KC&The Sunshine Band

1970s

The group was formed by Harry Wayne Casey ("KC"), a record store employee and part-timer at TK Records in Miami. An introduction by Clarence Reid through a mutual friend was the beginning of the Casey-Finch musical connection. The initial members were just Casey and Finch (first starting out as songwriting collaborators), but Casey soon added guitarist Jerome Smith (June 18, 1953 - July 28, 2000^[1]) and drummer Robert Johnson, both TK studio musicians.

The first few songs, "Blow Your Whistle" (September 1973) and "Sound Your Funky Horn" (February 1974), were released as singles, and did well enough on the U.S. R&B chart and overseas that TK wanted a follow up single and album. However, while working on demos for KC & the Sunshine Band the song, "Rock Your Baby" (George McCrae) was created featuring Smith on guitar, and became a number one hit in 51 countries in mid 1974. The band's "Queen of Clubs", which featured uncredited vocals by McCrae, was a hit in the UK, peaking at #7, and they went on tour there in 1975.

With the release of the self titled triple platinum second album KC and the Sunshine Band in 1975 came the group's first major U.S. hit with "Get Down Tonight". It topped the R&B chart in April and the Billboard Hot 100 in August. "That's the Way (I Like It)" also became a number one hit in November 1975 and the group did well at the 1976 Grammy Awards. The 1976 album Part 3 yielded two number one singles: "I'm Your Boogie Man", "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty" and "Keep It Comin' Love" peaked at number two. Their success lasted until the fifth album; their last chart topping hit was "Please Don't Go" in December 1979, hitting #1 for one week in January 1980, and becoming the first #1 hit of the 1980s. With the declining popularity of disco, the group explored other styles and changed labels, joining Epic Records in 1980 after TK Records went bankrupt.

1980s

In 1981, the partnership between Finch, and Casey came to an acrimonious end. Two years after the release of the previous album, the group released two solo albums with new material, geared toward pop: The Painter and Space Cadet. These albums generated little success, but in 1982, a hit track called "Give It Up" on the album All in a Night's Work (recorded before Casey and Finch split partnership) brought a return to success in the UK, and appeared two years later in the U.S. Top 40. The song was also featured on the band's next album, 1984's KC Ten. Epic Records, however, refused to issue the song as a single due to its prior failure in the U.S. Because of this, a frustrated Casey formed Meca Records, releasing the single himself on this label in a final attempt to garner the song some success in America. It worked, but the album still failed to surpass expectations. This led to the group falling into stasis around 1985 with Casey's retirement.

1990s and beyond

A revival in the interest of disco music in 1991 brought Casey out of retirement. He reformed the group with entirely new members except for the percussionist and began touring once again. Some of the original members of the band are now deceased. The new band has released a large number of compilation albums through Rhino Records, along with some newly recorded material. The album Oh Yeah! was released in 1993 after a ten year gap between new albums (excluding compilations).

On July 28, 2000, Jerome Smith (rhythm guitar) died accidentally while working as a bulldozer operator.^[2]

In 2001, the band made a brief comeback into the music scene after an eight-year lull with the release of a new album titled I'll Be There For You. The album was praised by critics, but it failed to generate any impact on the charts or in sales. More recently, the group had an appearance in the 2003 remake of the movie The In-Laws.

Several KC/Finch songs have been included in the Dance Dance Revolution series of dance video games. "That's the Way (I Like It)" was included in the original Dance Dance Revolution, "Shake Your Booty" was in Dance Dance Revolution 4thMix and "Get Down Tonight" was in DDRMAX2 Dance Dance Revolution. The song "Keep It Comin' Love" was on the soundtrack of the movie, Blow, about 1970s and 1980s cocaine smuggler George Jung. Additionally, many KC/Finch songs, most frequently "I Get Lifted," have been sampled for hip hop songs. In 2005, "I'm Your Boogie Man", was featured in a rollerskating sequence in the movie, Roll Bounce.

Casey sang "Get Down Tonight" on American Idol on April 22, 2009 and, with his band, performed many of his greatest hits for the IBM Impact Smart SOA Conference on May 6, 2009 at The Venetian, Las Vegas, Nevada.