Celebrating Over 40 Years Together, The Band Transcends Over 200 Musical Appearances in Films, Television Commercials, TV Shows and Video Games
It's been over forty years since KC and The Sunshine Band danced onto the music scene, transforming the landscape of pop music, and creating a signature sound spanning generations young and old. With sales of over 100 million records, nine Grammy nominations, three Grammy Awards and an American Music Award, they are still known today as one of the most progressive bands of the 70s; and in the midst of a millennial, digital age, their music is still discovered daily by millions around the world through its continual placement in top box office movies, TV commercials, TV shows and video games. This month, the band celebrates international recognition with 1984 hit "Give It Up," licensed for use in one of the leading scenes in blockbuster action movie, KINGSMAN: The Secret Service -- marking over 200 on-screen musical appearances for KC and The Sunshine Band.
Whether the scene is fun and light-hearted or violent like in KINGSMAN, (where "Give It Up" plays as the villain acts out his infernal plan), and new Australian indie film, Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead, (where "Get Down Tonight" is the anthem of choice as the lead character, a mad scientist, goes to town on terrified, live "cadavers" in his lab), KC and The Sunshine Band seems to have created an R&B, funk and disco infused soundtrack for pretty much every type of scene imaginable, whether its scored by music supervisors out of irony, or logic.
"It makes me happy to know that my music has withstood the test of time," said Harry Wayne "KC" Casey. "Disco and funk have never really gone away. Look at Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' current No. 1 Billboard smash, "Uptown Funk." That song takes it back to the sound of my day. I'm glad to see my musical style being preserved not only on-screen but in current radio hits too."
Over the past forty years, the list of films and commercials KC's music has been summoned for is seemingly endless. In the early 70s, at the height of the KC and The Sunshine Band phenomenon, they made their on-screen debut with "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty," in Top of the Pops and The Brady Bunch Hour, before "That's The Way I Like It," made its way into a comedic skit in Saturday Night Live. Then, in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, viewers and KC were reacquainted once again in Deuce Bigalow, Blow, Legally Blonde, Austin Powers, Saving Silverman, Rush Hour, The Simpsons, Dr. Dolittle, Forrest Gump, The Players Club, Space Jam, Picture Perfect and She's So Lovely, to name a few.
More recently, in 2010, Sun Life Financial enlisted KC and his band as actors in its TV ad, humorously commissioning the band to change their name to the "SunLife Band," and their Saturday Night Fever hit, "Boogie Shoes," made its resurgence in 2014 in a Raisin Bran commercial. Other modern-day hit series like Scandal, The Big Bang Theory, Dancing With The Stars, Lovelace, Three Many Weddings, and EastEnders have all featured KC's music within the past two years. Furthermore, this March, Director Mark Moormann and Beacon Films, LLC will bring the music and career legacy of KC and The Sunshine Band to the Miami International Film Festival in the feature-length documentary THE RECORD MAN, capturing the life of KC's long-time producer and record executive Henry Stone.
Though so much history is written, KC and his band are not ready to call it quits. Their long-awaited new album Feeling You! The 60s, will impact stores, iTunes and Amazon on Tuesday, March 10. A tribute to the era that shaped H.W. Casey into the revolutionary artist he became in the 70s, the brand-new release is part one of the two-part Feeling You project, and features covers of songs by sixties legends Bob Dylan, Ben E. King, The Kinks, The Righteous Brothers, Jackie DeShannon, Aaron Neville and many more.
“I’m excited for my fans to hear this album,” said KC. “I really went outside of the box vocally and creatively. Feeling You! The 60s is autobiographical, showing how I feel about love, life and the world through the music of that era.”
Pre-order the album on Amazon here: http://hyperurl.co/kcthe60samazon, and look for it on iTunes beginning March 3. Fans who purchase the album early will receive the "instant grat" free track download from the album, "You Really Got Me," (originally recorded by The Kinks).
ABOUT KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND
KC and The Sunshine Band aim to serve a single purpose: to create instant happiness through music. For over 40 years the group has done just that, topping the charts with seven No. 1 singles and three triple platinum albums, winning three Grammy® Awards, including Album of the Year for the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, an American Music Award, and becoming the first act since The Beatles to score four No. 1 pop singles in one 12-month period in 1976. KC and the Sunshine Band’s unique meeting of Caribbean, pop, R&B and Latin inspired infectious grooves and their distinctive Sunshine Sound, impacting the world over and teaching them how to boogie. The band’s infectious sound has given life to countless ad campaigns, hundreds of movie soundtracks and numerous television shows, including the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2014. In 2001, KC was honored with the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences Governor’s Award, the highest honor given by a chapter of the Academy. The band’s infectious sound gives life to countless ad campaigns and hundreds of movie soundtracks. KC and The Sunshine Band has defined dance music and forever influenced music with its timeless sound and mission of getting people out of their seats to celebrate, which is still being fulfilled today.
KC and The Sunshine Band On Tour:
02.25 Soul Train Cruise / San Juan, PR
03.20 Hard Rock Hotel and Casino / Hollywood, FL
03.05 Fallsview Casino Resort / Niagara Falls, Ontario
03.06 Fallsview Casino Resort / Niagara Falls, Ontario
03.20 Hard Rock Hotel and Casino / Hollywood, FL
03.21 Seminole Casino Immokalee / Immokalee, FL
03.26 Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino / Lemoore, CA
04.11 Busch Gardens / Tampa, FL
04.18 Seven Feathers Casino – Grand Ballroom / Canyonville, OR
04.19 Snoqualmie Casino Ballroom / Snoqualmie, WA
05.31 Heineken Music Hall / Amsterdam, NL
06.01 Hammersmith Apollo / London, UK
07.04 A Capitol Fourth Independence Day / Washington, DC
07.11 Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheatre / Peachtree City, GA
07.17 Three Rivers Festival / Ft. Wayne, IN
08.08 Tropicana / Atlantic City, NJ
08.20 Indiana State Fairgrounds / Indianapolis, IN
08.29 Monticello Grand Casino / Santiago, Chile
08.30 Monticello Grand Casino / Santiago, Chile
10.03 University of Buffalo Stadium / Buffalo, NY