Kool & the Gang

Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang in 2011
Background information
Origin	Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres	Funk, R&B, soul, disco
Years active	1964–present
Labels	De-Lite, Mercury
Website	www.koolandthegang.com
Members	Robert Bell Ronald Bell Amir Bayyan Curtis Williams Dennis Thomas George Brown Lavell Evans Louis Taylor Shawn McQuiller Timothy Horton Michael Ray
Past members	Donald Boyce Earl Toon Kevin Bell Kevin Lassiter Larry Gittens Odeen Mays Otha Nash Ricky West Robert Mickens Rodney Ellis Royal Bayyan Sonnie Martin Woody Sparrow Claydes Charles Smith Clifford Adams James "J.T." Taylor

Kool & the Gang is an American funk and rhythm and blues band that was popular in the 1970s and 1980s.

In 1964, thirteen-year-old Robert Bell, his brother Ronald, and five high-school friends in Jersey City, New Jersey, formed an instrumental band called the Jazziacs. 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.

The band consisted of Robert "Kool" Bell (bass), Ronald Bell (keyboards), Robert Mickens (trumpet), Dennis Thomas (saxophone), Ricky West, George Brown (drums), and Charles Smith (guitar).

The Bell brothers' father Bobby and uncle Tommy were boxers. They moved to New York to train and lived in the same apartment building as Thelonious Monk, who became Robert's godfather when he was born. Miles Davis would drop by because he wanted to be a boxer. They played occasionally with McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders, and Leon Thomas.

The band's debut album, Kool and the Gang (1969), produced three hit singles on the pop and R&B charts of Billboard magazine. Wild and Peaceful (1973) gave the band three more hits: "Funky Stuff" in the Top 40 pop chart and "Jungle Boogie" and "Hollywood Swinging" in the Top 10. The latter two songs sold over one million copies and were certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The band remained productive, with albums coming out in 1974 (Light of Worlds) and 1975 (Spirit of the Boogie).

In 1979, James "J.T." Taylor joined as lead singer. Kool and the Gang starting working with Brazilian fusion musician Eumir Deodato as producer, and they moved away from funk and closer to rhythm & blues and pop music. The songs "Ladies' Night" and "Too Hot" were hits and the album was certified platinum by the RIAA. Even more successful was the album Celebration (1980), also produced by Deodato, also certified platinum, giving Kool and the Gang its first number one hit ("Celebration"), which Robert Bell called "an international anthem".