Kool and the Gang in the context of Van Halen

⭐ Core Definition: Kool and the Gang

Kool & the Gang is an American R&B, soul and funk band formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964. Its founding members include brothers Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell (also known as "Khalis Bayyan"), Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas, Robert "Spike" Mickens, Charles Smith, George Brown, Woodrow "Woody" Sparrow and Ricky Westfield. They have undergone numerous changes in personnel and have explored many musical styles throughout their history, including jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, funk, disco, rock and pop music. The group changed their name several times. Settling on Kool & the Gang, the group signed to De-Lite Records and released their debut album Kool and the Gang in 1969.

The band's first mainstream success came with the release of their fourth album Wild and Peaceful (1973); it contained the US top-ten singles "Jungle Boogie" and "Hollywood Swinging". The band entered a period of decline before they reached a second commercial peak between 1979 and 1986 following their partnership with Brazilian musician and producer Eumir Deodato and the addition of singer James "J.T." Taylor to the line-up. Their most successful albums of the time include Ladies' Night (1979), Celebrate! (1980) and Emergency (1984), the latter being their highest-selling album, with two million copies sold in the US. Their hit singles during the period include "Ladies' Night" (1979), the US No. 1 "Celebration" (1980), "Get Down on It" (1981), "Joanna" (1983), "Misled" (1984) and "Cherish" (1985). The group has continued to perform worldwide, including as a supporting act for Van Halen in 2012 and their fiftieth-anniversary tour in 2014.

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Kool and the Gang in the context of Funk

Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the mid-20th century. It deemphasizes melody and chord progressions and focuses on a strong rhythmic groove of a bassline played by an electric bassist and a drum part played by a percussionist, often at slower tempos than other popular music. Funk typically consists of a complex percussive groove with rhythm instruments playing interlocking grooves that create a "hypnotic" and "danceable" feel. Early funk, specifically James Brown, fused jazz and blues, and added a syncopated drum groove.

Funk originated in the mid-1960s, with James Brown's development of a signature groove that emphasized the downbeat—with a heavy emphasis on the first beat of every measure ("The One"), and the application of swung 16th notes and syncopation on all basslines, drum patterns, and guitar riffs. Rock- and psychedelia-influenced musicians Sly and the Family Stone and Parliament-Funkadelic fostered more eclectic examples of the genre beginning in the late 1960s. Other musical groups developed Brown's innovations during the 1970s and the 1980s, including Kool and the Gang, Ohio Players, Fatback Band, Jimmy Castor Bunch, Bootsy Collins, Earth, Wind & Fire, B.T. Express, Hamilton Bohannon, One Way, Lakeside, Dazz Band, The Gap Band, Slave, Aurra, Roger Troutman & Zapp, Con Funk Shun, Cameo, Bar-Kays and Chic.

View the full Wikipedia page for Funk

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