THE CANADIAN "HARRYOKE" COMPILATIONS:
KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND, 20 GREATEST HITS (left, Janus label, photo cover)
and KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND COLLECTORS EDITION (right, Madacy label, green and gold cover)
Release Date: 1999
CD Availability: Can sometimes be found at larger record stores, online, or on Ebay.
Becky Rating: Not rated

EH?

Hmmm. What to say here? These are two compilation CDs, released by Canadian record companies in 1999. Both include tracks from KC's 80s releases All in a Night's Work and KC Ten, reviewed elsewhere on this site. They currently are the only commercially-available way to get these songs on CD in the United States.

The albums also feature re-recordings of some of KC and the Sunshine Band's biggest hits from the 70s - you know, "Get Down Tonight," "That's the Way I Like It," "I'm Your Boogie Man." "Harryoke" is the name my friends and I coined to describe these re-recordings: they sound like Harry Casey doing karaoke. I know nothing at all about these particular versions of the songs. I don't know when they were recorded, who played on them, or why they were done in the first place. Is Fermin playing percussion? Who's playing bass? Who did the arrangements and who produced? Why do they sound so fuzzy?

Now, there are two ways to look at these Harryoke recordings. There's the Deadhead way, which considers every new version of a song something to enjoy and compare to the other performances. Granted, KC's vocals are not as strong as they were on the TK recordings, and the horns sound a little like the Parkside Jr. High School Band, but then, I've listened to a few Jerry Garcia songs where he sounds close to death, and I've listened to non-singing bassist Phil Lesh croak his way through "Broken Arrow" one too many times, so I probably shouldn't talk. They won't fool anyone who is used to the TK recordings, but you might want to check them out. (Incidentally, the late lamented jammin' oldies radio station here in Chicago used to play the Harryoke version of "Shake Your Booty" exclusively.)

On the other hand, you can say "These are not the same songs I remember dancing to in 1975" and dismiss the Harryoke songs entirely. I'm leaving it up to you, and that's why I'm not putting a sun rating on these CDs.

Are these recordings worth purchasing? Yes, just to get the Epic songs on CD. The Madacy CD (green and gold cover) is a two-disk set that includes four extra songs from KC Ten; the Janus CD (band photo cover) is a single set that repeats everything from the Madacy. You probably don't need both.

(c) 2002 Becky Banfield for Dos Gardenias Productions