By Jeff Maisey
The mid 1970s experienced a new pop culture fad that exploded in big city dance clubs and on the airwaves — disco was all the rage.
Men wore extravagant outfits, silky big collar jackets, tight fitting spandex jeans, and unbuttoned shirts to show off their chest hair. Women favored sequined halterneck shirts, tube tops, dresses with long slits down the leg, short shorts, and platform shoes.
Everyone into the disco craze was grooving to the music of The Tramps’ “Disco Inferno,” Alicia Bridges’ “I Love The Nightlife,” “The Hustle” by Van McCoy,” “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor,” and a slew of hits by The Bee Gees such as “You Should Be Dancing” and “Statin’ Alive.”
It was an age of decadence, abundant cocaine, and non-stop partying.
For one band, arguably the best disco recording artist of all, the extravagance of the disco scene wasn’t fully realized, especially at the notorious venue Studio 54 in New York City.
“I went there one time through the back door, but I didn’t go downstairs (to the dance floor),” said Harry Wayne Casey, who goes by his performer name KC. “I wouldn’t enjoy myself. My success made it impossible. I was very isolated and like a caged animal at times.”
KC said he spent most of his days and nights working in his recording studio. He wrote the hit single “Rock Your Baby” for George McCrae before landing a recording contract for his own group, KC and the Sunshine Band.
The Florida-based group — hence the name Sunshine — began as an R&B band, which is evident on its debut album.
In 1975, “KC and the Sunshine Band” was released as a self-titled sophomore album and it took the Billboard charts by storm with the featured singles “Get Down Tonight,” “That’s The Way (I Like It),” and “Boogie Shoes.”
The hits kept coming from KC in 1976 with the album “Part 3.” It contained the songs “(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty,” “I’m Your Boogie Man,” and “Keep It Coming Love.”
KC and the Sunshine Band’s fixation with being in the studio meant they spent limited time on the road, choosing to open for The Isley Brothers and WAR.
“I was just so busy making music,” explained KC.
Not only did KC make music, he developed a formula for catchy vocal melodies and simplistic lyrics so listeners could remember and sing along.
“I’m more of a commercial songwriter,” he said. “If I’m going to write songs I want to make sure people remember the title of it. I was just the type of writing I adapted.”
KC shared his love for a wide variety of music; he loved everything from the Motown classics to Grand Funk Railroad and Led Zeppelin. While he appreciated the music of The Beatles, he said he was more taken by how they composed songs. This was something that gave him confidence as an emerging songwriter himself.
Of all the albums to be released in the disco era, perhaps the most famous was the soundtrack to the film, “Saturday Night Fever.” The producers approached KC and the Sunshine Band for a song contribution.
“They wanted to put ‘Shake Your Booty’ in the movie,” explained KC. “I told them we’re getting ready to release ‘Shake Your Booty’ as a single so I’d rather you put ‘Boogie Shoes’ in the movie. So they went with that.”
As far as the movie reflecting the real life disco scene, KC said, “When I saw it I think it pretty much summed up what was going on in the clubs.”
KC said he saw the age of disco and the rise in popularity of DJs coming.
“I knew it was coming because when I did my tour in England — 48 cities in 24 days — every place we played in was a type of a club, and they were spinning records. These places were jammed packed. I’d never seen anything like it.
“There were some places in Miami spinning records,” he continued, “but most places had live music. So I knew after that tour there was something major getting ready to happen and a huge change with bars and how they present music in the clubs. They were going to get away from hiring bands when they could hire one guy to spin records and people would go nuts and love it.”
During the late 1970s, a backlash, of sorts, emerged amongst fans of rock music. “Disco Sucks” shirts and bumper stickers were common sights. That didn’t bother KC.
“I realized the music we were putting out was a little bit of a threat to rock music,” he said. “Everybody has their opinions. I don’t like everybody’s music either. So I’m cool with it.”
On November 22, local fans can don their boogie shoes when KC and the Sunshine Band play The Dome in Virginia Beach.
