50 years on, KC and the Sunshine Band are coming to Costa Mesa and Rancho Mirage
Before Harry Wayne “KC” Casey started writing the funk and disco songs that rocketed KC and the Sunshine Band to success in the mid-’70s, he’d learned one important lesson from his day job in a Florida record store.
“Working in the record store, people would come in and hum a song, and they wouldn’t know the name of it,” Casey says on a recent call. “So I wanted to make sure that my songs, you would know the name of it.”
How’d that work for him? See if any of these ring a bell: “Get Down Tonight,” “That’s The Way (I Like It),” and “(Shake Shake Shake) Shake Your Booty.” Or maybe “I’m Your Boogie Man” and “Boogie Shoes, “Please Don’t Go” and “Give It Up.”
As we were saying: Casey learned a simple lesson, which launched a successful career that wraps up its 50th anniversary year with concerts at Segerstrom Hall on Saturday, Dec. 30 and Agua Caliente Casino Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage on Sunday, Dec. 31.
Five decades after leaving the record store for the recording studio, Casey, 72, says it still only seems like yesterday.
“I was feeling like, What the hell happened?” he says, laughing. “It’s kind of like that situation.”
Q: Take us back to the start, when you kind of had the idea, ‘Hey, I want to write music.’
A: I’ve been writing music all my life, since I was a young boy. And working in the record store, I mean, I loved records, and the reason I got a job in that record store was really because then I could buy records wholesale, you know?
From an early age, I just always wanted to be an entertainer or wanted to be in show business. A lot of my family put out gospel records and stuff like that. So I was around a certain part of the business, but never directly involved.
Q: Your first single, “Blow Your Whistle,” made the Top 20 on the R&B charts and did well in Europe. And you wrote a big hit, “Rock Your Baby,” for George McRae. When did it really take off for KC and the Sunshine Band?
A: The guy that was putting the records out in the UK came over and wanted to know if we had any more KC songs done. And he heard this song called ‘Queen of Clubs.’ He said, ‘That’s a hit…,’ and he took it back to Europe and it became a huge hit, like No. 4 on the British charts. So then it was time to do another record, that’s when ‘Get Down Tonight’ happened.
Q: Such a great groove, tell me how that one emerged.
A: I had a working title for ‘Tonight’ which was ‘All You Want Is What You Get,’ and then at some point I changed it to ‘Get Down Tonight.’ The process of writing a song was pretty regular for me. I just remember that when the song, when I finished it, like it was the most unbelievable song that I’d ever heard. It just had some kind of mystical, magical sound.
That went right on the Billboard chart and then fell off. And I went to Henry (Stone, co-owner and president of TK Records), and said, ‘Henry, this is a hit song, what’s happening?’ He says, ‘Don’t worry about it,’ and then next thing you know, five weeks later it was No. 1.
Q: How did the huge success of ‘Get Down Tonight’ feel to you?
A: It meant a lot of things, because No. 1, I came from a label that had one-hit wonders pretty much. So that meant now I’ve just written two million-selling records, almost back to back – ‘Rock Your Baby’ and “Get Down Tonight.’ So that meant a lot.
It was kind of insane a little bit. Just all those years that I believed in what I wanted to do, and that’s all I dreamed about, and it was actually happening.
Q: When ‘Get Down Tonight’ took off, did you already have a live band for shows, or did you have to get it together quickly?
A: In the very beginning, I worked with a local band that toured with Betty Wright. And the guitar player and the drummer were actually musicians at TK. So when I started doing the first record, I used whatever studio musicians were around at the time. Like Betty Wright sang background, and Gwen McRae and George McRae, and a lot of the other artists sang on those records, ‘Queen of Clubs’ and all that.
So it wasn’t really until I had hit records that I pretty much approached Jerome and Robert to go out and do the show with me. (Guitarist Jerome Smith and drummer Robert Johnson of TK Records were part of the first full lineup of KC and the Sunshine Band.)
Q: What was touring like for you in the ’70s?
A: I didn’t do a lot of touring regularly. I did have to go out and support it a little bit, but I really didn’t tour a lot because I had other obligations with George McRae and a lot of other studio obligations. I did go out and support ‘Get Down Tonight’ and ‘That’s The Way.’ I went on tour with the Isley Brothers and War. But I didn’t go out a lot.
Q: Would you say you tour more today? I know you do a lot of shows today.
A: I definitely probably tour a lot more now than I did back then.
Q: As the ’80s arrived and musical tastes shifted from funk and dance music, how’d you cope?
A: I saw that coming. You know, it’s always funny, like when they talk about me falling out of favor. It was going to become a lot more electronic, and that’s what was happening. I mean, I don’t think you could be more disco than it was then. So by then, I already was doing ‘Please Don’t Go’ and ‘I Betcha Didn’t Know That.’ And I was working with Teri DeSario to do ‘Yes, I’m Ready.’
I was trying to change somewhat and do something different. And, you know, I wasn’t allowed to change, it seemed like. Every else could change, and I just felt I was not allowed because everybody kept wanting me to be whatever.
Q: When you opened for the B-52s last year, the crowd was really into the whole set, dancing, singing along. What’s it like for you to tour today and look out at the audiences and see them respond to your music?
A: You know, it’s my one connection that I have with the fans or the people that have supported or bought the music. They read all the articles so they know everything about it. They have a different connection. But until I get on that stage, I don’t have a real connection, you know what I mean?
And so it’s just, you know, that feeling is hard to describe. It’s euphoric and just creates a huge adrenaline rush. Just seeing all those people out there having a good time, dancing and singing with you. It’s just like one big party. It’s just a lot of fun.
KC and the Sunshine Band
When: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 30
Where: Segerstrom Hall, 600 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa
How much: $59-$129
For more: For information on the show, tickets and the band go to Heykcsb.com. For tickets and venue information see scfta.org and search for events.