Artist:Kool & The GangSong:Celebration
Album:Gold
Kool & The Gang were already one of the most popular funk bands of the 70s when the 1980 chart topper Celebration took them to a whole new level. It was their only number one pop hit. Some key personnel changes led to this success. But the core of the band has been mostly the same since the 60s. Of course the two guys behind Kool & The Gang are bassist Robert "Kool" Bell and tenor sax player Ronald Bell AKA Khalis Bayyan. They grew up in Jersey City, NJ. Their father was a pro boxer and friends with jazz piano legend Thelonious Monk. So they were big jazz fans and formed the band The Jazziacs in 1964. Other members included guitarists Charles Smith and Woody Sparrow, trombonist Clifford Adams, alto sax player Dennis Thomas and drummer Funky George Brown. All of these guys would still be with Kool & The Gang 30 years later. They were playing New York clubs and the growing influence of soul changed the band name to Soul Town Band. After a club owner mistakenly called them Kool & The Flames, it was changed to Kool & The Gang. In 1969, they signed with De-Lite Records, a new label owned by producer Gene Redd. He worked with James Brown in the early 60s. Kool & The Gang had immediate success on the R & B charts but broke through to the pop charts when Funky Stuff hit the top 40 in 1973. Then Jungle Boogie and Hollywood Swinging hit the top ten. But with the rise of disco, Kool & The Gang's mostly instrumental funk was fading. So they added smooth nightclub singer James "J.T." Taylor as lead singer along with Earl Toon Jr. And they started working with Brazilian producer Eumir Deodato. Deodato had a hit with his 1972 fusion version of the theme from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. But he also produced a lot of jazz fusion bands. So Kool & The Gang's 1979 album Ladies Night went Platinum and the single Too Hot reached the top ten. But Celebration was even bigger and topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1980 and it's a wedding standard today. Apparently Khalis Bayyan was inspired to write Celebration by the Koran. That's right. He prayed and the song came to him. Kool & The Gang had some more hits including Cherish. But Taylor left for a solo career in 1986 and Kool & The Gang never recovered. You can get all their hits on this 2CD comp from Hip-O. The Bell brothers still lead Kool & The Gang today. Charles Smith died in 2006 but some of the original members are still with the band. James "J.T." Taylor had some success with his 1989 duet with Regina Belle All I Want Is Forever and he still tours. Here's the video for Celebration by Kool & The Gang.
No comments:
Post a Comment