How To Update A Classic Song – We Are Family Gets A Fresh New Sound
Music lasts forever. Once a song is written, it never goes away. There are only eight notes in an octave, and how you combine them into a hit is one of the great mysteries of the universe. One way that happens is when a hit song from the past is refreshed and revisited. That is exactly what has just happened when Nile Rodgers and Cedric Gervais put out their new spin on We Are Family, the 1979 hit from Sister Sledge.
Nile Rodgers is the co-founder of Chic and winner of almost every honor which a musician could gather. He has been awarded Grammys, a lifetime achievement Grammy, and been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He contributed to the creation of recorded music resulting in more than 500 albums sold. Nile worked with Sister Sledge in 1979 as they brought We Are Family into the world. The song then was a huge hit, won a Grammy, and has never really faded away. You still hear it now on the radio, at weddings, dance parties and wherever a D.J. wants to get the room moving.
Cedric Gervais is a Miami based D.J. He and Nile worked out a 2024 version of We Are Family, with a solid Electronic Dance Music backing track. The song now has a modern pulse underlying the classic lyrics which at this point everybody already knows.
We Are Family is the second song which Nile and Cedric have revisited, the first being their 2020 collaboration with Franklin on Everybody Dance. The pairing of Nile and Cedric jumps generational age gaps and the way in which they each inspire each other's musical talents offers the promise that this partnership will continue into the future. While music is eternal, remixing classic hits with modern elements not only touches on the nostalgia of the original song, it opens the music to a new generation of fans by the ways in which the beats familiar to the new audience bring the music a new relevance.
I had a very fun discussion with Nile and Cedric about We Are Family, their working relationship, and where they may go from here. They are such an interesting pairing. Nile has been around for decades, and played everything everywhere. Cedric is from an entirely different generation and has come up through the EDM world. Their resulting contributions adds a fresh spin onto a well-trodden classic. I expect to hear this version of We Are Family to show up everywhere from this point on whenever there is an event to be celebrated or a party going on.
For fun, here is the original version of We are Family as performed by Sister Sledge 45 years ago:
It is rare for music to just appear. There is a lot of math in music, with endless sonic equations to resolve. Cedric took his mix of the song out on the road, and tested iterations until he locked in the beat which best represented We Are Family as evidenced by the crowd responses where he played it. This is interesting because as a fan of music you typically only hear the final version of a song. The process of working out which of the many elements enhance the audience response is overlooked when all you know is how the song sounds when it is released.
Cedric Gervais and Nile Rodgers are touring now on separate itineraries. Cedric's upcoming dates are:
Cedric Gervais - Home Cedric Gervais - HomeNile's upcoming dates are:
NileRodgers.com :: EVENTS - NileRodgers.comLive performance is one of the last arts unaffected by technology. You can't replicate the experience of being in a room with hundreds or thousands of people all there to experience music performed live. There is an energy which washes over the room, blending the individuals there into a crowd. Both Cedric and Nile put on great shows. If they are anywhere near where you are don't miss the opportunity to see them live. There is a tremendous difference between hearing a song and feeling it as a part of the crowd.
