Le Freak

"Le Freak" is a funk-disco song by American disco band Chic, released in September 1978 by Atlantic Records as the first single from their second album, C'est Chic (1978). It was written and produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, and became the band's third single and first US Billboard Hot 100 and R&B number-one hit song.^[2][3] Along with the tracks "I Want Your Love" and "Chic Cheer", "Le Freak" scored number one on the disco charts for seven weeks.^[4] The single achieved sales of 7 million^[5] and also peaked at number seven in the UK Singles Chart. Billboard magazine ranked it as the number three song for 1979^[6] and number 21 on the magazine's top 100 songs of the first 55 years of the Hot 100.^[7] In 2018, "Le Freak" was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".^[8]

"Le Freak"
One of the US editions
Single by Chic
from the album C'est Chic
B-side	"You Can Get By" "Savoir Faire"
Released	September 21, 1978 (1978-09-21)
Recorded	January 1978
Studio	Power Station, New York City
Genre	Disco funk[1]
Length	5:23 (LP version) 3:30 (7-inch/video edit)
Label	Atlantic (3519)
Songwriter(s)	Bernard Edwards Nile Rodgers
Producer(s)	Bernard Edwards Nile Rodgers
Chic singles chronology
"Everybody Dance" (1978) "Le Freak" (1978) "I Want Your Love" (1979)
Music video
"Le Freak" on YouTube

Lyric

The lyric mentions "Stompin' at the Savoy", a 1933 song composed by Edgar Sampson. It also invites 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.^[9]

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!";^[10] for the documentary How to Make It in the Music Business, he said that 'beano's socks' 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 'beano's socks' on the radio, but that sounded "terrible", so he changed it to 'freak out'.^[11]

"Le Freak" was the first song to score the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 three separate times. It spent a total of six non-consecutive weeks at the position.

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. This remix was done by British producer Phil Harding, who had access to the original DAT tapes for "Le Freak". Due to him producing a similar remix for Mel and Kim's "F.L.M." (known as the "Two Grooves Under One Nation" remix, which samples "Le Freak") that same year, he included acapella samples taken from their songs "Showing Out (Get Fresh at the Weekend)", "Respectable" and "F.L.M." during the breakdown.^[12]

MC Lyte sampled the song "Woo Woo (Freak Out)" featuring Nicci Gilbert of the group Brownstone, which first appeared on the soundtrack to the 1998 movie Woo and was also included on her album Seven & Seven, titled "Woo Woo (Party Time)", which released three months later.

Reception and legacy

Upon the release, Cash Box described it as "a handclapping disco song bolstered by solid bass work and airy vocals."^[13] In 2000, VH1 ranked "Le Freak" No. 26 in their list of "100 Greatest Dance Songs".^[14] In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked it No. 10 in their list of "The Best Disco Songs of All Time".^[15] In 2013, the song was ranked No. 21 on Billboard magazine's top 100 songs of the first 55 years of the Hot 100 chart.^[7] In 2015, the 1978 recording of the song by Chic on Atlantic Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.^[16] In 2018, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".^[8] In 2022, Rolling Stone ranked "Le Freak" No. 81 in their "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time" list.^[17] In 2024, Forbes ranked it No. 27 in their list of "The 30 Greatest Disco Songs of All Time".^[18]

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^[10]
• Diva Gray – lead vocals^[10]
• David Lasley – vocals
• Luci Martin – vocals
• Luther Vandross – vocals
• Nile Rodgers – guitar,^[10] vocals
• Raymond Jones or Andy Schwartz – Fender Rhodes electric piano^[10]
• Robert Sabino – acoustic piano,^[10] clavinet, electric piano
• Bernard Edwards – bass guitar,^[10] vocals
• Tony Thompson – drums^[10]
• Sammy Figueroa – percussion
• The Chic Strings:^[10]
  • Marianne Carroll – violin^[10]
  • Cheryl Hong – violin^[10]
  • Karen Milne – violin^[10]
• Gene Orloff – concert master

Production staff

• Nile Rodgers - producer^[10]
• Bernard Edwards - producer^[10]
• Bob Clearmountain - engineer^[10]

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1978–1979) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report) 1 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[19] 6 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[20] 2 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[21] 1 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[22] 1 Canada Dance Songs (RPM)[23] 1 Canada Top 15 12inch (RPM)[24] 1 France (SNEP)[25] 2 Ireland (IRMA)[26] 20 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[27] 2 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[28] 5 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[29] 1 Norway (VG-lista)[30] 9 South Africa (Springbok Radio)[31] 1 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[32] 6 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[33] 2 UK Singles (OCC)[34] 7 US Billboard Hot 100[3] 1 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[35] 48 US Hot Soul Singles (Billboard)[3] 1 US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[3] (with "I Want Your Love" and "Chic Cheer") 1 US Cash Box Top 100[36] 1 West Germany (GfK)[37] 5

Chart (1987) (Jack Le Freak) Peak position Ireland (IRMA)[26] 13 UK Singles (OCC)[34] 19 US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[3] 15 US Dance/Electronic Singles Sales (Billboard)[3] 21 Chart (2013) Peak position France (SNEP)[38] 192 Year-end charts Chart (1978) Ranking Canada Top Singles (RPM)[39] 132 Chart (1979) Ranking Australia (Kent Music Report)[40] 8 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[41] 42 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[42] 8 South Africa (Springbok Radio)[43] 8 US Billboard Hot 100[44] 3 US Cash Box Top 100[45] 1 All-time charts Chart (1958–2018) Position US Billboard Hot 100[46] 24

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[47]	2× Platinum	448,000[48]
France (SNEP)[49]	Gold	500,000*
Italy (FIMI)[50]	Gold	50,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[51]	Platinum	600,000‡
United States (RIAA)[52]	5× Platinum	4,000,000[53]
Summaries
Worldwide	—	7,000,000[5]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

In popular culture

This song was used in a 2010 film Toy Story 3 scene in which Ken models his outfits for Barbie.^[54] It was also shown in the 2004 film Shrek 2, when the fairytale creatures were partying in Shrek Swamp. This song also appears in the 1995 film Heavyweights during one of Tony Perkis’ exercise regimens with the struggling campers. used in Walmart commercials. The song also appears in the video game Just Dance (2009).^[55]