The first time I heard myself
Sister Sledge never got any airplay in the US until We Are Family in 1979. I was this goofy 16-year-old with braces, and I’d follow [producer] Nile Rodgers around the studio saying: “Will they ever play our record?” Then He’s the Greatest Dancer came on the radio and woke me up for school one morning.
The first single I bought
I had a massive crush on Michael Jackson, so my older sister Carol took me to a record store in Market Street in West Philly to buy I’ll Be There by the Jackson 5 on 45.