Kool & the Gang

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<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; background-color: #f9f9f9;">
</td></tr><tr><th>Origin</th><td>Jersey City, New Jersey, USA</td></tr><tr><th>Years active</th><td>1964 – Present</td></tr><tr><th>Genres</th><td>R&B
Soul
Funk</td></tr><tr><th>Labels</th><td>MCA</td></tr><tr><th>Members</th><td> Robert Bell
Ronald Bell
George Brown
Robert Mickens
Dennis Thomas
Clifford Adams
James "J.T." Taylor
Rick Westfield
Claydes Charles Smith</td></tr>

Kool & The Gang

Kool & the Gang was a highly successful R&B/soul/funk/disco group. They originally formed in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1964. They went through several musical phases in their career. They started out as practitioners of R&B and funk, eventually went through a phase where they were a smooth disco ensemble, and wound up the successful period of their career recording tunes that were a mixture of pop and R&B.

Kool & the Gang is one of the most sampled artists of all time.

1 History
2 Discography
- 2.1 Albums
- 2.2 Singles
3 Partial Chart Success
4 Mistaken Identity
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] History

Image:KoolAndTheGangCollage-1000.jpg The group's main members over the years included brothers Robert Bell (known as "Kool") on bass (b. October 8, 1950, Youngstown, Ohio) and Ronald Bell on tenor saxophone (b. November 1, 1951, Youngstown, Ohio); George Brown on drums (b. January 5, 1949); Robert Mickens on trumpet; Dennis Thomas on alto saxophone; Claydes Charles Smith on guitar (b. September 6, 1948, d. June 20, 2006), trombonist Clifford Adams, and Rick Westfield on keyboards. The Bell brothers' father was an acquaintance of Thelonious Monk and the brothers were friends with Leon Thomas. It should be pointed out that the late guitarist Claydes Charles Smith wrote many of Kool & The Gang's biggest hits, including "Joanna", "Hollywood Swinging", and "Celebration".

In 1964 Robert formed an instrumental band called the Jazziacs with five high school friends. They changed their name to Kool & the Gang and 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 1980's "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 fame quickly diminished in the later part of the decade, though they continued releasing albums throughout the 80s and 1990s. Two of their more famous songs from this period were "Fresh" and the big hit "Cherish", part of their album Emergency.

"Jungle Boogie" was included on the soundtrack to the 1994 film 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.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Kool and the Gang (album) <center>1969	Live at PJ's <center>1971	Live at the Sex Machine <center>1971	Music Is the Message <center>1972
Good Times <center>1972	Wild and Peaceful <center>1973	Light of Worlds <center>1974	Spirit of the Boogie <center>1975
Open Sesame <center>1976	Love & Understanding <center>1976	Behind the Eyes <center>1976	The Force <center>1977
Everybody's Dancin' <center>1978	Ladies' Night <center>1979	Celebrate! <center>1980	Something Special <center>1981
As One <center>1982	In the Heart <center>1983	Emergency <center>1984	Forever <center>1986
Sweat <center>1989	Unite <center>1993	State of Affairs <center>1996	Gangland <center>2001

[edit] Singles

Year	Single	Chart Position
1969	"Kool And The Gang"	#59 US
1969	"The Gang's Back Again"	#85 US
1970	"Let The Music Take Your Mind"	#78 US
1970	"Funky Man"	#87 US
1973	"Funky Stuff"	#29 US
1974	"Jungle Boogie"	#4 US
1974	"Hollywood Swinging"	#6 US
1974	"Higher Plane"	#37 US, #1 R&B
1975	"Rhyme Time People"	#63 US
1975	"Spirit of the Boogie"/"Summer Madness"	#35 US, #1 R&B
1975	"Caribbean Festival"	#55 US
1976	"Love And Understanding (Come Together)"	#77 US
1976	"Open Sesame (Part 1)"	#55 US
1979	"Ladies' Night"	#8 US, #1 R&B, #9 UK
1980	"Too Hot"	#5 US, #23 UK
1980	"Hangin' Out"	#52 UK
1980	"Celebration"	#1 US, #1 R&B, #7 UK
1981	"Jones vs. Jones"	#39 US, #17 UK
1981	"Take It To The Top"	#15 UK
1981	"Take My Heart (You Can Have It If You Want It)"	#17 US, #1 R&B, #29 UK
1982	"Steppin' Out"	#88 US, #12 UK
1982	"Get Down on It"	#10 US, #3 UK
1982	"Big Fun"	#21 US, #14 UK
1982	"Let's Go Dancin' (Ooh La, La, La)"	#30 US, #6 UK
1982	"Hi De Hi, Hi De Ho"	#29 UK
1983	"Joanna"	#2 US, #1 R&B. #2 UK
1983	"Straight Ahead"	#15 UK
1984	"Tonight"	#13 US
1984	"When You Say That You Love Somebody (In The Heart)"	#7 UK
1984	"Misled"	#10 US, #28 UK
1985	"Fresh"	#9 US, #11 UK
1985	"Cherish"	#2 US, #4 UK
1985	"Emergency"	#18 US, #50 UK
1986	"Victory"	#10 US, #30 UK
1987	"Stone Love"	#10 US, #45 UK
1987	"Holiday"	#66 US
1987	"Special Way"	#72 US
1988	"Celebration '88"	#56 UK
2006	"Steppin' Into Love"