One of the voices behind some of the 20th century’s biggest hits says their songs were so popular because they recorded them without hearing them first.
Kathy Sledge sang many of the lead vocals for her family’s music group, Sister Sledge, including “We Are Family” and “He’s the Greatest Dancer.”
Sledge and her sisters, Debbie, Joni and Kim recorded many of their most famous songs with legendary producers Nile Rodgers and the late Bernard Edwards. They insisted that the sisters did not hear the songs they were about to record in order to keep their performance spontaneous.
The singer explained in an interview with Newsweek the spontaneity in their vocals is the “secret” why their songs, especially “We Are Family,” still feel fresh almost 40 years after they were released.
“There is a secret behind why it just keeps coming back, I actually recorded the song without ever getting to hear it until it was time to record because… they [Rodgers and Edwards] believed in spontaneity,” Sledge explained.
“So they believed that if you learn the song or even hear it before you record it, it’s going to sound rehearsed and we wanted to sound fresh and new.”
Theo Wargo/Getty Images
She loved Rodgers and Edwards’ style, even though her sister Debbie would get “agitated” with not being able to learn a song before recording it. Sledge said she trusted the producers and their “vision.”
“Whenever I work with producers I feel like the key word is I trust… so it wasn’t nerve-wracking to me, it was exciting to record that way,” Sledge said.
Sledge was just a teenager when she recorded those big hits and credits that freshness in her voice with the reason continues to have a “resurgence and newness.”
“I know this sounds crazy, but for as many times as as I’ve sang “We Are Family,” it’s always It’s always a different feeling, because… there’s always this feeling like across the crowd that they embrace it up and I look forward to their reaction,” she said.
Sledge left Sister Sledge in 1989 to pursue a solo career and after a lengthy legal battle with her sisters was able to perform again using the group’s name. Her remaining sisters—except Joni who passed away in 2017— perform as Sister Sledge, filling out the group with other family members, while in 2021 Sledge was given permission to tour using the name, Sister Sledge featuring Kathy Sledge.
She continues to tour the world, produce live shows for festivals, record new music and even hosts a podcast with her daughter called The Family Room, meaning Sledge is no hurry to get the family band back together.
“I’ll think about something like that later,” Sledge said of a possible reunion, adding: “I wouldn’t say no to that. But, in the meantime, I’m embracing the threshold right now where I am.”
