25TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION
Release Date: 1999
CD Availability: In most stores and available online
Becky Rating: 7 suns (out of 10)

A COFFEE-TABLE CD

Just the facts, ma'am: The two-CD 25th Anniversary Collection is the most comprehensive CD of KC and the Sunshine Band's music currently available in the United States. Rhino put together all the big hits, a few rarities, and one very good remix in the summer of 1999, resulting in the closest thing we have to a KC box set.

Reviewing a greatest hits CD or box set for any artist requires a different set of criteria than reviewing a studio album of new material or a live release. It's not the music itself that's being reviewed; it's the choice of songs (what was included and what was left off), the rarities, the packaging, the liner notes, even the order of songs.

The 25th Anniversary Collection delivers the expected hits. All the biggies, "Get Down Tonight," That's the Way," "Boogie Shoes," "Please Don't Go" etc. etc. are here. Early tracks "Sound Your Funky Horn" and "Queen of Clubs" are here. Album cuts "I Like to Do It" and "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" are here.  The brilliant instrumental "Shotgun Shuffle" and the 1984 solo hit "Give It Up" are here.

If you think this sounds an awful lot like the original U.S. greatest hits CD, you're right. Every track from that CD is repeated here. So what additional songs are included that make this CD worth purchasing?

* The goofy, Bahamian-inspired "Blow Your Whistle" from the first album. This song is guaranteed to cause confusion if you play it out your car window at any major-traffic intersection in a large city;

* Second-album cuts "I'm a Pushover," "I'm So Crazy ('Bout You)," and "I Get Lifted," all available on CD but not on a greatest-hits package;

*The Sunshine Band's instrumental Sound of Sunshine version of "Rock Your Baby;"

*The only U.S. CD releases of "Who Do Ya (Love)" and "Do You Feel All Right;"

*The only CD releases anywhere of "I Betcha Didn't Know That" and the full-length album version of "Do You Wanna Go Party;"

*Two KC duets with his old high school friend Teri DeSario, the 1980 hit "Yes I'm Ready" and an additional cover of the old Motown hit "Dancin' in the Streets" (which Deadheads can compare to their version on Terrapin Station); and

*A very trippy remix of "Get Down Tonight" by Tom Moulton, available previously on a TK remix CD, that adds a completely new piano part. I love this remix!

That's the good part. Unfortunately, there is substantial filler included, concentrated on the second disc of this collection. The two falsetto non-hits "All I Want" and "Let's Go Rock and Roll" show up yet again. Much worse is an unfortunate Spanish-language version of "Please Don't Go" in which the music track runs too slow and KC sounds uncomfortable. To add insult to injury, Rhino includes a 1992 Hi-NRG remake of "Please Don't Go." Too many "Please Don't Go's!" It's not even his best song!

Had I been choosing the songs for this collection, I would have dug deeper into the 70s albums, perhaps adding "Come to My Island," "Let's Go Party" and "Que Pasa." I certainly would have left off the falsetto songs and the Spanish "Please Don't Go." I would have looked for some early, non-released KC music, such as the songs he recorded as a teen-ager, or that he wrote for George McCrae.

Which leads to a whole other point: this CD does not include any of the great music written by, or produced by, KC for other artists. Hey Rhino, isn't it time for this? You could include songs such as "Rock Your Baby" by George McCrae, "Dance Across the Floor" by Jimmy "Bo" Horne, some Little Beaver, Gwen McCrae, Teri DeSario, and Fire stuff, and maybe even some covers of KC and the Sunshine Band songs by other artists?

The liner notes to this CD are excellent, and include some great pictures as well as detailed personnel information for each album. Did you know that percussionist Fermin Goytisolo (who still performs with the band) played on every KC album? Did you realize Richard Finch played bass on every KC album except KC Ten? I didn't.

Am I glad I own this CD? Yes. Do I play it a lot? No, not really. For me, it's more of the CD equivalent of a coffee-table book.

Will you like it? Should you own it? If you aren't interested in trying for any of the international greatest hits CDs, go ahead. Until the KC box set comes out, go ahead. Aww, just go ahead.

(c) 2002 Becky Banfield for Dos Gardenias Productions