So I am going to play every 45 in my collection.......(Part 3!!)

Had no idea she was in that band!

 

Kool and the Gang
Celebration/Morning Star
What needs to be said about this song? This was my favorite song as a kid. I must have bought 7 or 8 copies from my local Sam Goody. I took it wherever I went and I wore them out!

It hit #1 USA and #7 UK in 1980. Flawless production once again. Each instrument sounds killer. That scratch guitar intro still gives me goosebumps. Yes it has been played to death but I still love it!!

 

Kool and the Gang
Take It to the Top/Love Affair
The follow up single to Celebration failed to chart in the USA but it did reach #15 in the UK. Its nowhere as catchy as Celebration but to not chart is unfathomable. Same ingredients but different result.

 

Kool and the Gang
Take My Heart/Just Friends
This hit #17 USA and #29 UK in 1981. I always liked the slow groove of this one. JT gives s relaxed vocal and the song just glides along. Towards the end JT asks " Ooohh...Like Marvin huh?" Not quite but not bad.

 

As the owner of a couple of vinyl jukeboxes, I regularly play the "B" sides of a few records, just to exercise a bit of "preventative maintenance."
Some rarely get played, others become favourites, like this one. Some are really "Double A Sides," as is this, which is what jukebox owners prefer.



This is the "B" side of this re-isue the Drifters "There Goes My First Love."
I recorded this ten years ago, the jukebox is still going strong, although I don't use it that much, It's had over 6,000 plays since then.
Not as many as this video has had hits.

 

Beautiful collection! Im a bit jealous! Jukebox tags and records all in alphabetical order too! There is just something special about reading the artists and song titles through that glass.

A great thing about a lot of those soul 45's is that the B-Sides often never appeared anywhere else and have been a bit forgotten

 

Thanks for that.

I've had a swop around since I recorded that video.

That jukebox now holds 30 X 50/60s, 30 X 70/80s Pop, 10 X Doo-Wop and 10 Jazz and BVig Band Standards

This one has 50 Motown and what people think is Motown, plus a few R&B and Soul...... that record is in it too.

It's all "sixties," with a good representation of my favourite girl groups.

Like this one.



And at least one which few will remember

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdNosH3w6k8&feature=youtu.be

There's also this from 2019, which is very "retro" so it deserves a slot in there too. Not the full record as the memory card in my little camera ran out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6MS-1eZiq8&feature=youtu.be

 

OK I think I decided the De-Lite Records, Planet Records and Casablanca Records are my favorite labels looks-wise.

 

And the music is usually first rate on those labels too!

 

I'll wager most bands/artists would love to have a signature tune like Celebration even if it does overshadow everything else and suffers the dreaded over-played curse. Working in F/B for over 40 years, I must have heard it hundreds if not thousands of times since it lends itself to all manner of celebratory events and while the bloom is definitely off that rose, I still give it huge props for it's achievements. The other two songs may suffer somewhat in comparison but they are still highly enjoyable and fine examples of the band's smoother sound. And I can't say enough about JT's vocals. He is their secret weapon and doesn't get near the praise and attention he deserves.

 

Celebration must make them a fortune too...if they own the publishing. It gets used endlessly to this day in movies, commercials, etc...

 

Curent Colemine Records labels, have a distinct Art Deco appearance. It matches the retro style of some of their recordings

C

 

Very nice looking!

 

This one has been played to death. I haven't heard it for years, but if I played it now I'm sure it'd sound exactly the same. Regardless, I always liked the write-up by Dave Marsh (in his 1989 book The Heart of Rock & Soul) about this song and its ubiquitous presence at weddings:

Admit it, if you could get the taste of its use in . . . a thousand horrible wedding band cover versions out of your mouth, you'd find "Celebration" one of the most flavorful funk riffs ever concocted . . . [and] you might as well learn its virtues, because you're gonna hear "Celebration" at every wedding you go to from now until the end of the century. Just hope they play the record, not a version dreamed up by some guy with hair transplants and a hatchback to fit his keyboard.

 

They obviously ripped off the label design from (or vice-versa):

 

Kool and the Gang
Get Down on It/Steppin' Out
This hit #10 USA and #3 UK in 1982.
Yet another wedding constant. It kind of sounds tailor made for such occasions. I like the opening slow groove before it becomes a pop song....albeit a good one. The horn figure is my favorite bit in the song.

 

Kool and the Gang
Big Fun/No Show
This hit #21 USA and #14 UK in 1982. I akwYs thought this was a great name for a party anthem. This is bit of a throwback to their 70's sound with bass and horns leading the way. This is a fun hybrid of funky Kool with JT.

 

Kool and the Gang
Ooh Ls La La (Let's Go Dancing)/Stand Up and Sing
UK Issue
This was a big hit in the UK in 1982 reaching #6. In the USA it stalled at #30. I scarcely heard this this on local radio but I managed to record it on one of the few times I did. I played that tape hundreds of times and picked up the 45 years later.

The guys catch a bit of an island vibe on this reggae tinged tune. It made me feel good at 7 years old and it still does. Its just a fun record! Cool guitar fills and the horns add the perfect touch.

 

Kool! I can never find anyone who likes this song like I do.

 

For some reason, women looove this song. I wonder why.

 

Where we are now within K&TG's chronology (early-80's), when I was a kid at the time, "Celebration" was played on the radio so much alongside "Lady (You Bring Me Up)" and "Let's Groove" that I almost assumed it was all the same band. Later, I found out the latter two were the Commodores and Earth, Wind & Fire, respectively. ("Let's Groove" was a nice rediscovery years later!)

 

"Lets Groove" is probably my wife's favorite song ever...especially to dance to!

 

"Let's Groove" is a great one to have as a favorite! Another one from this era and style I always liked was "Special Lady" by Ray, Goodman & Brown. Heard that one all the time when it was a hit in 1980.

 

Kool and the Gang
Street Kids/As One
This was s minor R&B hit in 1983. This has s good groive and even features some rap passages. "They like to play Captain Video" always struck me as a cool lyric. Nice rock guitar solo on this one...a sound the band would start to explore more and more.

 

Kool and the Gang
Joanna/Tonight
UK Issue
Joanna was s huge hit, reaching #2 in both the UK and USA in 1984. In the UK it was a double A sided single featuring "Tonight".

Joanna is a pretty straight forward ballad. I like it but a #2 hit? The band has much better songs but I was glad for their success. I thought they did it better as "Cherish". The B Side...or AA Side is another story....

"Tonight" is Kool in full rock mode and I loved it. Its a great riff. I love how they blended the old scratch guitar sound with the distorted rock guitar. Mimicking the guitar with the keyboards sounds awesome. Great vocals by the whole band here. Neat bridge too!

They would borrow this template for "Misled " on the next album.