We Are Family (album)

We Are Family
Studio album by Sister Sledge
Released	January 22, 1979
Recorded	August–November 1978
Studio	Power Station, New York City
Genre	Disco, R&B, soul
Length	43:56
Label	Cotillion
Producer	Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards
Sister Sledge chronology
Together (1977) We Are Family (1979) Love Somebody Today (1980)
Singles from We Are Family
"He's the Greatest Dancer" Released: February 3, 1979 "We Are Family" Released: April 1979 "Lost in Music" Released: April 1979[1] "Thinking of You" Released: June 1984

We Are Family is the third studio album by the American R&B vocal group Sister Sledge, released on January 22, 1979, in the United States and on April 30, 1979, in the United Kingdom by Cotillion Records. The album was written and produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the band Chic, and includes four hit singles: the title track, "He's the Greatest Dancer", "Lost in Music" and "Thinking of You", all of which have been sampled, remixed, and reissued in the decades after the album's release. The album reached number one on the Top R&B Albums chart and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, making it the band's most commercially successful album. In 2013, NME named it among the 500 greatest albums of all time.^[2]

Background

Chic worked with Sister Sledge, who had signed to Atlantic in 1973, at the inspiration of Atlantic president Jerry L. 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 in the midst of the whole disco era."^[3]

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". Edwards and Rodgers would only show the songs to Sister Sledge once the sisters were in front of the studio microphones.^[4] 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 19-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 top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the R&B chart. We Are Family was digitally remastered and reissued on CD by Rhino Records in 1995.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Christgau's Record Guide	B+[8]
Mojo	[9]
Pitchfork	8.6/10[10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[11]
Smash Hits	7/10[12]
The Virgin Encyclopedia of R&B and Soul	[13]

The New York Times wrote that Edwards and Rodgers "have distilled disco down to its seductive essentials... The result is a spare, spacious elegance."^[14]

Track listing

All songs written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers.

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

Remastered CD bonus tracks

The remastered CD was released in 1995.

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 and Nile Rodgers Remix) – 6:37

Personnel

Sister Sledge

• Kathy Sledge – lead vocals (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 5)
• Debbie Sledge – lead vocals (on "You're a Friend to Me")
• Joni Sledge – lead vocals (on "Lost in Music" and "Easier to Love")
• Kim Sledge – lead vocals (on "One More Time")

with:

• Nile Rodgers – guitar
• Bernard Edwards – bass
• Tony Thompson – drums
• Robert Sabino – piano, Hohner clavinet
• Raymond Jones – keyboards, Fender Rhodes electric piano
• Andy Schwartz – piano
• Sammy Figueroa – percussion
• Jon Faddis – trumpet
• Ellen Seeling – trumpet
• Barry Rogers – trombone
• Jean Fineberg – saxophone
• Alex Foster – saxophone, flute
• Gene Orloff – concertmaster
• Cheryl Hong – strings
• Marianne Carroll – strings
• Karen Milne – strings
• Luther Vandross – backing vocals
• Norma Jean Wright – backing vocals
• David Lasley – backing vocals
• Alfa Anderson – backing vocals
• Diva Gray – backing vocals
• Simon Le Bon – additional vocals on "Lost in Music" (1984 mix)
• Andy Taylor – additional vocals on "Lost in Music" (1984 mix)

Technical

• Bob Defrin – art direction
• Jim Houghton – photography

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1979–85) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[15] 37 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[16] 4 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[17] 33 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[18] 45 UK Albums (OCC)[19] 7 US Billboard 200[20] 3 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[21] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1979) Position US Billboard 200[22] 37 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[23] 4

See also

• List of number-one R&B albums of 1979 (U.S.)
• List of number-one dance singles of 1979 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B singles of 1979 (U.S.)

References

1. The Book of Hit Singles: Top 20 Charts from 1954 to the Present Day
2. "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 400-301". www.nme.com/. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
3. Turn The Beat Around, Peter Shapiro, p.163
4. Bourne, Kay (1 Feb 1979). "Sledges play together family stays together". Bay State Banner. No. 17. p. 15.
5. Rodgers, Nile (2011). Le Freak. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-1-84744-314-4.
6. Turn The Beat Around, Peter Shapiro, p.165
7. Henderson, Alex. "We Are Family – Sister Sledge". AllMusic. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
8. Christgau, Robert (1981). "S". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor and Fields. ISBN 0-89919-026-X. Retrieved March 12, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
9. Brown, Geoff (October 2018). "Three Cheers!". Mojo. No. 299. p. 39.
10. Beta, Andy (December 12, 2018). "Chic / Sister Sledge: The Chic Organization 1977–1979". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
11. The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 643.
12. Starr, Red (May 3–16, 1979). "Albums". Smash Hits. Vol. 1, no. 11. p. 25.
13. Larkin, Colin (1998). The Virgin Encyclopedia of R&B and Soul. Virgin. p. 303.
14. Emerson, Ken (22 Apr 1979). "Disco Is Not Just for Dancing". The New York Times. p. D24.
15. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 282. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
16. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 4489a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
17. "Dutchcharts.nl – Sister Sledge – We Are Family" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
18. "Charts.nz – Sister Sledge – We Are Family". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
19. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
20. "Sister Sledge Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
21. "Sister Sledge Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
22. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1979". Billboard. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
23. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1979". Billboard. Retrieved June 10, 2021.

External links

• We Are Family at Discogs (list of releases)