[QUOTE]Musician Nile Rodgers earned £12.30 after busking in disguise on London's Southbank.
Commuters and tourists were treated to a live performance from the Chic star just hours after he played in front of thousands in Hyde Park for the British Summertime festival.
Rodgers wore a hat, dark glasses and scarf to play his guitar and sing by the Thames with his instrument case open for donations.
He posted photos of himself after the event, explaining: "Today I went busking on the #London Southbank."
"Didn't draw much of a crowd until I stared playing dance music. Hmm?"
He went on to write: "Though I had no voice from screaming during last night's show, I started to draw a crowd when I sang "Aw Freak Out!"
When asked by a fan on Twitter how many people immediately recognised him he replied: "Not many until I started playing @CHICorg songs. Then it was on!"
Rodgers recalled to a fan how he'd started his career as a busker.
Replying to a Tweet, he explained: "That's how I started. I was homeless."
Rodgers performed the gig to mark the relaunch of Sky Arts and the new show called Guitar Star which aims to find the most talented player.
The winner of the show will perform in front of 30,000 people at Latitude Festival in Suffolk.
Philip Edgar Jones, director of Sky Arts, said: "We're convinced that Sky Arts offers something for everyone, and we have tried our best with the relaunch to bring people closer to the stuff they love.
"We're delighted to bring that ethos to life with this impromptu performance: Nile is one of music’s living legends and we're thrilled that he's helped capture the spirit of Sky Arts in such a fun and entertaining way."
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[IMG]http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2015/6/22/400586/default/v1/nile-1-762x428.jpg[/IMG]
[url]http://news.sky.com/story/1506504/nile-rodgers-makes-12-30-busking-in-london[/url]
I didn't know that that's what that's called.
if he was out for just an hour that's still better than most jobs
I love Chic, I got several of their albums (among others) from my grandparents. Fun to listen to, I just kind of assumed all those bands died out after that style fell out of popularity.
My father always tells the story of how he saw Neil Young busking in Toronto while he was living there. I'd probably do this kinda stuff if I was a famous musician
[QUOTE=Grenadiac;48028344]I love Chic, I got several of their albums (among others) from my grandparents. Fun to listen to, I just kind of assumed all those bands died out after that style fell out of popularity.[/QUOTE]
he had a little more fame after working with Daft punk for get lucky, that was a little short lived though
[QUOTE=cr2142;48029175]he had a little more fame after working with Daft punk for get lucky, that was a little short lived though[/QUOTE]
Nile Rodgers has written or produced some of the biggest albums in recent memory, much more than people realise. Chic is obvious, but he also did Bowie (lets dance album), Madonna, Sister Sledge, duran duran, diana rodgers and the list just goes on really, of course recently with daft punk too (bear in mind most of these the songs are written by him or at least he plays on them as well as producing, and all the albums have pretty much been the most successful album for each artist). Amazing musician, songwriter and producer.
He's basically the go to guy to get a hit record and has been for a long time. Not just a guy from an 'old band' thats just got another short shot at fame whatsoever.
[QUOTE=fragger0;48029972]Nile Rodgers has written or produced some of the biggest albums in recent memory, much more than people realise. Chic is obvious, but he also did Bowie (lets dance album), Madonna, Sister Sledge, duran duran, diana rodgers and the list just goes on really, of course recently with daft punk too (bear in mind most of these the songs are written by him or at least he plays on them as well as producing, and all the albums have pretty much been the most successful album for each artist). Amazing musician, songwriter and producer.
He's basically the go to guy to get a hit record and has been for a long time. Not just a guy from an 'old band' thats just got another short shot at fame whatsoever.[/QUOTE]
I think Nile Rodgers is really good (great even) at what he does, but in my opinion he claims a bit too much of the credit - hearing him list of names at a concert and then drop the "It's all me! Those are all my tracks!" gets a bit obnoxious. Obviously I can't know his level of involvement (and I'm sure he did loads for all of these), but that's just how I feel.
Kinda sad that Get lucky is really not his best work either.
^ I think that's why I get so frustrated with the music industry. People underestimate the role of a producer especially one who is writing the tracks as well.
He earns every drop of credit he takes and the only reason he does the list is because most people wouldn't know any of those records (most of which they'll love) were him.
In my opinion, a person who writes and produces songs deserves to take credit for them just as much (if not more) than the singer on the track.
[QUOTE=fragger0;48031489]^ I think that's why I get so frustrated with the music industry. People underestimate the role of a producer especially one who is writing the tracks as well.
He earns every drop of credit he takes and the only reason he does the list is because most people wouldn't know any of those records (most of which they'll love) were him.
In my opinion, a person who writes and produces songs deserves to take credit for them just as much (if not more) than the singer on the track.[/QUOTE]
You mention Let's Dance (full disclosure, I'm a big Bowie fan), and the way you present it it sounds like he did the whole record and wrote every song. He didn't. Music is a cooperative process, and even if you're amazing at what you do, you're being disingenuous (unless you're Mozart or whatever) if you say "it's all me".
I understand why Nile Rodgers says it, and I'm a big fan of his music, but underestimating the role of the producer or not (and I don't think I am, obviously Nile did a lot of work on these records), it's bad form to present it like that.
Edit:
As an example, I don't think Nile Rodgers is great at lyrics that aren't just there to serve the instrumental. This is apparent in old Chic tracks (hearing "Everybody Dance" and "Dance Dance Dance" being presented right after each other is a bit jarring), but it's also apparent in new ones like "I'll be there". Even though he co-wrote China Girl, it's very obviously Bowie's lyrics coming through.
Yeah, obviously him and bowie collaborated. But he DID do the whole record, and he pretty much WROTE every song (not lyrics)... he's more than a producer. he's an arranger and songwriter. Theres a reason why bowie wanted to work with him, because he knew he could help him write the best songs.
He only announces he's written them because 90% of the population will LOVE those songs and have no idea he was even involved, even though in most of them he literally did basically everything about them.
Nile would be the first person to credit bowie and such. Literally I've spent so much time during my studies researching the work of nile rodgers because his production style is similar to mine and trust me, he did more work on those albums than you're imagining.
[QUOTE=fragger0;48040912]Yeah, obviously him and bowie collaborated. But he DID do the whole record, and he pretty much WROTE every song (not lyrics)... he's more than a producer. he's an arranger and songwriter. Theres a reason why bowie wanted to work with him, because he knew he could help him write the best songs.
He only announces he's written them because 90% of the population will LOVE those songs and have no idea he was even involved, even though in most of them he literally did basically everything about them.
Nile would be the first person to credit bowie and such. Literally I've spent so much time during my studies researching the work of nile rodgers because his production style is similar to mine and trust me, he did more work on those albums than you're imagining.[/QUOTE]
Barring the fact that I wouldn't call "Let's dance" Bowie's best album, I feel Nile Rodger's a bit of a - in the least offensive way possible - one trick pony. Nile Rodger's can make a hit, but honestly I find that in the end, his music repetitive. I don't think Let's dance would be anywhere near what it is without the influence of Bowie and of course the musicians playing. The impression I have is that Bowie would write (or come up with chords and lyrics) a track, and Nile would then do what he think would make it better. Without Bowie, Nile would've come up with what's generally come out of Chic - great grooves, workable lyrics, and overall quite similar songs (that's a conclusion I've come without listening to them systematically, so YMMV). Saying "he literally did basically everything about them." is in my opinion completely ignoring what you're hearing.
If you have information on the production process of Let's dance (or for that matter Black Tie White Noise) I'd be very happy to read through it.
I guess that's my opinion, and you might be more educated on the subject of Rodger's. No matter what I'll stand by the statement that Let's dance isn't Bowie's creative peak, though it [I]is[/I] great.
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