This is a party, this is a disco, this is some fooling around!!

Disco – the screaming horns of a dilemma

Well if disco is dead then we have lost a generation of great horn parts. Probably my very favorite part of that genre was the horn sections, and the notes going by so very fast. Face it, Earth Wind and Fire, Tower of Power, KC, Donna Summer, Wild Cherry and the Average White Band always all had amazing horns. And this greatest hits collaboration is no exception to the rule.

The unfortunate part of disco was that the music had absolutely no substance whatsoever. Which is to say that is about the extent of the emotional substance of those times. There were some amazing records that came out of the period from 1968 to 1972, and then it trailed off as America lost itself completely. We pulled out of Viet Nam (George Carlin always said that was one of the least Manly things America ever did). “Pull out, why doesn’t sound manly to me – I say leave it in there and get the job done.”

Beware of the shallow waters!

So when I listened to Harry Wayne Casey (the KC of the Sunshine band) talking on the VH1 behind the music special it made me marvel. Harry basically said that they were singing about how they felt. There weren’t a lot of deep feelings in their stuff; they were just all enamored of shaking booties, wearing boogie shoes and being somebody’s Boogieman. Now honestly, I like my songwriters a little more complicated, a lot more depth of feeling and exploration. Give me Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder or Sting any day of the week. But I don’t have to consider a Nabakov novel or Angular Banjos when I want to get funky.

Not that Stevie didn’t make his fair share of dancing music; it’s just that his music as well as the Dan and Sting are about some intelligent lyrics. KC and Sunshine Band are about love, sex and dancing – and on a given Friday night what could be better than that. So tune in to a group that ruled the Mossyrock Junior High – and feel the rhythm.

The Tunes Themselves

1 – Get Down Tonight Starting right out of the gate with a synthed out clavichord sound, and a cow bell enhanced snare back beat this is pure disco. The horns keep it swinging, and if you like a little cool whip light on your strawberries, this might just fill your musical palate.

“Do a little dance,
make a little love,
get down tonight…”

Hey, it ain’t heavy – but can you think of a better way to spend an evening? I can’t.

2 – That’s the way (I like it) Horrible back ground singers on this cut, another mega hit that crept into the consciousness of all who ever heard it. The call and answer of the horns is kind of fun, and the shaft like hi-hat work is cool beans. This definitely makes you want to dance, and spin. There is no part of this song, however that represents really fine music. Even Prince makes his dance numbers a little heady.

3 – (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake your booty Booty of course is a seventies word for Butt…for those of you who may have missed it. I am quite sure there were some very naïve kids dancing around in boots and shaking them around….probably some farm kids from Lewis County in Washington…just a guess on my part. Cause you know you were nothing if you didn’t have rubber boots coated with schmuck and mud on the back porch. Oh, and all night long we did the bump bump bump, yes we did. So anyway, another song that forces me to digress. I hate this song.

4 – Queen of Clubs And now here is one of the reaaaaaaly realllly bad songs on the record. It is amazing to me that they put this on a greatest hits album. It is the play on words about the girl who is a club girl, and – ya know, the deck of cards. Although I can’t really imagine that they believed they were as clever as they truly did…good lord. This one involved a lot of really loud crying out in the background.

5 – I like to do it Chicken peck guitar line and the standard shaker percussion.

“ahhh baby ahhh, I like to do it with you
I like to boogie down all night long
Do it with you”

The melody just repeats and repeats – with tiny variances to the lyrics. There are horn punches and an overly simplistic bass line. This song is about the dance, nothing more nothing less.

6 – I’m your boogie man I think the White Zombie cover of this tune is far more interesting than the original – and it made the Crow soundtrack. And while Rob’s version of being your boogieman probably means the musical equivalent of an HP Lovecraft buddy, Casey had something a little more sequined in mind. Same standard Shaft beat straight four time with no real surprises with the small exception of a little more pronounced piano work. Basic disco horns (trumpet led) with a repeating dance figure. The play on words with Boogie man (the scary connotation) leant this a funny but stunted sense of achievement. This is off of the Part three album, probably one of their better tunes.

7 – Keep it Comin’ love This one always makes me think of the Sounds of Philadelphia, the basic Hustle steps and dances in the Multipurpose room. Another huge hit from the band, this song more typifies the Line Dancing ideal behind the hustles and dances of the time. I think when you rub this song up against the sexual awakening of the time as well you get an interesting feel for what it was all about. In truth, the quest for really good music led far away from here – no wonder Miles partied through the seventies, I don’t think he could take it.

8 – Boogie Shoes Are Boogie Shoes similar to Sailin’ Shoes? I think that Lowell and the Little Feet boys were probably using the same powdery antihistamines to charge up their Sailin’ Shoes as Casey and the boys were for their Boogie Shoes. Here Casey wants to “do it till the sun comes up….” Which is still fun – just great big happy smilin’ darkwingduck kinda fun.

The problem with this entire album is that someday you may have to explain to your teen-age children just what the hell you were thinking….and the short answer will be, “sorry we weren’t.”

9 – Do you wanna go party Here is a much faster beat than the previous hard groove songs. This is almost hinging on Funk – but not quite. There are some different chord changes in this one at least – but only a few. Lot’s of big fat horn parts and just a few piano licks, it is surprising how little the thumb popping technique is employed in this music from the bass players…probably this predates Louis Johnson and Stan Clarke by just a few years.

10 – Please Don’t Go And at long last we get to the ballad. This is actually a semi-pretty song, with a cheesy harp part at the moment of truth. I guess she got tired of dancing and decided to put on her Boogie Shoes!

Interestingly enough, this was a major break up song when I was in Junior High – not one of mine mind you, but prevalent among those of the disco ilk.

There is nothing wrong with a backward glance at some of the most typical disco tunes. There was a lot of music that was done with more depth; this was a band that had nothing beyond the smile, an ingenious representation of the era. Should you go out and get a copy? Only if the songs take you back to some particular moment in time, other than that get a couple liters of your favorite beverage and leave the 7-11 quietly.