“I don’t want to live in the past, but it’s a nice place to visit,” goes the hook of Chic’s new song “I’ll Be There.”
It’s the first music from the New York disco pioneers in more than two decades, and one can understand guitarist Nile Rodgers’ reluctance to look back.
His signature slinky guitar and the band’s disco-funk groove — best known from 1970s dance-floor anthems like “Le Freak” and “Good Times” — is the sound of now, too.
Daft Punk used it for “Get Lucky,” Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars nod to it on “Uptown Funk” and, as ever, Rodgers’ production skills are in demand.
But “I’ll Be There” derives from decades-old Chic tapes only recently uncovered. Rodgers — the last surviving member of the original core trio — completed the song with a new lineup, as bassist Bernard Edwards died from pneumonia after playing a 1996 concert and drummer Tony Thompson was lost to cancer in 2003.
“I’m planning to release more Chic albums and just put a couple of old songs from the tapes on each one,” Rodgers explains. “That way, the old band can at least be on every album.”
The 62-year-old took time out from recording to tell The Post about new adventures and old friends.
Where did these old Chic tapes come from?
From the Warner tape library. A lot of the tapes were actually just [the band members] sitting around laughing and joking. For example, one conversation was after we had just been to see Bob Marley open for the Commodores at Madison Square Garden.
We were laughing about how there was so much weed smoke that we couldn’t even see Bob Marley — we could only hear him!
It made me very emotional because I realized almost everyone in that room had now passed away. It was like eavesdropping on the past.
How was it having model Karlie Kloss in the video for “I’ll Be There”?
I knew she was the right person for the job from the start. The first thing she said to me when she got on set wasn’t even “hello.”
She just said, “The album ‘Diana’ [by Diana Ross] is my favorite album ever.” I wrote and produced every song on that album!
What’s been the most surreal part of having a hit like “Get Lucky”?
I’ve had a lot of people walking up to me thinking that Pharrell [Williams, who co-wrote the 2013 song with Rodgers and Daft Punk and sings on it as well] and I had this new band called Daft Punk, and that the robots were just cool props in the video! I’ve never been mobbed, so when it happens now, it’s very strange.
You produced “Like a Virgin.” Are you still in touch with Madonna today?
I just sent her a letter the other day, and I told her that my love for her will never go away because her work ethic and tenacity is unmatched.
When we were recording “Like a Virgin” [in 1984], she always got to the studio before me. Always! That says a lot.
Mark Ronson’s stepdad, Mick Jones from Foreigner, initially thought you were playing guitar on Ronson’s “Uptown Funk” — do you hear your influence in the song?
Actually, not at all. According to [Mark], I was the first person he played “Uptown Funk” for. One day when we were working on the new Duran Duran record, he said, “Nile, I want to play you something.” I heard it and then I turned around to the Duran Duran guys and said, “You know why he played that? Because he knew that s--t was amazing!” I was so proud. I’ve known Mark since he was 5 years old…
Because he grew up in New York City?
Not just that, but because Foreigner and Chic were outselling everyone on our label [Atlantic Records], so [Mark’s stepdad] Mick and I were good friends.
Do you feel slighted by the fact Chic have been nominated nine times for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but never inducted?
“I’ve always felt that dance music is on a lower rung of the rock ’n’ roll ladder. We played at Elton [John]’s Oscar party, and in an interview afterward he said Chic being nominated nine times for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and not being inducted may be the greatest crime in all of music.
He even said to me that night, “They just hate dance music!” Actually, he just sent me a big, elaborate bouquet of flowers and a letter saying that people are still calling him about that show. That touches my heart more.
Other musicians have always understood what we do.
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