Kool and the Gang - Classic or Dud?

Their self-titled album is top-notch. They are SO classic.

Chuck, I don't hear Foreigner in "Easy Lover" at all. Is it the gospel connection? The chords in "Midnight Blue" sort of sound like Coltrane to me, though.

No, no, no -- it's all in the guitar riff! and maybe the vocals.

Sincerely,

Stan Lee

They. Must. Be. Stopped.

Also, apart from EW&F, they were the funk act that did disco the best, with both "Open Sesame" and "Ladies' Night" being shining examples. donut bitch is so OTM about the key changes in "Ladies." Most songs will give you one climactic shift, but "Ladies" gives you two and they're both gorgeous!

I cant believe I never posted on this but shakey is OTM

groove to this everyone

Light of Worlds is a great album. It has the anti-heroin "Rhyme Time People" and the pro-fruit "Fruit Man."

Their 69 debut album and Music is the Message are both untouchable.

I adore "Misled."

hurrah

Once pronounced by Bruno Brookes on Radio 1 as "My-sold."

did these guys have the best videos or what?

I can't get over this "Joanna" video, so fantastic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsklsxReSe0&feature=av2e

this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s09LuDYX12g

I know jack shit about album tracks, but the singles were pretty undeniably classic. especially "Too Hot" and "Celebration".

oh yeah, those two songs totally rule the universe

you can totally divide this band into 70s and 80s hits, kinda like Genesis or something

known the song forever, but just realized tonite that this was them --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTF_mkfQ894

(this would be the "80s" period... which, I gotta say, not sure I like any less than their 70s period at this point!)

I actually just recently got a collection of Kool & the Gang's early to mid 70s stuff called "The Funk Collection" and it slays. I knew a couple of the singles like "Hollywood Swinging" and of course "Jungle Boogie", but the whole disc is over the top groovy and I highly recommend the disc.

yeah the 70s stuff is simply the best, untouchable ... but i'm loving their 80s era tonight for some reason

"Hollywood Swinging", "Jungle Boogie", sure .. but I guess you had some "oh yeah!" moments when you heard, "Funky Stuff", "Summer Madness" etc, eh earl?

"Too Hot" is genius. Unforgettable.

Kool and the Gang is definitely the most JBs sounding of those 70s funk groups, mostly because of the horn arrangements. I think I had heard "Funky Stuff" but never put it together with being a Kool and the Gang tune.

How deep is that early Kool & the Gang catalog, is this kind of the cream of of the funk or does it run pretty thick on their early LPs? I figure there are probably some ballads on each of the albums, as all of those bands did some smooth stuff usually along side the jams.

This is the track listing from "The Funk Collection"

1. Kool And The Gang
2. Hollywood Swinging
3. Funky Stuff
4. Whos Gonna Take The Weight (Pts 1 And 2)
5. Rhyme Time People
6. Electric Frog (Part 1)
7. Raw Hamburger
8. Spirit Of The Boogie
9. Sunshine And Love
10. Open Sesame
11. Kool It (Here Comes The Fuzz)
12. The Penguin
13. Cosmic Energy
14. Summer Madness
15. Winter Sadness
16. Jungle Boogie

Binging on these tonight and they were amazing. If any band has a better 6 singles than Fresh, Too Hot, Get Down On It, Misled, Steppin Out and Cherish then I don't know them, and that's ignoring the biggest ones. No other reason to revive the thread than to say that but also check out those two videos above because they'll enrich your life

Hang on, summer madness too. That beats all. Fuck they were good

Celebration sparks joy, even just thinking of it

Really overdue for a boxset

sickest band

Super classic, definitely a contender for most underrated band. The hits alone ...

one of those absolutely monster bands which is known for just a few songs but just has an amazing and deep catalog. Like their contemporaries War, except they had a longer run of classic singles. All the talk about them turning into a lightweight band ignores the fact they were so good at both the hard funk and the breezy shit. Celebration might be overplayed but I’ve grown to love it (when before I was sick of it.) I just had to take time to recognize just how much better they were than I already thought. I don’t doubt their recent incarnations aren’t any good, but they were so sick for such a long time.

otm. i grew up with it, so i don't mind the 80s stuff too much; certainly don't seek it out though. 70s stuff is alltime. and yeah- they were definitely a tight group with tons of chops. war feels like a good comparison in the sense that they have some absolutely gargantuan classic singles but no truly canon-acknowledged "classic album." the listmania of recent music journalism hasn't forgotten them entirely, but their status as a "greatest hits=good enough" corporate legacy band is kind of unfortunate and a disservice to their previous material imo.

(a quick peek at spotify and their top five is all 80s pop stuff, collectively approaching half a billion streams)

my jam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC3vI2DD4nA

Who's Gonna Take the Weight is just monumental

Word going around that George "Funky" Brown has passed.

https://apnews.com/article/george-brown-drummer-kool-gang-0c576964cc355bce03f779e81a7365aa