KC and the Sunshine Band come boogying into Township Auditorium

KC and the Sunshine Band may not be a familiar name to many millennials and Gen Zers. That’s understandable, since the band had their parents boogying and getting down years before they were born.

But even if you don’t recognize the popular 1970s disco/funk/R&B icon’s name, chances are good you know and have danced to many of the group’s songs. And that is quite amazing since it’s been nearly 50 years since they began spinning out billboard hits.

The feel-good, make-you-smile-and-boogie sounds of KC and the Sunshine Band have persevered through decades and generations. The band will play many of those songs, and some newer music, at 7:30 p.m. March 14 at Township Auditorium.

“I always wanted to do something that would make people forget about their problems and be happy,” said Harry Casey, better known as “KC,” the founder and leader of KC and the Sunshine Band.

They’ve been making people dance and smile for nearly half a century, since their first hit emerged in 1973.

Casey has many memories from his long touring career. He remembers a stereotypical mob scene from the time, when the band was playing in Canada. While the band was playing “Shake Your Booty” the crowd had crashed the stage. Later when the band was trying to leave in its limousine, fans started rocking it so hard the car started sliding.

As for fun memories? He thinks of the people he met, the friends he made - a veritable whose who of celebrities from the 1970s/80s. People like Diana Ross, Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, Cher, Paul McCartney ...

But there are many more fun facts about KC and the Sunshine Band. Want to know some? Take the quiz below, put together from information listed on the band’s website - and the answers will offer some insight as well as some comments from Casey/KC as well.

1. Which of the following did KC and the Sunshine Band perform at?

A. World Cup

B. World Series

C. Super Bowl

D. All of the above

2. Which of the following movies included one of KC and the Sunshine Band’s songs?

A. “Toy Story”

B. “Forrest Gump”

C. “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi”

D. “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”

3. Which of the following were KC and the Sunshine Band hits?

A. “Get Down Tonight”

B. “That’s the Way (I Like It)”

C. “Boogie Shoes”

D . “Shake Your Booty”

4. True or false: KC and the Sunshine Band songs have been played at nearly every wedding, confirmation, and bar mitzvah in the world.

5. Which of the following words made it into the dictionary because of a KC and the Sunshine Band song?

A. Uh huh

B. Boogie

C. Booty

D. Groovy

ANSWERS and more

1. D, all of the above. From the website: The band’s “music has been featured at every major sporting event in the world including the Super Bowl, World Series, conference championships, the NBA, collegiate bowl games, national championship games, the NASCAR racing circuit and championships, the World Cup, the Indianapolis 500, the Kentucky Derby”

While KC and the Sunshine Band songs often to this day are played at events without the band being there, Casey said they played in person at most of them.

“We’ve done quite a few,” he said. “We never did a halftime show at the Super Bowl, but we did pre-game shows that never aired on TV. And we did do a halftime show at the Orange Bowl.”

And while Casey was watching the most recent Super Bowl on television, he heard one of his songs played after Kansas City scored a touchdown.

“I could hear ‘Boogie Shoes’ playing in the background,” he said.

While some folks may have done a touchdown dance of their own if they heard a song they had written and performed played at the Super Bowl, Casey took it in stride.

“Initially, when our songs came out, I would hear them on the radio and I would listen for the technical part of, to make sure the technical sound was right.”

And now?

“I think, ‘that’s one of our songs,’” he said.

2. B. “Forrest Gump.” Although we can’t promise none of the others included music from KC and the Sunshine Band. Music from the group has been feature on more than 200 motion picture film soundtracks. Most of the time, Casey is informed many months ahead of time if any of his songs are going to be played in a movie. So sometimes, on the rare occasions he does go to a movie, he is surprised to hear one of his songs. But usually, if a song is played on a movie or TV show, he gets inundated with texts from friends letting him know. And of course “Boogie Shoes” was played in “Saturday Night Fever.”

3. Trick question: All of those are KC and the Sunshine Band hits. From the website: “KC & The Sunshine Band became the first act to score four No. 1 pop singles in one 12-month period since the Beatles in 1964. Three of those singles crossed over to become No. 1 R&B, as well.” Those hits included the ones mentioned above (most likely the ones you hear at weddings and sporting events) as well as “Rock Your Baby,” “I’m Your Boogie Man,” “Keep it Comin’ Love,” “Please Don’t Go,” and “Yes, I’m Ready.”

4. Well, obviously that’s pretty impossible to determine. But we’re certainly not going to dispute it. Can you remember the last wedding, confirmation or bar mitzvah you’ve been too when you didn’t hear “Get Down Tonight,” “That’s the Way (I Like It),” “Boogie Shoes,” or “Shake Your Booty”?

“We know it from input from fans and people,” Casey said. “We all go to these events too. We just know that it’s there, from feedback.”

5. C. Booty. Now, they didn’t create the word - it had been used as slang before. But after “Shake Your Booty,” it was added to the dictionary. “The song brought it to national attention,” Casey said. “It became a word.”

But KC and the Sunshine Band changed culture more than by adding a word to the dictionary. From the website: The band influenced a whole generation “from clothing to hairstyles to dance styles to new acceptable words in the English language.”

Casey said while the hairstyle he wore was his, he didn’t dress like he did on stage, off it.

“I didn’t dress like that,” he said. “In my personal life, I wore jeans and T-shirts.”

Lezlie Patterson: special to GoColumbia

This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 4:09 PM with the headline "KC and the Sunshine Band come boogying into Township Auditorium."