Interview complète à lire sur : http://soultrain.com/2014/08/08/qa-kathy-sledge/
SoulTrain.com: The classic song “We Are Family” was written specifically for you and the group, right?
Kathy Sledge: Right. It was originally written about us. Someone was actually describing us to Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards (producers and writers of “We Are Family” and the album of the same name) and that they had to meet us. We were described as flocking together like birds of a feather and Nile and Bernard took out their pens and started writing the lyrics to the song. I will forever be proud of “We Are Family.” That song is a portrait of who we were so if we never sing another note together, I’m so proud that we left a legacy with that song.
SoulTrain.com: Speaking of Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, I heard they were taskmasters in the recording studio.
Kathy Sledge: Yes, but they were geniuses. I recorded “We Are Family” when I was 16. It was actually recorded in one take. I was not allowed to hear the track of the song until it was time to record it. Of course, they would teach me the verses line by line but then they would say, “Let’s go” and they rolled the tape. To me, that is the magic of the song, the spontaneity of it. I didn’t get it then, but I get it now.
SoulTrain.com: The whole We Are Family album, which I wrote an article on a few months ago, is a classic. Every track is great. I loved and still love “He’s the Greatest Dancer,” even the promotional video the group did with it. A personal favorite of mine on that album is “Easier to Love.” Do you have any personal favorite from that album?
Kathy Sledge: I love “Thinking of You.” I actually just recorded an EDM version of “Thinking of You.” The Aristofreeks are the producers of it and they love the early material I did with my sisters. A lot of people from the states don’t know “Thinking of You.” They know it only as an album track. In some territories in Europe, “Thinking of You” is stronger and more well-known than “We Are Family.”
SoulTrain.com: I love both the front cover photo of the We Are Family album and the back cover photo where you all wore these beautiful cornrow hairstyles.
Kathy Sledge: That was my sister Debbie’s idea. She always saw that vision of us making a cultural statement.