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, 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.
Spirit of the Boogie is the sixth studio album by Kool & the Gang, released in 1975. It can be seen as a follow-up to Wild and Peaceful (1973); the instrumental "Jungle Jazz" uses the same basic rhythm track heard in "Jungle Boogie", but lets the players improvise on their instruments. References to earlier works can be noticed. "Spirit of the Boogie" features Donald Boyce, who was rapping on "Jungle Boogie". Some African influence can be felt, and the band even play in a West-Indian style on "Caribbean Festival", another instrumental track, with once more much room for improvisation.
"Jive Talkin'" is a song by the Bee Gees, released as a single in May 1975 by RSO Records. This was the lead single from the album Main Course. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and top-five on the UK Singles Chart in the middle of 1975. Largely recognised as the group's comeback song, it was their first US top-10 hit since "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" (1971).
Music from the Motion Picture Pulp Fiction is the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film Pulp Fiction, released on September 27, 1994, by MCA Records. No traditional film score was commissioned for Pulp Fiction. The film contains a mix of American rock and roll, surf music, pop and soul. The soundtrack is equally untraditional, consisting of nine songs from the film, four tracks of dialogue snippets followed by a song, and three tracks of dialogue alone. Seven songs featured in the film were not included in the original 41-minute soundtrack.
"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".
Wild and Peaceful is the fourth studio album, and sixth album of new material released by the funk band Kool & the Gang, and is their commercial breakthrough album. It was released in 1973 and was hugely successful on the Billboard R&B chart, reaching No. 6 and charting for 36 weeks. It also reached No. 33 on the Pop charts, making it the band's first entry into that chart's Top 40. The album spawned the band's first three Top 10 singles. "Funky Stuff" reached No. 5 R&B/No. 29 Pop. The hugely popular track "Jungle Boogie" soared to No. 2 R&B and No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "Hollywood Swinging" topped the Billboard Hot Soul Singles in June 1974 while reaching No. 6 Pop. The latter two singles both sold over a million copies and were certified Gold by the RIAA. The album itself was also certified Gold.
Ladies' Night is the eleventh studio album by the American band Kool & the Gang, released in 1979. The album became their first major success especially after the release of the title track, the U.S. #8 "Ladies' Night," and the U.S. #5 follow-up "Too Hot" which both became Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. The album brought a return to the mainstream after a lull in success from 1976–1978. Ladies' Night reached number one on the U.S. R&B chart. Additionally, all the cuts from the album reached number five on the disco chart.
"The Breaks" is a song by American rapper Kurtis Blow from his self-titled debut album. It was released as a single in June 1980 and peaked at No. 87 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the first certified gold rap song, and the second certified gold 12-inch single. In 2008, the song ranked #10 on VH1's 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs.
"Superfly" is a song by Curtis Mayfield, the title track from his 1972 soundtrack album for the film of the same name. It was the second single released from the album, following "Freddie's Dead ", and reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on the Best Selling Soul Singles chart. The lyrics celebrate the craftiness and determination of the film's main character. The song plays over the film's closing credits.
"Hot Pants (She Got to Use What She Got to Get What She Wants)" is a 1971 song by American singer James Brown, released as a single on his People Records label (then distributed by King Records) in July of that year with "Pt. 1" on the A-side and "Pt. 2 and 3" on the B-side. It was a number-one hit on the Billboard R&B chart, and reached number fifteen on the Hot 100 and number ten on the Cashbox magazine charts. "Hot Pants" was Brown's final release under King's purview before he and the People label moved to Polydor Records.
"Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" is a funk song recorded by James Brown. Released as a single in 1969, the song was a #1 R&B hit and also made the top 20 pop singles chart. "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose" appeared as an instrumental on the Ain't It Funky (1970) album, removing Brown's vocals and adding guitar overdubs, while the vocal version was released on It's a New Day – Let a Man Come In (1970).
"Hollywood Swinging" is a 1974 song by R&B/funk band Kool & the Gang from their album Wild and Peaceful. It was written by Robert "Kool" Bell, Ronald Bell, George M. Brown, Robert "Spike" Mickens, Claydes Charles Smith, Dennis R. Thomas and Rick A. Westfield.
"Higher Plane" is the name of a hit song by R&B/funk band Kool & the Gang and written by Robert Earl Bell, Ronald Nathan Bell, George Melvin Brown, Robert Spike Mickens, Claydes Charles Smith, Dennis Thomas and Rick Westfield. From the album Light of Worlds, the single spent one week at number one on the R&B singles chart in October, 1974. It also peaked at number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The song was included on the 1975 Kool & the Gang Greatest Hits! record.
"Funkin' for Jamaica (N.Y.)" is a song by jazz trumpeter Tom Browne. The single—a memoir of the Jamaica neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens where Browne was born and raised—is from his second solo album, Love Approach. Browne got the idea for the song while he was at his parents' home. The vocals for the single were performed by Toni Smith, who also helped compose the song. The song hit number one on the US Billboard R&B chart for a month. "Funkin' for Jamaica" peaked at number nine on the dance chart and made the top 10 on the UK Singles Chart, but it never charted on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Take My Heart (You Can Have It If You Want It)" or "Take My Heart" is a 1981 single by Kool & the Gang from their album, Something Special.
"Fresh" is a song by the American group Kool & the Gang. Released as a single in 1984 from the album Emergency, the song peaked at #9 on the U.S. Hot 100 chart, and #11 on the UK chart. It also reached number one on both the U.S. R&B chart and U.S. Dance chart.
"Spirit of the Boogie" is a funk/soul song recorded by Kool & the Gang as the title track for their 1975 album.
"Apache" is a song written by Jerry Lordan and first recorded by Bert Weedon. Lordan played the song on ukulele for the Shadows while on tour and, liking the song, the group released their own version which topped the UK Singles Chart for five weeks in mid-1960. The Shadows' guitarist Hank Marvin developed the song's distinctive echo and vibrato sound. After hearing the Shadows' version, Danish guitarist Jørgen Ingmann released a cover of the song in November 1960 which peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.
"Mama Used to Say" is the debut single release by the British R&B recording artist Junior, taken from his debut studio album Ji.
"Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)" is an instrumental by Brazilian musician Eumir Deodato, from his 1973 album Prelude. It is a heavily jazz-funk styled rendition of the introduction from the 1896 Richard Strauss composition Also sprach Zarathustra. The "(2001)" mentioned is a reference to the soundtrack for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
