WEBVTT - This Isn’t Old Man Music: Sister Sledge 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:17.960 I am all inlets you This Isn't Old Man Music 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:21.480 with Scott Patterson everything You've ever wanted to know about 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:25.080 the music of Gilmore Girls. Hey Everybody, Scott Patterson, imall 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:30.800 and Podcasts One of Love Productions, iHeartRadio Media, iHeart podcast 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:35.480 We are beginning a new segment called This Isn't Old 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:40.280 Man Music, and our very first guest Episode one is 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:46.879 the one and only iconic Grammy winning Sister Sledge. We 0:00:47.120 --> 0:00:52.040 have Camille Sledge and we have Debbie. How you doing, 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:55.000 Debbie and Camille, thank you for joining us. 0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:55.400 Hi. 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:59.280 Sister Sledge is blasted and honor to have provided the 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:03.480 soundtrack to Countless Lives. Hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the great 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:08.280 state of Sisters, Debbie, Joni, Kathy and Kim became household 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:10.640 names and a symbol of unity with their nineteen seventy 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:15.600 nine worldwide smash it an iconic album, We Are Family, 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:18.240 or better known as We. 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:22.160 Are Family all Right, All. 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:27.480 My sisters and me. Jony unfortunately passed away in twoenty nineteen. 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:31.160 God Rest her Soul. The multi lead vocal group were 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:34.520 responsible for some of the biggest dance anthems of all time. 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:37.120 Lost in music. He's the Greatest Dancer and Thinking of 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:40.319 You are universally cherished songs that bring people together in love, 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:44.520 life and a very very soulful groove. Sister Sledge has 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:47.360 performed on some of the world's most prestigious stages and 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:52.840 this is impressive. Listen up including Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:58.720 London's Royal Albert Hall, glaston Berry's iconic Pyramid Stage. Wow, 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:01.200 that must have been some experience, as they have also 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:05.000 performed for the Clintons at the White House and even 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:10.480 before the Honorable Pope Francis himself during the twenty fifteen 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:14.320 World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, PA, the Great State 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:16.120 of Over the years, the Family Group was a massive 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:20.080 string of gold and platinum HiT's, generating total sales of 0:02:20.160 --> 0:02:25.600 over twenty million worldwide and earning hundreds of awards and commendations, 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:28.120 including Grammy nominations for Record of the Year, Best R 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:32.080 and B Duover Group, Best Produced CD for Joni SLID's 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:35.799 works on their Africa Eye's album. Their worldwide anthem We 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:40.480 Are Family, was entered into the prestigious Library of Congress 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:45.919 in two thousand and seventeen. Ladies welcome, just so honored 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:49.079 to have you. Your music has been such a part 0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:53.600 of the soundtrack of my life. I specifically remember the 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:56.400 Pittsburgh Pirates run what was in nineteen seventy nine and 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:59.560 they adopted that song in their clubhouse and they won 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:01.120 the whole ball of wax. 0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:03.320 Thank you so much for having us. 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:07.880 You've touched so many people's lives, even making your songs 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:10.240 onto shows like Gilmore Girls. What's it like to see 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:14.240 your music still living in the pop culture atmosphere and 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:15.960 television all these years later. 0:03:16.840 --> 0:03:23.200 It's amazing. I think we're all we're all amazed and 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:28.160 thrilled that you know that song that God has used 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:32.640 us in such a powerful way too, and that song 0:03:32.760 --> 0:03:36.080 just keeps going and that just keeps us amazed, and 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:41.720 the audiences are still so alive, and so there's just 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:47.560 a great energy every time we perform that song. And yeah, 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:51.320 so we're very thrilled. And you know, even now we're 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:54.440 working with the second generation Sister Sledge. So this is 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:58.760 Camille my daughter, Camille Sledge, my daughter, and we are 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:04.040 performing as Sisters Ledge featuring Slegendary, so that you have 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:09.760 a whole new other surge of Sister's Ledge coming along. 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:12.640 I'm so very proud second generation. 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:15.760 Just like Gillmore Girls, it just doesn't stop. It keeps 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:21.240 getting bigger and better. When Laurel, I and Rory joke 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:24.839 about being like we are family in season three, it 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:27.679 really shows how that song has become part of everyday language. 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:29.400 But did you ever manage? 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:30.120 Do you? 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:32.960 Do you ever imagine it would grow into such a 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:34.000 cultural phenomenon. 0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:39.200 We had no idea, Damil, did you I have no idea? 0:04:40.279 --> 0:04:44.240 Camille actually grew up when that song was first coming out. 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:51.640 I remember you just being my mom. 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:53.800 I'm at home, I'm like, oh, this is on the video. 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:56.480 My mom thinks that most kids thought I was lying. 0:04:56.880 --> 0:04:59.000 And then you know, we would just dance to it 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:00.039 and that was it. 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:02.640 Well, take us back to the beginning. How did the 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:06.960 four sisters from Philadelphia first aside de formacy group? 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:07.120 Was? 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:08.480 It was the music always in the house? 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:11.720 Growing up, music was always in the house. I mean 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:17.320 we had aunts and uncles. That's saying we found a 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:22.560 bunch of and my mom early in our lives, we 0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:26.240 moved to a house that had a bunch of jazz 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:31.360 records left in the basement and we were we That's 0:05:31.560 --> 0:05:36.400 my first, uh introduction to the world of jazz. So 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:40.600 we have and we have so many genres of music 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:44.039 that we've been exposed to, and we love all kinds 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:47.400 of music. We just love all kinds of music. So 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:51.479 we started out as just singing for fun, just the 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:53.640 four of us singing, and we've we learned that we 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:58.800 could harmonize very early. My sister Carol there are you know, 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:02.760 there are actually five sisters. My sister Carol actually started 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:05.839 us out playing around, you know, pretending to be a 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:10.960 singing group. And that was fun. You know, she had 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:13.400 us singing her background. 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:15.880 So what do you think? What do you think of 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:18.480 your biggest musical influences where when you were just starting out, 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:21.040 what were they or growing up? 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:25.080 Of course on the Philly Sound, there was some great 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:28.160 music coming out of Philly. And there's some iconic artists 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:35.640 out of Philly. There's there's Patty LaBelle, let's see. I 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:37.880 was also I love Choka Khan. I don't know if 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:42.400 she's from Philly, but she often came to Yeah, she 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:47.239 often came to Philly. These are iconic artists that there 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:50.360 was every They could do everything with their voices and 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:53.640 they just moved people and you know, and you could 0:06:53.680 --> 0:06:57.600 see the power, not only the power, but the passion 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:01.040 with which they sang. They were giving of themselves, and 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:03.960 that's one of the great things that we learned. Just 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:08.600 give what you have, freely, give it, and everybody's going 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:13.960 to enjoy the way you're enjoying it. Yeah, and that's 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:19.240 why I'm also teaching these guys my kids. Our group 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:26.000 is now we have Jonie's son, Thaddeus. Joni passed away 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:31.320 in twenty seventeen, and we have her son who is 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:38.120 a powerhouse singer. He's a powerhouse like his mom, and 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:44.160 he's honoring her the way he's performing. And then there's 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:48.240 my son David, and of course my daughter Camille. And 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:52.920 then there's Miss Tanya Tia, who is she's a slegendary 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:57.320 sister because she's been with us for a long time. 0:07:57.400 --> 0:08:00.400 She was with us when Joanie was singing with us. 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:07.280 And all of them are powerhouses. So I am more 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:11.400 having fun than I am working when I'm performing with. 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:14.440 Them, and we have these great mentors, you know, right. 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:17.280 But let's talk a little bit about that Philly sound. 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:20.520 I think it's sort of not getting its due in 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:22.800 the business. I know a lot of musicians, you know, 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:26.720 David Bowie and Springsteen and a lot of big names 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:29.600 come to Philly to get that sound. They you know, 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:33.400 they go to Detroit, obviously they go. But Philly is 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:36.600 one of the unsung heroes in the soul and rhythm 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:41.120 and blues ocean that people are dipping into. It doesn't 0:08:41.160 --> 0:08:43.319 really get the credit that it should, right, I mean, 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:46.120 it's a phenomenally influential sound. 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:51.760 I agree, there's something very very unique about Philly and 0:08:51.760 --> 0:08:56.720 Philly artists, the Philly musicians, Philly artists. One of the 0:08:56.720 --> 0:09:01.160 things that I think is unique is the that it's real. 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:08.040 It's really. Yeah, they're giving something that they have that, 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:12.960 you know, something of themselves that is real. I don't 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:17.000 know a lot of a lot of music is today 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:26.680 to me in comparison, is in some cases contrived. But 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.280 and I'm not I'm not putting it down because you know, 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:36.880 it's beautiful music, it's great. But there's something about that, 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:41.160 the music that's coming from the real you. 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:44.280 Right, the way it's, the way it's made, the way 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:46.679 it's recorded, the way it's. 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:51.240 Yeah, I agree, Yeah, there's something soulful about it. 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:54.360 It can't be duplicated because you're getting real. 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:57.200 Let's get everybody in the same room and just light 0:09:57.240 --> 0:10:13.000 it up right, capture that. Yeah, I don't do that anymore. Yeah, yeah, 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:16.439 Well every band has to pay its dos, right. Do 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:19.360 you remember one of the toughest gigs you played in 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:21.960 the early days and how it helped to shape you. 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:29.240 Well, it's tough working with sisters, I'll say that because everybody, 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:35.400 you know, we're all we're all fully Yeah, my sisters are. 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:39.520 They're they're so talented, and they're they're so strong. We 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:42.160 have a We grew up in a house of strong women. 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:47.319 I know. We had no brothers. Okay, my mom, uh, 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:49.800 she kind of raised us by herself when we was 0:10:50.000 --> 0:10:54.640 from a very young age. I mean my parents separated early, 0:10:55.480 --> 0:11:00.600 but she had a lot to deal with because women 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:04.680 are girls. You have a young lady, you have a 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:11.840 young girl. Girls are harder to raise than boys. Boys. Okay, 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:16.280 you can you can predict, but girls are unpredictable. So 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:22.520 we had some very strong, willed women, very creative. All 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:26.080 have their ideas of what the music should be. So 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:30.360 rehearsals would take longer because everybody's idea had to be heard. 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:34.920 But it paid off, you know, it paid off, right, 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:42.000 And so I would say, right now, I'm experiencing something 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:46.600 different than I have been, which is joy. There's just 0:11:46.679 --> 0:11:49.600 so much joy. Everybody's so happy to be doing what 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:53.000 they're doing. And we were under the pressure to be perfect, 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:56.960 you know, we felt like we have to do this perfect. 0:11:57.240 --> 0:11:59.240 We were new at this, we were doing it for fun, 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:01.080 and all of a sudden, we have to do that. 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:04.960 We're doing this with pay. It's like, yeah, on on 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:08.760 a scale that, Okay, somebody has hired us to do something, 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:11.600 so we really want to do it well, we really 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:15.040 want to please them, we really want to please the audience, 0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:19.360 and we still have that, but we don't have that pressure. 0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:21.839 Story though. 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:27.280 I'm just gonna say that, Okay, missed flights, missing luggage, 0:12:27.400 --> 0:12:30.400 you know, all kinds of really want like crazy stuff. 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:33.400 Oh yeah, that's It's just like, this is gonna be tough, 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:38.160 it's gonna be I heard stories and it's fun. I mean, 0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:41.360 it's still something that I choose to do even still. 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:44.680 Yeah, what about your first record deal. You remember that 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:47.199 day when you get your first record deal. How excited 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:47.520 you were. 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:56.640 Yeah, we we we've been in shotgut since we went 0:12:56.679 --> 0:13:00.600 in and did a did a an audition and just 0:13:00.840 --> 0:13:04.400 a cold audition. We just sang a cappella in front 0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:07.920 of a record executive and the next thing we knew 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:13.200 we were hired, and that's like wow wow. And they 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:18.440 put us with producers of course, you know, and we 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:22.680 had some great producers and really very talented producers, but 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:27.320 it was all music that whenever we heard the music, 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:29.360 it was like, Okay, we want to do this the 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:32.000 very best we can possibly do this. So we'd learned 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:35.680 everything as much as we could learn stay time in 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:42.320 the studio. We knew studio was costing money, but when 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:44.560 we met Nile and Bernard, it was totally different. We 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:48.120 didn't know what the songs were. We had never heard 0:13:48.120 --> 0:13:54.120 the tracks. We stepped into the studio and we'd learned 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:56.679 the song right there. And that was their way of 0:13:56.760 --> 0:14:02.160 producing it was they wanted it fresh, wanted it, you know, 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:06.360 us hearing it for the first time. They wanted the 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:11.839 fresh recording of this new song, which great, a great, 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:17.080 a great way of producing. So my mom had the 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:23.080 she had the job of protecting these four young girls. 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:27.200 So all of a sudden she became a manager and 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:31.560 that was something. But we had an it was an adventure. 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:34.760 The whole time has been an adventure. So we had 0:14:34.800 --> 0:14:39.280 we were put together with producers, we had to she 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:45.560 found lawyers that could help us with contracts. But it 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:49.960 was all very new to us and a huge adventure 0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:55.840 we had. We were put together with different producers. They 0:14:55.840 --> 0:15:00.120 all had their different ways of producing, so we learned 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:05.080 a lot through all that experience. And of course one 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:10.440 of the most challenging, I guess and most successful would 0:15:10.440 --> 0:15:17.680 be probably the Sheik organization with Nile and Bernard very different. 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:21.760 We weren't used to their way of producing, but it 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:22.440 paid off. 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:26.280 You're talking about Niles Rogers and Bernard Edwards. 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:31.840 Yes, yes, wow, giants, Yeah, giants. 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:36.360 Before the microphone cut out, she was saying that they 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:39.000 always used to rehearse and have the music beforehand, right, 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:41.280 And then you're saying when they finally got with Nile 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:45.440 and Bernard, their production their producing style was that they 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:47.200 couldn't hear the songs first. 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:50.280 That that was interesting. 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:51.760 Because the mic must have cut out on that bar, 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:54.440 because that was interesting to me. And then they had 0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:56.160 to hear it for the first time when they got 0:15:56.160 --> 0:15:56.760 to the studio. 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:01.000 Not like that it was difficult, right, but that it 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:04.640 was different. It was different and so it was it 0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:07.640 was their way of coming up with a very fresh 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:13.920 sounding performance from the artist, which would you love that 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:15.280 I'm going to really meat? 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:19.000 Yeah, so they trusted their initial instincts in the moment 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:25.520 and they went with that's that's great. Yeah, it's kind 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:28.960 of Rick Rubenesque if you get the rest, if you 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:32.880 get the reference. But Camille, what was it like watching 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:36.640 your mom and her sister build such a strong cultural 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:37.840 family presence together? 0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:40.400 Oh? It was. It was beautiful. 0:16:40.760 --> 0:16:44.080 I'm also thrilled to watch all of these strong women 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:48.800 in my family. You know, they discontinue a legacy for 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:52.080 decades after decades, I. 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:53.480 Was always so. 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:59.320 In awe of watching them on stage to where it 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:00.960 became my dream as well. 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:02.680 I was like, I want to be just like you. 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:06.280 And then it was you gotta read this book called 0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:09.679 The Business of Music. It's like this big read it, 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:13.280 then you can be a singer. I'm like, oh, I 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:16.919 tried to read it, but I think I fell asleep 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:19.720 on top of it and ruled on the pages. But 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:23.679 I tried, But that book is still lingering in my 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:24.760 life to this day. 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:30.359 Anyway, it changed a lot, and I think you know 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:31.040 a lot. 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:33.879 More well, glad that you told me that, because I 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:36.159 started to pay more attention to the business side. I 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:38.160 think instead of saying, oh, I'm an artist. 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:41.159 You know, show show business. 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:43.960 Yeah, but smart women. 0:17:44.280 --> 0:17:48.600 We are Family is I mean, it's so much more 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:50.640 than a hit record. It's an anthem. Let's just call 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:53.679 it that. What it is. What do you think it 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:57.760 is about that song that makes it timeless across generations? 0:17:57.760 --> 0:17:58.400 The message? 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:06.960 Yeah, that message and the fact that it's simple, simple truth. 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:13.439 M h. Everyone can relate to those words. Yeah, and 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:15.680 it's easy to Yeah. 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:19.120 I got all my sisters and me. I mean it's there, 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:22.080 it is. We are family. I got all my sisters 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:24.520 in me. Boom done. What a what a hook? 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:25.520 Yeah? 0:18:26.000 --> 0:18:28.760 What a hu. So when was the first time you 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:32.640 heard the song on the radio? Your first song? What 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:34.119 was your first song? When was the first time you 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:35.480 heard it on the radio? Do you remember that? 0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:42.919 Okay, so I will say that the most Well, the 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:45.600 first time we saw and I actually saw an album 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:50.080 was a huge thrill. Okay, just just oh here it is. 0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:57.960 But the first time that we actually heard we Are Family. 0:18:58.119 --> 0:19:03.240 That really stands out is we're listening to it on 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:09.720 the radio in Germany and they are. They are recording. 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:17.679 There's a live recording of the Pittsburgh Pirates, you know, 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:22.040 the game, and the whole audience is singing, we are 0:19:22.080 --> 0:19:25.520 family and they and the announcer is saying, I can't 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:28.879 believe this. The entire audience is singing, we are family 0:19:29.200 --> 0:19:31.280 and we were a made We were in a taxi 0:19:31.680 --> 0:19:35.480 listening to it on the radio. It's like, oh wow, 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:41.280 that really impressed us. It really that was so exciting 0:19:41.320 --> 0:19:42.320 for us. 0:19:43.200 --> 0:19:44.600 Let me take you back to this. Let me take 0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:46.480 you back to the studio when you're creating that song. 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:49.040 Are you in there with Niles and Bernard when you're 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:49.800 creating that song? 0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:52.600 Yes, okay, so studio I love. 0:19:52.480 --> 0:19:54.159 To talk about this type of stuff. Did you know 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:56.760 it was going to be a big song? Did Niles 0:19:56.800 --> 0:20:00.840 and Bernard just go, Wow, we've got something here and 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:03.000 you and they played it back and you you know, 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:05.040 you heard it a million times and pieces in a 0:20:05.119 --> 0:20:07.960 whole and you know, and a second part of the questions, 0:20:07.960 --> 0:20:10.359 did you ever get sick of hearing the song in 0:20:10.359 --> 0:20:12.880 the studio? But let's let's take the first part of that. 0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:15.960 Did you know that it was and I know you 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:19.080 knew his sisters Wow, this is good stuff. You don't know. 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:21.680 You can't predict how it's gonna you know, the marketplace 0:20:21.720 --> 0:20:23.760 is gonna accept it. But did you know you had something? 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:24.919 Did everybody know? 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:30.160 No, everybody didn't know. I believe that Now and Bernard 0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:35.399 knew what they were doing. And but they were new, 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:40.440 new producers. They were new producers coming out, and they 0:20:40.920 --> 0:20:44.240 probably didn't know what to do with these four sisters. 0:20:45.200 --> 0:20:48.480 They were like they were. We were assigned to them 0:20:48.520 --> 0:20:51.280 from the record company because they had new they had 0:20:51.359 --> 0:20:54.280 new artists, and so they had these new producers, so 0:20:54.320 --> 0:20:58.000 they were putting, you know, putting things together. When we 0:20:58.040 --> 0:21:01.119 met Nile and Bernard, they had these great tracks. They 0:21:01.160 --> 0:21:05.400 were also working on their Chic their own album coming out, 0:21:06.560 --> 0:21:11.960 so they were also still figuring out which tracks are 0:21:11.960 --> 0:21:16.040 we going to use for this group and which tracks 0:21:16.040 --> 0:21:19.280 are we going to use for our own album. So 0:21:19.440 --> 0:21:21.879 we we got a chance to hear some of the 0:21:21.920 --> 0:21:26.439 great tracks that are now on the Chic album as 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:29.760 far as we Are Family goes. We heard this great 0:21:30.760 --> 0:21:33.280 this great track, but there were no there was no 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:37.560 singing on it. And in the studio, I believe that 0:21:37.680 --> 0:21:41.720 Nile and Bernard were writing as they went, so I 0:21:41.800 --> 0:21:46.680 believe that we are Family is actually a true picture 0:21:47.040 --> 0:21:49.960 of what they were seeing in the studio from this 0:21:50.640 --> 0:21:56.520 family group of sisters, and they're so simple. We are family. 0:21:56.560 --> 0:21:59.600 Have got all my sisters with me. Everyone can see 0:21:59.640 --> 0:22:04.200 where together as we walk on by don cute. That's 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:09.760 you know, that's such a happy, truthful song. And and 0:22:09.800 --> 0:22:14.400 we were also learning the melodies as we went. You know, 0:22:14.600 --> 0:22:17.960 one of the things that my younger sister Kathy says 0:22:18.840 --> 0:22:24.440 is Nil and Bernard are not singers, so so they're 0:22:24.480 --> 0:22:28.680 they're trying to give us what they're singing, and we're 0:22:28.680 --> 0:22:32.800 trying to hear a tone in it, which was funny, 0:22:33.040 --> 0:22:36.960 which was funny. But I think that you know, especially 0:22:37.000 --> 0:22:41.359 on those lead vocals, Kathy did an awesome job. She 0:22:41.440 --> 0:22:44.560 did an awesome job, and we're all we're all very 0:22:44.560 --> 0:22:48.359 proud of the project, very happy with it, and we 0:22:48.480 --> 0:22:52.159 had no idea. I think they were shocked as to 0:22:52.280 --> 0:22:55.159 how far that song has gone. I remember doing some 0:22:55.240 --> 0:23:02.240 television shows with Nylon Bernard and we could see them 0:23:02.280 --> 0:23:06.560 like on the side stage and they look like they 0:23:06.920 --> 0:23:11.920 shock and how how worldwide this song was going. Right, 0:23:12.160 --> 0:23:16.159 So and that's that's that's a that's a story that 0:23:16.280 --> 0:23:17.159 just makes me smile. 0:23:17.680 --> 0:23:20.280 So every time you play it live, and since the 0:23:20.400 --> 0:23:24.000 song was recorded and you start performing it live, do 0:23:24.080 --> 0:23:29.320 you see a perceptible change in the audience's energy and engagement, 0:23:29.480 --> 0:23:32.560 Not that they aren't already like into it already, but. 0:23:33.040 --> 0:23:38.359 I think yes, I see the audience is very genuine, 0:23:38.480 --> 0:23:42.440 genuinely people are having fun and they know the song 0:23:42.480 --> 0:23:45.520 and they're they're singing the top of their lungs. There 0:23:45.600 --> 0:23:48.000 is no holding back. This is a song I know, 0:23:48.440 --> 0:23:49.480 this is my song. 0:23:50.119 --> 0:23:52.480 Yeah, I can sing every word. 0:23:53.200 --> 0:23:55.920 Yeah, and there is no holding back. 0:23:56.200 --> 0:23:58.480 Did you ever step back from the microphone and just 0:23:58.560 --> 0:24:00.359 let the audience sing part of the song? 0:24:00.720 --> 0:24:05.720 Definitely exactly what we do. And the music even our 0:24:05.760 --> 0:24:08.080 band knows to cut off so they can hear themselves 0:24:08.119 --> 0:24:12.960 and they just get louder. So it's just awesome. And 0:24:12.560 --> 0:24:15.639 we're still doing that to this day. And it's just 0:24:15.760 --> 0:24:19.399 so Yeah. 0:24:19.720 --> 0:24:22.680 So many of your songs like Lost in Music, thinking 0:24:22.720 --> 0:24:26.239 of you, He's the greatest dancer. They're still popular day. 0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:29.280 You feel the same energy performing them now as you 0:24:29.320 --> 0:24:31.119 did in the late seventies and eighties. 0:24:31.960 --> 0:24:37.760 Always, and we've had so many memories that goes with that, 0:24:38.200 --> 0:24:41.760 you know, like my sister Jelly, she was the lead 0:24:41.800 --> 0:24:45.200 singer for Lost in Music, and every time we performed 0:24:45.240 --> 0:24:50.399 that song, it just brings back good feelings that we 0:24:50.480 --> 0:24:54.760 can just remember all that she was to us and 0:24:54.800 --> 0:24:56.560 all that she brought to us and all that she 0:24:56.640 --> 0:24:59.879 brought to the audience, and now we have her so 0:25:00.080 --> 0:25:05.680 on that is singing with us, and thadd is, yeah, yeah. 0:25:05.600 --> 0:25:08.359 You can tell me what does this nice little like 0:25:08.840 --> 0:25:11.520 He'll talk to the audience about who his mom was 0:25:12.160 --> 0:25:14.359 and say, you know that she has the best seat 0:25:14.400 --> 0:25:16.720 in the place tonight, you know, and I'm going to 0:25:16.800 --> 0:25:17.480 do my best. 0:25:17.240 --> 0:25:17.920 To honor her. 0:25:18.720 --> 0:25:21.639 She's up and having And then he says, I have one. 0:25:21.560 --> 0:25:22.240 Question for you. 0:25:22.160 --> 0:25:24.280 You know, it gets all quiet and everybody's like, oh 0:25:24.280 --> 0:25:25.640 my gosh. 0:25:26.080 --> 0:25:28.600 He goes, are you ready to get Lost in Music 0:25:28.640 --> 0:25:29.119 in the band? 0:25:29.160 --> 0:25:34.439 Not then? And so he is absolutely, he's absolutely a 0:25:34.440 --> 0:25:38.120 performer just like she was. I mean, he commands the audience. 0:25:38.640 --> 0:25:41.720