Can you picture the scene?
After almost a decade of hanging out on the perimeter of massive success, two talented musicians were working hard to align themselves with some big names in the industry. Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards contacted the offices of Grace Jones. After a positive conversation, the high-profile model/singer invited them to New York’s Studio 54 for a grand New Year’s Eve party in December of 1977. Jones instructed them to go to the back door of the iconic club and let the security team know that they would be her guests for the evening. She used the words personal friends.
Hello. We are personal friends of Miss Grace Jones.”
Nile Rodgers
Rodgers and Edwards were pumped. This could be life-changing.
That evening they went to the back door as instructed. They felt on top of the world because this allowed them to circumvent the long line that would no-doubt form at the front door.
In the New York City club scene, stories surround Studio 54 were legendary. It was the place to be seen, and not just anybody would be allowed in. Fame was a guaranteed ticket. If you were ‘nobody’ you could wait in line all night. The doormen held the key.
Rodgers and Edwards knocked on the back door and things took a nasty turn.
They were not on the list. The security team would not let them in. The duo’s persistence led to a stern and repeated…’FUCK OFF!’
They tried their luck at the front door and this went even worse because their efforts were challenged by the growing line of would-be revellers who knew that their odds of ever getting in were getting lower by the minute.
The repeated response from the Studio 54 staff was ’FUCK OFF!’
Rodgers and Edwards were defeated.
The dejected pair went back to their apartment which happened to be only a couple of blocks away.
For them, New Year’s Eve turned into a jam session.
Almost immediately they hammered out a funky bass driven groove with a complimentary guitar track.
The jam centred around one repeated line…
Fuck Off! Fuck Studio 54.”
Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards
It became an ode to their New Year’s Eve experience. Disappointment quicky turned to enthusiasm because they knew the catchy sound they had captured was full of possibility.
Listen here as Nile Rodgers tells the story way better than me. This is hilarious!
Right away they knew they could not use ‘Fuck’ so they changed it to ‘Freak’ Off.
It sounded ridiculous.
About the same time the pair recalled a new dance called ‘The Freak’ that was popular in the dance scene. They knew they had the groove so they thought, let’s make the song about the dance.
They changed the catch line to ‘Freak Out’. Nile and Bernard didn’t know how to do the dance but they knew it existed…and something told them that it would work.
Bernard Edwards turned to Nile Rodgers and said.
You know this shit is happenin’”
Bernard Edwards
As mentioned, the lyrics famously mention Studio 54. The song-writers also bring up The Savoy which back in the ‘30s was the Studio 54 of the day. As you read the lyrics below you will note the line ‘Stompin at the Savoy’ by Edgar Sampson.
Just an interesting aside.
Here are the lyrics. Read along and you get the full background that weaves Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards’ experience into a recent dance craze that they know absolutely nothing about. They then mesh it with a similar trend from about two decades previous. Within all of this, the pair drew recalled their love of Chubby Checker and the ‘Peppermint Twist’.
Essentially it exists as a musical timeline focusing on people’s love of dancing and gathering in a club atmosphere.
Like they predicted, it definitely worked.
‘Le Freak’ took the world by storm.
Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards
Ah, freak out!
Le freak, c’est Chic
Freak out!
Ah, freak out!
Le freak, c’est Chic
Freak out!
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
Ah, freak out!
Le freak, c’est Chic
Freak out!
All that pressure got you down
Has your head spinning all around
Feel the rhythm, check the rhyme
Come on along and have a real good time
Like the days of stomping at the Savoy
Now we freak, oh, what a joy
Just come on down, two 54
Find a spot out on the floor
Ah, freak out!
Le freak, c’est Chic
Freak out!
Now freak!
I said freak!
Now freak!
All that pressure got you down
Has your head spinning all around
Feel the rhythm, check the ride
Come on along and have a real good time
Like the days of stomping at the Savoy
Now we freak, oh, what a joy
Just come on down, two 54
Find a spot out on the floor
Ah, freak out!
Le freak, c’est Chic
Freak out!
Ah, freak out!
Le freak, c’est Chic
Freak out!”
Now we need to take a step back. Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards had one more major hurdle. They had to convince the folks at Atlantic Records that the song would work.
Predictably the record company hated it, but the fact that the disco craze had taken over, prompted them to oblige. Everybody was looking for the next big hit. Here is Nile Rodger’s recollection.
By the time the song ended, after about seven and a half minutes, we’d cleared the conference room. We were just sitting there by ourselves – myself, Bernard Edwards and our attorney. Everybody else was outside trying to figure out how to tell us how much the song sucked, and wondering did we have anything else on the album that was better.”
Nile Edwards
Eventually, Warner Records relented. The condition was it needed to be reduced to less than four minutes.
Chic had no real issue with this compromise, and they released the album ‘C’est Chic’ on this day in 1978. It was the group’s second studio album. Driven by the success of ‘Le Freak’ it went to #4 on the U.S. album charts. ‘Le Freak’ climbed to #1 in December of 1978. In time it became the best-selling single by Atlantic Records/Warner Music ever, selling 13 million copies. From a strategic standpoint, they stopped distributing it as a single so people would buy the album.
‘Le Freak’ enjoyed a fascinating ride while hanging out at the top of the charts. It was knocked from the top twice. It went to #1 in December of 1978, then dropped to #2 to make way for ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers’. It went back to #1 a short time later before dropping to #2 for two weeks when the Bee Gees ‘Too Much Heaven’ took over. In January of 1979 it was back at #1 again, where it remained for four more weeks.
In 2018, the undeniable popularity of ‘Le Freak’ resulted in it being selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically and artistically significant”.
It definitely checks all three boxes.
In the end, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards never had a problem getting into Studio 54 again.
As a final aside, Studio 54 closed in early February of 1980. It reopened in September of 1981 and closed again in 1986. Presently, it houses the Roundabout Theatre at Studio 54.
Through the years, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards gained additional notoriety. Famously, the worked with Sister Sledge on ‘We Are Family’ less than a year after ‘Le Freak’.
In some versions of ‘We Are Family’ Kathy Sledge can be heard encouraging Bernard Edwards as he is jamming to the rhythm.
Yeah, come on Bernard, play…play your funky bass, boy!
Kathy Sledge
Nile Rodgers went on to work with artists like David Bowie on ‘Let’s Dance’, INXS on ‘Original Sin’, Duran Duran on ‘The Reflex’ and ‘Notorious’ and Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin’. You can add Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck, The B-52s. Bryan Ferry, Daft Punk, Lady Gaga and Christina Aguilera to this list. There are many others.
And yes…He even worked with Grace Jones on her ‘Inside Story’ album in 1996.
Bernard Edwards is equally as prolific, although his career was much shorter. After Chic broke up, he formed Power Station along with his Chic colleague Tony Thompson, Robert Palmer and John and Andy Taylor of Duran Duran. He then produced Robert Palmer’s ‘Riptide’. Through the ‘80s and ‘90s, Bernard Edwards worked with Diana Ross, Rod Stewart, Adam Ant, Air Supply, ABC and Duran Duran.
One other interesting note is the fact that Queen attributes the bass riff that inspired ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ to Bernard Edwards and his work on ‘Good Times’ by Chic.
Check this out.
Now here is Queen.
This had to be shared because so much of what Ted Tocks Covers represents is how great music begets great music on through the decades.
Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards reside as just two of thousands on the eternal musical timeline.
But please, DO NOT write them, or Chic off as just another disco flash in the pan.
Sadly, Bernard Edwards died of pneumonia in April of 1996. He was only 43.
Here is the brief story. Earlier, I alluded to Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards and their long list of collaborations and influence. In April of 1996, Chic was invited to play at Budokan Arena in Tokyo. They invited Sister Sledge, Steve Winwood and Slash to join them on stage for select numbers. Watch as Slash meshes in seamlessly with Chic. The audience is treated to a great concert memory, although it proved to be bittersweet. This became Bernard Edwards final performance. He was not feeling well heading into the show, but he struggled his way through. He revealed that he had actually blacked out at one point, missing a few bars of a song. Concerned for his friend, Nile Rodgers had been reluctant about even performing but Edwards insisted. After the show Nile checked in with his long time friend and was told he would be fine. That was the list time Nile Rodgers spoke to Bernard Edwards. The remarkable bassist was found dead in his hotel room by Rodgers the next day.
From the back story of ‘Le Freak’ we now go to a couple of interesting covers, before concluding with a pop culture reference and a couple of personal reflections.
This is just a ton of fun and a great way to begin the cover portion of today’s feature. From 2005, please enjoy The Ukulele Orchestra.
Moving ahead to 2010, we get another music legend. Watch as Prince offers ‘Le Freak’ but gives the stage to his backing vocalists. Somehow though it all, Prince’s command of every detail is apparent.
Sitting here in 2023, it is interesting to reflect on this scene from Toy Story 3 back in 2010. We are treated to quite a different take on the Barbie and Ken relationship.
Count me in on the 2023 ‘Barbie’ movie. Really well done. My only criticism would be that they missed the mark on the end scene. It could have been more emphatic.
To conclude, I will reflect back on 45 years ago, and hanging out in my friend Nick’s living room, listening to records. He is the one who introduced me to Chic. I wasn’t entirely convinced. As I recall, Boney M was in the mix, as well as ‘Bat Out of Hell’ by Meat Loaf. This was more to my taste. I made a mental note to bring my fledgling collection of Rush and Led Zeppelin albums with me the next time I dropped by, but in all seriousness, looking back this was a true example of where my eventual (I use the word eventual with a disclaimer, because it was a slow journey) diverse tastes began.
Sometimes we just need to be awakened to this fact. Like Robert Hunter said;
Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.”
Robert Hunter
Here is a perfect way to end. I have been writing Ted Tocks Covers for almost 70 months and well over 1600 posts. I can honestly say that there are few I have written that conjured up so many emotions. Nile Rodgers story made me laugh. The passing of Bernard Edwards at such a young age made me recognize how fleeting life’s journey really is. I took some time to think back to my formative friendships, and most of all the music in this story tells of a long line of influence that goes back about nine decades.
So, to summarize, ‘Le Freak’ served to spell out exactly why I continue to write, because as always, I state that without a doubt…
#MusicisLife
Because…
Well, I ain’t always right, but I’ve never been wrong
Robert Hunter
Seldom turns out the way it does in a song”
No matter where your musical pleasures lay, the artists are telling you the same story.
In life, if all that pressure is getting you down, and you feel like your head is spinning around, just take some to feel the rhythm and check the rhyme. Before you know it, you will be having a real good time.
It’s all right there in the song. We just need to listen.
Ted Tocks Covers 
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