JANICE'S BLUES ALLEY PRESENTS
KOOL AND THE GANG
 | Richard De La Font Agency -- Kool and the Gang | | Soul Walking UK -- Kool & the Gang |
Formed as a jazz ensemble in the mid-'60s, Kool & the Gang became one of the most inspired and influential funk units during the '70s, and one of the most popular R&B groups of the '80s after their breakout hit "Celebration" in 1979. Just as funky as James Brown or Parliament (and sampled almost as frequently), Kool & the Gang relied on their jazz backgrounds and long friendship to form a tightly knit group with the interplay and improvisation of a jazz outfit, plus the energy and spark of a band with equal ties to soul, R&B and funk.
Robert "Kool" Bell and his brother Ronald (or Khalis Bayyan) grew up in Jersey City, New Jersey, and picked up the music bug from their father. A professional boxer, he was also a serious jazz lover and a close friend of Thelonious Monk. With Robert on bass and Ronald picking up an array of horns, the duo formed the Jazziacs in 1964 with several neighborhood friends: trombone player Clifford Adams, guitarists Charles Smith and Woody Sparrow, trumpeter Robert "Spike" Michens, alto saxophonist Dennis Thomas, keyboard player Ricky West and drummer Funky George Brown (all of whom, except Michens and West, still remained in the group more than 30 years later).
The growing earthiness of soul inspired the Jazziacs to temper their jazz sensibilites with rhythms more akin to R&B, and the newly renamed Soul Town Band began playing clubs in Greenwich Village. After a mix-up with a club owner resulted in the group being billed Kool & the Flames, they moderated the title to Kool & the Gang and found a leg up with the tiny De-Lite Records. Three singles from their self-titled debut album hit the pop charts, and although the position wasn't incredibly high, Kool & the Gang became a quick success on the R&B charts. Always a staple of their appeal, the group's live act was documented on two 1971 LPs, Live at the Sex Machine and Live at P.J.'s, including left-field covers of "Walk on By" and "Wichita Lineman" (as well as the not so unusual "I Want to Take You Higher").
Studio albums followed in 1972 and 1973, but it was with Kool & the Gang's sixth LP, Wild and Peaceful, that they hit the big time. "Funky Stuff" became their first Top 40 hit at the end of 1973. Then both "Jungle Boogie" and "Hollywood Swinging" reached the pop Top Ten. During the next four years, however, Kool & the Gang could only manage an occasional Top 40 hit ("Higher Plane," "Spirit of the Boogie"), and though they did win a Grammy award for "Open Sesame" (from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack), the rise of disco -- a movement centered around producers and vocalists, in direct contrast to the group's focus on instrumentalists -- had appeared to end their popularity.
Then, in 1979, the group added two new vocalists, Earl Toon, Jr. and, more importantly, James "J.T." Taylor, a former Jersey nightclub singer. Kool & the Gang also began working with jazz fusion arranger Eumir Deodato, who produced their records from 1979 to 1982. The first such album, Ladies Night, was their biggest hit yet, the first of three consecutive platinum albums, with the Top Ten singles "Too Hot" and the title track. Celebrate!, released in 1980, spawned Kool & the Gang's only number one hit, "Celebration," an anthem favored by innumerable wedding receptions since. With Deodato, the group produced several more hits, including the singles "Take My Heart (You Can Have It If You Want It)," "Get Down on It" and "Big Fun," and the albums Something Special in 1981 and As One a year later. After Deodato left the fold in late 1982, Kool & the Gang proved their success wasn't solely due to him; they had two immense hits during 1984-85 ("Joanna" and "Cherish"), as well as two more Top Tens, "Misled" and "Fresh." The group's string of seven gold or platinum records continued until 1986's Forever, after which James "J.T." Taylor amicably left the group for a solo career.
Although Taylor did reasonably well with his solo recordings (many of which were produced by Ronald Bell), Kool & the Gang quickly sank without him. They replaced Taylor with three vocalists, Skip Martin (formerly of the Dazz Band), Odeen Mays and Gary Brown, but failed to chart their albums Sweat (1989) and Unite (1993). Taylor finally returned to the group in 1995 for the release of a new album, State of Affairs. -- John Bush, All Music Guide.
| LOOK | YEAR | TITLE |  | 1969 | Kool and the Gang | | 1971 | Live at the Sex Machine | | 1971 | Live at P.J.'s | | 1972 | Music Is the Message | | 1972 | Good Times | | 1973 | Wild and Peaceful | | 1974 | Light of Worlds | | 1975 | Spirit of the Boogie | | 1976 | Behind the Eyes | | 1976 | Open Sesame | | 1976 | Love & Understanding | | 1977 | The Force | | 1978 | Everybody's Dancin' | | 1979 | Ladies Night | | 1980 | Celebrate! | | 1981 | Something Special | | 1982 | As One | | 1983 | In the Heart | | 1983 | Twice as Kool | | 1984 | Emergency | | 1986 | Forever | | 1989 | Sweat | | 1993 | Unite | | 1994 | Night People | | 1996 | State of Affairs | | 2001 | Gangland | | 2002 | Live on Stage |
1969 Kool and the Gang
| 1. Kool and the Gang 2. Breeze & Soul 3. Chocolate Buttermilk 4. Sea of Tranquility 5. Give It Up |
6. Since I Lost My Baby 7. Kool's Back Again 8. The Gang's Back Again 9. Raw Hamburger 10. Let the Music Take Your Mind |
1971 Live at the Sex Machine
| 1. What Would the World Be Like 2. Walk On By 3. Chocolate Buttermilk 4. Trying to Make a Fool of Me 5. Who's Gonna Take the Weight? 6. Pneumonia |
7. Wichita Lineman 8. I Want to Take You Higher 9. Funky Man 10. The Touch of You 11. Kool It (Here Comes the Fuzz) |
1971 Live at P.J.'s
| 1. N.T. 2. Ricksonata 3. Sombrero Sam 4. Ronnie's Groove |
5. Ike's Mood/You've Lost That Loving Feeling 6. Lucky for Me 7. Dujii 8. The Penguin |
1972 Music Is the Message
| 1. Music Is the Message 2. Electric Frog, Part 1 3. Electric Frog, Part 2 4. Soul Vibrations |
5. Love the Life You Live, Pts. 1 & 2 6. Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart) 7. Blowin' With the Wind 8. Funky Granny |
1972 Good Times
| 1. Good Times 2. Country Junky 3. Wild Is Love 4. North, East, South, West |
5. Making Merry Music 6. I Remember John W. Coltrane 7. Rated X 8. Father, Father |
1973 Wild and Peaceful
| 1. Funky Stuff 2. More Funky Stuff 3. Jungle Boogie 4. Heaven at Once |
5. Hollywood Swinging 6. This Is You, This Is Me 7. Life Is What You Make It 8. Wild and Peaceful |
1974 Light of Worlds
| 1. Street Corner Symphony 2. Fruitman 3. Rhyme Tyme People 4. Light of Worlds 5. Whiting H. & G. |
6. You Don't Have to Change 7. Higher Plane 8. Summer Madness 9. Here After |
1975 Spirit of the Boogie
| 1. Spirit of the Boogie 2. Ride the Rhythm 3. Jungle Jazz 4. Sunshine and Love |
5. Ancestral Ceremony 6. Mother Earth 7. Winter Sadness 8. Caribbean Festival |
1976 Behind the Eyes
1976 Open Sesame
1976 Love & Understanding
| 1. Love & Understanding 2. Sugar 3. Do It Right Now 4. Cosmic Energy |
5. Hollywood Swinging [live] 6. Summer Madness [live] 7. Universal Sound [live] 8. Come Together |
1977 The Force
1978 Everybody's Dancin'
1979 Ladies Night
| 1. Ladies Night 2. Got You into My Life 3. If You Feel Like Dancin' |
4. Hangin' Out 5. Tonight's the Night 6. Too Hot |
1980 Celebrate!
| 1. Celebration 2. Jones Vs. Jones 3. Take It to the Top 4. Morning Star |
5. Love Festival 6. Just Friends 7. Night People 8. Love Affair |
1981 Something Special
| 1. Steppin' Out 2. Good Time Tonight 3. Take My Heart 4. Be My Lady |
5. Get Down on It 6. Pass It On 7. Stand Up and Sing 8. No Show |
1982 As One
1983 In the Heart
| 1. In the Heart 2. Joanna 3. Tonight 4. Rollin' 5. Place for Us |
6. Straight Ahead 7. Home Is Where the Heart Is 8. You Can Do It 9. September Love |
1983 Twice as Kool
1984 Emergency
| 1. Emergency 2. Fresh 3. Misled 4. Cherish |
5. Surrender 6. Bad Woman 7. You Are the One |
1986 Forever
| 1. Victory 2. T.B.M.C. 3. Stone Love 4. Holiday 5. Forever |
6. Peacemaker 7. Broadway 8. Special Way 9. God's Country |
1989 Sweat
| 1. I Sweat 2. This Is What a Love Can Do 3. Never Give Up 4. You Got My Heart on 5. Someday 6. Raindrops |
7. In Your Company 8. I'll Follow You Anywhere 9. All She Wants to Do Is Dance 10. How Can I Get Close to You 11. You Are the Meaning of Friend |
1993 Unite
| 1. (Jump on the) Rhythm and Ride 2. I Think I Love You 3. Love Come Down 4. Pretty Little Sexy Miss 5. Better Late Than Never 6. Heart 7. My Search Is Over 8. W |
9. B. 10. Give Right Now to You 11. State of the Earth/The Weight 12. Show Us the Way to Love 13. Now Is the Time/Unite 14. Klassical Kool/God Will Find You 15. Spatial Relationships |
1994 Night People
1996 State of Affairs
| 1. Salute to the Ladies 2. In the Hood 3. Color Line 4. Second Thoughts 5. Crabs in a Barrel 6. Woman, Lover, Friend |
7. Game of Love 8. '90s News 9. Life in the '90s 10. Friends 11. My Body 12. Reunited |
2001 Gangland
| 1. Bigg Thanks 2. Mo Bigg Thangs 3. Blow Up 4. Where da Boogie At? 5. Turn It Out 6. Jungle in My House 7. Money Makes the World Go Round 8. Ballin' in Chilltown 9. That's Right |
10. All My Time 11. Early in the Morning 12. Cherish 13. Hit Me on the Hip 14. Goody Goody 15. Concrete Jungle 16. Funk Done Gone Hip Hop 17. Jazziacs at the Kool Jazz Caf� |
2002 Live on Stage
