DO YOU WANNA GO PARTY
Release Date: 1979
Famous Tracks: Please Don't Go, Do You Wanna Go Party
CD Availability: Full album not currently available in the U.S.; selected tracks appear on greatest-hits packages and on imports
Becky Rating: 5 suns out of 10

NO, NOT REALLY

Following the Saturday Night Fever disco explosion of early 1978, it seemed like every artist had to record a disco song or two. The Rolling Stones did disco. So did Rod Stewart, Cher, Dolly Parton, Diana Ross, Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand, the Grateful Dead, and Kiss.

So did KC and the Sunshine Band.

Now, for those of you who paused at that statement, go back and read my reviews of the first five KCSB albums. Not once will you read the word "disco," because, frankly, their music was not disco, and you won't hear me refer to it as such. It was danceable R&B, but not disco. The strings, fast and unvarying drum sound, and electronic sounds so identified with disco don't show up on any of these albums. Do You Wanna Go Party, however, features background strings on four of the seven tracks. There's a slick feeling to it; a feeling of "We had to record it this way because someone told us we had to go disco."

It starts out with a strong, minor-key opener, "Hooked on Your Love," which features more piano than usual on a KC album. But then, the insidious strings show up on the next two songs, "I Got the Feeling" (not the James Brown song) and "Ooh, I Like It." Both are relatively undistinguished songs not up to the high standards of the Sunshine Band. A third string-heavy song, "I Betcha Didn't Know That," copies the arrangement from Barry White's "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe." The only thing that saves it for me is the subtle but effective percussion accompaniment in the background. Gracias, Fermin!

Besides disco, KC and the Sunshine Band add three other new styles on this album. "Que Pasa" is an endearing salsa number in which KC sings phonetically in Spanish and the band plays as if it were running for the border. Once again, the superb musicianship of the Sunshine Band keeps everything under control and provides for a fun song, my favorite on the album. This song also contains the single best "WHOOH!" of KC's entire career.

The album's closer and title track, "Do You Wanna Go Party," is the first genuine funk song recorded by the Sunshine Band. It's driven by a funky bass groove that bears some resemblance to the bass part in Rick James' "Super Freak." Hey, maybe he got the idea from this song? It looks ahead to the funk-style songs we'd hear on the R&B charts in the early '80s.

Finally, we get the first-ever ballad recorded by KC and the Sunshine Band. "Please Don't Go" is almost legendary now as the first Number 1 record of the '80s. Appropriately, it features strings and a very Irish-sounding harp. Deborah Gibson's first hit, "Only In My Dreams," from 1987, copies the chord pattern and bass part of this song, playing it a little faster. One never knows where the Sunshine Band's influence will show up.

Speaking of influence, it's a little disturbing to hear all the references to alcohol on this album. From "hooked on your love" to "drink a little wine, have a funky time" to the uncomfortable cover picture (it's a champagne cork, if you didn't know), it makes me wonder what was going on at this time.

What was going on in the music world at the time, after this album's release, was the end of the disco sound. This was the first KC album not to reach the Top Forty in the United States since "Do It Good." I wonder what would have happened had this album carried more funk and salsa tunes? If KC's successful duet with Teri DeSario, "Yes I'm Ready," had been included?

Oh, and if you're wondering about the relatively low sun rating: I took off one sun for the cover.

(c) 2002 Becky Banfield for Dos Gardenias Productions