Harry Wayne “K.C.” Casey

Harry Wayne Casey was the first choice of ’70s supergroup KC and sunlight Band. With music group co-founder Richard Finch, Casey co-wrote, co-produced, sang lead, and performed keyboards for the band’s million-sellers in addition to those for TK Information labelmate George McCrae and Jimmy Bo Horne’s dance traditional “Dance Over the Flooring.” The music group racked up five number 1 pop singles, four number 1 R&B singles, and yellow metal, platinum, and multi-platinum albums like the phenomenally effective Saturday Evening Fever film soundtrack. Among the band’s strikes,”(Shake, Shake, Tremble) Tremble Your Booty” was modified for any Nestle Tollhouse Cookie Television ad (“tremble, shake, shake, tremble your cookie”) that shown in springtime 2000. Given birth to Harry Wayne Casey on January 31, 1951 in Hialeah, FL, he gained the nickname KC young. As a young child, among Casey’s strongest affects was the body organ music he noticed when his family members went to church. His mom (whose record collection included R&B and outlined produces by Nat “Ruler” Cole, Jerry Butler, as well as the Flamingos) and sisters sang on regional advertisements. Casey’s parents nurtured his curiosity insurance firms him consider piano lessons. He’d often hold yard concerts for his parents and close friends. There would also end up being family members singalongs on birthdays and vacations. He’d save his present and allowance cash to buy information. In his teenagers, he became a member of a band called Five Doorways Down, a few of whose people would later become a part of the Sunshine Music group. Casey’s musical flavor leaned toward Motown (Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye) and horn-laden pop rings like Tower of Power and Bloodstream, Perspiration and Tears. When he was 17, he lent cash (500 dollars) from close friends to produce a vanity record (a documenting made by a company that advertises “we’ll place your phrases to music!” after that presses a couple of hundred copies), an individual, “IF YOU ARE Ever in Miami” b/w “Emily, My Darling.” After graduating from senior high school, Casey went to Miami-Dade Junior University while working in your free time in a drugstore. Afterwards, he while functioning at an archive shop, Casey became close friends with workers of Tone Vendors and its own subsidiary label, TK Information and was asked to look at the label’s documenting studio. Casey started hanging around Firmness/TK all night each day after function. After a period, company chief executive Henry Stone offered him the double-duty work of sweeping flooring and packaging records for delivery within the warehouse. While packaging information in 1972, Casey fulfilled bassist and part-time documenting engineer Richard Finch. Both formed an innovative partnership. Stone allow young men function and test in TK’s documenting studio room when it wasn’t used and during after-midnight hours. Both cut several demos on themselves, simply jamming. While at a marriage reception for TK songwriter/maker Clarence Reid in January 1973, Casey 1st noticed junkanoo, the extremely festive, rhythmic-layered, horn-punctuated musical genre that started in the Bahamas. Later on while associated TK musician Timmy Thomas (“Why Can’t We Live Jointly”) to some Washington, D.C., concert simply because his helper/reservation agent, Casey got a concept for a tune after hearing the viewers approvingly blowing whistles. After assembling some studio room music artists, Casey and Finch produced their initial professional documenting as KC and sunlight Band. The one, “Blow Your Whistle,” visited amount 27 R&B in Sept 1973. KC and sunlight Band’s second one “Sound Your Funky Horn” do a little much better than their initial, going to amount 21 R&B in Feb 1974. While documenting a demo using one of the unrecorded original tracks, Casey and Finch made a decision that the track was in an integral which was too much for Casey to sing. Rock and TK A&R guy Steve Alaimo recommended that they provide the track to vocalist George McCrae. Released in early summer time 1974, “Rock and roll YOUR CHILD” rolled quickly in the graphs holding the main spot on both R&B and pop graphs for 14 days during July 1974. The world-wide product sales of “Rock and roll YOUR CHILD” totaled over six million singles. With an approving nod from TK, Casey and Finch earned lead guitarist Jerome Smith, drummer Robert Johnson, and conga participant Femin Goytisolo. The band’s debut LP, GET IT DONE Good, garnered small attention within the U.S. but became popular in Europe credited partly to “Queen of Night clubs,” a high Ten strike in both Britain and Germany. The follow-up, “Sound Your Funky Horn,” was also popular. A music group was hastily set up for a Western european tour in 1975. The music group expanded to add eight more music artists and performers. The fourth one, “Obtain Down Tonight,” became popular, hitting number 1 R&B in Apr 1975 and kept the main pop spot for 14 days on Billboard’s graphs in August 1975. Their second record, KC and sunlight Music group, released July 1975, managed to get to number 1 R&B, number 4 pop in summer months 1975. To capitalize in the band’s achievement, TK released instrumental singles by SUNLIGHT Music group”: “Shotgun Shuffle,” “Dark Water Platinum,” and “Rock and roll YOUR CHILD.” These were outlined on the all-instrumental recording Peveryday The Audio of Sunlight. “That is the Way I LOVE It,” another solitary using their self-titled recording, echoed the achievement of “Obtain Down…,” and visited number 1 R&B in Oct 1975 and number 1 play November 1975. KC and sunlight Band proceeded to go multi-platinum. (Deceased or Alive’s cover of “That is the Way I LOVE It” was their initial U.K. hit likely to amount 22 in 1984.) In 1976, the music group won five Grammys as well as the reissued “Queen of Night clubs” became a U.S. strike in March. “(Tremble Shake Tremble) Tremble Your Booty” was the group’s third number 1 strike topping the R&B graphs for per month during July and likely to number one play Sept. Their third LP, Component 3, managed to get to amount five R&B in fall 1976. It included the strike singles “I love to GET IT DONE” (number 4 R&B) and “I’m Your Boogie Guy” (number 1 pop and number 3 R&B strike). Among the band’s most liked strikes, “Maintain It Comin’ Like,” peaked at number 1 R&B, number 2 pop. The sizzling production team began their own Sunlight Sound label, written by TK. One Sunlight Sound launch, Jimmy “Bo” Horne’s “Dance Over the Ground,” visited quantity eight R&B in March 1978. The 1977 11 million-selling Sunday Night time Fever soundtrack, which kept the main Pop place for 24 weeks in 1978, included KC and sunlight Band’s “Boogie Sneakers.” Around the finish from the ’70s, KC and Finch and TK begun to possess conflicts. Some state that was reflected within the fairly poor graph showings of the produces: a remake from the Four Tops’ “It is the Same Old Melody” was amount 30 R&B, amount 35 pop; “Perform You Feel FINE” was amount 62 R&B, amount 63 pop; and “Who Perform Ya Like” was amount 88 R&B, amount 68 pop. Who Perform Ya Love visited quantity 25 R&B, quantity 36 play summer 1978. Needless to say, it also might have intended that public likes had been changing. The name an eye on KC and sunlight Band’s fifth record, “WOULD YOU Wanna Move Party” (June 1979) visited amount eight R&B in summer months 1979. Since disco music was obtaining less and much less radio airplay, KC and Finch included ballads over the LP. Originally the B-side of “I Betcha Didn’t UNDERSTAND THAT,” a cover from the 1975 Frederick Knight strike, which peaked at quantity 25 R&B, “DO NOT Go” slowly produced its method to number one play January 1980. In Feb, KC gained another gold solitary having a duet cover of Barbara Mason’s 1965 R&B strike “Yes I’m Prepared” by Teri DeSario with KC, which peaked at quantity 20 R&B and number 2 pop on Casablanca Information. Another beautiful ballad, “All I’D LIKE,” was included on KC and sunlight Band’s Greatest Strikes (March 1980). That same yr, TK Records submitted for personal bankruptcy. After offering over 75 million albums and an incredible number of singles on TK, KC and sunlight Band authorized with Epic Information. None from the ensuing produces were strikes and the music group broke up. After that on January 15, 1982, Casey was simply seven blocks from his home when he was involved with a head-on car crash which still left him wheelchair destined for almost per year. Ironically, KC didn’t possess another strike until he partnered using a Southern businessman to start out his own unbiased label, MECA (Music Organization Company of America). An individual, “CEASE,” from his Epic LP All in a Night’s Function was released by Epic’s Ireland device and became popular; then it had been released by Uk Epic and visited number one within the U.K. Epic U.S. refused release a the solitary stateside. Purchasing the privileges from Epic, Casey re-released “CEASE” on his MECA label and it became a high 20 pop strike within the U.S., peaking at quantity 18 in 1983. The TK catalog was offered to Rhino Information within the ’90s, that has released numerous reissues. Several major-selling hip-hop functions have used examples from TK produces because the basis for his or her recordings. During ’90s, Casey toured as KC and sunlight Music group before enthusiastic viewers. A few of KC and sunlight Band’s strikes were featured within the NBC-TV miniseries The 70’s, which shown in-may 2000.