Look up daft in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Daft is an Old English-derived word for silly, stupid, or mad, depending on context.

Daft may also refer to:

• Daft (album), a 1986 album by Art of Noise
• Daft Punk, a French music duo
• D.A.F.T.: A Story About Dogs, Androids, Firemen and Tomatoes, a collection of music videos from Daft Punk's first album Homework
• DAFT (treaty), Dutch-American Friendship Treaty

People[link]

• Douglas Daft (born 1943), Australian businessman
• Harry Daft (1866–1945), English footballer
• Kevin Daft (born 1975), American football coach and former professional quarterback
• Leo Daft (1843–1922), constructor of early American urban railroads
• Richard Daft (1835–1900), English cricketer

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder
Background information
Birth name	Hansjörg Moroder
Also known as	Giorgio
Born	(1940-04-26) 26 April 1940 (age 72) Urtijëi, Italy
Origin	Urtijëi, Italy
Genres	Dance, disco, electronic, electronic dance, Hi-NRG, Eurodisco, Italo disco, pop, rock
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, record producer
Instruments	Synthesizers
Years active	1965–present
Labels	Oasis
Associated acts	Donna Summer, Freddie Mercury, Limahl
Website	www.moroder.net

Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder,^[1][2] named on record sleeves often only Giorgio (born 26 April 1940, Urtijëi, South Tyrol, Italy) is an Italian (of Ladin ethnicity^[3]) record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records. He collaborated with Donna Summer during the era of disco (including "Love to Love You Baby" and "I Feel Love") and is the founder of the former Musicland Studios in Munich, which was used as a recording studio by artists including the Electric Light Orchestra, Led Zeppelin, Queen and Elton John.

In addition to producing several hits with Donna Summer, Moroder also produced a number of electronic disco hits for The Three Degrees, two albums for Sparks, a handful of songs on Bonnie Tyler's album Bitterblue as well as her 1985 single "Here She Comes" and a score of songs for performers including David Bowie, Irene Cara, Madleen Kane, Melissa Manchester, Blondie, Japan, and France Joli.

Music career[link]

Moroder made his first steps in music in Berlin by releasing a few singles under the name "Giorgio" beginning in 1966, singing in Italian, Spanish, English, and German. He came to prominence in 1969, when his recording "Looky Looky", released on Ariola Records, was awarded a gold disc in October 1970.^[4] He then began making a name for himself in studios around Germany in the early 1970s. Often collaborating with lyricist Pete Bellotte, Moroder had a number of hits in his own name including "Son of My Father" in 1972 before releasing the synthesizer-driven From Here to Eternity, a notable chartbuster in 1977, and in the following year releasing "Chase", the theme from the film Midnight Express. These songs achieved some chart success in the United Kingdom, the United States, and across Europe, and everywhere disco-mania was spreading. The full film score for Midnight Express won him his first Academy Award for best film score in 1978. In 1979, Moroder released his album E=MC². Text on the album's cover stated that it was the "first electronic live-to-digital album." He also released three albums between 1977–1979 under the name Munich Machine.

In 1984, Moroder worked with Philip Oakey of The Human League to make the album Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder; which was a UK singles chart hit with "Together in Electric Dreams", title track to the 1984 film Electric Dreams. 1985 saw him collaborating with Kajagoogoo frontman Limahl for their worldwide hit "Neverending Story". In 1986, Moroder collaborated with his protégé Harold Faltermeyer (of "Axel F.") and lyricist Tom Whitlock to create the score for the film Top Gun (1986) and Berlin's "Take My Breath Away". "Chase" was also used as an entrance theme for wrestling's group The Midnight Express. In 1987, Moroder produced Falco's song "Body Next to Body".

In 1997, Moroder and Donna Summer won the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording for the song "Carry On".

On 20 September 2004 Moroder was honored at the Dance Music Hall of Fame ceremony, held in New York, when he was inducted for his many outstanding achievements and contributions as producer. In 2005, he was given the title of Commendatore by the then President of the Italian Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. On September 5, 2010 Moroder received the Great Order of Merit of the South Tyrol.

Film work[link]

Throughout much of his musical career, Moroder has been involved in soundtrack work for various motion pictures.

In 1980, he composed and produced two film soundtrack albums: the first for Foxes and the second for American Gigolo. A double album, of the Foxes soundtrack was released on the disco label Casablanca Records which includes Donna Summer's hit single "On the Radio", which Moroder both produced and co-wrote. The American Gigolo soundtrack featured the Moroder-produced Blondie's "Call Me", a US and UK number one hit. All singles from the album also went to number two for five weeks on the disco/dance charts.^[5] In 1982 he wrote the soundtrack of the movie Cat People, including the hit single "Putting Out Fire" featuring David Bowie.

In 1983, Moroder produced the soundtrack for the film Scarface. During its initial release, the album was only available in a few countries and strictly through import in the United States. Notable Moroder-produced tracks included "Scarface (Push It to the Limit)" by Paul Engemann, "Rush Rush" by Debbie Harry, and "She's on Fire" by Amy Holland. In 2006, the soundtrack was featured in the game Scarface: The World Is Yours, which is based on the film and also includes some previously-unreleased instrumentals by Moroder.

In 1984, Moroder compiled a new restoration and edit of the silent film Metropolis (1927) and provided it with a contemporary soundtrack. This soundtrack includes seven pop music tracks from Pat Benatar, Jon Anderson, Adam Ant, Billy Squier, Loverboy, Bonnie Tyler and Freddie Mercury. He also integrated the old-fashioned intertitles into the film as subtitles as a means of improving continuity, and he also increased the film's frame to 24 frames a second. Since the original speed was unknown this choice was controversial. Known as the "Moroder version", it sparked debate among film buffs, with outspoken critics and supporters of the film falling into equal camps.^[6]

Moroder also scored other films in the 1970s and 1980s, including Midnight Express, Flashdance, The Never Ending Story, Thief of Hearts, Electric Dreams, Cat People and Over the Top.

In 2002, he wrote the score for Leni Riefenstahl's final film, Impressionen unter Wasser, a marine documentary.^[7]

In an interview in May 2012, Moroder said he is collaboration on a little "rap" on the upcoming album of Daft Punk.^[8][9]

Video games[link]

His score for "Scarface" has been used in the video game Grand Theft Auto III while Moroder's "From Here to Eternity" and "Chase" were used in the Sony PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2 game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. "Together In Electric Dreams", a collaborative effort of Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey (of The Human League) features in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.

Sporting events and other media[link]

Moroder wrote the official theme songs, "Reach Out", for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and "Hand in Hand", for the 1988 Seoul Olympics and "Un'estate italiana" for the 1990 Football World Cup. "The Chase" is now also used as the theme bumper-music for the US AM talk radio program Coast to Coast AM. The BBC used Moroder's film soundtrack "Ivory Tower" as theme song during the broadcast of the motor-racing event Formula 1 Grand Prix, during the late 1980s and the early/mid 1990s. He also composed the song "Forever Friends" for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Other[link]

In the late 1980s, Moroder collaborated with Claudio Zampolli to create the Cizeta supercar.

Awards[link]

Moroder has won three Academy Awards: Best Original Score for Midnight Express (1978); Best Song for "Flashdance...What a Feeling", from the film Flashdance (1983); and Best Song for "Take My Breath Away", from Top Gun (1986).

Moroder also won two of his three Grammy Awards for "Flashdance": Best Album Of Original Score Written For A Motion Picture Or A Television Special and Best Instrumental Composition, for the track "Love Theme from Flashdance".

Notable collaborations[link]

{{columns-list|4|

• María Conchita Alonso
• Adam Ant
• Pat Benatar
• Edoardo Bennato
• Berlin
• Big Trouble
• Blondie
• Daft Punk
• David Bowie* [[* The Three Degrees
• Bonnie Tyler

}}

Discography[link]

The discography of Giorgio Moroder includes thirteen studio albums and ten soundtracks. This list is not representative of Moroder's work, as he is most successful as music producer.

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

• 1965 Baby Courreges / Warum hoer' ich nichts von dir (as Rock Romance)
• 1966 Stop / Believe In Me
• 1966 Glaub An Mich / Stop
• 1966 Bla, Bla Diddley / How Much Longer Must I Wait, Wait (as Giorgio and The Morodians)
• 1967 Lilly Belle / Love's Morning Land
• 1968 Moody Trudy / Stop
• 1968 Yummy, Yummy, Yummy / Make Me Your Baby (as Giorgio)(as George)
• 1968 Cinnamon / Reesy-Beesy
• 1968 Monja / Raggi Di Sole (as George)
• 1969 Luky, Luky [Looky, Looky] / Senza Te, Senza Me [Happy Birthday] (as George)
• 1969 Looky, Looky / Happy Birthday
• 1969 Mah Nà Mah Nà / Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo
• 1970 Lina Con La Luna (Moody Trudy) / Risi E Bisi (Reesy Beesy) (as George)
• 1970 Mony Mony (Muny Muny Muny) / Tempo D'amore (Make Me Your Baby)(as George)
• 1970 Arizona Man / Sally Don't You Cry
• 1970 Arizona Man (Jerk) / So Young (Slow)
• 1970 America, America / Rhythm Of Love (as Spinach)
• 1971 Action Man (part 1) / Action Man (part 2) (as Spinach)
• 1971 Underdog / Watch Your Step
• 1971 I'm Free Now / Son Of My Father
• 1971 London Traffic / Everybody Join Hands
• 1972 (Sweet Sixteen) You Know What I Mean / Knockin' On Your Door
• 1972 Tu Sei Mio Padre [Son Of My Father] / Non Ci Sto [Underdog]
• 1972 Son Of My Father (part 1) / Son Of My Father (part 2)
• 1972 Lord (Release Me) / Tears (as Children Of The Mission)
• 1972 Today's A Tomorrow (You Worried 'Bout Yesterday) / Pauline
• 1972 Take It, Shake It, Break My Heart / Spanish Disaster
• 1972 The Future Is Past / Blue Jean Girl
• 1973 Lonely Lovers' Symphony / Crippled Words
• 1973 Heaven Helps The Man (Who Helps Himself) / Sandy
• 1973 Hilf Dir Selbst/Geh Zu Ihm
• 1974 Marrakesh / Nostalgie
• 1974 Lie, Lie, Lie / Collico
• 1974 Born To Die (Mono) / Born To Die (Stereo)(as Giorgio)
• 1974 Born To Die / Strongest Of The Strong (as Giorgio's Common Cause)
• 1975 Bricks and Mortar / It's A Shame
• 1975 Rock Me To My Soul / Dark and Deep and In between (as Giorgio's Common Cause)
• 1975 Einzelgänger / Liebes Arie (as Einzelgänger)
• 1976 Einzelgänger / Good Old Germany (as Einzelgänger)
• 1976 Take Five / Enterprise (as MLS (Musicland Set))
• 1976 Knights In White Satin
• 1976 I Wanna Funk With You Tonite / Oh, L'Amour
• 1977 Let The Music Play / Oh, L'Amour
• 1977 From Here To Eternity / Too Hot To Handle
• 1977 From Here To Eternity / Utopia - Me Giorgio
• 1977 Get On The Funk Train (part I) / Get On The Funk Train (part II) (as Munich Machine)
• 1978 A Whiter Shade of Pale / It's All Wrong (But It's Alright) (as Munich Machine)
• 1978 Love's In You (Love's In Me) / I Can't Wait (as Giorgio & Chris)
• 1979 Party Light / Bolectro (as Munich Machine)
• 1979 Baby Blue / If You Weren't Afraid
• 1979 If You Weren't Afraid / E=MC2
• 1980 Night Drive / The Apartment
• 1983 Scarface (Push It To The Limit) / Tony's Theme (as Giorgio Moroder & Paul Engemann)
• 1984 Together In Electric Dreams / Together In Electric Dreams Instrumental (as Giorgio Moroder & Philip Oakey)
• 1984 The Duel / Madeline's Theme
• 1984 Reach Out / Reach Out (Instrumental)(as Giorgio Moroder & Paul Engemann)
• 1984 American Dream / Too Hot To Touch (Instrumental) (as Giorgio Moroder & Paul Engemann)
• 1985 Shannon's Eyes / Shannon's Eyes (Instrumental) (as Giorgio Moroder & Paul Engemann)
• 1985 Night Time Is The Right Time / Baby Blue [1985 Remix]
• 2012 Giorgio's New Dancing Shoes (from the CD: The 84th Academy Awards)

Soundtracks[link]

Sampling and other uses[link]

• Bronski Beat have covered "I Feel Love" and "Love to Love You Baby" for their debut album The Age of Consent (1984).
• Madonna has sampled "I Feel Love" ( a production by Moroder, sung by Donna Summer ) in the early 90's.
• "On Fire", the second single from rapper Lil Wayne's seventh studio album Rebirth; contains allusions from Amy Holland's song "She's on Fire" and was inspired in its entirety by Scarface.^[11]
• "Push It", the second single from rapper Rick Ross' debut album Port of Miami; samples "Scarface (Push It to the Limit)" and the story of the video has a very similar theme to the film Scarface. It was produced by J. R. Rotem.
• His song "Tears" was sampled and used as the basis of the DJ Shadow song "Organ Donor" on his 1996 album Endtroducing...... Canadian Hip Hop group Swollen Members sampled the song in "Fuel Injected" and "Meltdown". It also appears on the song "Tragedy" by RZA. The main melody and chord progression form the basis of "Marz" by folk musician John Grant and "Only Light" by Australian ska band The Cat Empire.
• The Hip Hop-duo Mobb Deep used a sample from the song "Tony's Theme" in their song G.O.D. Pt. III.
• His Song "E=MC2" was sampled and used for J. Dilla's song of the same title.
• One of his early compositions, "Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo" from 1969, would be featured for many years in silent sketches on The Benny Hill Show, as part of a medley that also included "Mah Nà Mah Nà", a 4/4 adaptation of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Für Elise", and "Gimme Dat Ding".
• The theme from Midnight Express was sampled by hip-hop duo OutKast for their song "Return of the Gangsta", and by hip-hop producer J Dilla for "Phantom of the Synths", a beat later used by MF DOOM for "Gazzillion Ear" and by Jay Electronica for "Dimethyltryptamine".
• Moroder's opening theme from the film Scarface is sampled by Nas and Mobb Deep for the track "It's Mine".
• "Leopard Tree Dream" from Cat People is sampled by Cannibal Ox in the song "Iron Galaxy."
• "The Legend Of Babel" theme From the "metropolis" soundtrack was covered By DJ Dado.
• British electronica musician Little Boots covered "Love Kills", which was written in collaboration with Freddie Mercury.
• "Future Lovers", a song from American recording artist Madonna's 2005 album Confessions on a Dance Floor, has a bass line inspired by Donna Summer's Moroder-produced hit "I Feel Love". Furthermore, Madonna opened her 2006 Confessions Tour with a medley of "Future Lovers" and "I Feel Love".
• For the "Chase" instrumental, see that article
• Suns of Arqa's album "Technomor" includes the track "Moroder Vibe" which contains elements of "I Feel Love".

See also[link]

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
• Cizeta Moroder V16 supercar project

References[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2010)

External links[link]

• discog.info: Giorgio Moroder discography
• Giorgio Moroder discography at Discogs
• Giorgio Moroder at the Internet Movie Database

Todd Edwards (born December 9, 1972, Bloomfield, New Jersey) is an American house and garage producer.

History[link]

Todd Edwards began his musical career around 1992. He employs vocal reconstruction techniques to his songs, creating a unique vocal collage set to a four-on-the-floor beat. Marc "MK" Kinchen, who is primarily responsible for pioneering this technique, is one of Edwards's influences.^[1] He is also a committed Christian. This is evident by recurring hidden messages found in his compositions, which often contain religious phrases.^[2]

With remixes numbering in the hundreds, some of the artists Edwards has remixed include Wildchild, St. Germain, Benjamin Diamond, Justice, Klaxons, and Dimitri From Paris. Much like his solo albums, his remixes make use of a complex vocal sampling technique, which in some cases renders the original track almost unrecognizable.

Edwards co-produced and performed vocals on the Daft Punk song "Face to Face" from the album Discovery. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Club chart in 2004.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Prima Edizione (1999)
• Nervous Innovator Series Vol 4/5 (2000)
• Full On (Volume 1) (2001)
• Full On (Volume 2) (2003)
• New Trends Sounds (2004)
• New Trends Sounds (Classics, Remixes & Beyond) (2004)
• Odyssey (2006)
• Full On (Volume 3) (2007)
• Shall Go (EP)" (2012)

Singles[link]

• F.O.T. (1994)
• Underground People (collab. DJ Shorty) (1995)
• Dancing For Heaven (1995)
• Stronger (1995)
• New Trends Sound (1995)
• Saved My Life (1995)
• Saved My Life (Remixes) (1995)
• Fly Away (One) (1996)
• Push The Love (1997)
• Never Far From You (1998)
• 41:13 (1998)
• The Prima EP (1998)
• One Day (collab. Tuff Jam) (1999)
• Look Out (1999)
• Incidental EP (2000)
• Shut The Door (2000)
• Show Me A Sign (2000)
• Saved My Life (2000)
• 2 EP (2001)
• Restless Soul (2001)
• Full On (Volume 1) (Unmixed) (2001)
• Shut The Door (Remixes) (2002)
• New Trends 2002 (2002)
• New Trends 1995 (2002)
• You Came To Me (2002)
• You're The One (2003)
• Beckon Call (2003)
• Full On (Volume 2) (Unmixed) (2003)
• Full On (Volume 2) (Remixes) (2003)
• Stop The Fighting (2003)
• Can't Live Without You (Reissue) (2003)
• Are You There (2003)
• Stormy Day (collab. Filthy Rich) (2004)
• Stormy Day (collab. Filthy Rich) (Remixes) (2004)
• Hold On To Me (2004)
• Winter Behaviour (2004)
• Who You Are (2004)
• When Your Alone (2004)
• New Trends Sounds 2004 (Part 1) (2004)
• New Trends Sounds 2004 (Part 2) (2004)
• New Trends Sounds 2004 (Part 3) (2004)
• Mystery (2005)
• Like A Fire (2005)
• Heaven (2005)
• No Scrubs (2005)
• The Journey (2006)
• Far Away (2006)
• Next To You (2007)
• I Might Be (2010)
• I Doubted You (2010)
• Stand Right Now (2010)
• Head Held High (2011)
• Shall Go (2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Todd Edwards discography at Discogs
• Todd Edwards on Myspace
• Todd Edwards on Twitter
• Todd Edwards on Facebook
• Todd Edwards Official Web Page
• LWE Interviews Todd Edwards

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Nile Rodgers
Nile Rodgers at his Le Crib Studios. (1999)
Background information
Birth name	Nile Gregory Rodgers
Born	(1952-09-19) September 19, 1952 (age 59) New York City, United States
Origin	New York City
Genres	Pop, rock, R&B, disco
Occupations	Producer, song-writer, musician, composer, arranger, guitarist
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1970–present
Labels	Sumthing Else Musicworks
Associated acts	Chic, Sister Sledge, Madonna, Diana Ross, Duran Duran, David Bowie, Adam Lambert
Website	nilerodgers.com (Official Website) Official Facebook Artist Page

Nile Gregory Rodgers (born September 19, 1952, New York City) is an American musician, producer, composer, arranger, and guitarist.

Biography[link]

Rodgers began his career as a session guitarist in New York, touring with the Sesame Street band in his teens, and then working in the house band at Harlem's world famous Apollo Theater, playing behind Screaming Jay Hawkins, Maxine Brown, Aretha Franklin, Ben E. King, Betty Wright, Earl Lewis and the Channels, Parliament Funkadelic, and many other legendary R&B artists.

1970s[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2012)

Nile met bassist Bernard Edwards in 1970. Together they formed The Big Apple Band that backed R&B act New York City ("I’m Doing Fine Now"). The band’s one hit allowed them to tour extensively, even 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 a hit, but Nile and Bernard joined forces with drummer Tony Thompson, and worked and recorded as a Funk Rock band called The Boys, which played numerous gigs up and down the East Coast. Despite major label interest in their demos, they could not get a record deal when the record companies discovered they were black, as they thought that black rock artists would be too hard to promote. The band continued playing mostly local bars.

Formation of Chic[link]

As The Big Apple Band, Rodgers and Edwards worked with Ashford & Simpson, Luther Vandross and many others. Since another New York artist, Walter Murphy, had a band also called The Big Apple Band, Rodgers and Edwards were forced to change their band’s name to avoid confusion. Thus, in 1977 the band was renamed as Chic. Rodgers has stated that a major inspiration was a Roxy Music gig he saw in London: "It was a totally immersive artistic experience – the crowd were fly, the band were fly, the music was textual, they were saying 'come into my world'."^[1]

Between gigs they recorded their first album with then-boss Luther Vandross, who provided background vocals on the group’s early recordings. The band scored numerous top ten hits and helped propel disco to new levels of popularity. Chic’s chart-topping songs "Le Freak", "I Want Your Love", "Everybody Dance", "Dance, Dance, Dance", "My Forbidden Lover", and "Good Times" became club/pop/R&B standards. "Le Freak" is Atlantic Records’ only triple platinum selling single and "Good Times" shot to the No. 1 spot in spite of the "Disco Sucks" backlash in 1979.

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 1978 album, We Are Family, peaked at No. 3 and remained on the charts well into 1979. The first two singles, "He's 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. "He’s the Greatest Dancer" was sampled in 1998 on Will Smith’s "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It".

As the Chic Organization’s tight sound became increasingly sought-after, Rodgers and Edwards began record production with numerous artists, together or individually.

1980s[link]

In 1980 Rodgers and Edwards wrote and produced the album Diana for Diana Ross, yielding the smash hits "Upside Down" and "I'm Coming Out". Chic’s song "Good Times" played a pivotal role in the explosion of hip hop music, as an interpolation of the song's bass line and the record’s string-section sample was the bedrock of The Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight", the first multiple-platinum Hip Hop single. The Chic Organization produced the smash hit "Spacer" for French disco act Sheila and B. Devotion and Deborah Harry’s 1981 solo album Koo Koo.

Chic dissolved in 1983 after its final contractual Atlantic album, Believer and Soup For One (a film soundtrack). At that time Rodgers began a solo career producing his first album Adventures in the Land of the Good Groove.

Rodgers produced the 1983 album Talkback, by Canadian New Wave/New Romantic band Spoons, which included the hits "Old Emotions" and "The Rhythm".

Rodgers produced David Bowie's biggest selling album Let's Dance with several hit singles including "China Girl", "Modern Love" and the title track, "Let’s Dance". He produced the single "Original Sin" by INXS. Duran Duran worked extensively with Rodgers after he co-produced their largest selling hit single, "The Reflex" in 1983 and followed up with "The Wild Boys" on their 1984 live album Arena.

That same year he produced Madonna's blockbuster album Like a Virgin, spawning her two signature hits "Material Girl" and the album's title track, "Like a Virgin". He also joined Robert Plant’s platinum selling studio band The Honeydrippers, on the album The Honeydrippers: Volume One. This period sparked Rodgers’ interest in soundtracks, the first of which were Alphabet City, Gremlins ("Out Out" – Peter Gabriel) Against All Odds ("Walk Through the Fire" – Peter Gabriel), That's Dancing ("Invitation to Dance" – Kim Carnes), White Nights (numerous songs) and The Fly ("Help Me" – Bryan Ferry).

In 1985 Rodgers produced albums for Sheena Easton, Jeff Beck, The Thompson Twins, Mick Jagger, and many others, while still finding time to perform at Live Aid. He was awarded No. 1 Singles Producer In the World in Billboard magazine to close out the year.

In 1986, he produced Duran Duran's Notorious album, which yielded a No. 2 title track hit, "Notorious". During a live set, Simon Le Bon introduced Rodgers by saying, "Well, this band went through a difficult time and it might not have made it if it weren't for this gentleman." Rodgers contributed to numerous other projects and appearances with members of the band throughout the 1980s. He also produced albums for Grace Jones, Earth Wind and Fire’s vocalist Phillip Bailey, and Al Jarreau. Rodgers performed on "Higher Love" with Steve Winwood, and records for Cyndi Lauper, Howard Jones, and David Sanborn. He then worked with Peter Gabriel on yet another soundtrack project, Laurie Anderson’s Home of the Brave.

Rodgers formed the short-lived experimental band Outloud in 1987, with David Letterman’s guitarist, composer and vocalist, Felicia Collins, and acclaimed French session musician, producer, composer and keyboardist, Philippe Saisse; they released a single album, Outloud, on Warner Brothers.

In 1988 Rodgers composed his first orchestral soundtrack for the film Coming to America (the second highest grossing film of the year) starring Eddie Murphy. Rodgers followed this with soundtracks for White Hot (the world’s first Hi-Def feature motion picture), and Earth Girls Are Easy. The latter would pair him with The B-52’s. In 1989 he co-produced their comeback multi-platinum album Cosmic Thing, which had the hit singles "Love Shack", "Roam", "Cosmic Thing" and "Deadbeat Club". That year he also produced Workin' Overtime, Diana Ross’ return to Motown, a deal that scored her an executive position at the label, along with releases by the Dan Reed Network, Slam, and Duran Duran’s compilation, Decade, which was appropriately titled. It was the most successful decade for Rodgers and also for many of the artists he worked with.

1990s[link]

In September 1990, Epic Records released the Rodgers produced Vaughan Brothers album, Family Style, shortly after the untimely death of guitar virtuoso Stevie Ray Vaughan. Early in this decade he also produced projects for David Bowie, Eric Clapton, The B-52s, David Lee Roth, Ric Ocasek, The Dan Reed Network, Cathy Dennis, Patty Griffin,^[2] Jimmy Vaughan, The Stray Cats and many other artists, along with continuing soundtrack work on Thelma and Louise, Cool World and The Beavis and Butt-head Experience (co-writer of “Come to Butt-head”). After a 1992 birthday party where Rodgers, Bernard Edwards, Paul Shaffer and Anton Fig played old Chic hits to rapturous response. Rodgers and Edwards reformed a new version of Chic. They recorded a fresh crop of material for the album Chic-Ism and performed live worldwide.

In 1996, Rodgers was honored as the JT Super Producer of the year. He performed with Edwards, Sister Sledge, Steve Winwood, Simon Le Bon and Slash in a series of commemorative concerts in Japan, which provided a career retrospective. Unfortunately, his longtime musical partner and close friend Bernard Edwards died of pneumonia during the trip, a blow that Rodgers took very hard. A year later Rodgers returned to Japan to pay homage to his fallen partner.

He started playing live concerts again while composing and producing music for film soundtracks: Beverly Hills Cop III, Blue Chips, The Flintstones and Feeling Minnesota (working with Bob Dylan) to name but a few.

In 1998, Rodgers founded Sumthing Else Music Works record label and Sumthing Distribution, an independent music label distributor. Sumthing focuses on distributing a fast-growing new genre: video game soundtracks. Its titles include the complete Halo and Resident Evil franchises and other well-known Triple-A game soundtracks like Gears of War and Borderlands.

2000s[link]

Rodgers focused on many soundtrack projects, film and video games alike. Among them were: Rush Hour 2, Snow Dogs and Semi-Pro starring Will Ferrell, who co-wrote the title song “Love Me Sexy” with Rodgers. In 2002–2003 he co-produced Astronaut, with the original five members of Duran Duran.

Also in 2002, Rodgers appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation CD, Red Hot and Riot. The CD, a tribute to the music and positive social message of afropop pioneer, Fela Kuti, featured Rodgers on remakes of Kuti songs, "Water No Get Enemy" and "Zombie (Part Two)." He appeared on "Water No Get Enemy" alongside influential hip hop and R&B artists, D'Angelo, Macy Gray, and The Soultronics and on "Zombie (Part Two)" with famous jazz trumpeteer, Roy Hargrove. All proceeds of the CD were donated to charities working towards greater AIDS awareness.

The September 11 attacks prompted Rodgers to create the We Are Family Foundation (WAFF) to help promote the healing process. To begin, he organized a re-recording of the song he and Edwards wrote for Sister Sledge called "We Are Family" with more than 200 musicians, celebrities, and personalities. Director Spike Lee filmed the "We Are Family" music video and director Danny Schechter filmed a documentary depicting the recording sessions called The Making and Meaning of We Are Family. The film was chosen as a Sundance Film Festival Special Selection in 2002. Rodgers then produced another "We Are Family" music video involving more than 100 beloved children's television characters. The children's music video airs as a public service announcement on Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and PBS stations promoting a common humanity and celebrating the vision of a global family.

Rodgers received the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) NY Chapter's Governor's Lifetime Achievement Award and the Heroes Award. On September 19, 2005, he was honored at the Dance Music Hall of Fame in New York when he was inducted for his many outstanding achievements as a producer, along with former bandmate Bernard Edwards.

Chic has been nominated to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame four times – 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2008. Rodgers served as co-musical director for the tribute concert to Ahmet Ertegün at the Montreux Jazz Festival in the summer of 2006. The concert included performances by Chic, Robert Plant, Steve Winwood, Stevie Nicks, Kid Rock, Ben E. King, Chaka Khan, George Duke (co-music director), Paolo Nutini and many other artists who were signed to Ertegün's Atlantic Records. A PBS documentary, Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built, uses footage from this show, as it was one of the last times Ertegün would be captured on video.

2010s[link]

Rodgers autobiography Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco, and Destiny was published in late 2011.^[3]

He continues to tour and produce live events since the reunion of The Chic Organization.

In October 2011, Rodgers worked with singer Adam Lambert in New York on a song entitled "Shady" for Lambert's sophomore album, Trespassing. Both Rodgers and Lambert tweeted enthusiastically about the collaboration, and Rodgers also mentioned it on his blog Planet C.^[4]

In February 2012, Rodgers announced that he is collaborating with electronic band Daft Punk for their latest album, "teasing out their R&B influences".^[5]

Health Issues[link]

In January 2011, Rodgers revealed on his website he is fighting cancer, which was diagnosed in October 2010.^[6]

Selected discography[link]

Chic[link]

• Chic (1977)
• C'est Chic (1978)
• Risqué (1979)
• Real People (1980)
• Take It Off (1981)
• Soup For One (soundtrack, Chic/various artists) (1982)
• Tongue in Chic (1982)
• Believer (1983)
• Chic-Ism (1992)
• Live at the Budokan (1999)

Solo[link]

• Adventures in the Land of the Good Groove (1983)
• B-Movie Matinee (1985)
• Outloud (1987)
• Chic Freak and More Treats (1996)

Official production (partial)[link]

Soundtracks[link]

• Soup For One (1982)
• Alphabet City (1984)
• Coming to America (1988)
• Earth Girls Are Easy (1989)
• White Hot (1989)
• Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)
• Blue Chips (1994)
• Public Enemy (1999)
• Rise of Nations (2003) Game
• Halo 2 (2004) Game
• Perfect Dark Zero (2005) Game
• Halo 3 Soundtrack (2007) Game

References[link]

Biographical reference work[link]

• Everybody Dance: Chic and the Politics of Disco, by Daryl Easlea, Helter Skelter Publishing (Oct 24, 2004), ISBN 1-900924-56-0

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nile Rodgers

• Official Site
• Sumthing Distribution
• We Are Family Foundation
• chictribute.com
• Collected Facts