S1 EP7: Nile Rodgers on his turbulent upbringing and the stories behind his biggest hits

The Louis Theroux Podcast

Spotify Studios

Comedy, Society & Culture, Arts

4.3 • 696 Ratings

🗓️ 17 July 2023

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Louis meets disco legend and producer extraordinaire Nile Rodgers. Dialling in from his Connecticut home (one of five!), Nile tells Louis about his remarkable life and career, including the stories behind his biggest hits, his turbulent childhood years, and overcoming colourism. And Louis sings... Warnings: Some strong language and discussions of sensitive themes including sexual abuse and drug-taking. Links: David Bowie – ‘Let's Dance’ https://open.spotify.com/track/3ix6K4wZY29bCujrSznwFZ?si=30d727d785ef4095 Mick Jagger – ‘She's The Boss’ https://open.spotify.com/album/0xJYbTxo4DMYSHkC7iSqPB?si=wwLv7HOBTXenE6dAkd5ngA Madonna – ‘Like A Virgin’ https://open.spotify.com/album/2IU9ftOgyRL2caQGWK1jjX?si=rxpZTw42QNiSKnreq0l2pg Duran Duran – ‘Notorious’ https://open.spotify.com/album/3xXwaj6hVwx0pnLtMCHZdC?si=U-tc0vYxQl6LJ65AzT4trA Sister Sledge – ‘Lost In Music’ Sister Sledge - Lost In Music (Nile Rogers/Bernard Edwards Remix) Atlantic Records 1979, 1984 Daft Punk – ‘Get Lucky’ https://open.spotify.com/track/2Foc5Q5nqNiosCNqttzHof?si=9035d8c8fb554778 Faith Evans - ‘Love Like This’ https://open.spotify.com/track/7MQywXGHEev7JmwwIzMcao?si=e8aec86954044cde| Fatman Scoop – ‘Be Faithful’ https://open.spotify.com/track/2OJovNvFHKmZg5mrf9BfAa?si=f6473bf11a69453b CHIC – ‘Dance, Dance, Dance’ CHIC - Dance, Dance, Dance (Official Music Video) CHIC – ‘Everybody Dance’ CHIC - Everybody Dance (Official Music Video) CHIC – ‘Le Freak’ CHIC - Le Freak (Official Music Video) CHIC – ‘Good Times’ https://open.spotify.com/track/0G3fbPbE1vGeABDEZF0jeG?si=61f9310d2d1d46f9 CHIC – ‘I Want Your Love’ CHIC - I Want Your Love (Official Music Video) Queen – ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ https://open.spotify.com/track/5vdp5UmvTsnMEMESIF2Ym7?si=a51179cc7472461c The Sugarhill Gang - ‘Rapper’s Delight’ https://open.spotify.com/track/4IUVLtJEf5k9PIXXTlZy9L?si=3fb6c5a858004074 Kool & The Gang – ‘Hollywood Swinging’ https://open.spotify.com/track/6igsoAR6Co9u7Rq3U7mlOD?si=7a95418138e9448e Carol Douglas – ‘Doctor's Orders’ https://open.spotify.com/track/6TlkRvPjRQo5VZqIfM0MjA?si=03e2ada1e22d40af The Pasadenas – ‘I’m Doing Fine Now’ https://open.spotify.com/track/0Bixqrng2P06r4NkOe2EL7?si=3a4346705ccc4545 Diana Ross - ‘I’m Coming Out’ https://open.spotify.com/track/3SnGymj6ijE2iuUfWxLo1q?si=ea4848e86b274f66 The Knack - ‘My Sharona’ https://open.spotify.com/track/1HOMkjp0nHMaTnfAkslCQj?si=8cef162ee4fb432b Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco and Destiny By Nile Rodgers https://www.amazon.co.uk/Freak-Upside-Story-Family-Destiny/dp/0751542776 LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka) - ‘Black And Beautiful’ The Jihad ‎– Black And Beautiful... Soul And Madness (Full Album) Judas and The Black Messiah (Trailer) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSjtGqRXQ9Y&t=5s Billy Paul - ‘Am I Black Enough For You?’ Billy Paul - Am I Black Enough for You? (Official Audio) Schoolly D – ‘Am I Black Enough for You?’ https://open.spotify.com/album/54kfoNGdaWwwh7bz3snvuD?si=6b6URtV4TAyM81QT2uUWtA Credits: Producer: Paul Kobrak Assistant Producer: Maan Al-Yasiri Production Manager: Francesca Bassett Music: Miguel D’Oliveira Show notes compiled by Shaloma Ellis Executive Producer: Arron Fellows A Mindhouse Production exclusively for Spotify www.mindhouse.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello, hello, hello.
0:16.8	Hello, Louis-thru here.
0:18.7	Welcome to my Spotify podcast called the Louis Theru podcast.
0:27.6	Today we have a very special guest by the name of Nile Rogers, disco icon, incredible guitarist, businessperson and philanthropist. He raises a lot of money for charity.
0:41.2	And he's worth a lot of money, but we'll come on to that. Nile's musical output speaks for itself
0:46.5	collaborations with Duran Duran, David Bowie, Diana Ross, and many, many more. What's less well known
0:54.0	is his incredible life story, his many, many more. What's less well known is his incredible life story,
0:56.4	his upbringing, which included parents addicted to heroin, a very chaotic education,
1:03.3	homeless for a while, and moving around between New York and L.A., becoming a Black Panther,
1:09.3	very young, I think like 16 or 17 in New York, though we don't
1:13.8	actually talk all that much about that. And the ever-present experience of racism and discrimination
1:18.7	before finding his feet as a musician. You'll notice we talk about someone called Bernard,
1:24.9	which is unexplained, that's Bernard Edwards, who is the basist in
1:29.0	Sheik and very much Nile's creative partner. The usual themes of a sensitive nature warning
1:36.6	is hereby imposed. We talk about a lot of dark and personal stuff. Drug taking, probably
1:43.2	bad language.
1:45.0	I don't know.
1:45.8	Just messy human events.
1:48.4	You'll hear some warbling from me.
1:51.1	Quite intimidating, singing a song to the person who wrote it and recorded it.
1:56.2	But that didn't stop me.
1:58.1	All of that and much, much more coming up.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Spotify Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Spotify Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.