KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND
Release Date: 1975
Famous Tracks: Get Down Tonight, That's the Way I Like It, Boogie Shoes
CD Availability: "KC and the Sunshine Band And More" on Rhino
Becky Rating: 9 Suns (out of 10)

WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY

This one, of course, was a monster. Released in the summer of 1975, it was in the Top Ten by Christmas time. It contained two Number One hits, "Get Down Tonight" and "That's The Way I Like It (TTWILI)," that have since come to define mid-70s dance funk. It marked the true arrival of KC and the Sunshine Band in the United States.

"KCSB" is a much more polished effort than "Do It Good," but it is no less enthusiastic. The KC signature sound - repetitive, percussive lyrics set to fast-paced, minor-key instrumental tracks embellished by horn lines and Latin percussion - permeates every song. The percussion is especially evident in the album's opening and closing tracks, both called "Let It Go." The congas just bounce all over the place.

Though it was never a Number One hit, "Boogie Shoes" could very well be KC's best-selling song of all time because it was later included on the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack. It's a simple blues progression with an unbeatable stuttering hook, and provides us with one of his few lyrical images. Let's try to forget that some stupid rapper stole it last year for "Take it to the House" and enjoy the song.

Two other major-key songs are among KC's happiest and sweetest. "Ain't Nothin' Wrong" is just adorable and never ceases to put a smile on my face. I love the line "Don't run and hide, baby, that's wrong to do." How sweet is that??? It's followed by "I'm So Crazy ('Bout You)," a song co-written with Willie Clarke, which sounds like mid-60s Motown.

We then head back to the KC minor keys for "What Makes You Happy," a song that sounds like both James Brown and Stevie Wonder. Then there's the infamous "I Get Lifted." I believe this is the only KCSB song which was also recorded by both George McCrae and Jimmy "Bo" Horne. Well, you wouldn't exactly have expected Betty Wright or Gwen McCrae to sing "I get lifted, high high, high high," now, would you? It has to be sung by a guy.

The two big hits, "Get Down Tonight" and "TTWILI," are so well-known and well-loved that they hardly need explanation here. Both songs hit Number 1 on both the pop and the R&B charts and are certified '70s classics. It's hard to find a '70s compilation album that doesn't include either one of these songs, and they've both been used in TV commercials and movies to bring back the period.

A few years ago, I was in a Costco store in Florida, waiting for my dad to stop looking at the book section. I noticed two little girls doing one of those hand-clapping games, the ones we used to sing 'Miss Mary Mack' to. They were singing, "That's the way, uh huh uh huh, I like it, uh huh uh huh." This music will live on for a long time.

(c) 2002 Becky Banfield for Dos Gardenias Productions