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1980s Kool & the Gang What are people's opinion on Kool & the Gang music of the 1980s. I've seen some people dismiss it as their "sell out" period and only like their 70s era. Me? I was a kid at that time and loved all of it. Still do. My first concert ever was one of theirs at age 7 with my mom, dad brother and grandma. Great memories! I can see people disliking Cherish and Joanna who were fans of the funky Jungle Boogie and Hollywood Swinging, but I really liked JT Taylor. One of my favorite later songs by them is Stone Love. | |
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Their 1981 album Something Special is their finest 80s album....a strong album all the way through."Take My Heart" and "Get Down On It" are excellent singles.
Other 80s songs I liked by them: "Joanna","Stone Love","Jones Vs.Jones","Take It To The Top","Let's Go Dancing (Ooh La La La)".
so yeah,I liked 80s Kool and the Gang
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they made some changes to their sound and did what they had to do to remain relevent in the 80s.Some would say they opted for a lightweight funk/pop sound but I enjoy those singles.I love both their 1970s and 1980s stuff. I lean towards their 1980s stuff more though. My favorite album from them is "Ladies Night". My least favorite would be stuff like "Joanna". Andy is a four letter word. | |
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I like "Joanna". Don't mind "Cherish" but I'm much more likely to skip it than "Joanna". 80s Kool & the Gang is a good fun time. Their upbeat stuff slaps and JT was one of the smoothest singers not just in R&B but music at large back in an era with a surplus of many of the greatest vocalists of all time. I remember reading up on the recruiting of artists for Band Aid and when the names that were in the studio were made aware that Kool and the Gang (who were touring the UK at the time) were joining the group, EVERYBODY was sweating at the idea of having to sing alongside JT  | |
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I thought you'd be more into the funkier stuff from the 70s. | |
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Love their 80s work, have known cherish, celebration and let’s go dancing since I was young, but I think my all time favourite of theirs is hi di hi hi di ho. Jt sounds fabulous on it | |
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"Sell out" is a fan's term for a band actually making money at their job and not struggling. It's a stupid term. "His song is in a commercial! He sold out." No bitch, he's using his art to make a living. Make your own art and you can decide what to do with it. "  don’t really care so much what people say about me because it is a reflection of who they r." |
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"Raindrops" is a good Chukki Booker and the gang song | |
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They were one of my favorite acts back in the early eighties and I loved most of their hits. By the time we got to songs like Cherish and Joanna I started to lose interest. But all of their other 80's hits were fabulous in my book! I was too young in the 70's to really know about them, but found an appreciation for their 70's stuff later on in life. RIP Prince: thank U 4 a funky Time... |
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Their new album "Perfect Union" is pretty good too. | |
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I think first exposure has a lot to do with it. I had previously heard stuff like "Jungle Boogie" and "Hollywood Swinging" on the radio but had no idea who made it. I was very young back then and didn't really pay attention to who made what until the disco era was in full swing. I loved disco so much that I started buying records and hey, you've got to pay attention to who made the songs if you want to buy them. . A funny story about how I found out about who Kool and The Gang really was. I used to love one of the Saturday morning TV shows called "Krofft Supershow" which had segments within the show called "Wonderbug", "Electra Woman and Dyna Girl", "Isis", and "Shazam/Captain Marvel". Hosting and performing within the show was a band called Kaptain Kool and The Kongs". Anyway, I had also just gotten into disco and saw a commercial for a TV Special that was coming on ABC one Friday night which featured several musical groups from that year. I can't remember all the guests. I do remember KC and The Sunshine Band was on there. When they were advertising the show and listing the names of the artists in the commercial that were going to be on the show, I remember hearing the words "Kool and the...." so I was thinking it was the group from the Saturday morning children's show. I sat through all of that show waiting for them until they finally announced "Kool and The Gang" and they came out and performed "Ladies Night". Oh, I was mad as hell. I loved the song though because I had heard it on the radio many times but I had been waiting on that group from the kids show all week. I definitely learned who Kool and The Gang was that night though. . . . [Edited 10/11/21 7:33am] Andy is a four letter word. | |
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One of their best songs,”Open Sesame” (from 1976) appears on the ‘Saturday Night Fever’ movie soundtrack.It gave them tremendous mainstream exposure. | |
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It sure was. Chukkii also produced about 2 or 3 more songs on that album. He could have easliy kept that one for himself or given it to Troop.
As for Kool & The Gang I liked alll the 70's and 80's stuff pretty much. Cherish while not a bad song is probably one I could do with out. Hell I even like Joanna. When I first heard Joanna I thought it was a song from the first Ladies Night album because it sounded kind of throwback then. I had no idea it was a new song at the time. Some of my Kool & The Gang faves are:
Ladies Night Too Hot Jungle Boogie Hollywood Swinging Who's Gonna Take The Weight Get Down On It No Show(very underrated) Street Kids Let's Go Dancing(Ooh La La La) Big Fun Fresh Misled Emergency Steppin Out Don't laugh at my funk
This funk is a serious joint | |
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Very underrated,indeed.This song should have been a single.They even did a video for it.
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No joke, I once told Kalise Bell that during the 80's, they had put a "shine" on the funk. He chuckled and said he liked the way I put that. I ain't lyin'.
But for me, I was pretty much done after The Force album. | |
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vainandy said: My favorite album from them is "Ladies Night". One of my favorites,too.It’s one of the best albums of the disco era.”If You Feel Like Dancing”,in particular,really makes me nostalgic for that era. | |
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Gonna search Youtube for that one. Don't laugh at my funk
This funk is a serious joint | |
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"No Show" (official video) by Kool and the Gang (1981)
Kool & The Gang - No ... - YouTube
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