Best From Artist 54 - Kool & The Gang

[paul]

OK, so I liked "Open Sesame" a whole lot "Ladies Night" was good and for personal reasons, hated "Get Down On It." So what does that leave, "Summer Madness" of course :D
Not quite club material but awesome to listen to.

[HustleBaby]

Hi Paul :D

"Open Sesame" and "Hollywood is Swinging" is the best from Kool & The Gang! "Ladies Night" is nice, but it has a slower tempo and not as funky but its still nice to listen to. If anyone puts down "Let's Celebrate", I'm Gonna SCCRRREEAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMM :lol: :lol: :lol: !!!!

*DISCO DELIGHT*

[HustleBaby]

Did I mention one of the best slow songs of all time come from this group "Too Hot" - a beautiful song that's still popular today :P .

*DELIGHTFUL*

[Forrrce]

I used to simply like Kool & The Gang until I found one of their older LPs ('Music Is The Message') in a second hand shop in 1985. Within a few years I absolutely loved them and played all the albums from 1969-'76 constantly. My 'best of' would simply be too long...but I gots to give props to:

'Kool & The Gang'
'Kool's/The Gang's Back Again'
'Let The Music Yake Your Mind'
'Raw Hamburger'
'Give It Up'
'Chocolate Buttermilk'
'Pneumonia'
'Who's Gonna Take The Weight'
'North, East, South, West'
'Soul Vibration'
'More Funky Stuff'
'Jungle Jazz'
'Summer Madness'
'I Believe In Music'
'Ladies' Night'
'Hangin' Out'(great bass line and more like street 'Gang of old))
'Too Hot'
'Get Down On It' (for old time's sake...don't need it now, though)

[jazz_pilgrim]

Kool and the Gang - one of the Greats!!

My favourite track has also got to be Summer Madness! It is so atmospheric! For me it is as if you are sitting alone in your favourite spot in the hills, where it is now very peaceful - it has just turned autumn and you are quietly reflecting on the crazy wonderful things that happened in the summer that has just gone = Summer Madness! 8)

I would also like to mention some other tracks:

On the jazz side - I Remember John W Coltrane
On the funk side - Funky Stuff
On the disco side - Open Sesame

From their 1979 onwards commercial era, my favourite track is Get Down On It

:)

[markydefad]

I would pick:

"Too Hot" (sooo sexy cool...perfect morning tune)
"Ladies Night" (had that pulsating groove copied by Carl Carlton on "She's A Bad Mama Jama" & Leon Haywood on "Don't Push It, Don't Force It"--LOVED all those records!!!)
"Take My Heart ( You Can Have It)" (Robert Palmer did a nice cover)
"Get Down On It" ("wutcha wanna do? do ya wanna get down?")
and
YES, I liked "CELEBRATION" (the perfect party starter!!!) :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P

[QUINNY]

Paul: Ya didn't think these guys were good enough 'til now? :)

Their Light of The World LP has very special memories.
Otherwise put me down for all their hits pre 1982 or thereabouts. The last record I really liked by them was Ooh La La la (let's go Dancin'). I know its cod reggae but I loved the sheer happiness of the track AND the fact that it was something completely different from them.

I agree with Marky. Celebration whether you've heard it 1 or 1000 times is the perfect party record. Perhaps I'll have it played LOUDLY at my funeral.

They were really interesting in their early days. We used to get the odd single by them (on Mojo in the UK?), but invariably they were a little too jazzy for any huge appeal.

I personally think the horns on Open Sesame are about the best from any band of the whole disco period. Talk about tight!!!!

[paul]

Hey Quinny. Like Delight, I too have had way too much "Celebration." That's a small part of the reason they didn't get in earlier :lol:
Oh, Delight. You can stop screaming now 8)

[efunk_adelic]

I like them & the label De-lite 69-76


favorite cuts:

Higher Plane :D :D 8) 8) their jam!!!!!
Hollywood Swinging
Funky Stuff
Open Sesame
Summer Madness
Spirit Of The Boogie
Rhyme Tyme People

add:
Ladies Night (almost cheesy) but still likes it kinda... lol


anything after this is ... i won't say to affend Hustlebaby... :D

[Marcio**]

I was reading that the dance legend Gregory Hines passed way in this month (August/2003) and James J.T. Taylor from Kool and Gang just did the theme of the dance film "Tap" with Gregory Hines.



I like "Too Hot" and "Joanna" :) :) :)



marcio

[Outsider]

Kool And The Gang is one of my favorite bands from the disco era. I can't just pick one favorite song of theirs, so here is a list of favorites of mine:

"Ladies Night"
"Get Down On It"
"Too Hot"
"Jungle Boogie"
"Hollywood Swinging"

And yeah, "Celebration" isn't one of my favorite songs of theirs.

:evil:

[nrgbeat]

I used to like "Too Hot". Haven't heard that in a while.

I was crazy about "Celebration" when it first came out, but has become overplayed. Still a good song though.

I also like the reggae flavored "Let's Go Dancing" , "Take My Heart" and "Get Down On It".

"Jungle Boogie" and "Hollywood Swinging" don't do much for me.

[midas]

first one i heard from kool&the gang was get down on it
(amercan force radio-keflavik)and i went to the biggest record store in reykjavik
iceland and asked if they had kool&the gang?
he sayd check the c-category (he thought kool=cool)



1-get down on it
2-fresh
3-too hot
and too much played celebration

[Tony West]

Not to forget "Celebremos" DDS-503 1981

Why was this done? Could someone please explain.

However it was fun and got the punters in a state when I used to cut from the English to the Spanish versions of the song!!!


Regards, Tony

[Outsider]

Proof that disco didn't die in 1979 (like some people seem to think): "Celebration" went to No. 1 in 1981!

:evil:

[NickNack]

Not to forget "Celebremos" DDS-503 1981

Why was this done? Could someone please explain.

However it was fun and got the punters in a state when I used to cut from the English to the Spanish versions of the song!!!


Regards, Tony

I always thought it was done to attract the attention of the large Latino/Latina population in the clubs at the time, especially in cities like New York. Just something to bring a smile and celebrate their 'being', if you know what I mean. Disco had joyously brought so many diverse groups together. This was one way of acknowledging that fact.

Check out France Joli's "Te Olvidare" ("Gonna Get Over You", Spanish Version). :)

[paul]

Very well put Nicky.
I've heard both spanish version songs. In fact I'll follow up on your suggestion and look into getting a copy of Te Olvidare.

[Funky Dude]

Kool & The Gang, now that's "Funky Stuff" :D !!!! The first song I ever heard from them was obviously "Celebration" and I use to belt the living **** out of that song as it was my favourite for about a year! Though I don't play it much now I still enjoy listing to it when I sometimes play it. Anyhow my favourite Kool stuff is their early funky stuff, so many to list, here's my favourites from what I heard:

Kool It 1969
Give It Up 1969
Chocolate Buttermilk 1969
Let The Music Take Your Mind 1969
Who's Gonna Take The Weight 1970
Pneumonia 1970
Love The Life You Live 1971 :D :D :D
N.T. 1971
Soul Vibrations 1972
Electric Frog 1972
Jungle Boogie 1973
Hollywood Swinging 1973
Funky Stuff/More Funky Stuff 1973
This Is You, This Is Me 1973
Rhyme Tyme People 1974
Higher Plane 1974
Street Corner Symphony 1974
Light Of The Worlds 1974
Summer Madness 1974
Caribbean Festival 1975
Spirit Of The Boogie 1975 :D :D :D
Ride The Rhythm 1975
Open Sesame Pts 1 & 2 1976
Love & Understanding 1976
Slick Superchick 1977
Mighty Mighty High 1977
Hangin' Out 1979
Ladies Night 1979
Celebration 1980
Love Festival 1980
Get Down On It 1981
Hi De Hi Hi De Ho 1982
Big Fun 1982
Let's Go Dancin' 1982

The song I play the most is "Love The Life You Live", that is a scorcher!!!!!

I've also gotten quite a number of great rare Kool & The Gang videos from the 70s and early 80s from a funky collector in Italy and one of them was Kool & The Gang on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert 1975!!!!! It was FANTASTIC especially with "Spirit Of The Boogie", the screen wipe video effects are absolutely AWSOME :D !!!! And another GREAT clip I have to mention is "Open Sesame", the video effects are absolutely fantastic, at the beginning you see a chromakeyed white sillhouettified man with a beard saying "open sesame" and through the clip you see this FANTASTIC psychedelic colour effect happening in various segments in the clip :D !!!!! Also commenting on one of their more recent concerts they did at I think "House Of Blues" in 2001 was fantastic as Kool & The Gang kept their original style when performing their classics.

Kool & The Gang are an allround KOOOOOOOOL group :D :D :D !!!!!

_______________________________________________
AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!!!!! OI OI OI!!!!! :D :D :D

[NickNack]

Very well put Nicky.
I've heard both spanish version songs. In fact I'll follow up on your suggestion and look into getting a copy of Te Olvidare.

Hi Paul,

Her "Greatest Hits" CD on Unidisc has both versions in their full 7:19 glory. :)

[Nano]

At the time I only knew their J.T. Taylor phase, from then my favorites would be:

-"Take my heart" (you can have it... if you want it... ooooh yeah!)
-"Love festival"
-"Steppin' out"
and of course "Get down on it" and "Ladies Night"... but this two were a bit overplayed. Neither as much as "Celebration", of course! And I remember the "Ceeee-lebremos ya" Spanish version! Sucked big time! :lol: Last year I found a sound snippet in CDNow. I also remember Erik Estrada "singing" it at the end of a C.H.I.P.S. episode... yeeech!!! :o
All Spanish disco versions sucked. The only one which was a real hit was "Chiquitita" by ABBA...

Anyway, in the Nineties I came to found early K&TG stuff and of course now I love it. My picks are:
-"Summer madness" (and the live version arrangement kicks ass)
-"Funky stuff" (Pts. 1&2)
-"Wild & Peaceful" (10 excellent minutes of jam)

I remember when the J.T. Taylor version of the band came to Buenos Aires in 1995, they only did three songs from that period ("Hollywood swinging", "Funky stuff" and "Jungle boogie"), by then I was more interested on their first records. Nice show though.