Kool and the Gang - Classic or Dud?

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