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Nile Rodgers: The Hitmaker (BBC Four documentary) Duration: 1 hour
Nile Rodgers has sold over 100 million records. As the co-founder, songwriter, producer and guitarist of Chic he helped define the sound of the '70s, as disco took the world by storm. Nile and musical partner Bernard Edwards captured the essence of New York's iconic Studio 54 creating hits like Dance Dance Dance, Le Freak and Good Times for Chic and We Are Family and Lost In Music for struggling vocal group Sister Sledge. But the music that had made Chic would also break them, thanks to the 'Disco Sucks' backlash. What could have been the end for Nile Rodgers would actually be a new beginning as a producer, helping create some of the biggest hits of the '80s for the likes of Diana Ross, David Bowie, Madonna and Duran Duran.
In this profile documentary, the ever-charismatic Rogers contributes an engaging and often frank interview to tell the tale of how, born to Beatnik, heroin-addict parents in New York, he picked up a guitar as a teenager and embarked on a journey to learn his craft as a musician, before becoming one of Disco's most successful artists.
In the '70s and '80s he lived the party lifestyle thanks to his success with Chic and as one of the music industry's hottest producers. Drugs and alcohol would become part of everyday life for Nile, contributing in part to the break up of Chic in the early '80s. The band would reform in the mid '90s, but their return was quickly marked by tragedy with the death of Nile's long-time friend and musical partner, Bernard Edwards in 1996.
Then in 2010 Nile was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of prostate cancer, which last year he announced he had beaten. In spite of, or perhaps because of this, Nile's talent and ambition remains undimmed, deservedly earning himself the title of hardest-working man in pop, with Chic's seemingly inexhaustible live performance schedule.
Nile Rogers: The Hitmaker recounts a captivating and moving story of a man who has created some of the most sparkling and ebullient pop music ever recorded.
Contributors include: Nile Rodgers' fellow Chic members, singers Norma Jean, Alfa Anderson and Fonzi Thornton and keyboard player Rob Sabino, as well as recording engineers Bob Clearmountain and Robert Drake.
Other artists Nile has worked with talk passionately about his talents, including Sister Sledge's Kathy Sledge; Bryan Ferry; Steve Winwood; Johnny Marr; La Roux's Elly Jackson; Valerie Simpson; Debbie Harry and Chris Stein from Blondie and Duran Duran's John Taylor.
Next on
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rk2tm | |
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Marr? "Climb in my fur." | |
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For those not living in the UK... | |
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"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." --Plato
https://youtu.be/CVwv9LZMah0 | |
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Thank you! I really enjoyed seeing this doc.
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Yes, it was great!
I had the pleasure of meeting Nile Rodgers last year, and he is such a friendly and down to earth guy. And a mega talented musician and producer of course!
I didn't wash my hands for a week after shaking his funky pawn!!! Touched by the Master... RIP Prince: thank U 4 a funky Time... |
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I'm due to see Chic for the first time later in the year. I'm going through a bit of a Chic collecting phase as well - I recently spent a small fortune on the OOP CD for B-Movie Matinee.  I also keep adding to my list of songs that I at least vaguely like, that I later discover Nile had something to do with.  It was a pretty interesting programme, it could have easily been a two hour one given everything that he's done. | |
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Me too. | |
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I need to see this! Just saw the documentary and it was great, just makes me love Nile even more! He such a humble person and just a great arranger and instrumentalist. He knew music and much love for his art. I hope to see him live one day. [Edited 4/1/13 11:23am] When the power of love overcomes the love of power,the world will know peace -Jimi Hendrix | |
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You won't be disappointed, his band is tight!!! RIP Prince: thank U 4 a funky Time... |
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I'm sure I wont, since the people in his band are actually GREAT musicians When the power of love overcomes the love of power,the world will know peace -Jimi Hendrix | |
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I had no idea Nile put in this much work. Wow...............very informative. | |
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Nile and Nard were the Gershwins of dance music. Thanks for posting the clip. His memoir is a good read. | |
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Me either & I consider myself a huge Nile fan. Stevie Winwood? How did I not know that...? Funk Is It's Own Reward | |
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MAN, i thoroughly enjoyed that doc. Nile is da'man! Very informative. I was familiar with the breadth of his work, but i love D2 but didn't know about The Reflex or Wild Boys, just Notorious. He should put out a box set of his personal faves or something. I think i'ma cop his memoir!!! | |
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