| PRESS RELEASE + |
CHIC and the Politics of Disco
By Daryl Easlea
September, 2004
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To coincide with the 25 th anniversary of Chic's UK success, Helter Skelter are proud to announce publication of the
life and times of one of the key partnerships in musical history – Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, Few narratives in pop encompass Jimi Hendrix, Madonna, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Duran Duran, Diana Ross, Johnny Mathis and Led Zeppelin, THIS ONE DOES! Chic, led by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, are one of the most underrated and pivotal acts in musical history. They either released or produced a string of era-defining records; Le Freak , Good Times , We Are Family , Lost In Music . Rodgers and Edwards also produced some of the great 80s dance records, working with Bowie, Robert Palmer, Madonna and ABC. Edwards died shortly after a triumphant gig in Japan in 1996. Rodgers alone keeps the Chic flame alive today. |
Everybody Dance puts the rise and fall of the emblematic disco duo against the backdrop of a changing socio-political landscape: the Civil Rights struggle, the Black Panther movement and the US oil crisis. There are drugs, dancing, up-tight artists and Muppets but, most importantly, an in-depth appraisal of a group whose legacy remains hugely underrated.
• Draws on hours of new interviews with band members and their friends and associates, as well as DAVID BOWIE, BRYAN FERRY, AHMET ERTEGUN, MARTIN FRY and JOHN TAYLOR.
• “Chic were the best and most influential disco band of the latter half of the 1970s.” All Music Guide
Daryl Easlea is a regular contributor to Record Collector . His work has also appeared in Mojo , Mojo Collections , various Q and Mojo specials, The Guardian, Uncut, The Encyclopaedia of Popular Music and BBCi . Paperback ISBN 1-900924-56-0 320pp, illustrated 23.5mm X 15.6mm UK £14.00 UK Pub: Dec 2004 US $19.95 US Pub Jan 2005
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For more information call Ali on 020 7463 2204 Distribution Music Sales 01284 702 600 Helter Skelter Publishing, Southbank House, Black Prince Rd, London SE1 7SJ Tel 44 (0) 20 7463 2204 info@helterskelterbooks.com |