They say Nile Rodgers’ funky Fender Stratocaster has appeared on $2billion worth of music – everything from Chic and Sister Sledge to David Bowie and Madonna to Daft Punk (sound of the summer). Hundreds of songs where he was a co-writer, producer, guitar player. Then there are the literally thousands of additional recordings that sampled his guitar and the bass licks of his Chic partner, the late Bernard Edwards.
Now, our daughter Beth has a student radio show where she plays some funky feelgood tunes. It’s broadcast Saturday evenings but you can also catchup on MixCloud. One of the USPs or her show is she often plays back to back tunes that have more than a passing resemblance. Nile would be a fertile feeding ground because so many of his songs have been sampled over the years, here’s a tiny selection:
Rapper’s Delight by Sugarhill Gang (1979) samples Chic’s Good Times (1979), probably the first of the genre and the first big song to do so.
Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It by Will Smith (1997) samples He’s the Greatest Dancer (1979) by Sister Sledge
David Bowie’s Let’s Dance sampled in the Craig David song Hot Stuff (Let’s Dance) (2007)
Duran Duran’s Notorious sampled by Notorious B.I.G. feat. Puff Daddy and Lil’ Kim (1999)
Angel a 1984 song by Madonna sampled in Go Hard by DJ Khaled and Kanye West feat. T-Pain (2008)
And the list goes on (here)