Kool & the Gang

Like the quite similar Earth, Wind & Fire, Kool & the Gang never enjoyed the critical cachet of James Brown or George Clinton but are sampled almost as often by hip-hop DJs and spun just as often by oldies DJs. Maybe Kool & the Gang didn't boast the conceptual innovations or iconoclastic lyrics that impress music writers, but they did have the funky grooves that rappers like and the juicy sing-along hooks that radio fans like.

Jersey City's Bobby Bell was a close friend of Thelonious Monk, so it made sense that his two sons, bassist Robert "Kool" Bell and saxophonist-keyboardist Ronald "Khalis Bayyan" Bell, should become musicians. The brothers recruited neighborhood pals George Brown (drums), Dennis Thomas (alto sax), Robert Mickens (trumpet), Clifford Adams (trombone), Charles Smith (guitar), Ricky West (keyboards), and Woody Sparrow (guitar) to form a soul-jazz band in the style of the Crusaders. They were good enough to back up McCoy Tyner and Pharoah Sanders in local clubs, but audiences preferred the songs where the horn riffs were backed by funky dance grooves. And so the Jazziacs became the Soul Town Band, then the New Dimensions, and finally Kool & the Gang.

They first recorded for the small indie label De-Lite in 1969, featuring their mix of soul-jazz instrumen-tals and party jams on their studio debut, Kool & the Gang, and two subsequent live albums, Live at the Sex Machine and Live at P.J.'s. They had Top 40 R&B hits right from the start, but it was the 1973 album Wild and Peaceful that pushed them into the R&B Top 5 and then the pop Top 10 with three irresistible singles, "Funky Stuff," "Jungle Boogie," and "Hollywood Swinging." This was unabashed party music, full of ensemble chants, bleating whistles, fat bass lines, and sharp horn riffs.

The band continued in that vein on Light of Worlds, Spirit of the Boogie, and Love & Understanding (the latter is noteworthy for its three impressive live tracks), but 1977–78 was a dry period commercially as the disco era frowned on Kool & the Gang's loose and greasy approach to dance music. Finally the band gave in and hired a true lead singer and an outside producer, as music-biz types had so often advised. Vocalist James "J.T." Taylor (no relation to the pop-folk singer) came aboard in 1977, and producer Eumir Deodato in 1979.

Their first collaboration, "Ladies' Night," topped the R&B charts and hit the pop Top 10. The jazz influence was gone; the funk had been minimized and the disco beat had been accommodated, but the chorus hook was hard to get out of your head. The Ladies' Night album included another hit single, "Too Hot," and the template was set for eight years of hits.

One line in "Ladies' Night" ("Come on, let's all celebrate") inspired Khalis Bayyan to write "Celebration," an anthem so contagious that it not only topped both charts but also became the theme song of the 1980 World Series, the 1981 Super Bowl, the 1981 NBA Championship, and the 1981 return of the Iran hostages. It has been a staple of high school graduations and wedding receptions ever since. The Celebrate! album included that single and the like-minded "Take It to the Top."

Deodato also produced Something Special and As One, which pursued the successful formula with diminishing returns. When Jim Bonnefond became coproducer with the band on In the Heart and Emergency, the music got softer yet, yielding bland bal-lad hits such as "Joanna" and "Cherish" and generic dance tracks such as "Fresh" and "Straight Ahead."

Taylor left the group in 1987 to pursue a moderately successful solo career, though he returned to Kool & the Gang for the respectable 1995 comeback album State of Affairs. That would be the only listenable Kool & the Gang record recorded after 1987. A live album recorded without Taylor and released under various titles (Greatest Hits Live, The Great Kool & the Gang Live, Ladies' Night: Greatest Hits Live, Live in Concert, Live on Stage, and Too Hot Live) is mediocre, and Gangland, a stab at hip-hop, is embarrassing.

The group's tracks have been divided and sorted into dozens of compilations. The best look at the pre-1979 soul-jazz era is the 16-track The Best of Kool & the Gang 1969–1976 and the 16-track Hollywood Swinging. Kool Jazz focuses on the early tracks that best showcase the band's jazz leanings. The 17-track Celebration: The Best of Kool & the Gang 1979–1987 best documents the latter period. Both eras are covered on the 21-track, hit-laden Very Best of Kool & the Gang. The 12 Inch Collection & More and Everything's Kool & the Gang both serve up extended club remixes of the dance hits. Budget compilations such as Kool Funk Essentials, 20th Century Masters -- The Millennium Collection, Greatest Hits, All-Time Greatest Hits, Kool & the Gang Spin Their Top Hits, and Sweat offer less than a dozen cuts apiece and should be avoided (GEOFF HIMES)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide