Sister Sledge

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Sister Sledge is an American musical group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in 1972 and consisting of four sisters: Kim Sledge (born August 21, 1957) Debbie Sledge (born July 9, 1954), Joni Sledge (born September 13, 1955), and Kathy Sledge (born January 6, 1959). They are granddaughters of the former opera singer Viola Williams. The sisters used to perform under the name of "Mrs. Williams' Grandchildren."

History

The members of Sister Sledge were born and raised in Philadelphia and began singing at the young ages of four through eight in local Philadelphia churches like Williams Temple CME and Second Macedonia Baptist Church. Their professional music career launched when they entered the UK Singles Chart in 1975 with "Mama Never Told Me." The young girl group released their first two albums "Circle Of Love" and "Together" in 1975 and 1977, respectively, although scoring no major hits.

The group attained pop success with their next album: 1979's We Are Family. The album would become the group's best selling. Singles included "He's the Greatest Dancer" (#9 US, #1 R&B) and "We Are Family" (#2 US, #1 R&B), the latter song becoming their biggest hit. The album was produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the group Chic.

Sister Sledge's next album was 1980's Love Somebody Today. The album included the songs "Got to Love Somebody" (#64 US, #6 R&B, #34 UK) and "Pretty Baby".

Collaborating with producer Narada Michael Walden in 1981, they released the album "All-American Girls," yielding the title track single, which reached No. 3 R&B and No. 79 Pop in the U.S. and No. 41 Pop in the UK; and the single "Next Time You'll Know," which reached No. 28 R&B in the U.S. The sisters continued singing new material throughout the 1980s and 1990s, although not matching the success of the late 1970s. They achieved a hit with "Frankie" in 1985 (#1 in the UK). In 1992, Kathy, lead singer, recorded her first solo album "Heart". Although it spawned no Hot 100 hits, it included the #1 Dance Chart hit "Take Me Back To Love." Her sisters recorded the album "African Eyes" in 1998, as well as the "Live in Concert"" album in 1997. In 2003, Debbi and Joni performed with two other female singers in the PBS special, "My Music: 70's Soul Superstars," which is also available on DVD.

Their most popular songs have been re-released several times in the UK, often in newly-remixed versions, keeping their sound timeless and up-to-date. "We Are Family" is regarded as one of the most popular songs of all time. An updated version of "He's the Greatest Dancer" by Will Smith sampled was included in the backing music in his No. 1 USA/Top 3 UK hit "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" and Dannii Minogue covered the sisters recording 2007.

The sisters continue to perform collectively and individually as soloist with guest vocalist. The original group members were reunited in 2011 on Oprah Winfrey's "Women Who Rock" episode, highlighting their "We are Family" as one of the most requested songs of all time.

The video for "Frankie" was made in its entirety in the city of Glen Cove, New York, the hometown of its producer, Suzy Benfato. Location sites included the high school, a local disco, and some locations in the small city's downtown.

Their song "Il Macquillage Lady" was sampled by Daft Punk for their 2001 hit single Aerodynamic.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Cover versions of Sister Sledge songs

• "All the Man That I Need" was originally done by Linda Clifford in 1981 and was covered by Whitney Houston in 1991, becoming her ninth number-one hit.
• "Mama Never Told Me" was covered by Tracie & The Questions in 1983. The recording was released on a compilation album entitled "Love The Reason" by Paul Weller's Respond label.
• "Thinking of You" was a UK hit single for Maureen Walsh in 1990; it was also covered by 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor in 1997, Monday Michiru in 1999, Paul Weller in 2004, and Sin Palomo in 2005. It was also sampled by Eclipse in 1999 on the dance hit "Makes Me Love You"
• "Lost In Music" was covered by The Fall in 1993 on the album The Infotainment Scan.
• "We Are Family" was covered by Babes in Toyland in 1995, the Spice Girls in 1998, Jump5 in 2003, and Jordan Pruitt in 2007.
• "Lost in Music" was covered by Wackside sampling Sister Sledge in 2002.
• "He's The Greatest Dancer" was covered by Dannii Minogue in 2006, and sampled by Will Smith on "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" in 1998 and Tony Touch on "I Wonder Why" in 2000.
• "We Are Family" was covered by Groovestylerz in 2007.
• "We Are Family" was covered by Home Made Kazoku in 2007.
• "Thinking of You" was remixed by Solitaire in 2004. Samples of the same music were used in Eclipse's dance hit "Makes Me Love You" in 1999.
• "Lifetime Lover" was sampled by The Vanden Plas in 2003 for their single "Lifetime Lovers".
• "Thinking of You was covered by the Swedish music collective Blacknuss.
• "B.Y.O.B." was covered by Angela Clemmons in 1987.
• "Reach Your Peak" was heavily sampled by Ananth Ram in his 2011 single "Feel Le Beat."

See also

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

References

External links

• Kathy Sledge official website
• Kim Sledge official website
• Sister Sledge at Allmusic