Chic--La Freak (1978)

     It's thought that I hate disco....and am not sure if it's just mellowing with age, or with reflection just realizing that just like any other trend in music, there are trendsetters, then everyone else. For every great band, there are a bunch of poseurs who do nothing but make a parody of things. How many attempted to follow the footsteps of Elvis, The Beatles, Dylan, Nirvana, etc....and just made us wish even more for the original?
     In my mind there are a handful of artists who made disco a quality genre, one of them being Chic. Guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards had been working together since 1970, but the group didn't begin to take form until 1977 with the addition of drummer Tony Thompson. Keyboard player Raymond Jones and singers Norma Jean Wright and Luci Martin rounded out the lineup.
     How La Freak was created is one of my favorite stories from the era....it sounds funnier coming from the writer himself....

     "La Freak" became a #1 hit and one of the most iconic songs from the disco era. They had two top ten hits in 1979 before getting caught in the undertow of anti-disco sentiment, and broke up a few years later. Nile Rodgers became one of the most important producers of 1980's music being involved with many of the top names of the era. Over 30 years after disco era on the charts was over, "La Freak" and "Good Times" became two of the sparkling singles of it's time.

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Peter Brown--Dance With Me (1978)

     Peter Brown had no real interest in becoming a musician. His mother was musically gifted and gave young Peter music lessons, and his dad was an electrical engineer. Both streams of the gene pool  became part of Brown's early career as, because of his father's job, became well versed in many of the early electronic devices of the day, which included a two-track recorder in which he would fiddle around with overdubbing. He would also take an interest in the early versions of the synthesizer.
     Despite all of this, he enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago to study painting and graphic art. He loved music, never really saw it as a career. Enter Cory Wade who Peter met through mutual friends. Wade was a music producer, but was also connected to folks in the art world, and Brown was hoping to gain access to them to help his very new career. Using a 4 track recorder, Peter had experimented with different sounds using the keyboard and percussion. Wade, upon hearing those was very interested, and encouraged Brown to turn full time to music.
     Although he was never really a fan of the music, Brown began fiddling with disco since it was popular at the time, and put a band together to see what might happen. The demos that were cut were sent to Henry Stone, who was the president of TK records. Stone was so pleased with the result that he wanted to release the demos as is. Peter asked for some time in a proper studio (he was still recording with a 4 track), which he was granted to clean up some areas that Brown thought was deficient. The result was "Do You Want To Get Funky With Me?", which was a top 20 hit in 1977.
     "Dance With Me" was the second single, which reached #8 in the spring of 1978. He continued to write and record long after the disco craze waned, and is seen by many as a pioneer of "House" music. Other than his first two hits, he is best known as the composer of "Material Girl" which became a #2 hit for Madonna in 1985.  
     Brown began to develop tinnitus in his ears in the late 80's, and chose to leave music altogether. He returned to his first love of graphic arts, which he continues to do today from his home in the Rocky Mountains.

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