member of Kool and the Gang from 1964 to 1986. Rodgers met bassist Bernard Edwards in 1970 while working as
10906-435: The hit singles " Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah) " and " Everybody Dance ". The 1978 album C'est Chic included " I Want Your Love " and " Le Freak ", with the latter selling more than seven million singles worldwide. The song " Good Times " from the 1979 album Risqué was a number one single on the pop and soul charts, and became one of the most-sampled songs of all time, predominantly in hip-hop, starting with
11039-441: The hit singles "Let's Dance", "China Girl", and "Modern Love". He produced the single "Original Sin" by INXS , and in 1984, he produced Madonna 's album Like a Virgin , which scored four hit singles including its title track, " Material Girl ", and "Dress You Up". He worked extensively with Duran Duran , remixing their biggest-selling single, "The Reflex", producing "Wild Boys" on their 1984 live album, Arena , and co-producing
11172-491: The jazz/ hipster slang of the 1940s, peppering their works with words such as "square", "cats", "cool" and "dig". At the time the term "beatnik" was coined, a trend existed among young college students to adopt the stereotype. Men emulated the trademark look of bebop trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie by wearing goatees , horn-rimmed glasses and berets , rolling their own cigarettes, and playing bongos . Fashions for women included black leotards and long, straight, unadorned hair, in
11305-752: The most famous beatnik venues were the Six Gallery in San Francisco, where Ginsberg first read his poem " Howl " in 1955; the Gaslight Cafe in New York City, where many poets performed; and the City Lights Bookstore , also in San Francisco, where Kerouac's novel On the Road was published in 1957. Beatniks also traveled across the country and abroad, seeking new experiences and inspiration. Some of their destinations included Mexico, Morocco, India, Japan, and France. Beatniks had
11438-499: The most influential songs of the era. The track was the basis of Grandmaster Flash 's "Adventures on the Wheels of Steel" and The Sugarhill Gang 's breakthrough hip hop music single " Rapper's Delight ". It has been sampled since by many dance and hip hop acts, as well as being the inspiration for Queen 's " Another One Bites the Dust " (1980), Blondie 's " Rapture " (1981), Captain Sensible 's "Wot?" (1982) and, two decades later,
11571-403: The movement who went on to become one of its chroniclers, believed that the news media saddled the movement for the long term with a set of false images: Reporters are not generally well-versed in artistic movements, or the history of literature or art. And most are certain that their readers, or viewers, are of limited intellectual ability and must have things explained simply, in any case. Thus,
11704-468: The musical term "beat", which referred to the rhythmic patterns of jazz , a genre that influenced many beatniks. Beatniks often were stereotyped as wearing black clothing, berets, sunglasses, and goatees, and speaking in hip slang that incorporated words like "cool", "dig", "groovy", and "square". They frequented coffeehouses, bookstores, bars, and clubs, where they listened to jazz, read poetry, discussed philosophy, and engaged in political activism. Some of
11837-438: The opening session of the event, the announcement stated that Rodgers would be honored for his "efforts to make the world a more peaceful, equal and inclusive place through his music, his commitment to fighting systemic racism, inequality and injustice, and by championing innovative youth voices." In March, he was named Polar Music Prize Laureate , together with Esa-Pekka Salonen . He was among many star guitarists to contribute to
11970-416: The original break-up of the partnership in 1983. Thompson died of kidney cancer on November 12, 2003, at age 48. 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 with Nile Rodgers headlined
12103-548: The phrase "Beat Generation", generalizing from his social circle to characterize the underground, anti-conformist youth gathering in New York City at that time. The name came up in conversation with John Clellon Holmes , who published an early Beat Generation novel titled Go (1952), along with the manifesto This Is the Beat Generation in The New York Times Magazine . In 1954, Nolan Miller published his third novel Why I Am So Beat (Putnam), detailing
12236-488: The rebirth of the Chic Organization. Rodgers received a box of lost Chic demos back in 2010, and "I'll Be There" is one of those lost tapes finished. 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. On June 25, 2017, the band performed at the Glastonbury Festival . On December 31, 2017,
12369-450: The reporters in the media tried to relate something that was new to already preexisting frameworks and images that were only vaguely appropriate in their efforts to explain and simplify. With a variety of oversimplified and conventional formulas at their disposal, they fell back on the nearest stereotypical approximation of what the phenomenon resembled, as they saw it. And even worse, they did not see it clearly and completely at that. They got
12502-409: The second and fourth legs of the American singer-actress Cher 's 2019 tour, Chic served as the opening act. In addition to refining a relatively minimalist disco sound, Chic helped to inspire other artists to create their own sound. For example, The Sugarhill Gang used "Good Times" as the basis for its success " Rapper's Delight " (1979), which helped initiate the hip hop recorded music format that
12635-527: The series Greenwood Press Guides to Subcultures and Countercultures . The book includes a timeline, a glossary and biographical sketches. Others in the Greenwood series: Punks , Hippies , Goths and Flappers . Tales of Beatnik Glory: Volumes I and II by Ed Sanders is, as its name suggests, a collection of short stories, and a definitive introduction to the beatnik scene as lived by its participants. The author, who went on to found The Fugs , lived in
12768-524: The set, which was also reissued in 2013. Rodgers' critically acclaimed autobiography, Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco, and Destiny was published by Spiegel & Grau , a Random House imprint, in late 2011. It was named one of the top 10 of the 25 Greatest Rock Memoirs of All Time by Rolling Stone . In February 2012, Rodgers announced that he was collaborating with electronic band Daft Punk for their latest album, "teasing out their R&B influences". The record, Random Access Memories
12901-503: The short-lived experimental band Outloud in 1987, with David Letterman 's guitarist, composer, and vocalist Felicia Collins and French session musician, producer, composer, and keyboardist Philippe Saisse ; the trio released a single album, Out Loud , on Warner Bros. Records . In September 1990, shortly after the death of Stevie Ray Vaughan , the Rodgers-produced Vaughan Brothers album Family Style
13034-485: The sounds of others, including Queen 's 1980 #1 hit " Another One Bites the Dust ", and Blondie , who had a #1 hit with " Rapture ". Following Chic's breakup, Rodgers released his first solo album, Adventures in the Land of the Good Groove . With Chic no longer occupying most of his time, Rodgers was free to focus on working with other artists. He produced David Bowie's biggest selling album, Let's Dance , which yielded
13167-651: The soundtrack of the beat movement was the modern jazz pioneered by saxophonist Charlie Parker and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie , which the media dubbed bebop . Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg spent much of their time in New York jazz clubs such as the Royal Roost , Minton's Playhouse , Birdland and the Open Door, "shooting the breeze" and "digging the music". Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis rapidly became what Ginsberg dubbed "secret heroes" to this group of aesthetes. The Beat authors borrowed much from
13300-401: The stereotype was absorbed into American culture: "Beat Generation" sold books, sold black turtleneck sweaters and bongos, berets and dark glasses, sold a way of life that seemed like dangerous fun—thus to be either condemned or imitated. Suburban couples could have beatnik parties on Saturday nights and drink too much and fondle each other's wives. Kerouac biographer Ann Charters noted that
13433-490: The successful 1980 album Diana for Diana Ross that ended up selling over ten million albums internationally, with Rodgers and Edwards producing. It yielded the four weeks at number-one single " Upside Down " and the top ten song " I'm Coming Out ". " My Old Piano " was a top ten single for Ross in the United Kingdom. Rodgers co-produced David Bowie 's 1983 album Let's Dance and was also responsible largely for
13566-446: The successful nightclub song "Saturday". To facilitate Wright's solo career, the band had agreed to contract her with a separate record company. The legal details of this contract eventually forced Wright to end her relationship with the band during mid-1978, but she participated in the sessions for Chic-produced Sister Sledge album We Are Family (1979). She was replaced as a singer by Alfa Anderson , who had done back-up vocals on
13699-509: The tenth album of Chic would follow in February 2019. He reaffirmed this scheduling on his Instagram account when he stated that the album would drop "around Valentines Day" as a gift for fans after leg one of their joint tour with Cher . The album, Executive Realness , was then pushed back to May 2019, although it did not eventuate. In September 2018, Chic and Rodgers played as the opening act for BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing . During
13832-455: The term "Beat" was appropriated to become a Madison Avenue marketing tool: The term caught on because it could mean anything. It could even be exploited in the affluent wake of the decade's extraordinary technological inventions. Almost immediately, for example, advertisements by "hip" record companies in New York used the idea of the Beat Generation to sell their new long-playing vinyl records . Lee Streiff, an acquaintance of many members of
13965-421: The track " Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah) ". As a result, Chic became a support act. The title of the first song recorded as Chic was " Everybody Dance ", which was on their first album. Under contract with Atlantic Records company, during 1977, they released the self-titled debut album Chic , which was an extension of the demonstration tape. But Edwards and Rodgers were convinced that to produce
14098-415: The track "For Life", also featuring English singer Zak Abel . He also provided additional guitar on British pop rock band Coldplay 's song "Good Feelings", which features vocals from Nigerian singer Ayra Starr . The song was included on the band's tenth studio album Moon Music . Chic (band) Chic (stylized CHIC ; / ʃ iː k / SHEEK ), currently called Nile Rodgers & Chic ,
14231-433: The vision, talents, and ideas of young people who are positively changing the world", it is dedicated to the vision of a global family. In 2010, Rhino Records released a four-CD box set , Nile Rodgers Presents The Chic Organization, Volume 1: Savoir Faire , which for the first time collected tracks from all of the acts produced by The Chic Organization up to their original break-up in 1983. Rodgers provided liner notes for
14364-791: The vocal and music style of the Italian-American disco band Change , which had a series of successes during the early 1980s. The two acts also had a couple of things in common: Chic alumnus Luther Vandross was also Change's vocalist upon the latter's formation, and Change, like Chic, were signed to Atlantic through its distributed RFC label. On September 19, 2005, the group was honored at the Dance Music Hall of Fame ceremony in New York when they were inducted in three categories: 1) Artist Inductees, 2) Record Inductees for "Good Times," and 3) Producers Inductees, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. Chic has been nominated for inclusion in
14497-411: The wall between art and real life, so that art would become a living experience in cafes or jazz clubs, and not remain the prerogative of galleries and museums. Many works of artists of the movement were created on the verge of various types of art . Artists wrote poetry and poets painted, something like this can describe the processes taking place within the framework of the movement. Performances were
14630-529: The way we had heard the word "beat" spoken on street corners on Times Square and in the Village , in other cities in the downtown city night of postwar America—beat, meaning down and out but full of intense conviction. We'd even heard old 1910 Daddy Hipsters of the streets speak the word that way, with a melancholy sneer. It never meant juvenile delinquents , it meant characters of a special spirituality who didn't gang up but were solitary Bartlebies staring out
14763-446: The weekend parties of four students. "Beat" came from underworld slang—the world of hustlers, drug addicts, and petty thieves—from which Allen Ginsberg and Kerouac sought inspiration. "Beat" was slang for "beaten down" or "downtrodden". However, to Kerouac and Ginsberg, it also had a spiritual connotation, as in " beatitude ". Other adjectives discussed by Holmes and Kerouac were "found" and "furtive". Kerouac felt he had identified (and
14896-478: The well-known owner of a San Francisco Art Gallery. Objecting to the term, Allen Ginsberg wrote to The New York Times to deplore "the foul word beatnik", commenting, "If beatniks and not illuminated Beat poets overrun this country, they will have been created not by Kerouac but by industries of mass communication which continue to brainwash man." In the vernacular of the period, "Beat" referred to Beat culture, attitude and literature; while "beatnik" referred to
15029-554: The word "beatnik" is traditionally ascribed to Herb Caen from his column in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 2, 1958, where he wrote " Look magazine , preparing a picture spread on S.F.'s Beat Generation (oh, no, not AGAIN!), hosted a party in a No. Beach house for 50 Beatniks, and by the time word got around the sour grapevine, over 250 bearded cats and kits were on hand, slopping up Mike Cowles' free booze. They're only Beat, y'know, when it comes to work ..." It
15162-476: The word Beat as being to mean beatific...People began to call themselves beatniks, beats, jazzniks, bopniks, buggies, and finally, I was called the "avatar" of all this. In light of what he considered beat to mean and what beatnik had come to mean, Kerouac said to a reporter "I'm not a beatnik. I'm a Catholic", showing the reporter a painting of Pope Paul VI and saying "You know who painted that? Me." In her memoir Minor Characters , Joyce Johnson described how
15295-557: Was Atlantic Records ' only triple platinum selling single at the time, and "Good Times" shot to No. 1 in August 1979 despite that year's " Disco Sucks " campaign. The success of Chic's first singles led Atlantic to offer Rodgers and Edwards the opportunity to produce any act on its roster. They chose Sister Sledge , whose 1979 album, We Are Family , hit #3 on the Billboard charts, charting well into 1980. The first two singles, " He's
15428-813: Was 14. His biological father, Nile Rodgers Sr., was a travelling percussionist who specialized in Afro-Cuban beats and was rarely present as Rodgers grew up; although influential in his life, Rodgers saw his father only a "handful" of times prior to his death in 1970. In 1959, Goodman married Bobby Glanzrock. Rodgers described Glanzrock in his 2011 autobiography as a " beatnik PhD, whose observations had angles that would make Miles Davis contemplate his cool." Richard Pryor , Thelonious Monk , and Lenny Bruce often visited their home in Greenwich Village . Glanzrock and Goodman were addicted to heroin , and Rodgers began using drugs at 13. Before learning to play
15561-599: Was Chic. They were fucking mega. Absolutely out of this world." A compilation album, Up All Night (2013), 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 two a week later. Chic and Nile Rodgers played the iTunes Festival in London on September 14, 2013. They opened British The X Factor live show on 2 November 2013 for Disco week. They performed
15694-744: Was Michael's only posthumous release. In June 2018, "Till the World Falls", the first single from Nile Rodgers & Chic's first album since 1992, It's About Time , was released. The song featured Mura Masa , Cosha and Vic Mensa . The album was released in September 2018, and hit the Top 10 in the UK. It was the first Chic record to hit the Top 10 in 25 years. Two singles from the album were subsequently released: "Sober" featuring Craig David and Stefflon Don , and "Do You Wanna Party" featuring LunchMoney Lewis . In December 2018, Nile Rodgers & Chic began their first UK arena tour. They were nominated for
15827-683: Was a Bleecker Street beatnik spoof of Kay Thompson 's Eloise series (1956–1959). In the 1960s comic book, the Justice League of America 's sidekick Snapper Carr was portrayed as a stereotypical beatnik, down to his lingo and clothes. The DC Comics character Jonny Double is portrayed as a beatnik. In San Francisco, Jerry and Estelle Cimino operate their Beat Museum , which began in 2003 in Monterey, California and moved to San Francisco in 2006. Ed "Big Daddy" Roth used fiberglass to build his Beatnik Bandit in 1960. Today, this car
15960-482: Was a product of the stereotypes of the 30s and 40s—though garbled—of a cross between a 1920s Greenwich Village bohemian artist and a Bop musician, whose visual image was completed by mixing in Daliesque paintings, a beret, a Vandyck beard , a turtleneck sweater, a pair of sandals, and set of bongo drums. A few authentic elements were added to the collective image: poets reading their poems, for example, but even this
16093-589: Was coined by San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen in 1958, as a derogatory label for the followers of the Beat Generation , a group of influential writers and artists who emerged during the era of the Silent Generation 's maturing, from as early as 1946, to as late as 1963, but the subculture was at its most prevalent in the 1950s. This lifestyle of anti-consumerism may have been influenced by their generation living in extreme poverty in
16226-556: Was created in a jam session in Edwards' apartment, after they had failed on New Year's Eve 1977 to meet with Grace Jones at New York's nightclub Studio 54 . The original refrain "Aaa, fuck off", intended for the doormen of Studio 54, was replaced that night with "Aaa, freak out", after trying a version with "Aaa, freak off". The resulting single was a great success, reaching No. 1 on the US charts and selling more than six million copies. It
16359-551: Was honored as the Top Producer in the World in Billboard Magazine , and was named a JT Super Producer. That year, he performed with Bernard Edwards, Sister Sledge, Steve Winwood , Simon Le Bon , and Slash in a series of commemorative concerts in Japan. His longtime musical partner Edwards died of pneumonia at age 43 during the trip on April 18, 1996. His final performance was recorded and released as Live at
16492-440: Was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with an award for Musical Excellence. "It's sort of bittersweet," says Rodgers. "I'm quite flattered that they believed that I was worthy, but my band Chic didn't win. They plucked me out of the band and said, 'You're better than Chic.' That's wacky to me ... I am flattered and I think it's cool, but I feel like somebody put me in the lifeboat and told my family they can't get in." On
16625-444: Was later published as "The Origins of the Beat Generation" ( Playboy , June 1959). In that article, Kerouac noted how his original beatific philosophy had been ignored amid maneuvers by several pundits, among them San Francisco newspaper columnist Herb Caen , to alter Kerouac's concept with jokes and jargon: I went one afternoon to the church of my childhood and had a vision of what I must have really meant with "Beat"...the vision of
16758-408: Was made unintelligible by making all of the poets speak in some kind of phony Bop idiom. The consequence is, that even though we may know now that these images do not accurately reflect the reality of the Beat movement, we still subconsciously look for them when we look back to the 50s. We have not even yet completely escaped the visual imagery that has been so insistently forced upon us. The origin of
16891-455: Was produced by Edwards and Rodgers. Chic was cited as an influence by many successful bands from Great Britain during the 1980s. John Taylor , the bassist from Duran Duran claims the bass part of their top 10 single " Rio " (1982) was influenced by Edwards' work with Chic. Even Johnny Marr of The Smiths has cited the group as a formative influence. Rodgers' guitar work has been so emulated as to become commonplace, and Edwards' lyrical bass
17024-471: Was rejected by his label and remained unreleased until 2017. As a young session vocalist, Luther Vandross sang on Chic's early albums. After the anti-disco reaction at the end of the 1970s, the band struggled to obtain both airplay and sales, and during the early 1980s they disbanded. Rodgers and Edwards produced records for a variety of artists together and separately. The Chic rhythm section of Rodgers, Edwards, and Thompson provided instrumental back-up for
17157-487: Was released in 2013. Rodgers co-wrote and played guitar on three tracks: " Give Life Back to Music ", " Lose Yourself to Dance ", and " Get Lucky ". In April, "Get Lucky" entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 3, only 24 hours after its release, and two weeks later rose to No. 1. In an interview with Official Charts Company , Rodgers said, "I've had big records and Number 1s; I have had records that were Number 1 in
17290-460: Was released. He produced records for David Bowie , Eric Clapton , the B-52s , David Lee Roth , Ric Ocasek , the Stray Cats and others early in the decade, and worked on the soundtracks for Thelma and Louise , Cool World , and The Beavis and Butt-head Experience . Rodgers and Edwards reformed Chic in 1992 and recorded new material for the album Chic-Ism . In 1996, they released
17423-594: Was the best-selling single ever of Atlantic 's parent company, Warner Music , until Madonna 's " Vogue " in 1990. On March 21, 2018 "Le Freak" was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The next year, the group released the Risqué album and the lead track " Good Times ", one of
17556-576: Was the embodiment of) a new trend analogous to the influential Lost Generation . In "Aftermath: The Philosophy of the Beat Generation", Kerouac criticized what he saw as a distortion of his visionary, spiritual ideas: The Beat Generation, that was a vision that we had, John Clellon Holmes and I, and Allen Ginsberg in an even wilder way, in the late Forties, of a generation of crazy, illuminated hipsters suddenly rising and roaming America, serious, bumming and hitchhiking everywhere, ragged, beatific, beautiful in an ugly graceful new way—a vision gleaned from
17689-435: Was valued at US $ 2.69 billion. An asteroid approximately 300 million miles away from Earth was named nilerodgers (191911) in honor of Rodgers' 70th birthday in 2022. Rodgers donated $ 1 million to the We Are Family Foundation, the organization he co-founded, to mark both his birthday and the foundation's 20th anniversary. Rodgers performed " Modern Love " and " Let's Dance " with Josh Homme , Omar Hakim and Gaz Coombes at
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