DISCO AUTEUR OF THE YEAR NILE RODGERS

A pivotal 12 months for the guitarist-writer-producer and the Chic hit factory

- Daryl Easlea

How was 1978 for you? 

It was amazing. I mean, only a year had passed since our first record deal, and I was coming up with all that stuff with Bernard. It started with a wonderful encounter with the doorman at Studio 54 and we came up with Le Freak, and then I Want Your Love and all the other great songs that we were writing, and all the great people we were meeting. The culture was just so rich, you could walk down the street and think of songs that were relevant, not just to your emotional status, but to your ideas of politics and love.

Was it true Jerry Greenberg [President of Atlantic Records] gave you carte blanche to work with anyone in the catalogue? 

That’s exactly the truth. Jerry thought we had this sort of disco fairy dust that we could sprinkle on anyone. We were on a label with Foreigner, ABBA, and Yes, many different artists. To think that we could just go in and write and produce for, say, The Rolling Stones? You don’t go into the Stones, and tell Keith and Mick, two of the biggest stars in the world, how to re-do the Stones!

Sister Sledge were perfect because they’d had some success, but they were still relatively unknown. And they became your great project. Would you agree?