KC & the Sunshine Band: I Get Lifted

It’s funky Friday, and I’m continuing my focus on the music of 1975 with the best dance album of the year. For most people around at the time, the album KC & the Sunshine Band was their introduction to disco. The world was never the same after the release of this album. At the time it was released, KC & the Sunshine Band were unknown to most. Even though they had released a very similar-sounding but ignored album in 1974 called Do It Good, there was something in the air in 1975 that allowed the songs “That’s the Way (I Like It)” and “Get Down Tonight” to become #1 hits and change the sound of pop music for the next 3 years. They didn’t invent the sound of disco – to them, this was just dance music – but their massive success brought the disco style of “four-on-the-floor” kick drum with 16th note high hat into the public conscience. Looking back now at 1975, it is easy to see how the success of songs like “Fire” by Ohio Players and “Shining Star” by Earth Wind & Fire indicate that there was an audience starving for party music on the eve of the 200th birthday of the United States. KC & the Sunshine Band were simply a perfect example of “right place, right time.” They weren’t the funkiest band, they weren’t the best songwriters, and KC was certainly not the best vocalist of the time. But they found that sweet spot in between the vanilla pop music of The Carpenters and the funk-nasty of The Ohio Players, and that allowed them to change the world, much to the chagrin of every music critic of the time.

If you are interested in other years, check out my Year in Review series.

To listen to all of the songs of the day, check out the Radio Faux Show Song of the Day playlist.

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