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Kool & The Gang are an American jazz/R&B/soul/funk/disco group. They originally formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.A. in 1964. They went through several musical phases during the course of their recording career, starting out with a purist jazz sound, then becoming practitioners of R&B and funk, progressing to a smooth pop-funk ensemble. They have sold over 70 million albums worldwide.
HistoryThe group's
In 1964 Robert formed an instrumental band called the Jazziacs with five high-school friends. They changed their name to Kool & the Gang and were signed by Gene Redd to his new record label Redcoach Records in 1969. They 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, with 1973's Wild and Peaceful breaking into the mainstream with "Jungle Boogie" and "Hollywood Swinging." Many reviews see the Gang's 1974 album Light of Worlds and 1975 album Spirit of the Boogie as the greatest achievements of the band, with the 1975 single "Summer Madness" gaining much attention. However, after the release of those albums the band abandoned deep funk music and switched to pop-funk.
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''. Their only #1 hit was 1980's "Celebration," from Celebrate!, co-produced by Eumir Deodato
. More international hits followed in the early 1980s, including "Big Fun," "Get Down on It" and "Joanna." Their 1984 album Emergency yielded four top-20 pop hits, including "Fresh" and "Cherish." Their chart presence stopped after the Forever. Taylor left the group amicably to pursue à solo career.
"Jungle Boogie" was featured on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino's well known cult classic Pulp Fiction. The band released the album "Still Kool" in 2007.
"Hollywood Swinging" was sampled by DJ Kool in his song "Let Me Clear My Throat," and by rapper Mase on "Feel So Good."
Kool & the Gang's "Summer Madness" from their 1974 album Light of Worlds has been sampled numerous times. Most notably, it was used by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince for their 1991 single "Summertime." A live version of the track recorded at the Rainbow Theatre in London was released in 1976 on the Love & Understanding album (De-Lite DEP 2018). Live at PJ's' track "N.T" has been sampled extensively by artists such as Boogie Down Productions, Brand Nubian, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, N.W.A and Kris Kross.
Discography
Copyright Citations
This article is licensed under the GNU License
Click here for original article: Kool & the Gang
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Photo by: thugradio.net
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