The Bee Gees may have been the undisputed disco kings of the late '70s, but KC & the Sunshine Band weren't far behind. From the mid- to late '70s, the multi-member and racially integrated group led by bandleaders Harry Wayne "KC" Casey
and Richard Finch racked up some of the era's biggest and instantly
recognizable dance hits. Casey and Finch first met in 1972 while both
were employed by TK Records in Miami, FL, where among other chores,
Casey served as a personal secretary and booking agent for artist Timmy
Thomas. KC & the Sunshine Band officially formed in 1973, but a
debut single, "Blow Your Whistle," sunk from sight upon release. But it
was another Casey/Finch original, "Rock Your Baby," that R&B artist
George McCrae scored a hit with in 1974 as KC & the Sunshine Band
began issuing further albums and singles, quickly scoring big hits on
their own. The group then began an impressive run of disco hits: 1977's
"Shake Shake Shake (Shake Your Booty)," "I'm Your Boogieman," "Keep It
Comin' Love," "Boogie Shoes" (the latter included on the
monster-selling soundtrack to the hit John Travolta disco movie,
Saturday Night Fever), 1979's "Do You Wanna Go Party," and 1980's
"Please Don't Go." Despite earning nine Grammy nominations (receiving
three awards) and selling millions of records, KC & the Sunshine
Band were still susceptible to the backlash that disco bands felt by
the dawn of the '80s, eventually leading to dwindling sales and the
group's split by the early '80s (although KC scored a moderate solo hit
in 1983 with "Give It Up"). Come the '90s, an appreciation of
everything '70s swept across the U.S., which led to a renewed interest
bands from the era, prompting KC & the Sunshine Band to re-form for
concert performances. That decade saw the release of countless KC
"hits" collections and even an episode of VH1's popular Behind the
Music series that studied the group's ups and downs.
Greg Prato - All Music Guide