How Nile Rodgers and Sister Sledge Created the Ultimate Disco Album
Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards’s side project, Sister Sledge, produced what many consider the best disco album ever in 1979.
By this point, the Sledge sisters had hit a slump. After releasing their first single in 1971, followed by albums in 1975 and 1977, they had only managed two hits—neither of which had made a significant impact in their native U.S.
Love Don’t Go Through No Changes On Me, released in 1974, did reasonably well in Japan, and Mama Never Told Me charted in the U.K. However, being on the major label Atlantic, the pressure to produce a hit was mounting. Enter Nile and Bernard…
Chic, who were signed to the same label as Sister Sledge, were asked to write and produce the band’s next album. And they truly gave it their all.
Singles We Are Family, He’s The Greatest Dancer, and Lost in Music all became major hits. Thinking of You was released as a single five years later and also performed well.
These four tracks are among the greatest disco anthems ever recorded, standing proudly alongside hits from the Bee Gees, The Jacksons, and Chic’s own extensive catalogue.
What makes these songs especially remarkable is their enduring popularity. Decades later, they are still staples on radio stations and in DJ sets, having been sampled numerous times. They’re a given on the setlists of any disco band, as well as those who play Motown and Soul.
It’s important to remember that when We Are Family was released in early 1979, it was just before the Disco Demolition event, which forever changed the musical landscape in July of the same year. This left the album with barely any time to truly shine.
Despite the success of We Are Family, the band struggled to match that magic on their next release. Love Somebody Today, released the following year, failed to generate any significant singles, and the momentum was clearly lost.
The albums that followed also couldn’t measure up to the monumental achievement of We Are Family. It was clear that writing legendary songs isn’t an easy feat, even for someone like Nile Rodgers, who has confessed that We Are Family is probably the best album he’s ever made.
Sister Sledge Tunes | Related Pages
He’s The Greatest Dancer | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play He’s The Greatest Dancer by Sister Sledge using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| Cm7 Dm7 | F#dim7 Gm7 |
Oh, what, wow, he’s the greatest dancer…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: He’s The Greatest Dancer (Sister Sledge) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Lost in Music | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Lost in Music by Sister Sledge using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| C Dm7 | Dm7 | C G | G |
We’re lost in music, caught in a trap…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: Lost in Music (Sister Sledge) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Thinking of You | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Thinking of You by Sister Sledge using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| Gm7 Dm7 | Eb Bbmaj7 |
Everybody let me tell you ’bout my love…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: Thinking of You (Sister Sledge) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
We Are Family | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play We Are Family by Sister Sledge using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart and backing tracks.
| A (A6) | G (G6) | D (Dadd9) | G11 |
We are family, I got all my sisters with me…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: We Are Family (Sister Sledge) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Sister Sledge on the web
