Chic’s Nile Rodgers: Five Crucial Inspirations

My grandmother gave me a pair of blue suede shoes and told me, “Dance for the family!” I liked the song. I loved the shoes.”

It starts out like a fugue, then the tempo goes out of control. I remember taking acid with Dr. Timothy Leary, and this song was all I kept hearing.

The song goes on a journey. The composition felt challenging and rewarding. I practiced it on guitar until it sounded perfect.

This is the first time I remember hearing backward guitar. I tried to play it: “Whoa, what the hell is that?

I know now that it was put together with edits, which is unbelievable. It’s so seamless. They called it “new directions in jazz,” but it was “new directions in everything.”