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Hidden Gems: We Are Family - Sister Sledge

This article originally featured on the now-defunct altmusicbox in 2015.

Anthems like ‘We Are Family’ are usually synonymous with drunk uncles at family reunions and novelty songwriting as opposed to true musical hidden gems. It’s misconceptions such as this that have plagued Sister Sledge’s 1979 album in the eyes of the music-buying public and left the sisters’ 12” singles resigned to the graveyard of charity shop vinyl crates. And what an absolute shame! A perfectly crafted blend of disco, funk and R&B, commercially viable for pop radio yet with a nod to classic soul, Chic-produced We Are Family is an album that has gone on to be a central influence on the dance and even hip-hop scenes for decades after its release.

Formed around the talent of four actual sisters – Debbie, Joni, Kathy and Kim Sledge – We Are Family was the group’s breakthrough record, spawning four hit singles thanks to the sprinkling of magical production courtesy of Chic masterminds and godfathers of disco, Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers. The girls’ angelic voices sure didn’t hurt either. Turning down the crème de la crème of Atlantic Records – including The Rolling Stones and Aretha Franklin – in favour of the Philadelphia quartet, Edwards and Rodgers transformed four failing songstresses into R&B chart toppers with a gorgeous collection of songs celebrating love, good groove and, of course, sisterhood.

Embodied by addictive basslines and sweet, warm saxophone, the album’s iconic title track was recorded in one take by the then-18 year old Kathy Sledge and nearly forty years on, it is instantly recognisable soundtracking everything encompassing supermarket adverts to baseball games. ‘He’s the Greatest Dancer’ begins a truly forgotten classic LP, six minutes and four seconds of pure dancefloor-filling old school bliss which has been sampled galore (Will Smith’s ‘Gettin’ Jiggy wit It’, anyone?) and which was later destroyed by Dannii Minogue (avoid entirely). Melting almost seamlessly into ‘Lost in Music’, the personification of the escapism which only music can offer and which encapsulates the philosophy of We Are Family. 

 ‘Thinking of You’, one of my favourite songs, adds yet another hit to the arsenal of Sister Sledge. Peaking at number 11 in the UK, the song features as a staple of endless extended dance remixes - Dimitri From Paris does a wonderful job of working with the rhythmic foundations of the track whilst keeping the funky vocals pristine. Lamenting a lifetime love – for a person? Or for music itself? – the sisters declare, “(All my lovin’) / To you I’ll be giving / And I promise, yes I’ll do, as long as I’m living / I’m thinking of you and the things you do to me / That makes me love you, now I’m living in ecstasy” under the shimmering reflections of the disco ball. The foursome fairs equally well in We Are Family’s more mellow moments as in the smooth harmonies of ‘Somebody Loves Me’.

 Produced simultaneously with Chic’s C’est Chic album, the crossover sound injected by Edwards and Rodgers makes Sister Sledge’s We Are Family not at all cheesy but sexy, rapturous and as fresh and vibrant sounding as the day it was recorded. In the wake of Nile Rodgers and co.’s meteoric rise from the ashes of 70s and 80s disco with production and retro mixing on Daft Punk’s 2013 Random Access Memories, coupled with Bruno Mars’ venture into vintage sounds on his Unorthodox Jukebox album in 2012, it’s the perfect time to (re)discover the magic of Sister Sledge. Lounging like Greek goddesses on the album cover, We Are Family is the perfect place to start.




Footnote: ‘In the Heat of the Night’ by Imagination was a close second and definitely worth checking out.
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