Early Years
Born in Opa-Locka, Florida, to an Irish-American father and an Italian-American mother, Casey became interested in music at an early age. As a teenager he played and sang with several local bands and played piano at the Pentecostal church his family attended. He also attended Hialeah High School in Hialeah, Florida, where he developed his music talent. He studied music at Miami-Dade Community College and worked part-time in a record store. KC noticed that often customers would come in not remembering the titles of the records they wanted, and the store would lose the sale — this is the reason so many of his songs repeat their titles over and over.
While working at the record store, Casey often made deliveries to the headquarters of TK Records in Hialeah, and spent so much time visiting the studio that he was eventually hired to work in the warehouse. On August 12, 1973, Casey signed a contract with TK and formed KC and the Sunshine Junkanoo Band, using other recording artists at the studio for backgrounds and instrumentation. The Miami Junkanoo Band was a local group brought in to perform on the record. Casey played electric piano and sang lead with the group. As the second single, "Sound Your Funky Horn", was released, the group's name was finalized as KC and the Sunshine Band. Casey brought in Richard Finch's musical talents and their production team (also the only white members of the group) was initiated. In 1974, they had their first Number One hit as songwriters with George McCrae's "Rock Your Baby." Casey and Finch also wrote and produced songs for Betty Wright and Jimmy "Bo" Horne.
Read more about this topic: Harry Wayne Casey
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or years:
“Even today . . . experts, usually male, tell women how to be mothers and warn them that they should not have children if they have any intention of leaving their side in their early years. . . . Children don’t need parents’ full-time attendance or attention at any stage of their development. Many people will help take care of their needs, depending on who their parents are and how they chose to fulfill their roles.”
—Stella Chess (20th century)
“In the years of the Roman Republic, before the Christian era, Roman education was meant to produce those character traits that would make the ideal family man. Children were taught primarily to be good to their families. To revere gods, one’s parents, and the laws of the state were the primary lessons for Roman boys. Cicero described the goal of their child rearing as “self- control, combined with dutiful affection to parents, and kindliness to kindred.””
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)