An Okay Trip Down Memory Lane

Original Release Date: June 1, 1990
Genre: Pop
Label: Rhino /Wea Records
Number of Discs: (1)

I graduated high school in 1980 just as the disco craze in the United States was beginning to taper off, albeit slightly. I can still remember the disco groups from that era with their mostly uninspired lyrics, but danceable music. KC & The Sunshine Band, formed by Harry Wayne Casey ("KC"), in Miami in the early 1970’s, was one of those groups. The initially consisted of Casey and Richard Finch, his song-writing partner, but the group quickly grew to include up to nine members including a pretty impressive horn section that was to form the mainstay of the KC & The Sunshine Band sound.

Released in 1990, The Best of KC & The Sunshine Band features eight of the bands top 40 hits, including all five of their number one chart toppers: track No. 2, Get Down Tonight; track No. 3 I'm Your Boogie Man; track No. 4, (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty; track No.6 That's The Way (I Like It); and track No. 8, Please Don't Go. The anthology also includes the number two hit, track No. 7 Keep It Comin' Love.

I doubt very seriously if KC & The Sunshine Band was formed with a Grammy in mind, and it shows in the repetitious and mostly meaningless lyrics featured on most of their songs. The lyrics were—and are—overwhelming about sex and how many songs about that subject are there in the annals of disco. Seriously, how many times does one have to hear, “do a little dance, make a little love, get down tonight, get down tonight, baby,” before it becomes an irritant like a rock in your shoe? Add to that the fact that lead singer, Harry Wayne Casey is not the best vocalist to make his mark on the genre.

No, the real attraction to the music of KC & The Sunshine Band is the music, the lyrics, at least for me, were incidental. The music often buttressed by an excellent horn section, was danceable and had the perfect beat for dancing disco, or for bobbing ones head, or tapping ones feet at just the right cadence. The bass was powerful, but not overpowering, and within this nine member group instrumentation was king, be it guitar, bass, drums, or woodwinds, KC & The Sunshine Band delivered.

The Best of KC & The Sunshine Band highlights the groups most danceable tunes in the front of the CD, lining them up and blending them together like a latter day DJ would have at a disco party. More of this detailed work should have gone into re-mastering the individual tracks; on my CD is there were significant peaks and valleys wherein the sound increased and decreased of its own accord. Needless to say this was annoying to no end.

In 1980 the group released their first ever slow jam, track No. 8, Please Don’t Go, which saw moderate success, but after the group slid into the history book, to be resurrected several time by KC with limited public acclaim.

The back half of the CD—tracks 12 -16—is occupied by fillers, songs on various albums that didn’t quite make it as hit singles. In that vain, they are mostly forgettable for anyone except diehard KC & The Sunshine Band fans.

Overall, I found The Best of KC & The Sunshine Band a welcome and entertaining trip down memory lane, and I would recommend the CD to anyone who might be missing the groups CD or singles, in their collection.


Track Listing:

1. Sound Your Funky Horn
2. Get Down Tonight
3. I’m Your Boggie Man
4. (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty
5. Queen of Clubs
6. That’s The Way (I Like It)
7. Keep It Comin’ Love
8. Please Don’t Go
9. Boogie Shoes
10. Let’s Go Rock And Roll
11. Give It Up
12. Do You Wanna Go Party
13. I Like To Do It
14. Shotgun Shuffle
15. Wrap You Arms Around Me
16. All I Want