Kool and the Gang's surprising reemergence on the pop and R&B charts comes at the expense of the unbridled raucousness that once characterized the band's sound. It's also the result of a seemingly unlikely alliance with Brazilian pianist-composer-arranger Eumir Deodato, the first coproducer the group has ever employed.

The combination of Kool and Deodato isn't as unlikely as it first appears. If the Gang's riff-driven, chantlike, early-Seventies hits previewed the disco explosion from one direction, Deodato's slick transformations of familiar melodies into contemporary dance anthems ("Thus Sprach Zarathustra," "Moonlight Serenade") anticipated it from another. Kool's fall from favor in the late Seventies probably occurred because dancers had by then acquired a taste for music considerably less raw than the Gang was dishing out. Deodato seemed a good choice to smooth the rough edges.

Which is exactly what he's done: it's clearly a long way from "Jungle Boogie" to Ladies' Night. The title track, however, is the most successful example of a comfortable compromise between the almost purely rhythmic energy of vintage Kool and Deodato's more melodic approach. Elsewhere. things aren't so hot. Deodato has been a little too meticulous about suppressing the crazier aspects of the Gang's spirit, and he's all but buried the band's distinctively frenetic horn section. The problems are readily apparent in "Tonight's the Night," just the kind of repetitive, simple-minded, dance-chant tune the group used to do so well. The best Kool and the Gang records had a relentless monotony that was captivating, but "Tonight's the Night" is merely dull. There is a difference. (RS 312)

PETER KEEPNEWS