Nile Rodgers on his forgotten collaboration with Peter Gabriel: “That shit is the bomb”
The prolific talent of the American guitarist Nile Rodgers is hard to ignore. From his work with disco giants Chic to his tireless production work with the likes of Diana Ross, Debbie Harry and Daft Punk, among countless others, you have probably heard the influence of Rodgers somewhere, even if you are not a disco fan. The New York-born musician has one of the most impressive discographies in all of popular music, but there is one often-overlooked track that he still identifies as a highlight.
Choosing your favourite Nile Rodgers project is like choosing your favourite child. The man is behind such a wide range of iconic tracks and albums that it is a wonder he ever gets the chance to sleep. His most popular works likely include Let’s Dance, the beloved David Bowie album which ushered in his 1980s period, and the pop masterclass of ‘Like A Virgin’ by Madonna. Truthfully, though, these releases hardly scratch the surface of Rodger’s work, which has earned him six Grammy Awards and global album sales eclipsing 500 million.
For Rodgers himself, a stand-out moment of his career comes in the unlikely form of Genesis’ Peter Gabriel. As he explained in a 2007 interview for Journal on the Art of Production, “When I wound up doing Let’s Dance with David Bowie, he came after me. I didn’t go looking for David Bowie ‘cause I would have never thought that was possible.”
Continuing, he added: “The only artist in my entire history that I ever sought out – that I woke up one day and said I want to work with that person, I’m gonna beg and fight – was Peter Gabriel.”
Gabriel, of course, needs no introduction. The singer-songwriter behind prog rock giants Genesis was a mainstay of pop charts worldwide. His work had clearly caught the attention of Nile, who pestered the Surrey-born musician for quite some time before getting to work alongside him. “He’s the only person ever, and I wouldn’t take no for an answer,” Rodgers shared, “I followed him; I went to a concert and said, ‘Look, let’s meet for sushi.’ I was relentless.”
The disco godfather’s pursuit of Gabriel eventually paid off, with the pair working together on the 1984 single ‘Walk Through The Fire’. “We never had a big hit record,” said Rodgers, “but some of my best work, I think, was [with] Peter Gabriel.” Of the single that arose from the collaboration, the producer affirmed, “That shit is the bomb, it’s a great record!”
Nile also explained his hypothesis for why the single was something of a flop, “It’s just that at the time, there was Phil Collins, who was one of the hottest guys in the world, and Lionel Richie was at the top of his game. So you had Phil Collins and Lionel Richie in line in front of us.”
The pair collaborated again on Gabriel’s 1986 number-one album So, with Rodgers playing guitar on the final track, ‘This Is the Picture (Excellent Birds)’. Reportedly, Gabriel was toying with the idea of having Rodgers produce the whole album before eventually settling upon his previous collaborator, Daniel Lanois.
