Disco's Revenge | |
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Directed by | Omar Majeed Peter Mishara |
Written by | Omar Majeed Peter Mishara |
Produced by | Noah Segal Sam Sutherland Christina Piovesan Dave Harris |
Starring | Nile Rodgers Billy Porter |
Cinematography | Ashley Iris Gill |
Edited by | Omar Majeed Peter Mishara Navin Harrilal |
Music by | Tom Westin Jody Colero Tiffany Su |
Production companies | Elevation Pictures 86 Media House |
Distributed by | Elevation Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 100 minutes |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Disco's Revenge is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Omar Majeed and Peter Mishara and released in 2024. [1] The film centres on the history and culture of disco music, tracing the ways in which the genre is still a central influence on contemporary pop music despite its nominal "death" in the late 1970s. [2]
It features interviews with and archival performance footage of key figures such as Nile Rodgers, Billy Porter, Nona Hendryx and LaBelle, Grandmaster Flash, Fab Five Freddy, Nicky Siano, Earl Young and The Trammps, Jellybean Benitez, Kevin Saunderson, Sylvester and Martha Wash. [3]
The film premiered at the 2024 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. [4]
Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. The co-founder of Chic, he has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 500 million albums and 75 million singles worldwide.
"Rapper's Delight" is a 1979 hip hop track that serves as the debut single of American hip-hop trio the Sugarhill Gang, produced by Sylvia Robinson. Although it was shortly preceded by the Fatback Band's "King Tim III ", "Rapper's Delight" is credited for introducing hip hop music to a wide audience, reaching the top 40 in the United States, as well as the top three in the United Kingdom and number one in Canada. It was a prototype for various types of rap music. The track interpolates Chic's "Good Times", resulting in Chic's Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards threatening to sue Sugar Hill Records for copyright infringement; a settlement was reached that gave the two songwriting credits. It also interpolates Love De-Luxe's "Here Comes That Sound Again". The track was recorded in a single take. There are five mixes of the song.
Bernard Edwards was an American musician, songwriter and record producer, known primarily for his work in disco music with guitarist Nile Rodgers, with whom he co-founded Chic. In 2017, Edwards was selected as the 53rd greatest bassist of all time by Bass Player magazine.
"Good Times" is a disco soul song by American R&B band Chic from their third album Risqué (1979). It ranks 68th on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and has become one of the most sampled songs in music history, most notably in hip hop music. Originally released with "A Warm Summer Night" on the B-side, it was reissued in 2004 with "I Want Your Love" on the B-side, a version which was certified Silver in the UK.
"Le Freak" is a 1978 funk-disco song by American R&B band Chic. It was the band's third single and first Billboard Hot 100 and R&B number-one hit song. Along with the tracks "I Want Your Love" and "Chic Cheer", "Le Freak" scored number one on the disco charts for seven weeks. The single achieved sales of 7 million and also scored number seven in the UK Singles Chart.
"Why" is a song written by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards and performed by American singer-songwriter Carly Simon. Recorded for the film Soup for One in 1982, the film was a commercial flop but the soundtrack album was a success. One of many film-inspired singles by Simon, the song became a top 10 hit in the UK, and was successful throughout Europe.
"I'm Coming Out" is a song recorded by American singer Diana Ross. It was written and produced by Chic members Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, and released on August 22, 1980, as the second single from Diana’s self-titled eleventh album, Diana (1980).
Diana is the eleventh studio album by American R&B singer Diana Ross, released on May 22, 1980, by Motown Records. The album is the best-selling studio album of Ross's career, spawning three international hit singles, including the number-one hit "Upside Down".
"I Was Made for Lovin' You" is a song by American hard rock band Kiss, originally released on their 1979 album, Dynasty. It was released as the A-side of their first single from the album, with "Hard Times" as the B-side.
We Are Family is the third studio album by the American R&B vocal group Sister Sledge, released on January 22, 1979, in the United States and on April 30, 1979, in the United Kingdom by Cotillion Records. The album was written and produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the band Chic, and includes four hit singles: the title track, "He's the Greatest Dancer", "Lost in Music" and "Thinking of You", all of which have been sampled, remixed, and reissued in the decades after the album's release. The album reached number one on the Top R&B Albums chart and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, making it the band's most commercially successful album. In 2013, NME named it among the 500 greatest albums of all time.
"Let's Dance" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie, originally included as the title track of his 1983 album of the same name. Co-produced by Nile Rodgers of Chic, it was recorded in late 1982 at the Power Station in New York City. With the assistance of engineer Bob Clearmountain, Rodgers transformed the song from its folk rock origins to a dance number through studio effects and new musicians Bowie had yet to work with. Bowie hired then-unknown Texas guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, who added a blues-edge.
"We Are Family" is a song recorded by American vocal group Sister Sledge. Composed by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, they both offered the song to Atlantic Records; although the record label initially declined, the track was released in April 1979 as a single from the album of the same name (1979) and began to gain club and radio play, eventually becoming the group's signature song.
"He's the Greatest Dancer" is a 1979 song by the American vocal group Sister Sledge. Released on February 3, 1979, the song was written and composed by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, and recorded for the group's successful 1979 album We Are Family. Billboard named the song No. 66 on its list of "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time."
American disco group Chic released a number of albums in the period 1977 to 1983. After 1983's Believer the group did not record a studio album until 1992's Chic-Ism. The band has since continued to tour and release live and compilation albums. The group's first studio album in 26 years, titled It's About Time was released in September 2018. Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards produced for a series of artists in the years 1978 to 1982. They sometimes produced under the name 'The Chic Organization'.
Nu-disco is a 21st-century dance music genre associated with a renewed interest in the late 1970s disco, synthesizer-heavy 1980s European dance music styles, and early 1990s electronic dance music. The genre was popular in the early 2000s, and experienced a mild resurgence in the 2010s.
"Everybody Dance" is a song by American band Chic. The disco song, which features Norma Jean Wright on lead vocals and Luther Vandross, Diva Gray, Robin Clark and David Lasley on background vocals, was released as the second single from the band's self-titled debut album Chic (1977). According to guitarist Nile Rodgers, it was the first song specifically written for Chic, and, due to its historical status and popularity, is usually played as the opening song of the band's live set. It was later heavily sampled by British group Steps on their song "Stomp" and echoed by the Manic Street Preachers on their single "(It's Not War) Just the End of Love".
"Get Lucky" is a song written and performed by French electronic music duo Daft Punk featuring American singer Pharrell Williams and American musician Nile Rodgers. Daft Punk released the song as the lead single from their fourth and final studio album, Random Access Memories, on 19 April 2013. Before its release as a single, it was featured in television advertisements broadcast during Saturday Night Live, after which Rodgers and Williams announced their involvement in the track. "Get Lucky" is a house-inspired disco, funk, and pop track with lyrics that, according to Williams, are about the good fortune of connecting with someone, as well as sexual chemistry. Upon release, it received widespread acclaim from music critics, who praised Williams's vocals and Rodgers's guitar riffs.
"Lose Yourself to Dance" is a song by French electronic music duo Daft Punk featuring American singer Pharrell Williams. Like their previous collaboration with fellow American musician Nile Rodgers, "Get Lucky", the song was written for Daft Punk's fourth studio album Random Access Memories (2013).
"Telepathy" is a song by American singer and songwriter Christina Aguilera featuring American musician Nile Rodgers, recorded for the 2016 Netflix musical drama series The Get Down and included on the accompanying soundtrack of the same name. It was co-written by Sia in collaboration with Mikkel Storleer Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen. The track was produced by Elliott Wheeler and The Get Down director, Baz Luhrmann. While it was available to download from the soundtrack upon its release, it was promoted in Italy to contemporary hit radio as a single on August 23, 2016. Various remixes were also released throughout the following month.
"Agua" is a song by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee featuring Puerto Rican singer Rauw Alejandro on vocals and American musician and producer Nile Rodgers on guitar, being their first collaboration with each other. It was released on March 24, 2022 simultaneously with Daddy Yankee's eighth and final studio album, Legendaddy, among various other singles from the record. It was accompanied by a music video directed by Dominican filmmaker Marlon Peña. It was written by Daddy Yankee, Rauw Alejandro, Nile Rodgers, American-Colombian singer David "Raey" Fajardo, Venezuelan singer Rafael "Reggi El Auténtico" Aponte, American singer Raúl "Rey Santana" Treviño, Gary Walker, Mexican producer Scott Summers, American-Nigerian producer Emmanuel Anene and American production duo Play-N-Skillz members Juan Salinas and Oscar Salinas. It was produced by Daddy Yankee, Play-N-Skillz and Scott Summers.