‘Sweet Thing’: the Chaka Khan classic that inspired David Bowie
As one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century, David Bowie provided an undeniable influence on countless songwriters, artists and musicians who followed in his wake. However, inspiration is not a one way street, and Bowie himself owed a lot to his ever-eclectic range of influences. From his early love of The Velvet Underground to the Lynchian experimentation of Outside, the Starman’s record collection was as broad and varied as his own discography.
Although Bowie is often remembered for his glam rock period, which produced some of his finest work in albums like Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, these records hardly scratch the surface of his extensive collection of music. Some of the songwriter’s most commercially successful tracks came in the early 1980s when Bowie began to embrace the euphoric, pop-centric world of disco.
Disco had something of a divisive quality during its heyday, often seen as being complacent and corporate by punk and rock fans. However, the sounds that first arose from the nightclub scene in New York provided a music scene that was both definitely joyous and rebellious. Rather than wallowing in the distressing realities of life, disco fans were immersing themselves in the glitz and glamour of dancing, and David Bowie was quick to get in on the action.
For the Let’s Dance album, Bowie delved head first into the world of disco, even recruiting disco godfather Nile Rodgers to produce the record. Rodgers made a name for himself in the disco scene through his band Chic, who created some of the most popular tracks of the era, such as ‘Le Freak’ and ‘Everybody Dance’, among others. Hence, if anybody was qualified to imbue Bowie with the disco sensibility, it was Rodgers.
On ‘China Girl’, one of the most popular tracks from Let’s Dance, Rodgers shared the innovative influence of the great Chaka Khan with Bowie. During his time with Chic, the band regularly performed a cover of ‘Sweet Thing’ – written and recorded by Khan during the tenure of Rufus – into their live set. The song itself is among the most iconic funk and disco tracks of all time, and its distinctive guitar riff had a particular impact on Nile Rodgers.
“When working with David Bowie on ‘China Girl,’” Rodgers later recalled, “I played a modified version of the guitar riff from ‘Sweet Thing’ on it”.
The songwriter went on to explain this inclusion on Bowie’s track, saying, “I was inspired by this Rufus guitar riff because I thought it had an Asian sound. I played the riff right at the start of ‘China Girl’ before the band comes in. To my surprise David loved it, and that was indeed a ‘Sweet Thing’”.
The influence of both Nile Rodgers and Chaka Khan on Let’s Dance helped to make the release one of Bowie’s most beloved and, to an extent, timeless. Although he did not stick with the world of disco forever, quickly moving on to the next thing in that usual Bowie way, these records remain some of his finest work and it is thanks, in part, to Chaka Khan.
