amen

he does not play bass

I think I saw him play bass behind Nick Lowe on TV once.

i bet he does play bass

And as much praise and something like “legend status” he seems to have gained in recent times, he still seems to not be as celebrated as he should be (although I have seen him as a talking head on more than a few VH1 listy kinda segments).

HARDLY.

I like his afrobeat guitar all over this record.

what abt his afrobeat guitar all over this...

This reminds me that I need to find a copy of his out of print Adventures in the Land of the Good Groove.

This thread title is tautological.

plz just say “redundant” if that’s what you mean. yeah, dictionaries will back you up but it means a different thing in logic

But it means what I said in English.

Please forgive me: After being exposed to it continually for nearly a quarter-century (holy shit! I’m old) I gotta say that I’m really sick of those fucking Let’s Dance singles—and I never liked ’em much at the time, either. In fact, it’s not an exaggeration to say that I maybe HATE ’em. Heresy I know, sorry. But that ain’t Nile’s fault. And even if it was, he made up for it twenty times over. Some kinda deity indeed. (THE producer of the ’80s, possibly?)

A sample of his eightiets productions. Not complete, and God knows some of these are questionable, but you can’t pigeonhole him:

Diana Ross, diana

Carly Simon, “Why”

Deborah Harry, Kookoo

David Bowie, Let’s Dance

Madonna, Like a Virgin

Thompson Twins, Here’s to Future Days

Jeff BeckFlash

Duran Duran, “The Reflex” remix, “Wild Boys” and Notorious

Grace Jones, Inside Job

The B-52’s, Cosmic Thing

I hope hating Let’s Dance (“Modern Love,” excepted) isn’t considered heresy—I’d’ve been burned at the stake eons ago! (And I think Rodgers IS partially at fault; Bowie’s insufferable on that album, but the production itself is pretty obnoxious.) I hate to fall back on the most ordinary of opinions, but for me Rodgers greatness as a producer really lasts up until the time Chic’s greatness as a band did (which, in my view, is 1980’s Real People, their last thoroughly solid release). Based on his work in the last two or three years of the seventies alone, however, I’d have no problem with someone declaring him among the best producers of that decade.

that was an x-post....Alfred, that list doesn’t convince me otherwise—not in the slightest.

Well, listening to a few of those productions (in particular the Thompson Twins and Duran albums), it seems like too often he was hired, especially after 1984, as much for his totemic value as his hit-making prowess and godlike chops, i.e. “he’s black, was in Chic, we need RHYTHM.” As a result the productions sound somewhat...brittle?

....brittle because the artists had a constipated rhythmic sense anyway.

Greetings Scott! I quoted a “lyric” from I Wanna Be Sedated in a thread just last week. (And properly credited you and Dellio.)

Yeah, though as much as I dislike almost every record on that list (what I’ve heard, anyway), he did have “hit-making prowess and godlike chops”—I recognize that, I just don’t care much for what he was doing. I mean, he did produce a fair number of actual hits, brought a lot of artists who hadn’t had hits in some time back to the charts—and that’s all legitimate. I just don’t like the sounds he used to get them there (other people obviously did).

But yeah—“brittle” is entirely appropriate.

[hey, how come I don’t see x-posts before posting...fake-ILX thing?]

anyway, hey MVB—thanks, I didn’t see that (which thread?). (I should tell you, though, I accidentally stumbled upon your stash in s@ulseek a couple wks ago...have you bookmarked!)

[next time I’m on there, I’ll say hi]

here’s a more comprehensive wikipedia list btw:

King Of The World, Sheila B. Devotion (1980)

Love Somebody Today, Sister Sledge (1980)

Diana, Diana Ross (1980)

I Love My Lady, Johnny Mathis (1981) UNRELEASED

Koo Koo, Debbie Harry (1981)

unknown title, Fonzi Thornton (1982) UNRELEASED

Let’s Dance, David Bowie (1983)

Situation X, Michael Gregory (1983)

Invitation To Dance, Kim Carnes (1983)

Trash It Up, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes (1983)

“Original Sin”, INXS (1984)

Like a Virgin, Madonna (1984)

“The Reflex”, “The Wild Boys”, Duran Duran (1984)

Flash, Jeff Beck (1985)

She’s The Boss, Mick Jagger (1985)

Here’s to Future Days, Thompson Twins, (1985)

Do You, Sheena Easton (1985)

When The Boys Meet The Girls, Sister Sledge (1985)

Notorious, Duran Duran (1986)

Inside Story, Grace Jones (1986)

Inside Out, Philip Bailey (1986)

L Is For Lover, Al Jarreau (1986)

“Moonlighting Theme”, Al Jarreau (1987)

Cosmic Thing, The B-52’s (1989)

Slam, Dan Reed Network (1989)

Decade: Greatest Hits, Duran Duran (1989)

So Happy, Eddie Murphy (1989)

Workin’ Overtime, Diana Ross (1989)

it’s neat that he did Johnny Mathis in 1981, which was never released. I would like to hear that one. And why was the Debbie Harry so lacklustre? I remember hearing it at the time (I own it), and never even giving it a second listen.

The Harry record should have been a triumph, but her and Chris Stein’s songs go for archness while Rodgers-Edwards aim for lightness; it’s very clumsy, uncharacteristically so. The first single “Backfired” is ok, even if Debbie sounds toneless and abrasive.

However this

“Original Sin”, INXS (1984)

is a triumph, certainly the best thing INXS ever did.

Yeah, I’m guessing I would agree with that (at least in terms of the “archness”). That was the period when I was getting into disco and funk (already fully immersed in new wave), and I vaguely remember that pairing seeming like the greatest idea in the world.

Anyone gonna make the case for the Southside Johnny album?

He also did this:

http://www.discogs.com/release/540144

The A side is IMHO the 2nd best thing he ever did, after I Want Your Love.

x-post again...

Mmm, we differ on the INXS...I definitely prefer the polish of Kick, when I prefer INXS at all.

I really need to hear the Norma Jean. Also the Sheila B album. (And is the Sister Sledge followup any good?)

“Spacer” I just love.

Matos posted a couple of Norma Jean tracks on the Stylus Stypod about a year ago....they sounded marvelous.

Just wanted to address the “Obscure = Better” mindset introduced in the initial post as being the biggest false grail ever.

was Koo Koo the Debbie Harry LP that had “French Kissing (In The USA)” on it?...man, I never knew what to make of that song!

In the case of disco it is tru tho.

Patrick Adams>>>Nile Rodgers

xpost Mr. Shasta

as Koo Koo the Debbie Harry LP that had “French Kissing (In The USA)” on it?...man, I never knew what to make of that song!

No, that’s Rockbird.

> (THE producer of the ’80s, possibly?)

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to thread.

Another Nile production: The Spoons’ “Tell No Lies” (& possibly an entire LP?)

xpost—Saved by that word “possibly” again! (Works even better than “arguably”)

Bernard Edwards aalways gets overlooked in best bass player lists cos he played disco, which is a shame really

It’s funny what a useless producer he was really, considering how fucking perfect a lot of his “own” (I mean SSledge and shit counts, pretty sure D Ross isn’t much of a stretch either or at least I’d imagine that was B and N’s take on shit in the first place) stuff is.v “Let’s Dance” rules the school, tho.

Edwards is much more ‘underrated’ than Rodgers, it is true.

Rodgers never produced the Power Station, though.

Yes he did

No he didn’t

> (THE producer of the ’80s, possibly?)

err... prince ?

I interviewed Nile several times in the 80s and again when Chic did a comeback in 92 and he repped for Duran Duran’s musicianship (!) w/o prompting. He demurred on the Thompson Twins and frankly I gave that album a good review in RS and would prob be mortified to hear it now.

has the Soup For One soundtrack ever been released on CD? It’s a great Chic Org sampler.

Nile’s later productions became more rock-oriented but I recall digging the Vaughn bros LP.

“Lay Your Hands On Me” on that Thompson Twins record sounds pretty good. Has those same xylophones used on Tonight (did he produce that one?).

Also did Laurie Anderson’s “Language Is A Virus” on Home of the Brave—interesting stab at a pop single.

My estimation of Nile’s courtesy and intelligence increased when I read the lengthy interviews he gave David Buckley for his Bowie biography. The guy knows—the guy loves – music.

I prefer “King for a Day” – it’s got the Nile slinkiness you expect. Avoid the horrifyiing version of “Revolution” he performed with the Twins and Madonna in Live Aid.

By January 1. 1980, most of his best work was already done.

Just picked this up—‘s k-grebt; found the “Sorceror” 12“ a few months ago, too.

I’m pretty sure that production list is leaving off some Fred Schneider solo stuff! ”Boonga (The New Jersey Caveman)“/”Monster“?

I’d love a copy of that, etc.