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Best KC And The Sunshine Band Songs: 10 Disco Anthems The Way You Like It
List & Guides

Best KC And The Sunshine Band Songs: 10 Disco Anthems The Way You Like It

Cheery and energetic, the best KC And The Sunshine Band songs saw the Floridian funkmeisters bring boogielicious vibes to the disco party.

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Hailing from the Sunshine State of Florida, KC And The Sunshine Band are an era-defining funk ensemble who have long been regarded as leading lights of the 70s disco era. Masterminded by ice-cool vocalist Harry Wayne Casey and hot-fingered bassist/producer Richard Finch, the best KC And The Sunshine Band songs positively shine with funk grooves, Florida soul and dancefloor-ready beats aimed at bringing a ray of light into the pop charts.

With a beefy, punch-packing sound sweetened by horns, strings and layered vocals, the group’s dancefloor-filling grooves became anthems of the disco craze. From Get Down Tonight to That’s The Way (I Like It), each innuendo-packed earworm built upon the last, helping KC And The Sunshine band to became the first group since The Beatles to score four US No.1 hit singles in a single 12-month period – a remarkable achievement that has rightly earned the band their place in pop history.

Here, then, is our list of the best KC And The Sunshine Band songs, packed with foot-stomping disco classics that defined an era.

Listen to the best of KC And The Sunshine Band songs here, and check out the best KC And The Sunshine Band songs, below.

10: Queen Of Clubs (from ‘Do It Good’, 1974)

Calling out to the scene-stealing divas of “every nightclub across the nation”, Queen Of Clubs was a royal flush that gifted KC And The Sunshine Band their first significant chart breakthrough, exceeding the performance of their debut single, Blow Your Whistle, by peaking at No.66 in the US and No.7 in the UK. Released in April 1974, the song’s freewheeling energy and vocalist Harry Wayne Casey’s wild falsetto put listeners in a spin by celebrating a glammed-up party animal who turns heads on the dancefloor (“She’s got style, y’all, she’s got class/She can groove it slow or move it real fast”).

9: Sound Your Funky Horn (from ‘Do It Good’, 1974)

With a beat so intoxicating it will leave you giddy, Sound Your Funky Horn was a joyous call-to-arms for 70s club-goers. Like crazy buglers sporting flares and platform shoes, the group honed their style with staccato horns and impassioned call-and-response vocals while Harry Wayne Casey all but swung from the chandelier, fully capturing the pure hedonism of partying long through the night. Unquestionably one of the best KC And The Sunshine Band songs, Sound Your Funky Horn blared its way to No.17 in the UK.

8: Keep It Comin’ Love (from ‘Part 3’, 1977)

Keeping hips swinging with its gleeful groove, the 1977 single Keep It Comin’ Love was as infectious as it gets, deploying incessantly repetitious lyrics to skirt the boundaries of sexual innuendo (“Keep it comin’ love/Don’t stop it now, don’t stop it, no”). “In the Midwest everyone thought we were saying ‘keep it common law’, like keep it common-law marriage,” producer Richard Finch said in an interview with Songfacts. “That’s actually what made that record big in the Midwest, and we wouldn’t even know that until later.” Peaking at No.31 in the UK and No.2 in the US, Keep It Comin’ Love successfully distilled the band’s gutsy brand of funk-pop to its essence, easily earning its place among the best KC And The Sunshine Band songs.

7: I’m Your Boogie Man (from ‘Part 3’, 1977)

Lulling the listener into a false sense of security with its pared-back, funk-lite intro, I’m Your Boogie Man bamboozles its way into this list of the best KC And The Sunshine Band songs courtesy of a boot-kicking groove. Packed with swagger and a no-nonsense attitude, this horndog of a cut became the band’s fourth US No.1 in 1977, and characterised the elastic bounce of disco flyboys setting their hearts on reaching cloud nine (“I want to be your, be your rubber ball/I want to be the one you love most of all”).

6: Please Don’t Go (from ‘Do You Wanna Go Party’, 1979)

Realising that most of their previous singles had been upbeat party hits, KC And The Sunshine Band tried their hand at a slow-moving disco ballad, with songwriter Harry Wayne Casey writing a schmaltzy but charming number that oozed hit potential. “I always had a feeling when I was writing the song,” Casey told The Augusta Chronicle of Please Don’t Go, “and when I was in the studio, I could kind of feel this really mysterious aura happen during the recording.” Peaking at No.3 in the UK and No.1 in the US, the song rode Richard Finch’s throbbing bassline and Casey’s lovelorn falsetto to become one of the best KC And The Sunshine Band songs to see in the end of the disco era.

5: Boogie Shoes (from ‘KC And The Sunshine Band’, 1975)

Thanks to its inclusion on the soundtrack to 1977’s quintessential disco movie, Saturday Night Fever, Boogie Shoes found its way back onto the dancefloor after initially appearing on KC And The Sunshine Band’s self-titled debut album. Finally released as a single in 1978, the song is believed to have sold over one million copies, making it one of the shining gems of the disco era. As polished as a pair of leather uppers, Boogie Shoes unapologetically stomps its way into the best KC And The Sunshine Band songs.

4: (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty (from ‘Part 3’, 1976)

A bona fide disco anthem among the best KC And The Sunshine Band songs, (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty certainly got bodies popping after it topped the US charts. Released in May 1976, its delightfully boisterous mix of funk and R&B, along with Harry Wayne Casey’s booty-baiting demands, is not just inherently danceable but also positively riotous in its unbridled enthusiasm. Outlasting the disco era to become every rump-shaker’s favourite floor-filler, this song always gets people meeting its demands.

3: Give It Up (from ‘All In A Night’s Work’, 1983)

Long after disco had fallen out of favour, KC And The Sunshine Band emerged from the wilderness with their 1983 single Give It Up, which saw the group triumphantly re-enter the charts with a UK No.1 smash. Fusing their disco DNA with the synth-driven flourish of new-wave pop, the song undoubtedly proved that the public hadn’t fallen entirely out of love with mirrorballs. Despite Give It Up’s massive success, singer Harry Wayne Casey decided to bow out gracefully, retiring from the music business shortly after the single’s release. “After Give It Up was a hit, that was it; I was done,” he told Goldmine magazine. “Give It Up, and I gave it up!” Topping Casey’s career in glorious fashion, Give It Up is a textbook example of how to finish on a high.

2: That’s The Way (I Like It) (from ‘KC And The Sunshine Band’, 1975)

A magic concoction of spry dancefloor grooves and boudoir vocals, That’s The Way (I Like It) became the group’s second US No.1 in June 1975 and is still capable of inducing disco fever. Bewitching a whole generation with nagging “uh-huh”s and sheer funky abandon, the song found the Florida troupe hitting their stride with a revolutionary party bop par excellence. Affectionately embraced not just as one of the best KC And The Sunshine Band songs but also as a timeless disco classic in its own right, That’s The Way (I Like It) is, indeed, the way we like it.

1: Get Down Tonight (from ‘KC And The Sunshine Band’, 1975)

Released in July 1975, Get Down Tonight took disco to even greater commercial heights when it became the biggest-ever hit for KC And The Sunshine Band. “I had a special feeling about it the whole time we were making it,” Harry Wayne Casey told MusicRadar, “but when I heard it from start to finish, I sat there thinking, This thing can’t miss. There’s no way it’s not a hit.” Proving its creator right, the song peaked at No.1 in the US, weaponising an irresistible vocal hook (“Do a little dance, make a little love/Get down tonight”) to capture the joy of floor-shaking euphoria. The song’s enduring appeal even extended well into the EDM era, later being sampled by house duo Bamboo for their 1998 UK No.1 hit, Bamboogie. A veritable goldmine of non-stop party vibes, Get Down Tonight soars to the top of this list of the best KC And The Sunshine Band songs.

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