Le Freak

My favorite present at Christmas this year was the Nile Rodgers bio Le Freak. I tore through it, and I'm usually a very slow reader. Any fan of pop music from the late 70's - early 80's will be interested in the details behind the production of several landmark recordings of the time: Bowie's Let's Dance, Madonna's Like a Virgin, and of course Chic. While I read, I listened to some of these albums with a fresh understanding. What I found even more interesting was the story of Rodgers' childhood and early career. It reminded me of the story of George Washington Carver -- there were any number of points at which one could not expect this person to survive at all, much less succeed.

The details become more sparse after the mid 80's -- has the statute of limitations not yet run out on those transgressions? -- but there is a moving account of Bernard Edwards' tragic demise. Meanwhile, Rodgers continues the story in real time on his blog, which is also fascinating.