Harry Wayne Casey
Casey in 2017
Casey in 2017
Background information
Also known asKC
Born (1951-01-31) January 31, 1951
Opa-locka, Florida, U.S.
OriginHialeah, Florida, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Record producer
  • musician
  • songwriter
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • keyboards
Years active1973–present
Websiteheykcsb.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]

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 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. 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

Selected compilations

  • Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (1980) (compilation)
  • The Best of KC and the Sunshine Band (1990) (compilation)
  • Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (1990) (compilation)
  • KC and the Sunshine Band...and More (1994)
  • Part 3... and More (1995)
  • Get Down Live! (1995) (live)
  • Shake, Shake, Shake and Other Hits (1997)
  • I'm Your Boogie Man and Other Hits (1997)
  • Yummy in My Tummy (1998) (live)

As songwriter

Songwriter: Harry Wayne Casey & Richard Finch

  • "Rock Your Baby"[8] (1974) - George McCrae
  • "Gimme Some" (1975) - Jimmy "Bo" Horne
  • "Dance Across the Floor" (1978) - Jimmy "Bo" Horne
  • "Get Happy" (1978) - Jimmy "Bo" Horne
  • "I Wanna Go Home with You" (1978) - Jimmy "Bo" Horne
  • "Don't Worry About It" (1978) - Jimmy "Bo" Horne
  • "It's Your Sweet Love" (1978) - Jimmy "Bo" Horne
  • "Let Me" (1978) - Jimmy "Bo" Horne
  • "Ask the Birds and the Bees" (1978) - Jimmy "Bo" Horne
  • "You Get Me Hot"[9] (1979) - Jimmy "Bo" Horne
  • "Goin Home for Love" (Foster/Casey/Finch/Horne) (1979) - Jimmy "Bo" Horne
  • "I Get Lifted" (1979) - Jimmy "Bo" Horne
  • "Without You" (1979) - Jimmy "Bo" Horne

See also

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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