We Are Family (album)

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We Are Family
File:Sledgefamily.jpg
Studio album by Sister Sledge
Released January 22, 1979 (US)
April 30, 1979 (UK)
Recorded 1978–79
Studio The Power Station
(New York City, New York)
Genre Pop, Disco, R&B, Soul, Funk
Length 43:56
Label Cotillion Records
Producer Nile Rodgers
Bernard Edwards
Sister Sledge chronology
Together
(1977)Together1977		 We Are Family
(1979)		 Love Somebody Today
(1980)Love Somebody Today1980
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4.5/5 stars [1]
Robert Christgau B+ [2]
Smash Hits 7/10[3]

We Are Family is a 1979 album by American R&B/Soul group Sister Sledge. The album was written and produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the band Chic, and includes four hit singles: the anthemic title track, "He's the Greatest Dancer", "Lost in Music", and "Thinking of You", all four of which have been sampled, remixed, and re–issued through the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

Chic worked with Sister Sledge, who had signed to Atlantic in 1973, at the inspiration of Atlantic president Jerry Greenberg. Nile Rodgers remembered later; " That's why we came up with We Are Family. [-] Everything he said about them gave us a picture of them. You've got to remember, we never even met them. [-] All of the content on that record came from that one day with the president [-] I was fascinated and enthralled by the concept of people who loved music who could be 'nice girls' in the midst of the whole disco era."[4]

We Are Family is one of two albums produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers in 1979, the other being Chic's third album Risqué including hit singles "Good Times" and "My Forbidden Lover".

Nile Rodgers has written that of the various albums produced by The Chic Organization for themselves and others, "pound for pound, I think We Are Family is our best album hands down." [5] The lead vocals to We Are Family were recorded in a single take by the then 18-year-old Kathy Sledge.[6] "He's the Greatest Dancer" was the first single from the album and became the group's first major hit, reaching the pop top ten and number one on the R&B chart.

We Are Family was digitally remastered and reissued on CD by Rhino Records in 1995.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers.

Side A

Side A
  1. "He's the Greatest Dancer" – 6:16
  2. "Lost In Music" – 4:52
  3. "Somebody Loves Me" – 4:59
  4. "Thinking of You" – 4:31

Side B

  1. "We Are Family" – 8:24
  2. "Easier to Love" – 5:05
  3. "You're a Friend to Me" – 5:31
  4. "One More Time" – 3:17

1995 remastered cd bonus tracks

  1. "We Are Family (Sure Is Pure Remix)" – 8:05
  2. "We Are Family (Steve Anderson DMC Remix)" – 8:13
  3. "Lost in Music (Sure Is Pure Remix)" – 8:38
  4. "Lost in Music (1984 Bernard Edwards & Nile Rodgers Remix)" – 6:37

Personnel

  • Kathy Sledge - Lead Vocals Tracks 1, 3, 4, 5
  • Debbie Sledge - Lead Vocals "You're a Friend to Me"
  • Joni Sledge - Lead Vocals "Lost in Music", "Easier to Love"
  • Kim Sledge - Lead Vocals "One More Time".
  • Nile Rodgers - Guitar
  • Bernard Edwards - Bass
  • Tony Thompson - Drums
  • Robert Sabino - Piano, Clavinet
  • Raymond Jones - Keyboards, Fender Rhodes
  • Andy Schwartz - Piano
  • Sammy Figueroa - Percussion
  • Jon Faddis, Ellen Seeling - Trumpet
  • Barry Rogers - Trombone
  • Jean Fineberg - Saxophone
  • Alex Foster - Saxophone, Flute
  • Gene Orloff - Concert Master
  • Cheryl Hong, Marianne Carroll, Karen Milne (The Chic Strings) - Strings
  • Luther Vandross, Norma Jean Wright, David Lasley, Alfa Anderson, Diva Gray - Backing Vocals
  • Simon LeBon - Additional vocals on "Lost in Music" (1984 mix)
  • Andy Taylor - Additional vocals on "Lost in Music" (1984 mix)

Charts

Chart (1979) Peak
position
Billboard Pop Albums[7] 3
Billboard Top Soul Albums[7] 1

Singles

Year Single Chart positions[8]
US US
R&B		 US
Dance
1979 "He's the Greatest Dancer" 9 1 1
"We Are Family" 2 1
"Lost in Music" — 35

See also

References

  1. ↑ Henderson, Alex. We Are Family > review at AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Turn The Beat Around, Peter Shapiro, p.163
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Turn The Beat Around, Peter Shapiro, p.165
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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