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Kathy Sledge, one of the founding members of the legendary disco group out of Philadelphia, The Sledge Sisters, is no stranger to success. With hits like, “He’s The Greatest Dancer,” and “We Are Family,” The Sledge Sisters were a force to be reckoned with in the seventies and eighties.
Still, that didn’t mean that Kathy Sledge wasn’t pleasantly surprised to learn that their song, “Thinking Of You,” in which Kathy sings the lead vocal, would reemerge in the public consciousness in 2020, while the world was forced to stay at home and listen to DJ D Nice spin from the comforts of their home.
But that’s exactly what happened.
In the midst of the pandemic and quarantine, Sledge has also birthed the idea of “The Family Room.” Once a series she set out to bring to television, she began recording in it in her living room with her daughter, Kristen Gabrielle. See what Sledge had to say about the song, the show and more in our exclusive interview.
MadameNoire: First of all, let me just tell you this story. I was listening to club quarantine, the first couple of months of quarantine. And then I fell off. And so my sister was like, “Girl. You have to hear this song DJ D-Nice played. It’s so good.” So she sends me the song and it’s “Thinking of You” and I’m like, “Oh, that’s fire.” She was like and then I started following Kathy Sledge and she’s singing it live in her living room. She sounds the same. So that’s how I heard about the song. And now I hear it everywhere now.
Kathy Sledge: I know it’s like it was re-released. When I sing it overseas in festivals, it’s always been known overseas just as big if not bigger than “We Are Family.” And so depending on what territory I sing it in, it gets that kind of acclaim. And so, I was so happy to hear that when D-Nice started really bringing a resurgence with it here. I was like “Wow, I’m so happy” because when I do live performances again, they’re going to know it like they did in England. I love that. I really do. I love singing the song live.
MN: So to that point, what does that song mean to you? When you sing it, when you first heard it, what does it do for you?
KS: You know? Without trying to sound limited in words, it makes me feel good. There are certain records you record and you’re just trying to get through during the show. But that song? I can’t wait till the band strikes it up. Yeah, especially the ad-lib. I love singing ad-lib but I’m a stickler for making sure I sound just like the record. I like it when I go to a concert. I wanna sing along and know it. “Thinking of You” is so melodic and it’s so uplifting and the words are very honest and sweet. They are simple. I love it when people sing every word. In Europe, they sing every word.
MN: What do you remember about first hearing it and first recording it?
Kathy Sledge: I remember the recording process was intense. Because Nile Rodgers and the late Bernard Edwards were very intense to work with me. They had a very delineated way of working. They knew exactly what they wanted. They knew just how they wanted to implement things. They had a plan. They had a structure. They had a vision, and we were kids. I was 16 when I sang “Thinking of You.”
I think we were used to always learning our harmony parts. Most of the vocal backgrounds were pretty much laid before we even got to the studio. The background singers on ‘Thinking of You’ and “We Are Family,” are Luther Vandross and the original singers from Chic. The sisters are singing on there too, but I think the the formula of what Chic and Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers– had a formula and they didn’t want to deviate too much from that ’cause they had huge success with their records.
The story goes, my sisters and I had pretty big success in other countries but not here in the United States. I got a hit record when I was 13 in the UK, and I would go into these big festivals and then come home and get on the bus and go to school. Never talked about it much. It just helped me keep my balance. In the beginning, I would talk about it. My friends would say, “What did you do this weekend?” Somebody would say they went to the mall. Somebody went to the movies and I go, “I went to Japan.” And that didn’t really pan out too well ’cause it was just not relatable. I started learning to say, “Oh I had to work this weekend.” That was that. There were no questions. With that said, we had this huge success overseas. But here in the United States, it was quiet. I think the way the story goes is Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards had very big success. And our label, our record company, wanted them to record an artist on our label. I think they wanted them to record The Rolling Stones because Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger, they knew would be a success and Nile and Bernard, their attitude was more like look, we’re these young, successful producers. If we record ‘The Rolling Stones’ next, we’re gonna have a hit. It’s gonna be massive because it’s ‘Rolling Stones.’ Give us an obscure group, no one knows. And that would be us. We were on this list of groups that needed a hit. When it got to us, we were described as four sisters, we’re family, that laughed together whenever they came up to the label. And Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards actually took notes as the record company president was describing us. And those notes really are the beginning of the portrait of “We Are Family.” They took those notes, their family, ‘they flock together like birds of a feather.’ And they wrote this song about us and that’s really how it all happened.
MN: Let’s talk about the ‘Family Room’. I heard that it was supposed to be a show for a network. How did the idea for it come about? How did you transition to wanting to do Television content?
Kathy Sledge: Well, it’s funny, you know. I put together a reality show. I like to produce shows. I produce live concerts and live festivals. I had produced a show about the next generation of this family, in which all the sisters and daughters are all talented. They’re all HBCU grads. They all went to Howard. I literally put together this show. But I was kind of ahead of my time. First of all, I do not like reality TV. I’ll just be honest, but I thought, this was way before “black-ish.” I said we’ve got to show other examples and representation. We have so much out there to show. I felt like it’s a no brainer. “We Are Family,” already a household name. Let’s introduce the next generation. Not only are they talented and gifted and well educated, but they’re fun and we can use these examples. I put together the show and then the WE network picked up the first 2 episodes. Then one of my sisters pulled her daughter. And when that happens, you know, it’s a blow.
I felt like if I should do this again, I’m just going to do it with my daughter. I wasn’t going to be angry about that. I just felt if she didn’t want them to be a part of it, I’m not going to come between my sister and her daughters and be upset about it. But I learned from it and I’ve always liked it. Kristen and I always had strong chemistry on social media platforms. And, you know, I thought, let’s put together a show like Tracy and Diana or Goldie and Kate, you know?
I didn’t wanna do a reality show. But I thought I would love to do a talk show. Then the whole idea of branding came in because “We Are Family” and a helpful brand is gonna be here when we’re long gone. I love Ellen. I’m a big fan of Ellen DeGeneres with her show and I thought when she started branding products like Bed, Bath and Beyond and in different stores, I thought well now if that lady can sell pillowcases, you can’t tell me that “We Are Family” can’t. So I trademarked the “Family Room” way before the pandemic. I put together the concept and we just started to shop the idea.
And what’s so interesting is you know, what’s that saying? We plan while God laughs. I thought I was putting this together, take this to the next level of merchandising and branding. I still will one day but I’ve learned so much. When the quarantine happened, I always say, we always know our passions. But I think sometimes we’re not sure of our purpose and what I’ve learned is, learning your purpose may take a lifetime and it’s a process. I’m beginning to see, ‘You thought you were going to do The Family Room for merchandising but when this quarantine happened, the pandemic happened, you realize it’s so much bigger.
Family Room is organic and it’s real. I just got a letter yesterday from someone. There are people from all over the world in there and we literally meet up in this virtual family room and we love on each other. Family Room is where you go to celebrate love and family and togetherness, especially for those quarantining alone. And she wrote to me this letter, and she said I just have to tell you this. I had a tremendous loss in my family and that’s why I haven’t been coming to the family room lately. But I came in the other day and she said, and I was overwhelmed by all the people who started DMing me and saying, ‘Hey, where have you been? How are you? We miss you? And she said, I really felt like family there and I really enjoyed that. I cannot thank you enough for starting this because I didn’t realize how much we all needed it.’
And I need it. I feel we like I look forward to it. What I love about the family room is if you request and we talk, everybody is going to see you. So what I’m noticing is now the ladies are putting on a little makeup. Guys are well lit. And I’m like this is really cool.
We just started the dating game last night. It’s going to be a lot of fun.
MN: I saw! And I wanted to ask you about that. What is the dating game going to entail?
Kathy Sledge: We make it very clear in the family room like hey, make sure you’re single. Guys, don’t be sneaking in the closet trying to play the dating game.
So what it really is honestly, is it organically happened. One guy came in the room and I asked, ‘Are you single?’ And he was. He got a couple of roses sent his way.
Then we started realizing there are a lot of people quarantining alone.
I would like to actually call it the brain game. It’s more about the way that we will structure it. We’re going to have one person ask three questions. We will put the questions together in the room. Now all of these spectators are now going to be interactive, have fun and you don’t have to come on the screen but you can participate. It promotes interactions.
We always have the surprise guest randomly. And you never know who’s behind that door. The last person we had was Nile Rodgers. They come in and even the guest artist, they’ll come to the family room like Questlove and D-Nice, or Sinbad. And I’m noticing that they come back. That’s very telling to me. There’s a comfort zone here.
MN: So you mentioned this earlier. You mentioned about purpose. How would you say your purpose has been fulfilled through the ‘Family Room’?
Kathy Sledge: I think I’m just getting started, touching the tip of the iceberg of what the purpose is. I think ‘We Are Family’–it’s something my sisters and I–it was written about us and we had our challenges. We love each other as sisters, we always will be family, but I think the next level of this is globally I think. It’s almost like it’s been sitting there like I own the website WeAreFamily.com and I felt like one day it’s going to have life in a different way.
The question came up with one of the phone calls with my publicist. He said, ‘Well if you can get it on [this network], it will be just like another television show.’
I was like there’s something I like about it being right in my hand on Instagram. I think what this pandemic has done, it’s made us want to be close. It’s how we are connecting for now.
I can’t imagine when the Spanish Flu (the last pandemic in 1918) was out everyone was quarantined. You were in your little box, right? With no technology. What I realized now about the purpose is– I’ve always been an international recording artist and entertainer. What I notice is when we put ‘Family Room’ together it’s more family-oriented on Saturdays but it’s global!
MN: So lastly, what is next for you?
Kathy Sledge: Well, I was in the middle of producing live performances and I just signed with a Talent Agency for festivals overseas to headline them and so now, of course, when you know it’s not predictable at all when this pandemic will end. I would love to be able to talk to D-Nice about some things I’m writing right now. We wrote a song. I’m at a place in my life where I love to explore writing more and more and producing more and more, and now with ‘Family Room’, you know I’m looking forward to producing more. It’s never too late to tap on that passion and find your purpose.
I think people are rediscovering and reinventing and starting to discover themselves all over. I’ve seen more innovative ideas. CeeCee Peniston has a cartoon that she started. Even though I started Family Room before this, the purpose of it has much more meaning now.
MN: Is there anything else you want to add?
Kathy Sledge: Yeah. Just thanking everyone for all the support and to tune into ‘Family Room’ Wednesday nights at 8:00 pm EST–It’s very cozy on Wednesdays, and Saturdays at 12:45 pm EST and it’s global.
