Kool & the Gang
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| Kool & The Gang | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Jersey City, New Jersey, USA |
| Genre(s) | R&B Soul Funk Disco |
| Years active | 1964 – Present |
| Label(s) | De-Lite Mercury |
| Members | |
| Robert "Kool" Bell Ronald Bell (Khalis Bayyan) George Brown Robert Mickens Dennis Thomas Clifford Adams James "J.T." Taylor Rick Westfield Claydes Charles Smith (deceased) Sonnie "Skip" Martin Shawn McQuiller Rodney Ellis | |
Kool & the Gang is a highly successful American jazz/R&B/soul/funk/disco group. They originally formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA in 1964. They went through several musical phases in their career, starting out with a purist jazz sound, becoming practitioners of R&B and funk, progressing to a smooth disco ensemble, and ended the successful period of their career producing pop/R&B crossovers.
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[edit] History
The group's main members over the years included brothers Robert Bell (known as "Kool") on bass (born October 8, 1950, Youngstown, Ohio) and Ronald Bell on tenor saxophone (born November 1, 1951, Youngstown, Ohio); George Brown on drums (born January 5, 1949); Robert Mickens on trumpet; Dennis Thomas on alto saxophone; Claydes Charles Smith on guitar (born September 6, 1948, died June 20, 2006 of AIDS), and Rick Westfield on keyboards. The Bell brothers' father was an acquaintance of Thelonious Monk and the brothers were friends with Leon Thomas.In 1964 Robert formed an instrumental band called the Jazziacs with five high school friends. They changed their name to Kool & the Gang and were signed by Gene Redd to his then new De-Lite Records. They first hit the pop charts with the release of their debut, eponymous album.
Though none of the three singles from the album went far on the pop charts, their R&B success was swift and massive. Several live and studio albums followed, but 1973's Wild and Peaceful broke into the mainstream with "Jungle Boogie" and "Hollywood Swinging". Many reviews see 1975 album The Spirit of the Boogie as the greatest achievement of the band. However, after that album the band abandoned deep funk-music and switched to disco. Generally, the albums released after 1975 have not received the same critical recognition as their early work.
The late 1970s saw a lull in Kool & the Gang's career that ended — after new lead singer James "J.T." Taylor joined the group — with 1979's Ladies' Night, the title track from which spawned a 25-year-long tradition of ladies' nights in New Jersey dance clubs and bars. Their only #1 hit was 1980s "Celebration", off Celebrate!, produced by Eumir Deodato. More international hits followed in the early 1980s, including "Big Fun", "Get Down on It" and "Joanna". Their 1984 album Emergency yielded four top 20 hits, including "Fresh" and "Cherish." Their chart presence stopped abruptly after the Forever album, when both Taylor and Ronald Bell (who started using the name Khalis Bayyan) left the group; both would eventually return, but the hits would not.
Kool and the Gang rose to some popularity again in 1994 after "Jungle Boogie" was featured on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino's hit cult classic Pulp Fiction. "Hollywood Swinging" appeared on the soundtrack of the 2004 videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on the funk radio station Bounce FM and on the 2005 soundtrack of the movie Roll Bounce. Currently, the band is in the studio recording a new album, for release in 2007.
Justin Smith -- who goes by the stage-name, J. Mello -- is the son of Claydes Charles Smith and has a highly promising recording career of his own. The younger Smith earned a recording contract and was signed to Def Jam Recordings by Antonio "L.A." Reid in 2004. J. Mello is also currently in the recording studio mastering his debut, yet-to-be-titled artist album slated for release in 1/QTR 2008 on Suburban Boy Music Group (SB Music Group). A few of the singles from the upcoming album have been leaked, sparking an underground cult-following among college campuses and club-goers. The most popular of the singles include "Oxy Cotton" (a play on the drug, Oxycontin), "Torture," and "Jersey Glam." All of the lyrics in Justin Smith's songs reflect first-hand experiences from his often-traumatic upbringing.
"Hollywood Swinging" was also used by Jon Arons in his dance/trombone number on "Steve Harvey Show" thus earning him the title, "The Trombone Guy."
"Hollywood Swinging" was also sampled by DJ Kool in his song "Let Me Clear My Throat".
Kool and the Gang's "Summer Madness" off their 1974 album "Light of Worlds" has been sampled numerous times. Most notably, it was used by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince for their version of "Summertime" as well as being featured in the 1976 smash hit Rocky. More recently, "Summer Madness" served as the background music to The Lebrons 'Swimming Pool' Nike shoe commercial and also appeared in Tony Hawk's Project 8 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Also, Live at PJ's' track "N.T" has been sampled extensively, by artists such as Boogie Down Productions, Brand Nubian, De La Soul, N.W.A and Kriss Kross.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
Kool and the Gang1969.jpg
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Live at the Sex Machine1971.jpg
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Music Is The Message1972.jpg
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Everybody's Dancin1978.JPG
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In The Heart1983.jpg
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[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | US Hot 100 | US R&B | US Dance | UK Singles | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | "Kool and the Gang" | 59 | 19 | - | - | Kool and the Gang |
| 1970 | "Let the Music Take Your Mind" | 78 | 19 | - | - | |
| 1970 | "Funky Man" | 87 | 16 | - | - | Live at the Sex Machine |
| 1971 | "I Want To Take You Higher" | - | 35 | - | - | |
| 1971 | "Who's Gonna Take the Weight (Part One)" | - | 28 | - | - | |
| 1972 | "Love the Life You Live, Part I" | - | 31 | - | - | Music Is the Message |
| 1973 | "Funky Stuff" | 29 | 5 | - | - | Wild and Peaceful |
| 1974 | "Jungle Boogie" | 4 | 2 | - | - | |
| 1974 | "Hollywood Swinging" | 6 | 1 | - | - | |
| 1974 | "Higher Plane" | 37 | 1 | - | - | Light of Worlds |
| 1975 | "Rhyme Tyme People" | 63 | 3 | - | - | |
| 1975 | "Summer Madness" | 35 | 36 | - | - | |
| 1975 | "Spirit of the Boogie" | 35 | 1 | - | - | Spirit of the Boogie |
| 1975 | "Caribbean Festival" | 55 | 6 | - | - | |
| 1976 | "Love and Understanding (Come Together)" | 77 | 8 | - | - | Love & Understanding |
| 1976 | "Universal Sound" | - | 71 | - | - | |
| 1977 | "Open Sesame" | 55 | - | 13 | - | Saturday Night Fever soundtrack |
| 1978 | "Slick Superchick" | - | 19 | - | - | The Force |
| 1979 | "Ladies Night" | 8 | 1 | 5 | 9 | Ladies Night |
| 1980 | "Too Hot" | 5 | 3 | - | 23 | |
| 1980 | "Hangin' Out" | - | - | - | 52 | |
| 1980 | "Celebration" | 1 | 1 | 1a | 7 | Celebrate! |
| 1981 | "Jones vs. Jones" | 39 | 33 | - | 17 | |
| 1981 | "Take It To the Top" | - | 11 | - | 15 | |
| 1981 | "Take My Heart (You Can Have It If You Want It)" | 17 | 1 | 16b | 29 | Something Special |
| 1982 | "Steppin' Out" | 89 | 12 | - | 12 | |
| 1982 | "Get Down on It" | 10 | 4 | - | 3 | |
| 1982 | "Big Fun" | 21 | 6 | - | 14 | As One |
| 1982 | "Hi De Hi, Hi De Ho" | - | - | - | 29 | |
| 1983 | "Let's Go Dancin' (Ooh La, La, La)" | 30 | 7 | - | 6 | |
| 1983 | "Street Kids" | - | 78 | - | - | |
| 1983 | "Straight Ahead" | - | - | - | 15 | In the Heart |
| 1983 | "Joanna" | 2 | 1 | - | 2 | |
| 1984 | "Tonight" | 13 | 7 | - | - | |
| 1984 | "When You Say You Love Somebody (In the Heart)" | - | - | - | 7 | |
| 1984 | "Misled" | 10 | 3 | - | - | Emergency |
| 1985 | "Fresh" | 9 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |
| 1985 | "Cherish" | 2 | 1 | - | 4 | |
| 1985 | "Emergency" | 18 | 7 | 41 | 50 | |
| 1986 | "Victory" | 10 | 2 | 35 | 30 | Forever |
| 1987 | "Stone Love" | 10 | 4 | 41 | 45 | |
| 1987 | "Holiday" | 66 | 9 | - | - | |
| 1987 | "Special Way" | 72 | - | - | - | |
| 1988 | "Rags to Riches" | - | 38 | - | - | Greatest Hits & More |
| 1989 | "Raindrops" | - | 27 | - | - | Sweat |
| 1989 | "Never Give Up" | - | 74 | - | - | |
| 2005 | "Hollywood Swinging" | - | - | 5 | - | Be Cool soundtrack |
- a Celebration/Take It To the Top
- b Take My Heart (You Can Have It If You Want It)/Steppin' Out/Get Down on It
[edit] Mistaken identity
Kool & the Gang is sometimes credited with the funk song "Car Wash", but this single was actually recorded by Rose Royce. The song "Joanna" shares a striking resemblance to Wham's "Last Christmas", and the songs are frequently confused when only the instrumental portions are heard. Wham's song was released in 1984.
[edit] See also
- List of best-selling music artists
- List of number-one hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
[edit] External links
- koolandthegang.com - the official homepagede:Kool & The Gang
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