Artist of the Week: Chic

There’s a very Balearic vibe emanating from Skiddle HQ this week (feeling, most definitely not weather based), as the season officially begins with the launch of the IMS Festival. There’s of course an abundance of options for any of you heading to the white isle in our Ibiza section, but we thought that this week we’d throw the spotlight on a group that epitomise the essence of the long history of the island, the indomitable disco doyens Chic.

Although modern club culture as we commonly know it began in the mid-eighties, the decadence of dance stretches back much further and Ibiza was a destination for the hedonistic during the disco era a decade previously, and even further back than that. Alongside legendary DJ Alfredo, Chic and in particular Nile Rodgers, are one of the few artists that represent a bridge way between those two very different incarnations of the island.

Nile has been an industry speaker at the IMS, the annual curtain raiser on the island, previously and returns this week to do the same, and he’s also created this year’s conference anthem (Eats Everything provides a remix). That, allayed to his eye-catching work alongside Daft Punk (you might have heard about an album of theirs that's released today on that there internet), ensures he’s still relevant, but really it’s the flurry of music created in the past that makes him and Chic so endearing.

As well as their own instantly recognisable records, the hip-hop and Queen inspiring ‘Good Times’, the subliminal messages of ‘Le Freak’, or the achingly beautiful ‘I want your love’, Nile and the sadly departed Bernard Edwards were also key components of the music of others. Luther Vandross started his career as a backing singer with the band, and they’ve been sampled by artists as diverse as Faith Evans, Deadmau5, Jamiroquai, The Prodigy and even Steps.

They’ve also played a more dominant role in the production of Sister Sledge, Diana Ross, Duran Duran and David Bowie, being behind some of the most exhilarating moments in music during the late seventies and eighties. Case in point this Skiddle office anthem from Carly Simon, pop perfection!

Chic playing live is a joy to behold, the band running through their hugely expansive back catalogue for a show that proves the sheer depth and unadulterated joy of their music. In Ibiza you can catch Nile speaking at the IMS this week (where he has created this year’s anthem), as well as Ibiza Rocks on September 4^th as the party’s annual ‘legend’ booking (following on from the likes of Madness, New Order and The Specials).

Closer to home they are playing this Sunday at the Love Saves the Day festival in Bristol, a headline slot at Manchester’s Ritz on the Wednesday after as well as the Beatherder Festival in July. And of course the Wickerman Festival, where Skiddle will be hosting the dance tent. There’s further listings for them here, meaning there’s every chance your summer can be sound-tracked by one the greatest bands still alive and kicking on the planet.

We'll leave the final words to Nile himself...

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