Playing It Kool: Times Out
IT’S ladies night, let’s get together and celebrate!” is the message Kool & the Gang has for anyone heading to their upcoming show at the Kelvingrove Bandstand.
Robert ‘Kool’ Bell may have been doing the rounds for 50 years but his enthusiasm for performing has yet to be dulled by old(er) age.
Kool, now aged 66, and his gang have been delighting fans with hits like Celebration and Get Down On It for the past five decades. Over the years the band have established themselves in funk, jazz, R&B and pop while maintaining their own unique sound.
Kool & the Gang was formed in Jersey City by a 13-year-old Robert Bell (bass), his brother Ronald (keyboards), and five high school friends - Robert Mickens (trumpet), Dennis Thomas (saxophone), Ricky West, George Brown (drums), and Charles Smith (guitar).
They initially formed a jazz group called Jazz Birds who went on to be part of the Soul Town Revue, playing with acts known for different styles of R&B.
As a young back-up band, they would play songs by the Motown greats including the Temptations, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Diana Ross & The Supremes.
Before long they realised they were being influenced as much by jazz music, as they were Motown, and from there started to develop the distinctive Kool & the Gang sound.
Their first single as Kool & the Gang dropped in 1969.
From then on, the band approached each decade as an evolution. In the 70s they produced disco classics before getting themselves a lead singer in the 80s and gaining commercial recognition.
During the 80s era,they produced hit records including Jungle Boogie, Hollywood Swinging and Celebration which became dancefloor staples with the help of vocalist James Taylor.
With the explosion of hip-hop on the 90s, Kool & the Gang were DJ favourites and second only to icon James Brown as a sources of rap-music samples.
Kool explains: “We started back in 1964 and we started out as a jazz act. From there we went to a soul town band and from there to Kool & the Flames and then in 1968 we changed the name to Kool & the Gang.
The likes of the late Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder and The Beatles are listed among the artists which continue to inspire the band.
“Next year we will be celebrating 50 years”, Kool adds. “We’ve had a lot of memorable moments. I remember playing at Wembley Stadium with Elton John, we did 48 shows with Van Halen and another 10 shows with Kid Rock, we played with Bryan Adams... a lot of nice highlights.
The celebration won’t be stopping anytime soon either as the band gears up to play Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Bandstand as part of the West End Fiesta.
“I am absolutely looking forward to it”, Kool says.
“We used to tour a lot in Britain so I’m looking forward to coming back. We have done a couple of festivals but not a tour. We did Glastonbury festival a few years ago and it’s always good to play during the summer time. We will be playing our new single ‘Sexy (Where’d You Get Yours). It was our first record in10 years so we’re very happy about that.”
The single’s success has proved that the love for Kool & the Gang is still there and debuting at number 28 on the Adult R&B Songs chart.
Its an impressive feat for the ensemble who first appeared on the Billboard’s chart in 1969 with their self-titled debut single which reached number 19 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart.
Since then, they’ve earned nine No. 1s including Celebration which spent two weeks at the top of the chart in 1981.
Despite not making waves in the charts themselves, their presence can still be felt in contemporary artists including Bruno Mars, who lists the band as one of his main influences.
It’s been a long 50-year career for the band. Despite losing three of their original members, ongoing inspiration to their fans.
Kool said: “The fans give you the energy, they support you. We travel around the world and places we don’t go that often the fans are still there. It keeps you going.