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Madonna · S3 E4
Nile Rodgers
How Like a Virgin got made, why the title nearly killed the project, and what Rodgers brought to the room
Power Station Studios, Manhattan, summer 1984. Nile Rodgers listens to a song called "Like a Virgin," tells Madonna the title will destroy her career, and she tells him that is exactly the point.
"Erotica", official music video (1992). Eight years after Nile Rodgers, Madonna hands her sound to Shep Pettibone and makes something Rodgers never would have touched. "Like a Virgin" proves she can make mainstream pop with the best producer alive. "Erotica" proves she does not need anyone's permission to burn it all down and start over.
The Man from Chic
Nile Rodgers is the architect of Chic, the co-writer of "Le Freak" and "Good Times," and the man who just produced David Bowie's "Let's Dance." When Warner Bros. pairs him with Madonna for her second album, they are placing a bet: that Rodgers can turn a cult artist into a global phenomenon, the same way he did for Bowie.
“She was the most prepared artist I ever worked with. She came in with a vision. She knew what she wanted and what she didn't want. My job was to translate that into sound.”
— Nile Rodgers
TAP TO REVEAL: Who at Warner Bros. tried to stop the "Like a Virgin" title?
Nile Rodgers plays a specific guitar on nearly all his hit productions, including Like a Virgin. He has given this instrument a famous nickname. What does he call it?
The Like a Virgin Sessions
Love Don't Live Here Anymore
A Rose Royce cover buried deep on the Like a Virgin album that most fans skip. But it reveals something Nile Rodgers draws out of her that no producer had found before: vulnerability. The vocal is raw and exposed, almost uncomfortable in its honesty.
The album is finished and the first single is climbing the charts. Next episode: September 14, 1984, the first MTV Video Music Awards, a wedding dress, and three minutes that change pop music forever.
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