KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND – "Give It Up"

Have to say this sleeve suggests a different record entirely.

this is pretty much the archetypal six out of ten record – it’s always good top hear it, but i can’t imagine ever seeking it out. the cover looks like a caption competition. “andres’ career as a burkha designer soon ran into trouble”

Hmm, spotifying this after your call for comments on Twitter but over a minute in and the version that’s supposed to be from KC’s greatest hits turns out to be an instrumental – a-ha, a double click for info takes me to the right version. However I still have no memory of this. Can I have danced to it all those years ago? It’s inoffensive, but I don’t think I could go higher than five.

Here’s another one I’d have been hard-pressed to put a number one date to – any time between late seventies and where we’re to, I suppose. Good, refreshing summery stuff with no real substance, like musical elderflower champagne.

I spent much of that August staying in Exeter with my new friend Jenny, who comes from that part of the world. Mainly bumming about on Dartmoor and around the South Hams. I was introduced for the first time to Hope Cove, which has long been my favourite seaside hidey-hole, and learned the true story of what everybody in the South Hams knows about the stonking great American monument on Slapton Sands. Just under a year later, in the run up to the 40th anniversary of the D-Day landings, Nationwide claimed to be revealing the truth about Slapton Sands, that US rehearsals had been bombed by the Luftwaffe. Ha-bloody-ha! I now knew what the South Hams had always known – that the Americans hadn’t bothered to tell the British military what they were up to and it was the RAF, thinking they were foiling an invasion force, that bombed them.

It’s an eye-opener how readily I can slot these 1983 tracks into the categories “Mine” and “My Brother’s”; he played a bigger part in my earlier musical history than I’d suspected. This one was “his”, even though I don’t think he ever owned it, because something about the “Nana-nana-nanananananaNOW!” makes me think of him singing it. Which is a happy effect, given that we’ve washed up on opposite sides of the world. A cheery 6 for you, Mr C.

This has the bright summer sound that reminds me of Gloria Estefan – which may well reflect their common Miami background. It sounds pretty timeless because of the lack of obvious 80s signifiers (other than the sleeve) and is a unalloyed joy.

Well, I REALLY like this one. The “Everybody wants you! Everybody wants your love!” make me think that this is really a song about lust, about chasing a woman who everybody fancies, hence the buzzy trebleyness of it conveys a singer getting slightly too overexcited and overheated to me. It’s a highly imperfect seduction song, and thus more endearingly human than most.

BUT THEN – many years later – I had an awful realisation that that isn’t actually the reason why this song was written. The one who everybody wants may well be a nubile female mask for a recovery programme song by Harry Casey sung to himself about hey, he has so much to give to the world, and how he really needs to give ‘it’ up, ‘it’ almost certainly being cocaine.

This idea has always put me off ‘Give It Up’ to some extent ever since it came to me, but not so much as to ever stop it giving me a buzz when I hear it.

This song went to #18 in the States. Not up there with his mid-70’s Sunshine Band songs, but damn catchy regardless. And isn’t that the whole point of KC’s catalog?

Is that one of Michael Jackson’s kids on the cover?

My favourite thing about this song was its inspired use as a football chant by Crystal Palace fans a few years ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdVxsiIseUA (from 00:20).

‘Gold’ would be a clear 9, at least.

I remember this as pretty unremarkable disco fare, like most of their records not actually objectionable but not something you’d let go of the dial for if you were retuning the radio. Hard to tell why this and not many other records from the time with perfectly serviceable hooks made the top. In terms of KC’s back catalogue even this discophobe would make an exception for “Queen of Clubs” though, that was a cracker – high energy before it was called Hi-NRG perhaps.

And the main memory of the time that this brings back is of being caught in a heavy storm in the streets of South Manchester one day after work. The previous few days had been stiflingly hot, so instead of scurrying for cover I just threw my head back and enjoyed the cooling shower – must have looked like a madman. As I said earlier, this was the ”other” famously hot summer after ’76, and the village of Liphook in Hampshire was mentioned so often on weather reports as setting record temperatures you began to wonder if they were keeping the thermometer over the stove.

think you’re being well harsh on this with the 6 – that puts it on a par with Paul Young.

It’s top summery pop: 7.5, borderline 8 for me.

KC and SB were, of course, massive in the US with a string of number ones there before “Give It Up” came along, which didn’t do nearly as well. The fact that it was so big here is for me rather curious, as I think it is a weak effort in comparison to their disco heyday. The summery feel to it certainly helped it without question but there wasn’t a shaken booty in sight.

peter and Brooksie – yup, KC and them were having hits in the UK and Europe long before the US caught on. In spring 74 the fabulous Queen of Clubs was a UK hit. Took them another nearly-2 years to break into the US Top 20.

Well put Tom…this screams “Lifetime Achievement #1” in every note. I’m sure there’s a trope somewhere (even on here) for that kind of record…where a group makes all kinds of worthy records but makes #1 later on with not one of their best.

I do love “Gold” though…takes itself so seriously and ‘classy’ like…always gives me a chuckle.

Great fun from KC and co here. I’ve gone for a 7/10.