July’s MOTM is CHIC. A dance band from the 70’s. CHIC stripped disco’s sound down to its basic elements; their funky, stylish grooves had an organic sense of interplay that was missing from many of their overproduced competitors. CHIC’s sound was anchored by the scratchy, James Brown-style rhythm guitar of Nile Rodgers and the indelible, widely imitated (sometimes outright stolen) bass lines of Bernard Edwards; as producers, they used keyboard and string embellishments economically, which kept the emphasis on rhythm.
CHIC’s distinctive approach not only resulted in some of the finest dance singles of their time, but also helped create a template for urban funk, dance-pop, and even hip-hop in the post-disco era. They were influential in the world of music and not coincidentally, Rodgers and Edwards wound up as two of the most successful producers of the ’80s. “Good Times” was the band’s most imitated track: Queen’s number one hit “Another One Bites the Dust” was a clear rewrite, and the Sugarhill Gang lifted the instrumental backing track wholesale for the first commercial rap single, “Rapper’s Delight,” marking the first of many times that CHIC grooves would be recycled into hip-hop records. Also in 1979, Rodgers and Edwards took on their first major outside production assignment, producing and writing the Sister Sledge smashes “We Are Family” This success, in turn, landed them the chance to work with Diana Ross where they wrote and produced “Upside Down,” her first number one hit in years, as well as “I’m Coming Out.”
