America, Aha Aha, Liked KC and the Sunshine Band

We’ve covered how the advent of disco in the early 1970s transformed the American cultural landscape. One of the biggest agents of that change was Harry Wayne Casey, better known as KC of KC and the Sunshine Band. Casey and the band’s foundational partner, Richard Finch, helped shape a sound that began filling floors in 1974 and never really stopped. Here’s how they became your Boogie Man (er, Men).

Casey and Finch met as employees of TK Records and began working on music together in Hialeah, Flordia, forming KC and the Sunshine Band in 1973. Casey sang and played keys and Finch played bass; both wrote and produced, while Finch also engineered and did arrangements on recordings. Finch was already engineering records for acts like the Allman Brothers when the duo teamed up. They began writing songs for their debut album, but ironically ended up creating a hit for someone else.

George McCrae performs the Casey/Finch tune, “Rock Your Baby” (Uploaded to YouTube by TopPop)

The pair had put together a song that they found to be out of their vocal ranges. They gave George McCrae a shot at the track, and his falsetto reach gave the song something extra. When “Rock Your Baby” was released in May of 1974, it would go to #1 in the U.S. and around the world, laying another brick in the foundation of disco.

“Get Down Tonight” (Uploaded to YouTube by KC and the Sunshine Band)

KC and the Sunshine Band did release their debut album, Do It Good, 50 years ago this month in March of 1974. Casey and Finch recruited a group of top-notch players to fill out their sound, notably guitarist Jerome Smith and drummer Robert Johnson; the full line-up over time would include a horn section, additional percussion, and two to three female back-up singers. “Blow Your Whistle,” “Sound Your Funky Horn,” and “Queen of Clubs” all cracked the R&B Top 30, and “Queen” made it to #66 on the Hot 100. Buoyed by those successes, the band reconvened to record their second, self-titled album. KC and the Sunshine Band fairly exploded on American radio in 1975, sending two songs, “Get Down Tonight” and “That’s the Way (I Like It)” to #1.

“That’s the Way (I Like It)” (Uploaded to YouTube by TMC Records)

A number of factors came together to bring attention to the band. Obviously, their insanely catchy tunes and simple, party-driven lyrics were made to fill dance floors. The make-up of the band itself (multicultural, men and women, a traditional funk horn section) was eye-catching, as were the brightly and frequently spangly outfits the group chose to wear. Their high-energy stage show melded perfectly with the growing disco scene, and KC and the band quickly took their places among its kings and queens. The band was an instant TV fixture, appearing on Soul Train, The Midnight Special, American Bandstand, and a number of other talk and variety shows.

“Keep it Comin’ Love” (Uploaded to YouTube by TopPop)

Between 1976 and 1979, KC and the Sunshine Band charted twelve more songs, including three more #1s “(Shake Shake Shake) Shake Your Booty,” “I’m Your Boogie Man,” and “Please Don’t Go”) and two #2s (“Keep It Comin’ Love” and “Yes, I’m Ready” with Teri DeSario). However, disco’s run in America was about to flame out, with the peak of the form falling squarely in July of 1979. That August, The Knack’s “My Sharona” took off, signaling a sea change that tilted toward New Wave. By the time that MTV took to the air two years later, disco had all but disappeared.

“Give It Up” (Uploaded to YouTube by TopPop)

1981 also marked the end of the Casey and Finch partnership as the pair fragmented among professional stress and Casey’s escalating drug use. 1983 offered a surprise hit with Top 20 song “Give It Up,” but the group would go dormant for years. When dance music resurged in the early 1990s, sparking a bit of a disco revival, Casey was ready. Having successfully dealt with his problems, he formed a new version of the band and hit the road. The group has released five new albums since 1993 in addition to a number of compilations. This summer, you can find the band doing what they’ve done for decades: playing all over the United States.

It would be easy to read KC and the Sunshine Band’s story as a cautionary tale about fads or the fickle taste of Americans or even the excesses associated with entertainment. But there’s a broader notion, and that’s that there will always be an audience for people who are good at what they do. KC and the Sunshine Band set about making people dance and having a great time. The fact that a version of the group with KC himself in the lead is still rolling out grooves across America proves that there are still many, many people who are ready, willing, and able to get down tonight.