Kool and the Gang - Spirit of the boogie

"Let's ride!"

My review of Kool and the Gang - 'Spirit of the Boogie'

I simply love the deep strong vocals in this track which are kind of haunting but playful, but the vocal chorus, in contrast, is extremely uplifting. The guitar riff is simple but effective and very catchy. There's some great horns too which help the track to build.

'Kool and the Gang' Mini Biography

Robert "Kool" Bell and his brother Ronald (also known by his Arabic name Khalis Bayyan) were originally part of a Jazz band called the 'Jazziacs' which later became 'Soul Town Band'. Their style slowly started to adapt to incorporate more of a raw funk sound, not too different to 'Sly and the Family Stone', who were also recording during the same period.

Their first, self titled album 'Kool and the Gang' was released in 1969 on the 'De-lite' label, which was later acquired by Polydor, and there singles from the album were released. After 4 more Albums they released the album 'Wild and Peaceful' which produced their first top 40 hit with 'Funky Stuff'

Their success diminished as more dance orientated music began to fill the charts in the mid-late seventies, however the introduction of a new lead vocalist James JT Taylor and production team gave the band more of a 'popular' sound and resulted in chart success.

Kool and the Gang's most popular chart successes were with the singles 'Jungle Boogie' and 'Hollywood Swinging' which both got into the top 10 in the US.
'Celebration' which reached number 1 in the US; 'Joanna' which reached number 2 in the UK; and 'Get down on it' which reached number 3 in the UK. In total, Kool and the Gang secured no less than 18 top 40 UK hit singles (See below for a full list of Kool and the Gang's UK Top 40 chart positions).

They released both albums and singles with De-lite records until 1985, at which point they started to release under the Mercury, a Polydor subsidary.

Their music spanned different styles and genres from melodic jazz, raw funk with chant like vocals to smooth ballads and soulful dance hits, but they all one thing in common, they all still sound kool today.

Links

Official website for Kool and the Gang
Kool Merchandise shop

Some Uses and samples of 'Kool and the Gang's Tracks

• 'Open Sesame' won a Grammy award for the 'Saturday Night Fever' movie soundtrack
• 'Jungle Boogie' featured in the movie 'Pulp Fiction'
• 'Summertime' was covered by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
• 'Hollywood Swinging' featured in 'Grand Theft Auto III'
• 'Jungle Boogie' was sample by 'TLC' in 'Ain't 2 proud 2 beg'
• 'Give It Up' was sampled by 'N.W.A' on 'Real Niggaz'
• 'N.T' was sampled by 'Q-Tip' on 'Breath and Stop'
• 'Hollywood Swinging' was sampled by 'Miles Davis' on 'The Doo-Bop Song'
• 'Gang Starr' on 'DJ Premier in Deep Concentration'
• 'DJ Kool' on 'Let Me Clear My Throat'
• 'Mase' on 'Feels So Good'
• 'Digable Planets' on 'Jimmi Diggin Cats'
• 'Pete Rock' on 'What's Next on the Menu'
• 'Tatyana Ali' on 'Boy You Knock Me Out'and by 'Pete Rock' on 'We Roll'

'Kool and the Gang' Band Members

• Robert Bell - Bass
• Ronald Bell (Khalis Bayyan) - Brass
• James 'JT' Taylor - vocals
• Earl Toon - vocals
• Clifford Adams - Trombone
• Charles Smith - Guitar
• Woody Sparrow - Guitar
• Robert "Spike" Michens - Trumpet
• Dennis Thomas - Alto sax
• Ricky West - Keyboard
• George Brown - Drums
• Skip Martin (Dazz Band) - vocals
• Odeen Mays - vocals
• Gary Brown - vocals

My other favorite tracks by 'Kool and the Gang'

• Jungle Boogie
• Music is the message
• Let the Music take your mind
• This is you, this is me
• Summer Madness
• Funky Granny
• Open Sesame

UK chart successes for 'Kool and the Gang'

• Joanna / Tonight Feb 1984 #2
• Get Down On It Dec 1981 #3
• Cherish May 1985 #4
• Ooh La La La (Let's Go Dancin') Oct 1982 #6
• Celebration Nov 1980 #7
• In The Heart Apr 1984 #7
• Ladies Night Oct 1979 #9
• Fresh Nov 1984 #11
• Steppin' Out Oct 1981 #12
• Big Fun Aug 1982 #14
• Take It To The Top May 1981 #15
• Straight Ahead Dec 1983 #16
• Jones v Jones Feb 1981 #17
• Too Hot Jan 1980 #23
• Misled Feb 1985 #28
• Take My Heart Mar 1982 #29
• Hi De Hi Hi De Ho Dec 1982 #29
• Victory Dec 1986 #30

'Kool and the Gang' Discography

albums

• Kool & The Gang - De-Lite Records - 1969
• Live At P.J.'s - De-Lite Records - 1971
• Live At The Sex Machine - De-Lite Records / Polydor Special - 1971
• The Best Of Kool And The Gang - De-Lite Records - 1971
• Good Times - De-Lite Records - 1972
• Music Is The Message - De-Lite Records / mojo- 1972
• Kool Jazz - De-Lite Records - 1973
• Wild And Peaceful - De-Lite Records / Polydor - 1973
• Light Of Worlds - Polydor / De-Lite - 1974
• Spirit Of The Boogie - De-Lite Records / Polydor- 1975
• Love & Understanding - Polydor / Delite - 1976
• Open Sesame - De-Lite Records / Victor Musical Industries - 1976
• Behind the eyes - 1976
• The Force - 1977
• Every body's dancin' - 1978
• Best Of... - De-Lite Records - 1979
• Ladies' Night - De-Lite Records / Disques Vogue / Metronome / Mercury - 1979
• Celebrate! - De-Lite Records / Metronome / Disques Vogue - 1980
• Something Special - Metronome / De-Lite Records / Disques Vogue - 1981
• As One - Metronome / De-Lite Records / Disques Vogue - 1982
• At Their Best - Metronome / De-Lite Records / Disques Vogue - 1983
• In The Heart - Metronome / De-Lite Records / Disques Vogue - 1983
• Never Cool With - Disques Vogue - 1983
• Emergency - Metronome / De-Lite Records / Disques Vogue - 1984
• Sweat - 1989
• Unite - 1993
• State of afairs - 1995
• Gangland - 2001
• Kool and the Gang Gold (2x cd)
• Still Kool - 2007

Singles

• Kool & The Gang / Raw Hamburgers - De-Lite Records - 1969
• Kools Back Again / The Gangs Back Again - De-Lite Records - 1969
• Let The Music Take Your Mind / Chocolate Buttermilk - De-Lite Records - 1969
• Can't Stop (Doing It To You) / Kool It (Here Comes The Fuzz) - De-Lite Records - 1970
• Love The Life You Live / The Penguin - Mojo - 1971
• N.T. - De-Lite Records - 1971
• Who's Gonna Take The Weight - De-Lite Records - 1971
• Funky Stuff - De-Lite Records / Polydor - 1973
• Hollywood Swinging / Raw Hamburger - Polydor - 1973
• Jungle Boogie / North, East, South, West - De-Lite Records / Polydor - 1973
• Good Times / The Frog - De-Lite Records - 1974
• Higher Plane / Wild Is Love - Polydor - 1974
• Hollywood Swinging / Dujii - De-Lite Records / Polydor - 1974
• Jungle Boogie / Hollywood Swinging - De-Lite Records - 1974
• 
  Caribbean Festival - De-Lite Records - 1975
• Spirit Of The Boogie / Get Down With The Boogie - Polydor - 1975
• Spirit Of The Boogie / Summer Madness - De-Lite Records - 1975
• Love And Understanding (Come Together) / Sunshine And Love - De-Lite Records - 1976
• Open Sesame (Groove With The Genie) - De-Lite Records - 1976
• Super Band / Sunshine - De-lite Records - 1976
• Universal Sound - De-Lite Records - 1976
• Slick Superchick - De-Lite Records - 1977
• Summer Madness - De-Lite Records - 1977
• Everybody's Dancin / You Deserve A Break Today , Big Chief Funkum - De-Lite - 1978
• Hangin' Out / Ladies Night - De-Lite Records - 1979
• Ladies Night - Mercury / De-Lite Records / Metronome / Disques Vogue - 1979
• Too Hot - Mercury / De-Lite Records / Metronome / Disques Vogue - 1979
• Celebration - Disques Vogue / De-Lite Records - 1980
• Hangin' Out - De-Lite Records - 1980
• Jones Vs Jones - De-Lite Records / Disques Vogue - 1980
• Night People - De-Lite Records - 1980
• Take It To The Top - Disques Vogue / De-Lite Records / Metronome - 1980
• Big Fun - De-Lite Records - 1981
• Celebremos - De-Lite Records - 1981
• Get Down On It - De-Lite Records / Disques Vogue / - 1981
• Ooh La La La (Let's Go Dancing) - De-Lite Records - 1981
• Steppin' Out / Just Friends - De-Lite Records - 1981
• Take It To The Top - De-Lite Records - 1981
• Take My Heart - Disques Vogue / De-Lite Records- 1981
• Be My Lady - De-Lite Records - 1982
• Big Fun - Disques Vogue / De-Lite / Metronome - 1982
• Hi De Hi, Hi De Ho - De-Lite Records / Disqus vogues - 1982
• Street Kids - De-Lite Records - 1982
• Cherish - Disques Vogue - 1983
• Fresh - De-Lite Records - 1983
• In The Heart - De-Lite Records - 1983
• Joanna - De-Lite Records / Metronome - 1983
• Straight Ahead - De-Lite Records / Disqus vogues - 1983
• Tonight - De-Lite Records / Disqus vogues - 1983
• Cherish - De-Lite Records / Disqus vogues - 1984
• Emergency - Disques Vogue / De-Lite / Metronome - 1984
• Fresh - Disques Vogue / De-Lite / Metronome - 1984
• Misled - De-Lite Records / Metronome - 1984
• Peacemaker - Mercury - 1986
• Special Way - Mercury - 1986
• Stone Love - Mercury / Metronome - 1986
• Victory - Mercury - 1986
• Holiday - Metronome - 1987
• Stone Love - Metronome - 1987
• Rags To Riches - Mercury / Metronome - 1988
• Strong - Mercury / metronome - 1988
• Raindrops - Mercury / Metronome - 1989
• Kool Love - Telstar - 1990
• You Got My Heart On Fire - Metronome - 1990
• Tonight (New Version) - Metronome - 1991
• (Jump Up On The) Rhythm And Ride - RCA / StreetHeat - 1992
• Always - UCA Records - 1998

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