History
The group's main members over the years included brothers Robert Bell (known as "Kool") on bass and Ronald Bell on tenor saxophone, lead vocalist James "J.T." Taylor, George Brown on drums, Robert Mickens on trumpet, Dennis Thomas on alto saxophone, Claydes Charles Smith on guitar, and Rick Westfield on keyboards. The Bell brothers' father was an acquaintance of Thelonious Monk, and the brothers were friends with Leon Thomas.
In 1964 Robert formed an instrumental band called the Jazziacs with five high-school friends.They changed their name to "Kool & the Flames" in 1967, then "Kool & the Gang" in 1969 (to avoid confusion with James Brown's Famous Flames) and were signed by Gene Redd to his new record label De-Lite Records in 1969. They first hit the pop charts with the release of their debut eponymous album.
Although none of the three singles from the album went far on the pop charts, their R&B success was swift and massive. Several live and studio albums followed, with 1973's Wild and Peaceful breaking into the mainstream with "Jungle Boogie" and "Hollywood Swinging". Many reviews see the Gang's 1974 album Light of Worlds and 1975 album Spirit of the Boogie as the greatest achievements of the band, with the 1975 single "Summer Madness" gaining much attention. However, after the release of those albums the band abandoned deep funk music and switched to pop-funk.
The late 1970s saw a lull in Kool & the Gang's output except for the album Open Sesame, which yielded the title track "Open Sesame", achieving some success in the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. New lead singer James "J.T." Taylor then joined the group, starting with 1979's Ladies' Night. Their number one hit in 1980's "Celebration", from Celebrate!, co-produced by Eumir Deodato. More international hits followed in the early 1980s, including "Big Fun", "Get Down on It", and "Joanna". Their 1984 album Emergency yielded four top-20 pop hits, including "Fresh" and "Cherish". Their chart presence stopped after Forever. In 1988, Taylor left the group amicably to pursue a solo career. He returned for the 1996 album State of Affairs, which did not make much of an impact commercially but received positive reviews from critics. Taylor departed again in 2001 to resume his solo career.
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