WHO DO YA (LOVE)
Release Date: 1978
Famous Tracks: It's The Same Old Song, Come To My Island, Do You Feel Allright
CD Availability: Full album not currently available in the U.S.;all tracks are available on Napster as of December 2004
Becky Rating: 10 Suns (out of 10)

SO GLAD

With Who Do Ya (Love), we have the mirror image of Part 3. Part 3 combined minor-key tracks (all but one), party-boogie lyrics, a bright, colorful cover, R&B stylings, and a heavy emphasis on the rhythm guitar of Jerome Smith. Who Do Ya (Love) combines major-key tracks (all but one), love lyrics, a space-themed dark cover, tropical stylings, and a heavy emphasis on the percussion of Fermin Goytisolo. The only thing that's really the same? The music is just as good!

A bit of historical context is needed to truly appreciate this album. By now, KC and the Sunshine Band was on top of the music world. Four of their songs had hit Number 1 on the pop charts, four had hit Number 1 on the R&B charts, they had a Top Ten and a Top Twenty album, they had appeared on every music show from American Bandstand to Soul Train to Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve to Donny and Marie (with Bob Hope!).  KC was a household two letters.

And then along came Saturday Night Fever. After the December 1977 release of this movie and album, you couldn't go an hour on the radio without hearing something that had to do with the Bee Gees. If it wasn't performed by the Bee Gees or brother Andy Gibb, it was written by the Bee Gees or produced by the Bee Gees. The singing Manxmen virtually mowed down every other band in their path, and inspired other non-disco bands to add strings and speed up their music.

In the midst of all this, KC and the Sunshine Band released it's most tropically-influenced and least dance-oriented album. Who Do Ya (Love) contains more percussion than before and includes a calypso song and a reggae number! The band really shows off its Caribbean roots here. The album is also notable for featuring the largest number of major-key songs of any KCSB album - maybe this was a particularly happy time for KC? Whatever was going on, the Sunshiners seem to really enjoy themselves on this set.

As usual, there are several standout tracks, my favorite being "Come To My Island." (This website was partially named after that song, and there's a quote from the song on the home page.) A bright calypso number that wouldn't be out of place on a Harry Belafonte album, KC sings of a paradise where "there's no hate around...there's love everywhere, you'll feel it in the air."  The Bob Barker-inspired coda is also a lot of fun, and will have you dreaming of winning a trip to the Island on the Showcase Showdown. Then it's off to Jamaica we go for "How About A Little Love," a genuine reggae song that shows off the versatility of the band, particularly bass player Rick Finch.

Every KC album seems to have one very fast track that, in the hands of less talented musicians, would zoom along like an out-of-control JetSki. The Sunshine Band always keeps it under control, though. That track on this album is the opener, "Do You Feel Allright," which is propelled by the congas, an awesome rhythm guitar riff, and some multi-tracked syllabic singing at the end. It's also notable as the only major-key song to open a KCSB album until 2001. The album closes on another positive note with "I Will Love You Tomorrow," a bouncy happy song with a slightly poignant lyric.

You can't help but smile when you hear "So Glad," one of KC's sweetest songs that actually includes a keyboard solo! Even the bass gets its moment in the sun on this one. The title track is not the old blues standard, but a new original composition which has KC pondering who his girl really loves. Even this sad lyric is set in a major-key background, though.

The one song that seems a little out of place, ironically, is the remake of the Four Tops classic "It's the Same Old Song" that was a Top Forty hit in June 1978. The band changes the key and adds a little coda between the choruses, but the originals on this album are just so much better. When I first started going to Sunshine Band shows in 1999, the Four Tops cover was part of the setlist; but since then, they've dropped it and added "Do You Feel Allright."

It's really a shame that this bright, tropical album is not available anywhere on CD. As of December 2004, however, all the tracks are available for dowloading online. (I have this from a very reliable source!) When I originally wrote this review, I gave this album only 9.9 suns because it wasn't available on CD. Now, it's received the ten suns it deserves.

Special thanks to - you know who you are!

(c) 2004 Becky Banfield for Dos Gardenias Productions