We Are Family (song)
Encyclopedia
"We Are Family" is a 1979
dance hit song by Sister Sledge
, composed by Bernard Edwards
and Nile Rodgers
. Rodgers and Edwards offered the song to Atlantic Records
; although the record label initially declined, the track was released as a single from the album of the same name and quickly began to gain club and radio play. It eventually went Gold
, becoming the number one R&B and number two pop
song on the US charts in 1979. Along with the tracks, "He's the Greatest Dancer" and "Lost in Music", "We Are Family" reached number one on the disco charts. It was also the theme song for the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates
, and was featured in both the 1996 film
The Birdcage
, starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane, and the 1997 film The Full Monty
.
, who won baseball's World Series
that year. The song was also played during the 2004 Democratic National Convention
in Boston.
This song was re-released in 1993 in remix form in the UK, where the original had peaked at number seven on the singles chart. An edit of a longer mix by Sure Is Pure (Danny Spencer & Kelvin Andrews) sub-titled the "Sure Is Pure Remix Edit", the single surpassed the success of the original, reaching number five in the UK and remains their third biggest hit to date in that country (after "Frankie
" and the 1984 remix of "Lost in Music").
This song was featured in the 2006 film Mission Impossible 3 and the movie Madea's Family Reunion
. A snippet of the song was also featured in the 1980 film Private Benjamin
.
This song is also featured on DANCE! Online
, a multiplayer online casual rhythm game
, and the karaoke game Karaoke Revolution Volume 2.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, The Disney Channel featured the song in a D-TV
music video set entirely to clips from the cartoon short Casey Bats Again
.
The Sure Is Pure Remix Edit was also used on the UK TV show Gladiators, as the entrance theme for the female Gladiators for the event Powerball.
A cover version of the song is used as the theme song (as well as before and after every station break) for the French game show Une famille en or ("A Golden Family") on the national television network TF1. This program is the French equivalent of the American game show Family Feud
.
The song was used with different lyrics for the Pepsi Cola Company entitled "We are Pepsi Free", during the 1980s.
, The Goldman Girls Jordan Pruitt
, Spice Girls
, The Corrs
, and Babes in Toyland
. Babes In Toyland's version of the song was more rock oriented and it was a left field Dance club hit in the U.S. It peaked at #22 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1995. In addition, Rodgers organized a re-recording of the song in 2001 as a benefit record for the September 11 attacks. He also produced a version featuring characters from popular children's television shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants
, Sesame Street
and The Muppet Show
. This version aired on Disney Channel
, Nickelodeon and PBS as a public service announcement. In December 2007, the song was announced as one of the 2008 inductees to the Grammy Hall of Fame. Kinshuk Nath in 2009 with his own office rendition of We Are Family. The Chipmunks
& The Chipettes
covered the song for the movie, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
and the movie's soundtrack.
1979 in music
See also:Record labels established in 1979* 1979 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1979.-January–February:*January 1...
dance hit song by Sister Sledge
Sister Sledge
Sister Sledge is an American musical group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in 1972 and consisting of four sisters: Kim Sledge Debbie Sledge , Joni Sledge , and Kathy Sledge . They are granddaughters of the former opera singer Viola Williams. The sisters used to perform under the name of "Mrs...
, composed by Bernard Edwards
Bernard Edwards
Bernard Edwards born in Greenville, North Carolina, was a bass player and record producer, both as a member of the Funk/Disco band Chic and on his own. He died of pneumonia while touring in Japan.-History:...
and Nile Rodgers
Nile Rodgers
Nile Gregory Rodgers is an American musician, producer, composer, arranger, and guitarist.-Biography:...
. Rodgers and Edwards offered the song to Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
; although the record label initially declined, the track was released as a single from the album of the same name and quickly began to gain club and radio play. It eventually went Gold
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
, becoming the number one R&B and number two pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
song on the US charts in 1979. Along with the tracks, "He's the Greatest Dancer" and "Lost in Music", "We Are Family" reached number one on the disco charts. It was also the theme song for the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates
1979 Pittsburgh Pirates season
The 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates had 98 wins and 64 losses and captured the National League East Division title by two games over the Montreal Expos. The Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds to win their ninth National League title, and the Baltimore Orioles to win their fifth World Series title - and also...
, and was featured in both the 1996 film
1996 in film
Major releases this year included Scream, Independence Day, Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Twister, Mars Attacks!, Jerry Maguire and a version of Evita starring Madonna.-Events:...
The Birdcage
The Birdcage
The Birdcage is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Mike Nichols, and stars Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest, Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart, Hank Azaria, and Christine Baranski. The script was written by Elaine May...
, starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane, and the 1997 film The Full Monty
The Full Monty (soundtrack)
The Full Monty: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack is the Academy Award-winning soundtrack to the 1997 film The Full Monty. The winning score was composed by Anne Dudley.- Track listing :#"The Zodiac" - David Lindup...
.
Pop Culture References
The song was used as the 1979 theme song for the Pittsburgh Pirates1979 Pittsburgh Pirates season
The 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates had 98 wins and 64 losses and captured the National League East Division title by two games over the Montreal Expos. The Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds to win their ninth National League title, and the Baltimore Orioles to win their fifth World Series title - and also...
, who won baseball's World Series
1979 World Series
The 1979 World Series matched the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates against the American League's Baltimore Orioles , with the Pirates coming back from a three games to one deficit to win the Series in seven games...
that year. The song was also played during the 2004 Democratic National Convention
2004 Democratic National Convention
The 2004 Democratic National Convention convened from July 26 to July 29, 2004 at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts, and nominated John Kerry and John Edwards as the official candidates of the Democratic Party for President and Vice President of the United States, respectively, in the 2004...
in Boston.
This song was re-released in 1993 in remix form in the UK, where the original had peaked at number seven on the singles chart. An edit of a longer mix by Sure Is Pure (Danny Spencer & Kelvin Andrews) sub-titled the "Sure Is Pure Remix Edit", the single surpassed the success of the original, reaching number five in the UK and remains their third biggest hit to date in that country (after "Frankie
Frankie (song)
"Frankie" is a song by Sister Sledge that was released as a single in 1985. It is taken from their album When the Boys Meet the Girls.-Overview:The song was written by Denise Rich, after dreaming the song while on a flight from the US to Switzerland...
" and the 1984 remix of "Lost in Music").
This song was featured in the 2006 film Mission Impossible 3 and the movie Madea's Family Reunion
Madea's Family Reunion
Madea's Family Reunion is a 2006 comedy-drama film adaptation of the stage production of the same name written by Tyler Perry and sequel to Diary of a Mad Black Woman. It was written and directed by Perry, who also played several characters, including Mabel "Madea" Simmons...
. A snippet of the song was also featured in the 1980 film Private Benjamin
Private Benjamin
Private Benjamin is a 1980 American comedy film starring Goldie Hawn. The film was one of the biggest box office hits of 1980, and also spawned a short-lived television series. The film is ranked 82 on the American Film Institute's "100 Funniest Movies" poll, and 59 on Bravo's "100 Funniest...
.
This song is also featured on DANCE! Online
Dance! Online
DANCE! Online was a downloadable massively multiplayer online music video game produced by David Perry and published by Acclaim in North America. It is a free-to-download PC title that largely resembles a combination of Audition Online and Dance Dance Revolution series. It is based on the Chinese...
, a multiplayer online casual rhythm game
Music video game
A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs...
, and the karaoke game Karaoke Revolution Volume 2.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, The Disney Channel featured the song in a D-TV
D-TV
D-TV was a series of music videos created by Walt Disney Productions in 1984 using popular music and video footage from Disney videos, mostly cartoons, created out of the trend of music videos on cable channel MTV, which inspired the name of this series...
music video set entirely to clips from the cartoon short Casey Bats Again
Casey at the Bat
"Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888" is a baseball poem written in 1888 by Ernest Thayer. First published in The San Francisco Examiner on June 3, 1888, it was later popularized by DeWolf Hopper in many vaudeville performances.The poem was originally published...
.
The Sure Is Pure Remix Edit was also used on the UK TV show Gladiators, as the entrance theme for the female Gladiators for the event Powerball.
A cover version of the song is used as the theme song (as well as before and after every station break) for the French game show Une famille en or ("A Golden Family") on the national television network TF1. This program is the French equivalent of the American game show Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
.
The song was used with different lyrics for the Pepsi Cola Company entitled "We are Pepsi Free", during the 1980s.
Cover versions
Artists who have covered the song include Jump5Jump5
- History :Siblings Brandon and Brittany Hargest had competed on the same dance team as Lesley Moore, and were familiar with Chris Fedun and Libby Hodges through the competitive dance circuit. The mother of Hodges held an open casting call to find additional members to form a new pop group with her...
, The Goldman Girls Jordan Pruitt
Jordan Pruitt
Jordan Lynne Pruitt is an American recording artist. She started writing songs at age nine. After recording a demo album in 2006, Pruitt was discovered by producer Keith Thomas and later signed to Hollywood Records....
, Spice Girls
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
, The Corrs
The Corrs
The Corrs are an Irish band which combine pop rock with traditional Celtic folk music. The brother and sisters are from Dundalk, Ireland. The group consists of the Corr siblings: Andrea ; Sharon ; Caroline ; and Jim .The Corrs came to international prominence with their performance at the...
, and Babes in Toyland
Babes in Toyland (band)
Babes in Toyland was an American alternative rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1987. The band was formed by Oregon native Kat Bjelland , with Lori Barbero and Michelle Leon , who was later replaced by Maureen Herman in 1992...
. Babes In Toyland's version of the song was more rock oriented and it was a left field Dance club hit in the U.S. It peaked at #22 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1995. In addition, Rodgers organized a re-recording of the song in 2001 as a benefit record for the September 11 attacks. He also produced a version featuring characters from popular children's television shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series, created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. Much of the series centers on the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the underwater city of "Bikini Bottom"...
, Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
and The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
. This version aired on Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
, Nickelodeon and PBS as a public service announcement. In December 2007, the song was announced as one of the 2008 inductees to the Grammy Hall of Fame. Kinshuk Nath in 2009 with his own office rendition of We Are Family. The Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated music group created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic chipmunks: Alvin, the mischievous troublemaker, who quickly became the star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespectacled intellectual;...
& The Chipettes
The Chipettes
The Chipettes are a fictional group of anthropomorphic chipmunk singers first appearing on the cartoon series Alvin and the Chipmunks in 1983. In this and related materials, the Chipettes served as female featured characters in their own right, starring in numerous episodes...
covered the song for the movie, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Betty Thomas. The film stars Zachary Levi, David Cross, Jason Lee, and the voices of Justin Long, Jesse McCartney, Matthew Gray Gubler, Christina Applegate, Amy Poehler, and Anna Faris...
and the movie's soundtrack.
External links
- [ Allmusic entry]
- [ Allmusicguide.com]