Harry Wayne Casey

Last updated

Harry Wayne Casey
Harry Wayne Casey 2017.jpg
Casey in 2017
Background information
Also known asKC
Born (1951-01-31) January 31, 1951 (age 73)
Opa-locka, Florida, U.S.
Origin Hialeah, Florida, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Record producer
  • musician
  • songwriter
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • keyboards
Years active1973–present
Website heykcsb.com

Harry Wayne Casey (born January 31, 1951), better known by his stage name KC, is an American record producer, musician, and songwriter. He is best known for his band, KC and the Sunshine Band, as a producer of several hits for other artists, and as a pioneer of the disco genre of the 1970s. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Career

Harry Wayne Casey formed KC and the Sunshine Band in 1973. He was introduced to Richard Finch, who was doing engineering work on records for TK Records. Thus began the Casey-Finch musical collaboration. The initial members were just Casey and Finch. They later added guitarist Jerome Smith (1953–2000) and drummer Robert Johnson, both TK studio musicians.

The first of couple songs, "Blow Your Whistle" (September 1973) and "Sound Your Funky Horn" (February 1974), were released as singles, and did well enough on the U.S. R&B chart and overseas that TK wanted a follow-up single and album. However, while working on demos for KC & the Sunshine Band the song "Rock Your Baby" (George McCrae) was created. The band's "Queen of Clubs" was a hit in the UK, peaking at No. 7, and they went on tour there in 1975.

KC and the Sunshine Band became prominent in the United States in 1975 with "Get Down Tonight" and "That's the Way (I Like It)". Other Casey-Finch favorites include "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man", "Keep It Comin' Love" and "Please Don't Go". "Boogie Shoes" appeared on the soundtrack album for Saturday Night Fever . He also joined Teri DeSario on her hit "Yes, I'm Ready" in 1979. Casey also part-wrote "I Ain't Lyin'" (a UK hit for George McCrae in late 1975).

As a result of the soaring popularity of new wave and synthpop in the early 1980s, Casey dissolved the Sunshine Band and recorded several pop-oriented solo albums. In January 1981, he survived a serious car accident — another car hit his car head-on. He was left partially paralyzed for six months, and had to re-learn how to walk, dance, and play the piano, but by the end of the year he was back in the recording studio. [4] "Give It Up" was released as a solo hit, shot to Number One in the UK (but his U.S. label, Epic, refused to release it). However, it would later become a Top 20 hit in the United States (1984) when issued on the independent Meca label. In the mid-1990s, due to the revived interest in the music and fashions of the 1970s, Casey re-formed the Sunshine Band.

Personal life

Casey was born on January 31, 1951, at the Naval Hospital in Opa-locka, Florida. He was born to an Irish-American father and an Italian-American mother who ended their marriage when he was 10. Casey, who was later told that his mother did not appear at the custody hearing for her children, lived with his father.[ citation needed ] He grew up in Hialeah and graduated from Hialeah High School. [5] In the 1990s and 2000s he split his time between Miami Lakes, Florida and Durham, North Carolina. [6]

Casey appeared in season 25 of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives . [7]

Discography

KC and the Sunshine Band performing in 2006 KC & The Sunshine Band2.jpg
KC and the Sunshine Band performing in 2006

Selected compilations

As songwriter

Songwriter: Harry Wayne Casey & Richard Finch

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KC and the Sunshine Band</span> American soul and funk band

KC and the Sunshine Band is an American disco and funk band that was founded in 1973 in Hialeah, Florida. Their best-known songs include the hits "Get Down Tonight", "That's the Way ", "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man", "Keep It Comin' Love","Boogie Shoes", "Please Don't Go", and "Give It Up". The band took its name from lead vocalist Harry Wayne Casey's last name ('KC') and the 'Sunshine Band' from KC's home state of Florida, the Sunshine State. The group had five number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the 1970s.

TK Records was an American independent record label founded by record distributor Henry Stone and Steve Alaimo in 1972. and based in Hialeah, Florida. The record label went bankrupt in 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George McCrae</span> American soul and disco singer

George Warren McCrae Jr. is an American soul and disco singer who is most famous for his 1974 hit "Rock Your Baby".

<i>KC and the Sunshine Band</i> (album) 1975 studio album by KC and the Sunshine Band

KC and the Sunshine Band is the second studio album by KC and the Sunshine Band. The record was produced by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch and was released in July 1975 on the TK label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boogie Shoes</span> 1978 single by KC and the Sunshine Band

"Boogie Shoes" is a funk/disco song by KC and the Sunshine Band, which first appeared on their 1975 self-titled album. The song became a hit after it appeared on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack in 1977. It was subsequently released as a single and peaked at number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 29 on the soul chart in 1978. Before its 1978 release as an A-side, the song was the B-side to the 1976 single "Shake Your Booty".

<i>The Sound of Sunshine</i> 1975 studio album by The Sunshine Band

The Sound of Sunshine is the third studio album by the American funk and disco group The Sunshine Band. The album was produced by its vocalist Harry Wayne Casey, who did not perform vocals for the album, and Richard Finch. It was released in September 1975 on the TK label.

<i>Part 3</i> (KC and the Sunshine Band album) 1976 studio album by KC and the Sunshine Band

Part 3 is the fourth studio album by the funk and disco group KC and the Sunshine Band. The album was produced by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch and was released in October 1976 on the TK label.

<i>Do It Good</i> 1974 studio album by KC and the Sunshine Band

Do It Good is the debut album by the American funk and disco group KC and the Sunshine Band. Produced by Richard Finch, it was released in 1974 on the TK label.

<i>Do You Wanna Go Party</i> 1979 studio album by KC and the Sunshine Band

Do You Wanna Go Party is the sixth studio album by the funk and disco group KC and the Sunshine Band. The album was produced by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch and was released in June 1979 on the TK label.

<i>The Painter</i> (KC and the Sunshine Band album) 1981 studio album by KC and the Sunshine Band

The Painter is the eighth studio album by the funk and disco group KC and the Sunshine Band. Produced by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch, it was released in September 1981 on the Epic label.

<i>All in a Nights Work</i> 1982 studio album by KC and the Sunshine Band

All in a Night's Work is the ninth studio album by the funk and disco group KC and the Sunshine Band. The album was produced by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch and was released in August 1982 on the Epic label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock Your Baby</span> Worldwide early disco hit song by George McCrae

"Rock Your Baby" is the debut single by American singer George McCrae. Written and produced by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch of KC and the Sunshine Band, "Rock Your Baby" was one of the landmark recordings of early disco music. A massive international hit, the song reached number one on the Hot 100 in the United States, spending two weeks there in July 1974; number one on the R&B chart; and number one on the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks at the top in July 1974. Having sold 11 million copies, it is one of fewer than 40 all-time singles to have sold 10 million physical copies worldwide.

Henry Stone, born Henry David Epstein, was an American record company executive and producer whose career spanned the era from R&B in the early 1950s through the disco boom of the 1970s to the 2010s. He was best known as co-owner and president of TK Records, but reportedly set up more than 100 record labels, and generated more than $100 million in record sales across the world. Stone was described as "an acute businessman who always made sure that contracts and publishing agreements were written in his favor."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I'm Your Boogie Man</span> Song by KC & the Sunshine Band

"I'm Your Boogie Man" is a song written and produced by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch, and performed by Casey's band KC and the Sunshine Band, from their fourth album Part 3 (1976).

Jimmie Horace Horne Jr., known as Jimmy "Bo" Horne, is an American singer and musician, whose most successful singles include "Gimme Some" (1975) and "Dance Across the Floor" (1978). Many of Horne's songs have been used on film and video game soundtracks or used as samples by other artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Finch (musician)</span> American composer and music producer (born 1954)

Richard Raymond Finch is an American songwriter, producer, and arranger. He is best known as the co-founder, producer and former bass guitar player of KC and the Sunshine Band. Along with Harry Wayne Casey, he co-wrote the majority of the KC and the Sunshine Band music catalog, to include five No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits.

<i>Greatest Hits</i> (KC and the Sunshine Band album) 1980 compilation album by KC and the Sunshine Band

Greatest Hits is the first official compilation album by KC and the Sunshine Band. The album was released in February 1980 on the TK label.

<i>The Best of KC and the Sunshine Band</i> 1990 compilation album by KC and the Sunshine Band

The Best of KC and the Sunshine Band is a compilation album by KC and the Sunshine Band, released in 1990. The album contained hits from 1974 to 1979, including every track included in their 1980 Greatest Hits compilation, along with their top 20 1983 hit "Give It Up" and other moderately successful singles.

<i>Get Down Live!</i> 1995 live album by KC and the Sunshine Band

Get Down Live! is the first live album by KC and the Sunshine Band, released in 1995.

References

  1. ↑ Randolph Heard, "An Interview with KC [Harry Wayne Casey]", in Shelton Waldrep, ed., The Seventies: The Age of Glitter in Popular Culture (London: Routledge, 2013), 283-92. ISBN   1136690611
  2. ↑ Craig MacInnis, That's the Way I Like It (The Harry Wayne Casey Story), Team Power Publishing, 2002, ISBN   2-89568-059-0
  3. ↑ Sculley, Alan (April 6, 2022). "KC and the Sunshine Band still going strong". Connect Savannah .
  4. ↑ "KC: He's Still Your Boogie Man". Sun Sentinel . November 21, 1996.
  5. ↑ Baker, Greg (September 19, 1990). "The Boogie Man Is Back". Miami New Times .
  6. ↑ VanHecke, Sue (August 28, 1997). "KC COMES TO FESTIVAL AMID ECHOES FROM PAST, NEW ALBUM". The Virginian-Pilot .
  7. ↑ "Season 25, Episode 4, Chew and Brew". Food Network.
  8. ↑ "Rock Your Baby". 45cat.com. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  9. ↑ "You Get Me Hot". Discogs . Retrieved February 8, 2023.
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