Kool & the Gang's second phase with singer James "J.T." Taylor proved so inescapably successful from 1979-87 that slick R&B hits like "Celebration" and "Cherish" are largely how this New Jersey band is remembered. But in its first incarnation as a primarily instrumental rhythm machine, Kool & the Gang helped pioneer an uncompromising, yet crowd-pleasing, uptempo funk. Leader Robert "Kool" Bell's walking basslines carried the melody while jazzy horn lines not unlike those of Chicago blasted the beat uptown. Taking a tip from Manu Dibango's pioneering, club-originated Afrobeat smash "Soul Makossa," crossover hits like "Jungle Boogie" and "Hollywood Swinging" embraced syncopated elemental rhythms from the Motherland.

When the Bee Gees and Donna Summer eventually defined disco in the mainstream's mind, funk became something thought entirely antithetical to what disco had become. But Kool & the Gang kept its good foot in the door of both camps: "Open Sesame" — the last of its pre-J.T. hits —even landed on the phenomenally popular Saturday Night Fever soundtrack a year after its late-'76 release, and did it without diluting the formula of its previous hits: The lyrics were still largely limited to the title, a few "get down"s, and some Wolfman… read more »