Paul Kengor: Remembering when we were family

Are you sick of politics? Tired of the bickering and division, including from politicians preaching “unity?”

If so, then join me as I harken back to a better time, at least for those of us alive in the summer of 1979 who lived in this region. It was a time when we came together, as a family, when the Pittsburgh Pirates became known as the “We Are Family” team. That baseball club united people in a special way.

Two things recently prompted me to think of that team and time.

First, I was listening to an old “American Top 40” broadcast from this time in 1979, courtesy of Sirius XM’s 1970s channel. Those radio broadcasts, hosted by Casey Kasem, were extraordinarily popular, syndicated nationwide. I’m convinced the late 1970s, namely the years 1977-79, were some of the best years ever for pop music. The sheer output of quality, memorable pop tunes was remarkable. In fact, numerous top vocalists were kept from hitting No. 1 because the competition was so intense. For instance, a terrific song like “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” by the lovely Crystal Gayle was blocked from reaching No. 1 by Debby Boone’s record-setting “You Light Up My Life.”

But I digress!

While recently listening to an “AT 40” countdown from July 1979, I heard “We Are Family” at No. 2 by Sister Sledge. It’s a great tune, with a snappy, feel-good melody and message that gets people on their feet and happy. It went gold this time 45 years ago — with a boost from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

As those who lived through that era will attest, you can’t hear that song without thinking of the 1979 Pirates. I have baseball friends from outside Pittsburgh who refer to the “We Are Family team” as they’d refer to the Cincinnati “Big Red Machine” or the 1969 “Miracle Mets.” That close-knit Pirates club was led by our baseball immortal Willie Stargell, known to the “Family” team as “Pops.”

What also prompted these thoughts is that I’m reading local historian Dale Perelman’s excellent biography of the coach of that team, Chuck Tanner, a native of New Castle.

“The Pirates considered themselves family,” writes Perelman. “They thought of their theme song as no joke.” Perelman’s latter comment refers to a Baltimore Sun sportswriter (the Pirates played the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series that year) who mocked the team’s adoption of the song.

“The team had latched on to the Sister Sledge hit as their theme song during the season,” writes Perelman, “and they hung on to it during these tough times.” Perelman was referring to the team trailing three games to one in the World Series when Tanner’s own mother unexpectedly passed away. The team rallied around its family emblem. The song roared on Three Rivers Stadium loudspeakers.

That team truly united a region. Sure, those times were politically divisive, too. The country was a mess, with gas lines, double-digit unemployment and inflation, “Vietnam syndrome,” the “misery index,” Jimmy Carter’s bunkum about “malaise,” the decline of the steel industry, and, later in the year, the Iranians taking over 50 Americans hostage. It was a tough time.

But, fortunately for our region, we had something to unite us — like a family. It was the Pittsburgh Pirates of 1979. They and we were family.