I largely agree with you But, I think if KC came out 5 years earlier you'd have a different opinion of him.

fred12 said:

in my opinion, DISCO=KC and The Sunshine Band, Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, The Village People, The BEE GEES, George McCrae

Funk=Sly and The Family Stone, Parliament/Funkadelic, The Bar-Kays, Graham Central Station, Kool and The Gang,

Soul=Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Gladys Knight and The Pips, Curtis Mayfield, Sam and Dave,

[Edited 10/21/15 17:20pm]

phunkdaddy said:

Ego101 said:

REAL Funk is a BLACK thing!

The rest was/is easily 'adaptable' for less naturally soulful people.

KC and the☀️ Band were acceptable to blacks. His love for soul music was authentic. Nothing fake about it. I remember as a kid my mother loved them too. I remember they were on a special on NBC one year and she got a kick out of KC jamming so hard he kicked his shoes off and kept playing. In elementary school we used to talk about KC's and his horn section. I don't see how these guys can be labeled purely disco. It wasn't their fault they got lumped into it anymore than Chic. Chic was actually closer to it than KC. Chic's first hit Dance,Dance,Dance is pure disco. Great topic Soul Alive.

I always considered KCSB "Soul/R&B" and not "Disco," although their chief fame came when Disco was raging hot.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Kc Sunshine band sounded totally different from guys like Ohio Players, Kool Gang, EWF and those guys. Their sound was similar to tje band Sun too me for some reason. Which I have rated as a 2nd to 3rd tier funk band.

I always said that KCSB were a LOT like Sun TOO! It's the horn section! U have good taste and good EARS!

phunkdaddy said:

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Kc Sunshine band sounded totally different from guys like Ohio Players, Kool Gang, EWF and those guys. Their sound was similar to tje band Sun too me for some reason. Which I have rated as a 2nd to 3rd tier funk band.

I have to disagree with you on Sun. Sun was a funky band particularly on their first 3 albums Live On,Dream On , Sunpower, and Sunburn. They started to fall off after Sunburn because some of the members were cut loose after their second album and later became Dayton. They just seemed to lose juice after Sunburn and the grit that the original members had. I think Sun had a totally different distinctive sound than KC and the Sunshine Band. You're right though in one aspect. They weren't top tier but pretty damn funky nevertheless. Just my

Agreed! Sun fell off after "Sunburn" and adopted those corny "Star Wars" album covers until 1982 when they recorded their 2nd to last album on Capitol, "Let There Be Sun." The single, "Slamm Dunk The Ffunk!" was TIGHT!!!! Too bad they couldn't score a hit after "Radiation Level" and "Pure Fire" tho! Plus, their name was SO GENERIC and I think it inevitably did them in.

I also remember being in high school and grabbin' my weekly Billboard magazine and knowing a particular chart to have first been called "Soul" then "Black" then "R&B." Myself, I preferred when it was called the "Black" chart, but for whatever reason(s), Billboard felt the need 2 change it 3x. I guess they got rid of the "Black" chart cuz there was no "White" chart??? Now it's even WORSE. It's "R&B"/"Hip Hop" and a separate "Adult R&B!" UGH!!!! Makes ya wanna slit your WRISTS! :-O (Well...not REALLY, but YOU know what I mean!) LOL! Case in point: When Teena Marie hit #1 with "Ooo La La La" back in 1988, she topped the "Black Singles" chart. Too many labels!!!! I hope I didn't digress TOO MUCH and I apologize if I have.

whitechocolatebrotha said:

Case in point: When Teena Marie hit #1 with "Ooo La La La" back in 1988, she topped the "Black Singles" chart.

They should have kept it like that.

whitechocolatebrotha said:

I also remember being in high school and grabbin' my weekly Billboard magazine and knowing a particular chart to have first been called "Soul" then "Black" then "R&B." Myself, I preferred when it was called the "Black" chart, but for whatever reason(s), Billboard felt the need 2 change it 3x. I guess they got rid of the "Black" chart cuz there was no "White" chart??? Now it's even WORSE. It's "R&B"/"Hip Hop" and a separate "Adult R&B!" UGH!!!! Makes ya wanna slit your WRISTS! :-O (Well...not REALLY, but YOU know what I mean!) LOL! Case in point: When Teena Marie hit #1 with "Ooo La La La" back in 1988, she topped the "Black Singles" chart. Too many labels!!!! I hope I didn't digress TOO MUCH and I apologize if I have.

That's because when it was called the "Black Chart", black music actually sounded "black". Hell, when everything became dull, rhythmless, and never got faster than a Lawrence Welk tempo, they sure as hell couldn't call it the "Black Chart" then because those are things that are normally associated with the whitest of "white".

Disco is fluffy dance music, funk is more the heavy metal of dance music, more nasty, soul is more spiritual, more based on the black church.

2freaky4church1 said:

Disco is fluffy dance music, funk is more the heavy metal of dance music, more nasty, soul is more spiritual, more based on the black church.

Yes, i love your definition,i agree with it.

whitechocolatebrotha said:

phunkdaddy said:

LittleBLUECorvette said: I have to disagree with you on Sun. Sun was a funky band particularly on their first 3 albums Live On,Dream On , Sunpower, and Sunburn. They started to fall off after Sunburn because some of the members were cut loose after their second album and later became Dayton. They just seemed to lose juice after Sunburn and the grit that the original members had. I think Sun had a totally different distinctive sound than KC and the Sunshine Band. You're right though in one aspect. They weren't top tier but pretty damn funky nevertheless. Just my

Agreed! Sun fell off after "Sunburn" and adopted those corny "Star Wars" album covers until 1982 when they recorded their 2nd to last album on Capitol, "Let There Be Sun." The single, "Slamm Dunk The Ffunk!" was TIGHT!!!! Too bad they couldn't score a hit after "Radiation Level" and "Pure Fire" tho! Plus, their name was SO GENERIC and I think it inevitably did them in.

I like one of their latter day songs too called Legs when they were on an independent label called

Air City I think. What happened to Sun some of the original members weren't pleased with the

direction of the band for whatever reason after Sunpower and were released by the band's manager and executive producer Beau Ray Fleming and they held tight for Sunburn but seemed

to lose some of it's bite afterwards when they replaced some of the original members. I love their

debut album too. Just Wanna Make Love(Come Flick My Bic) is still one of my favorite jams today.

what would you guys say was the very first disco song? I have seen experts swear that "Love's Theme" by Love Unlimited Orchestra (1973) is the first real disco song,while others think that George McCrae's "Rock Your Baby" (1974) is actually the very first song that could be called disco.In a book about Gamble and Huff and the Philadelphia sound,the argument is made that "Bad Luck" by Harold Melvin and the BlueNotes is the first disco song.

Discuss

[Edited 10/22/15 23:06pm]

SoulAlive said:

what would you guys say was the very first disco song? I have seen experts swear that "Love's Theme" by Love Unlimited Orchestra (1973) is the first real disco song,while others think that George McCrae's "Rock Your Baby" (1974) is actually the very first song that could be called disco.In a book about Gamble and Huff and the Philadelphia sound,the argument is made that "Bad Luck" by Harold Melvin and the BlueNotes is the first disco song.

Discuss

[Edited 10/22/15 23:06pm]

I might get the side eye for this, but the bassline of this song sounds like it gave birth to disco 10 years earlier

Hamad said:

SoulAlive said:

what would you guys say was the very first disco song? I have seen experts swear that "Love's Theme" by Love Unlimited Orchestra (1973) is the first real disco song,while others think that George McCrae's "Rock Your Baby" (1974) is actually the very first song that could be called disco.In a book about Gamble and Huff and the Philadelphia sound,the argument is made that "Bad Luck" by Harold Melvin and the BlueNotes is the first disco song.

Discuss

[Edited 10/22/15 23:06pm]

I don't really consider Mc Crae's Rock Your Baby a disco record. I consider to be straight R&B

especially the way McCrae croons on it. I don't claim to know the actual first disco record but

I would say MSFB would probably be among the first. The Sound of Philadelphia(Soul Train Theme),

Love Is The Message, and Let's Go Disco are as disco as you can get.

phunkdaddy said:

I can dig it!

2freaky4church1 said:

Disco is fluffy dance music, funk is more the heavy metal of dance music, more nasty, soul is more spiritual, more based on the black church.