Wednesday 17 December 2008

KC & The Sunshine Band 'Give It Up'

Chart Peak: 1 (3 weeks)

YouTube

That's one weird video (a longer, but almost inaudible copy is here).

If you want to judge a record in terms of its own intentions, then you'd be hard-pressed to beat this one. It's pretty self-evident that Harry Wayne Casey (aka KC) was hoping to create a sort of non-club dancefloor anthem - I'm sure this wasn't considered any hipper at the time than it is now, but it's the sort of thing that's always being played at wedding discos, office parties, pubs and so on. Even though it's nominally a song about sex, it covers the subject in such safe, U-certificate terms that it could safely be played to school kids, although I presume it isn't now. It certainly was in my day and it's one we all remember, even if we can't remember which ones are KC & The Sunshine Band and which ones are Kool & The Gang.
In fact, suggesting that this song is about anything is a bit of an exaggeration; this being one of the more familiar tracks in the list, I thought I should pay more attention to the lyrics when re-listening, but quite aside from the distractions of that video, there isn't really much to them. The vocal is just another part of the track, like the call-and-response horn arrangement and the whooshing synth intro, all intended to build up to that "Na-na na-na..." chorus. KC (and co-writer Richard Finch) certainly knew what they were doing. They wrote 'Rock Your Baby' too.

Strangely enough, despite topping the UK chart, this wasn't among the group's many US Number One singles. Perhaps even more suprisingly, it turned out to be their last Top 40 hit here, which means they're the first act ever to make their last Now album appearance.

Available on: Get Down Tonight

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