Sister Sledge ~ He's The Greatest Dancer 1978 Disco Purrfection Version

The Chic boys were given the green light to produce any Atlantic group they wanted. At the time the biggest stars were The Rolling Stones, Yes and Bette Midler but they went with a group that was not that well known, Sister Sledge. The sisters were signed to Atlantic in 1973, but were unable to find a producer who was able to put them on the map until 1975 when they released "Love Don't You Go Through No Changes On Me" that peaked at #92 on the Hot 100.
The LPs "We Are Family" and Chic's own "C'est Chic" were recorded at the same time. Did you know that "I Want Your Love" was written for Sister Sledge and "Greatest Dancer" was scheduled to be a Chic song? At the time the men had not yet written "Le Freak" nor "Greatest Dancer", but they did have a groove for the latter that they decided to give to the sisters. Unfinished as it was, the song was fully realized in the studio in an unusual way. Kathy Sledge says she learned her vocals BEFORE the music track was completed, with Nile feeding her the lyrics line by line while she made up her own melody. Then the boys finished the fully realized version complete with the Chic strings and released it February 10, 1979 and the sisters got their first #1 R&B hit with it and the song peaked at #9 on the Hot100.
There was some controversy in the studio with the line "My créme de la créme please take me home" and the song almost did not make the record. The sisters were worried that it would make them look like loose women and were adamant in singing "please don't go home" instead, which is what they sing when they do it live. Rodgers recalls that they were furious and he felt "That's lame, what do you mean 'Please don't go home'? He ain't going to go home because he's the greatest dancer and it doesn't make any sense. Why would he go home? Guys you are making the song about you, It ain't about you, it's about him. 'Please don't go home' what are you talking about, you just nullified the whole meaning of the song, this guy wears the finest clothes, he's the greatest dancer, he's gonna stay there longer than you!
The song tells a story about him, not you, he is the subject of the song. The girls kept saying 'My mother is going to think we are all whores'. My songs are important, lyrics, everything. There is not one word that is not very, very important to me. It has to be a complete story, a beginning, a middle and and end. If the logic is all of a sudden thrown away, I can't appreciate that". Nile prevailed and the song was recorded with the lyrics he wrote. To this day the girls still sing, "please don't go home". I never thought the lyrics made the girls look cheap, I knew they were telling a story.

Видео Sister Sledge ~ He's The Greatest Dancer 1978 Disco Purrfection Version канала DJDiscoCat