''Everybody's Dancin'
'' is a studio album by the American band
Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B, soul music, soul, and funk band formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964. Its founding members include brothers Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell (musician), Ronald Bell (also known as " ...
, released in 1978. It peaked at No. 71 on ''Billboards
Top Black Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...
chart.
Reception
In 1978, despite their music's recent feature in ''
Saturday Night Fever
''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American Dance in film, dance Drama (film and television), drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian Americans, Italian-America ...
'', Kool & the Gang were "at a low point"
of commercial decline.
The ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' wrote that the band struggled to maintain its relevance in the disco world, despite a prominent horn section.
Speaking of the circa-1978 era, drummer George "Funky" Brown stated, "We tried our version of disco. It didn't work."
The ''
Detroit Free Press
The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...
'' opined that "Kool and the Gang have gone bland," noting that "they've joined the disco lemmings...The edge has gone".
Predecessor to commercial success
The year of its release, the band played at a record store to promote ''Everybody's Dancin. When nobody showed up for the performance, the band was "humiliated".
Ronald Bell recalled that a teenager visiting the store told the band "something they all vaguely sensed": that despite the success of "
Jungle Boogie" (1973), "
Hollywood Swinging" (1974), and "
Funky Stuff" (1973), Kool & the Gang was "now...washed up". Bell claimed he took it as a wake-up call to "make something pop" the next time the band was in the studio.
The following year, producer
Eumir Deodato
Eumir Deodato de Almeida (; born 22 June 1943) is a Brazilian pianist, composer, arranger and record producer, primarily in jazz but who has been known for his eclectic melding of genres, such as Pop music, pop, Rock music, rock, disco, rhythm a ...
arranged for traditional choruses, a front man vocalist (
J. T. Taylor) and the band released ''
Ladies' Night
A ladies' night is a promotional event, often at a bar or nightclub, where female patrons pay less than male patrons for the cover charge or alcoholic beverages. In the United States, state courts in California, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Wisco ...
.'' It was their first major success and their first album to go platinum.
Track listing
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Kool & the Gang albums
1978 albums
De-Lite Records albums