KOOL & THE GANG BIOGRAPHY
Kool & The Gang has sold over 70 million albums worldwide and influenced the music of three
generations. Thanks to songs like Celebration, Cherish, Jungle Boogie, Summer Madness and
Open Sesame, they’ve earned two Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, 25 Top Ten
R&B hits, nine Top Ten Pop hits, and 31 gold and platinum albums. Kool & The Gang has
performed continuously for the past 35 years, longer than any R&B group in history. Their
bulletproof funk and tough, jazzy arrangements have also made them the most sampled band of
all time.
In 1964 Khalis Bayyan (AKA Ronald Bell) and his brother, Robert “Kool” Bell, joined Jersey
City neighborhood friends Robert “Spike” Mickens, Dennis “Dee Tee” Thomas, Ricky Westfield,
George Brown, and Charles Smith to create a unique musical blend of jazz, soul and funk. At
first calling themselves the Jazziacs, they went through various names – The New Dimensions,
The Soul Town Band, Kool & The Flames – before settling on their moniker. Over the next
several years, they solidified their musical chemistry on the rough-and-tumble East Coast music
scene, supporting acts like Bill Cosby, Ritchie Havens and Richard Pryor. Their self-titled 1969
debut album introduced their signature instrumental sound and fierce horn arrangements, and
spawned their first Billboard R&B charted single, Kool and the Gang.
In 1969 Kool & The Gang released their self-titled debut album. It was the introduction to a
theme, music is the message, that Kool & The Gang stands by today. The instrumental album was
an expression of their deep love of music. It was also an introduction to their signature sound and
the fierce horn arrangements created by Khalis, Dee Tee, and Spike. Their debut album spawned
their first Billboard R&B charted single Kool and the Gang and later Let The Music Take Your
Mind.
In 1970, their audacious sophomore set Live At The Sex Machine peaked at #6 on Billboard’s
R&B chart and yielded three hit singles: Funky Man, Who’s Gonna Take The Weight and I
Want To Take You Higher. Next came The Best Of Kool & The Gang Featuring The Penguin,
Kool & The Gang Live at PJ’s, Music Is The Message, and Good Times, all of which helped
solidify a sound that wowed not only fans but such contemporaries as James Brown and Nina
Simone.
The band’s stellar reputation grew with each album, but 1973’s gold disc Wild & Peaceful took
Kool & The Gang to another level (#6 R&B, #33 Pop), spurred by the immortal party anthems
Funky Stuff, Hollywood Swinging and the platinum smash Jungle Boogie.
Hits like Higher Plane (#1 R&B), the classic Summer Madness (featured on the Grammywinning
movie soundtrack Rocky) and LPs Spirit of the Boogie, Love & Understanding and
Open Sesame followed. The latter’s title track was featured on the top-selling movie soundtrack
of all time, Saturday Night Fever, earning the group their second Grammy.
In 1979, Kool & The Gang unveiled a smooth new sound with Ladies Night. Produced by the
legendary Pop/Jazz musician Eumir Deodato, it became their first platinum album. The #1 R&B
title track also reached #8 at Pop. It was followed by Too Hot (#3 R&B, #5 Pop). The ’80s would
see them dominate the mainstream, starting with the double platinum-selling album Celebrate
(driven by the international monster hit Celebration, which spent six weeks atop the R&B chart
and became a #1 Pop single). Celebration, which played as the American hostages returned from
Iran, remains de rigueur at joyous occasions worldwide. The smashes Get Down On It, Take My
Heart, Let’s Go Dancing, Joanna, Tonight, Misled, the #1 R&B, #2 Pop giant Cherish and

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Последна редакция от yoko1 - 28.01.2010, 13:45