"Le Freak" is a 1978 funk / disco song by American R&B band

Chic Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word. Pronounced Chick. Etymology '' Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English diction ...

. 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 The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. ''Billboard'' magazine ranked it as the number 3 song for 1979. The song was ranked number 21 on ''Billboard'' magazine's top 100 songs of the first 55 years of the "Hot 100" chart. In 2018, it was selected for preservation in the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant."

Lyrics

The lyrics mention "

Stompin' at the Savoy "Stompin' at the Savoy" is a 1933 jazz standard composed by Edgar Sampson. It is named after the famed Harlem nightspot the Savoy Ballroom in New York City. History and composition Although the song is credited to Benny Goodman, Chick Webb, Edgar ...

", a 1933 song composed by

Edgar Sampson Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and '' gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, r ...

. They also invite the listener to "Come on down to 54", that is, Studio 54, a popular nightclub in New York City at the time. This song is written in the key of A minor.

History

This song commemorates Studio 54 in New York City for its notoriously long customer waiting lines, exclusive clientele, and discourteous doormen. According to guitarist Nile Rodgers, the song was devised during New Year's Eve 1977, as a result of his and bassist Bernard Edwards' being refused entrance to Studio 54, where they had been invited by Grace Jones, due to her failure to notify the nightclub's staff. He said the lyrics of the refrain were originally "Fuck off!" rather than "Freak out!"; for the documentary "How to Make It in the Music Business", he said that 'fuck off' was what the doorman had said to him when he slammed the door on them; first it was changed to "freak off" after Rodgers mused that they wouldn't be able to say 'fuck off' on the radio, but that sounded "terrible", so he changed it to 'freak out'. "Le Freak" was the first song to score the number one position on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 three separate times. In 1987, an acid house-styled re-mix was issued under the title "Jack Le Freak". It reached number 18 in the United Kingdom, becoming Chic's last top 40 hit to date in that country.

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rap music, rapper, Disc jockey, DJ, actress and entrepreneur. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, Lyte first gained fame in the late 19 ...

sampled the song "Woo Woo (Freak Out)" featuring

Nicci Gilbert Nichole "Nicci" Gilbert (born July 8, 1970) is an American R&B singer. She is mainly known for being the former lead vocalist of an American female R&B girl-group Brownstone who rose to fame in the mid 1990s best known for their 1995 hit single ...

of the group Brownstone, which first appeared on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

to the 1998 movie ''

Woo Woo, WoO, WOO, W.O.O. and variants may refer to: People Woo or Wu, romanization of several East Asian names: * Hu (surname): 胡, 瓠, 護, 戶, 扈, 虎, 呼, 忽, 斛 * Wu (surname): 吳, 伍, 武, 仵, 烏, 鄔, 巫 * Ng (name): 吳, 伍 * ...

'' and was also included on her album '' Seven & Seven'', titled "Woo Woo (Party Time)", which released three months later.

Reception

'' Cash Box'' wrote it is "a handclapping disco song bolstered by solid bass work and airy vocals."

Track listing and formats

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

Personnel

* Alfa Anderson – lead vocals * Diva Gray – lead vocals *

David Lasley David Eldon Lasley (August 20, 1947 – December 9, 2021) was an American recording artist, singer, musician and songwriter. He was best known as a touring background singer for James Taylor, as a session singer on recordings by artists including ...

– vocals * Luci Martin – vocals * Luther Vandross – vocals * Nile Rodgers –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, vocals * Raymond Jones – Fender Rhodes electric piano * Robert Sabino – clavinet, acoustic piano, electric piano * Bernard Edwards –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, vocals * Tony Thompson – drums * Sammy Figueroa – percussion * Jon Faddis – trumpet * Ellen Seeling – trumpet * Alex Foster – saxophone * Jean Fineberg – saxophone * Barry Rogers –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

* Jose Rossy –

tubular bell Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...

s * The Chic Strings: ** Marianne Carroll – strings ** Cheryl Hong – strings ** Karen Milne – strings *

Gene Orloff Gene Orloff (June 14, 1921 – March 23, 2009) was an American violinist, concertmaster, arranger, contractor and session musician. Background The son of a Russian immigrant violin maker, Orloff would try and get his father's violin down from the ...

–

concert master The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

In popular culture

This song was used in a 2010 film

Toy Story 3 ''Toy Story 3'' is a 2010 American computer-animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the third installment in the ''Toy Story'' series and the sequel to '' Toy Story 2'' (1999). It wa ...

scene in which Ken models his outfits for Barbie. It was also shown in the 2004 film

Shrek 2 ''Shrek 2'' is a 2004 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 picture book '' Shrek!'' by William Steig, produced by DreamWorks Animation and released by DreamWorks Pictures. The sequel to ''Shrek'' (2001) and the ...

, when they were partying in Shrek Swamp.

References

* {{authority control Songs about dancing Songs about parties Songs about nightclubs 1978 singles 1979 singles Chic (band) songs Disco songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Australia Songs based on actual events Songs written by Bernard Edwards Songs written by Nile Rodgers Song recordings produced by Nile Rodgers Song recordings produced by Bernard Edwards 1978 songs Atlantic Records singles United States National Recording Registry recordings Studio 54