The album saw the return of Chic musicians Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, who produced several disco songs as well as R&B and soul songs. Love Somebody Today also featured several different vocal arrangements. Although the album features lead singer Kathy performing leads on half of the album, the remaining songs are led by the other members Joni, Kim, and Debbie.
Love Somebody Today was promoted in mid-1980 by television performances and concert tours, such as Sister Sledge's headlining European tour.[3] The album received moderately positive reviews by music critics. It was their second studio album to peak within the top-ten on the US Top Soul LP's chart. The album spawned four singles–"Got to Love Somebody", "Reach Your Peak", "Let's Go on Vacation", and "Easy Street". Love Somebody Today was the group's final album to feature disco music. In 1981, they began shifting away from disco music as the genre began to decline in popularity.[4]
Recording and production
Sister Sledge began recording the album in November 1979. Wanting to capitalize off of the success of their previous album and continue their success in disco music, Cotillion Records brought in Chic musicians Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers to once again produce Sister Sledge's album. Other Chic members Alfa Anderson, Luci Martin, and Fonzi Thornton were also brought in to provide background vocals on the album. They recorded the album at Power Station in New York City.
Release and promotion
Following the release of the lead single and title-track "Got to Love Somebody", Sister Sledge performed the song on several televised shows including Discoring, Soul Train, Top of the Pops, and TopPop; where they announced their upcoming album. Love Somebody Today was released by Cotillion Records on March 16, 1980.
In mid-1980, Sister Sledge performed "Reach Your Peak" on NBC's The Big Show. During their European Tour, they performed song on Dutch music shows Plattenküche and TopPop. In 2007, Love Somebody Today was remastered and reissued by Warner Bros. Records.
Singles
"Got to Love Somebody" was released as the album's lead single on December 18, 1979. "Got to Love Somebody" peaked at sixty-four on the Billboard Hot 100.[5] The song was more successful on the US Hot Soul Singles chart, peaking at number six. It also peaked at number thirty-four on the US Disco chart. The accompanying music video for "Got to Love Somebody" premiered on several television shows.
On March 12, 1980, they released "Reach Your Peak" as the second single. The pop-genre song features Joni Sledge on lead vocals. Despite heavy promotion and televised performances, the song was commercially less successful than its predecessor, only peaking at number twenty-one on the Hot Soul Singles chart. "Let's Go on Vacation", lead by Debbie Sledge, was released as the album's third single and failed to make Top 40 on any chart, only peaking at sixty-three on the Hot Soul Singles chart. Despite releasing "Easy Street", a disco song lead by Kim Sledge, as the album's final single, it failed to chart as disco began to decline in late 1980.
Music critic Amy Hanson of AllMusic compared the album to its predecessor We Are Family and remarked, "much of Love Somebody Today sounds flat in comparison. But still, the sounds of Sister Sledge at the peak of their star power are better than much of the pap that passed for pop at the time." Dave Marsh of The Tuscaloosa News gave the album a four-star rating, stating that the album's "combination of the Sisters' exhilarating vocal interplay and the sophisticated production of Chic's Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers results in some pretty nice pop-soul confections."[9]
Commercial performance
Love Somebody Today peaked at number thirty-one on the US Billboard 200. It peaked at number seven on the Top Soul LP's chart. The album remained on the charts for over nineteen weeks, gradually moving down several positions each week until ultimately dropping off the charts.[10]
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