455 Goodbye KC and the Sunshine Band - ( You Said ) You'd Gimme Some More

Chart  entered  : 24  September  1983

Chart  peak : 41

KC  and  the  Sunshine  Band  rode  the  disco  boom  in  the  second  half  of  the  seventies  with  massive  success  in  the  USA  ( 5  number  ones )   not  quite  replicated  over  here  though  they  were  chart  regulars  up  to  1980. The  picture  started  to  cloud  in  1979  when  guitarist  Jerome  Smith   was  forced  out  by  his  drug  and  alcohol  addictions. The  band  started  moving  towards  a  more  mellow  pop  sound  with  their  last  US  number  1  "Please  Don't  Go" . Singer  Harry  Casey  then  started  releasing  records  just  as  "KC"  although  drummer  Robert  Johnson  and   bassist  Richard  Finch  played  on  the  next  LP  and  the  latter  co-produced  and  co-wrote  three  of  the  tracks  on  "Space  Cadet  Solo  Flight" . It  was  their  last  LP  on  TK  Records  which  went  bust. Johnson  was  gone  by  the  time  of  their  next  album  on  Epic  "The  Painter"  which  restored  the  group  moniker. These  two  album  performed  very  poorly  and  Harry  and  Richard  had  already  dissolved  their  partnership  by  the  time  of  the  next  release  "All  in  a  Night's  Work" in  1982. Just  after  its  release  Harry  was  nearly  killed  in  a  car  crash   which  impeded  its  promotion. The  track  "Give  It  Up"  which  Harry  recorded  on  his  own  was  a  surprise  UK  number  one  in  August  1983, three and  a  half   years  after  their  last  hit.

" ( You Said )  You'd  Gimme  Some  More " was  actually  the  first  single  released  from  the  album  but  hadn't  done  anything  while  Harry  was  convalescing.  It's  a  bit  retro  for  1982   with  a  Giorgio  Moroder  Eurodisco  pulse  straight   from  a  Donna  Summer  album. Harry  squawks  his  way  through  the  deliberately  repetitive  lyric  in  his  usual  style  and  while  it  probably  works  at  high  volume   in  a  club   it  sounds  pretty  disposable  in  the  cold  light  of  day.

Epic  had  bought  the  rights  to  the  TK  catalogue  and  next  tried  with  a  re-release  of  his  1978  hit  cover  of  "The  Same  Old  Song"   but  it  didn't  make  the  charts.

KC's  next  album  "KC  Ten"  released  at  the  end  of  1983  was  credited  to  him  alone  although  Jerome  played  on  it  as  a  session  musician. Robert  had  died  unexpectedly  by  this  time.  The  only  single  release - apart  from  "Give  It  Up"  which  was  included  again  - was  "Are  You  Ready". It  was  the  only  Casey/ Finch  composition  on  the  album   and  it  sounds  like  the  dregs  from  the  bottle  of  the  barrel,  an  over-produced  jerky  pop  disco number  that  wouldn't  pass  muster  as  a  Bucks  Fizz  B-side . It  was  only  a  hit  in  Belgium  and  the  album , on  which  Harry  struggles  to  get  to  grips  with  electro-dance,  barely  scraped  a  place  in  the  US  Top  100.

Harry  dissolved  the  band  in  1985  and  retired  from  music  but  was  persuaded  to  reform  the  band  without  either  Richard  or  Jerome  in  1991. They  made  an  entirely  electronic   new  album " Oh  Yeah"  in  1993  kicking  off   with  a  toothless   medley   "Megamix ( The  Official  Bootleg )" that  withers  and  dies  next  to  the  original  recordings. It  failed  as  a  single  as  did  "Will  You  Love  Me  In  The  Morning"  which  sounds  like  Harry's  having  a  mid-life  crisis  as  he  sings  about  sexual  pursuit  with  a  Pam  Ayres- like  swerve  away  from  using  the  word  "fuck". He's  obviously  kept  up  with  modern  dance  sounds  but  the  songs  aren't  strong  enough  to  get  through. The  assault  on  Fleetwood  Mac's  "Don't  Stop"  is  too  bad  for  words.

The  album  sunk  like  a  stone  but   the  new  look   KC  and  the  Sunshine  Band  were  able  to  make  a  living  on  the  nostalgia  circuit.  There  have  been  a  couple  of  new  studio  albums  "I'll  Be  There  For  You" in  2001  and  "Yummy"  in  2007,  on  which  Harry's  wobbling  voice  has  been  treated  to  the  point  where  he  sounds  more  like  Stephen  Hawking. Neither  have  made  any  impression   but  the  band  continues.

Jerome  went  back  to  being  a  session  guitarist  and  appeared  on  a  number  of  albums  by  risque  rapper  Blowfly. He  also  did  some  work  on  the  soundtrack  to  TV  series  Melrose  Place.  He  also  went  on  tour  with  Australian  duo  The  Divinyls.  By  the  end  of  the  nineties  though  he  was  working  on  a  construction  site.  Harry  left  the  door  open  to  rejoin  the  Band  if  he  could  kick  the  battle  and  he  was  reportedly  working  towards  that  when  he  died  after  falling  out  of  his  bulldozer in  2000.

Richard  largely  devoted  his  time  to  production  at  his  home studio  after  the  partnership  broke  up  with  no  conspicuous  success. In  2010  he  admitted  to  having  sexual  relations  with  underage  boys  , blaming  it  on  his  dependence  on  alcohol,  and  is  currently  serving  a  seven  year  sentence.