THE BEST OF KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND (GREAT BRITAIN)
Release Date: 1996
CD Availability: British import. Can sometimes be found at larger record stores, online, or on Ebay
Becky Rating: 9 suns (out of 10)

THE SUNSHINE NEVER SETS

The sun may have set on the British Empire, but the Sunshine never sets as long as this British import greatest hits package is available. It's perhaps not ironic that a country obsessed with its own early history has chosen to release a KC best-of that includes extra tracks from the band's early days.

KC and the Sunshine Band met its first success in Great Britain, where "Queen of Clubs" hit the Top Ten in September 1974. That song is present on this CD. Any KCSB greatest hits release worth its price includes all of "the biggies:" the five U.S. pop Number 1 hits "Get Down Tonight (British Number 21)," "That's The Way I Like It (British Number 4)," "Shake Your Booty (British Number 22)," "I'm Your Boogie Man (this one did not make the British Top 40)" and "Please Don't Go (British Number 3);" the U.S. R&B Number 1 hit "Keep It Comin' Love (British Number 31);" and the Saturday Night Fever track "Boogie Shoes (British Number 34)." All of these are present on the British cd as well.

The other early British Top 20 hit, "Sound Your Funky Horn" (recently brought to the attention of the American TV-viewing public via a Bill Cosby ad) shows up, as does the Four Tops remake "It's The Same Old Song." But the true gems of this compilation are the early Do It Good tracks: "Baby I Want Your Loving" and the title song. Also included are three album cuts from the band's self-titled second album: "I'm So Crazy (also on the Dutch greatest hits)," "I Get Lifted," and the percussion-filled "Let It Go (Part 1)." The 1980 falsetto tracks don't appear.

Interestingly, KC's only British Number 1 hit, "Give It Up," does not appear on this CD. I think that may be due to record-company difficulties. It really doesn't affect the quality of the CD, however, or its 9-sun rating.

The package includes a fairly nice set of liner notes, which include all the British singles chart placings referenced above.

To close out, I'll quote from the back cover of the CD: "K.C. and the Sunshine Band recorded some of the most infectious dance music of the Seventies and Eighties. This album serves as a permanent reminder of a great band and some of the best dance records ever made."

(c) 2002 Becky Banfield for Dos Gardenias Productions