KC & The Sunshine Band Questions

[Boogiedown]

Hi MAR !

I love KC, too. He's actually one of my favorite soul singers & composers [[along with Prince), and I think he's very underrated in that regard- "Why Don't We Get Together" is one of my favorite examples of this.

I gave this a listen , and I agree , it's a very nice song . Very nice. KC does have a quality to his voice I have always found to be very appealing. I remember I was working the tail end of a night shift at a record store in Honolulu when we put on his new ANYBODY WANNA PARTY LP [[we might've been rollerskating to it, it was a big store!) and PLEASE DON"T GO immediately jumped out at me. I was not surprised it could be a hit , and pleased that the record company recognized the caliber of the song and risked releasing it despite the departure from his expected sound. [[It went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100)


And I gave PUSHOVER a listen, and I DO hear James Brown in IM A PUSHOVER!. JB in spirit, but a tad more lively, with a stronger , more full vocal, with stronger arranged back up vocals, and that incessant cowbell[[ did James ever do cowbell?) But yes those horns and that funky bass line. Of course no music is created in a vacuum and I'd be disappointed to learn KC and the horn Band weren't JB fans. BTW did you know james brown claimed himself the original disco man!

That T-Connection track definitely sounds more like funk than disco to me.

Yes it's at the very funky end of the spectrum of disco music which covered a lot of sounds. But its 100 % disco in this case as it was intended to be and released as such.



As you can see, it was pressed and sold on a disco 12" on the TK DISCO label and you'll notice its designation as the longer "DISCO VERSION".
And as mentioned , it was #1 on the disco chart for six weeks , that's an amazing run at the top , so to label it anything else is a denial of reality.

But, I am limiting myself to the American definition of disco,

? I really have no idea what this means ...what 'Americans?' Was there some poll taken? Americans of the actual era , or Americans of today? Americans of NYC or Nashville Tennessee or Anchorage Alaska? Old or young , male or female , straight , gay, black, white.... etc.? ...Who?

which I think is very different than the definition in other parts of the world, where I believe disco is synonymous with dance/club music.

Well that's certainly logical of them wouldn't you say?. The dynamics of the disco movement [[ in the US, it was a movement) in the US was dramatically different than what went on in the rest of the world. The sudden US gay liberation of the 70s was discos catalyst, it created the engine , the energy ....etc. etc. etc. .........

Under that definition then yes, "queen of clubs" would be considered disco, but the way most Americans think of disco is quite narrow [[like a dance sub-category marked by a light, airy feel, lots of swirling strings and soaring vocals), and it doesn't encompass everything from that era that is dance-able.

I have no idea how to speak on behalf of most Americans, nor to claim I know what they think about anything much less disco. The topic of 'disco' with 'most Americans' likely takes place at the shallow end of the pool ...it always has.

For example, many Queen fans outside the US consider "hot space" to be a disco album, which I definitely do not. I think the definition of disco is just more broad in the UK, Europe, South America, etc.

Speaking for myself, BODY LANGUAGE fits the broader umbrella of disco , especially within what was comprising disco at the tail end of its era,... very bad disco imo , which is why it could only muster a #62 peak on the disco chart.

I mentioned that disco kept changing in sound over its seven years or so run , that the DJs and the club devotees weren't looking for the same sound over and over during that time . This was also true in the course of a single night at the club , the sounds changed , speeding up - slowing down , more funky, more electro. I really have no memory of anyone worrying if a song was "disco" or not...if it fit in , if the crowd responded , that's what mattered.

I get that nowadays , after the fact , there is a desire to specify disco as being this certain sound , to be able to label it clearly as such. Some of it is easier to do in that way than others. That's why I strongly urge referencing the disco charts . Every disco song isn't there , but the significant ones, in real time, are. Thats your American disco , documented in B&W.
I lived it, I know its reality, to want to re-write it is to me fake news.
........................

Added: There are however, specific songs and acts that fall under more than one category of musical styles and this is true with disco / jazz , rock , pop, and funk especially.
Some artists / releases were aimed at discos specifically , they are the easier ones to label . At other times an artist might stick a singular song or two on their LP that falls under the disco label while the rest doesn't. Many Motown acts did this. Working in a record store, this became challenging. I recall Alicia Bridges debut LP. On it was one disco song , I LOVE THE NIGHTLIFE , the rest was rock , pop. But that was the hit, this one disco song on the LP . Then the debate was, where to file her LP in the record store? ....and for me....do I have an obligation to warn the buyer the rest of the album does not sound like this?