Le Freak

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"Le Freak"
Single by Chic
from the album C'est Chic
B-side "You Can Get By"
"Savoir Faire"
Released 1978
Format 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl
Recorded 1978
Genre Disco
Length 3:30 (7" version)
5:23 (album/12" version)
Label Atlantic (3519)
Writer(s) Bernard Edwards
Nile Rodgers
Producer Bernard Edwards
Nile Rodgers
Chic singles chronology
"Everybody Dance"
(1977)		 "Le Freak"
(1978)		 "I Want Your Love"
(1978)
"Le Freak"
Chic's "Le Freak" from C'est Chic
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

"Le Freak" is a successful 1978 disco song by the disco band Chic. It was the band's third single album and first Billboard Hot 100 and soul music number-one song.[1][2] Along with the tracks, "I Want Your Love" and "Chic Cheer", "Le Freak" scored number one on the disco charts for seven weeks.[3] The single album has the distinction of being the best selling record ever for Atlantic Records company, and the best-selling single ever for Warner Music Group until it was displaced in 1990 (by Madonna's song "Vogue").

The single achieved sales of more than four million and also scored number seven in the UK singles chart.

The song was ranked number 19 on Billboard Magazine's top 100 songs of the first 50 years of the "Hot 100" chart.

Contents

[edit] History

This song commemorates Studio 54 for its notoriously long customer waiting lines, exclusive clientele, and discourteous doormen. Concerning the history of the song, guitarist Nile Rodgers later stated that the song was devised during New Years Eve of 1977, as a result of him and bassist Bernard Edwards being refused entrance to Studio 54, where they had been invited by Grace Jones, due to Jones's failure to notify the nightclub's staff. He said the lyrics of the refrain were originally "Fuck off!" rather than "Freak out!"[4]

"Le Freak" was the first song to score the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 three separate times. This record remained until 2008, when "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis became the second track to score number one three times. Later that same year rap artist T.I. tied this record twice with both "Whatever You Like" which he recorded by himself and "Live Your Life" which he recorded with Rihanna. On two of these occasions "Live Your Life" dethroned "Whatever You Like" from the Number One Position. In early 2011, Bruno Mars' "Grenade" also matched this record.

The song is featured in the home edition of Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova 2. It is also featured in the game Just Dance for the Wii. The song is featured in Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail! during the fashion show portion of the game. It" was performed on the television program Glee on the episode "Showmance", much to the characters' chagrin. Most recently, "Le Freak" was cover-versioned by the electronica band Millionaires for the MTV movie Turn The Beat Around. The song can be heard in the 2010 film Diary of a Wimpy Kid in the Mother Son Sweetheart Dance scene. This song was featured in Toy Story 3 while Ken is modeling clothes for Barbie. The song can be heard on Freaky Friday's trailer. The bass line from the song was used by American industrial rock group My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult for their track, 'Waiting for Mommie' on the Confessions of a Knife... album that was released in 1990 by Wax Trax Records.

[edit] Track listings

Atlantic 7" 3519, September 21, 1978
  • A. "Le Freak" (7" Edit) - 3:30
  • B. "Savoir Faire" - 4:57
Atlantic promo 12" DSKO 131, 1978 / Atlantic 12" DK 4700, 1978
  • A. "Le Freak" - 5:23
  • B. "Savoir Faire" - 4:57
Atlantic 12" DK 4620, 1978 / Atlantic Oldies promo 12" DSKO 178, 1979
  • A. "Le Freak" - 5:23
  • B. "You Can Get By" - 5:36

[edit] Chart performance

Original US 12" "Le Freak".
Chart (1978/1979) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[2] 1
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[2]
(with "I Want Your Love" and "Chic Cheer")		 1
US Billboard R&B Songs[2] 1
Austrian Singles Chart[5] 6
Dutch GfK chart[6] 5
Dutch Top 40[7] 2
Irish Singles Chart[8] 20
Italian Singles Chart[9] 2
New Zealand Singles Chart[10] 1
Norwegian Singles Chart[11] 9
Swedish Singles Chart[12] 6
Swiss Singles Chart[13] 2
UK Singles Chart[14] 7
Chart (1987) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play[2] 15
Irish Singles Chart[8] 13
UK Singles Chart[15] 19
Preceded by
"MacArthur Park" by Donna Summer		 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single (with "I Want Your Love" and "Chic Cheer")
November 25, 1978 - January 6, 1979		 Succeeded by
"Contact" by Edwin Starr
Preceded by
"I'm Every Woman" by Chaka Khan		 Billboard's Hot R&B Songs number-one single
December 2, 1978 - December 30, 1978		 Succeeded by
"Got to Be Real" by Cheryl Lynn
Preceded by
"You Don't Bring Me Flowers" by Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond
"You Don't Bring Me Flowers" by Barbra Sreisand and Neil Diamond
"Too Much Heaven" by The Bee Gees		 Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
December 9, 1978
December 23, 1978 – December 30, 1978
January 20, 1979 – February 3, 1979		 Succeeded by
"You Don't Bring Me Flowers" by Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond
"Too Much Heaven" by The Bee Gees
"Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? by Rod Stewart
Preceded by
"Too Much Heaven" by The Bee Gees		 RIANZ New Zealand Singles Chart number-one single
January 28, 1979 - February 18, 1979		 Succeeded by
"Y.M.C.A." by The Village People

[edit] References

  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 116. 
  2. ^ a b c d e "Chic > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p3884/charts-awards/billboard-singles. Retrieved November 28, 2009 (2009-11-28). 
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 56. 
  4. ^ "CLASSIC TRACKS: Chic - 'Le Freak'". Sound On Sound Magazine. 2005. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr05/articles/classictracks.htm. Retrieved July 7, 2010 (2010-07-07). 
  5. ^ "Chic - Le Freak - austriancharts.at (German)". http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Chic&titel=Le+Freak&cat=s. Retrieved November 28, 2009 (2009-11-28). 
  6. ^ "Chic - Le Freak (Dutch)". dutchcharts.nl. http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Chic&titel=Le+Freak&cat=s. Retrieved November 28, 2009 (2009-11-28). 
  7. ^ "De Nederlandse Top 40 - week 5, 1979 (Dutch)". http://www.top40.nl/index.aspx?week=5&jaar=1979. Retrieved November 28, 2009 (2009-11-28). 
  8. ^ a b "irishcharts.ie search results". http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement. Retrieved November 28, 2009 (2009-11-28). 
  9. ^ "HPI - Settimana del 20/01/79 (Italian)". http://www.hitparadeitalia.it/hp_weeks/79/hp790120.htm. Retrieved November 28, 2009 (2009-11-28). 
  10. ^ "charts.org.nz - Chic - Le Freak". http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Chic&titel=Le+Freak&cat=s. Retrieved November 28, 2009 (2009-11-28). 
  11. ^ "norwegiancharts.com - Chic - Le Freak". http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Chic&titel=Le+Freak&cat=s. Retrieved November 28, 2009 (2009-11-28). 
  12. ^ "swedishcharts.com - Chic - Le Freak". http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Chic&titel=Le+Freak&cat=s. Retrieved November 28, 2009 (2009-11-28). 
  13. ^ "Chic - Le Freak - hitparade.ch (German)". http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=Chic&titel=Le+Freak&cat=s. Retrieved November 28, 2009 (2009-11-28). 
  14. ^ "Chart Stats - Chic - Le Freak". http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=8013. Retrieved November 28, 2009 (2009-11-28). 
  15. ^ "Chart Stats - Chic - Jack Le Freak". http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=14667. Retrieved November 28, 2009 (2009-11-28). 
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Le_Freak&oldid=474467048"
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