Recorded August–November 1978 Artist Sister Sledge Label Cotillion Records | Length 43:56 Release date 1979 | |
Released January 22, 1979 (US)
April 30, 1979 (UK) Studio The Power Station
(New York City, New York) We Are Family
(1979) Love Somebody Today
(1980) Genres Disco, Funk, Soul music, Rhythm and blues, Pop music Producers Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards Similar The Very Best of Chic & Si, Love Somebody Today, Live at the Budokan, Freak Out: The Greatest, Good Times: The Very Best | ||
We Are Family is a studio album by American R&B vocal group Sister Sledge. Released on January 22, 1979 in the US, this album is the group's third release and second on Cotillion Records. This album was released in the UK on April 30, 1979. This album was written and produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the band Chic, and includes four hit singles; the anthem 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.
Contents
Background
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." 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." The lead vocals to We Are Family were recorded in a single take by the then 19–year-old Kathy Sledge. "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.
Track listing
All songs written by Bernard Edwards & Nile Rodgers.
- "He's the Greatest Dancer" – 6:16
- "Lost In Music" – 4:52
- "Somebody Loves Me" – 4:59
- "Thinking of You" – 4:31
- "We Are Family" – 8:24
- "Easier to Love" – 5:05
- "You're a Friend to Me" – 5:31
- "One More Time" – 3:17
Re–mastered CD bonus tracks
The re–mastered CD was released in 1995.
- "We Are Family (Sure Is Pure Remix)" – 8:05
- "We Are Family (Steve Anderson DMC Remix)" – 8:13
- "Lost in Music (Sure Is Pure Remix)" – 8:38
- "Lost in Music (1984 Bernard Edwards & Nile Rodgers Remix)" – 6:37
Charts
Singles
Songs
1He's the Greatest Dancer6:04
2Lost in Music4:41
3Somebody Loves Me4:48