KC and the Sunshine Band’s Get Down Tonight

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KC and the Sunshine Band’s Get Down Tonight

KC and the Sunshine Band Get Down Tonight

Disco Music

The song was written by band member Harry Wayne Casey  and the band’s bass player Richard Finch. The story the song tells is pretty simple. At a nightclub, the singer wants a girl to dance with him and then to make a little love. “Get Down Tonight” was released as a single in 1975 and on KC and the Sunshine Band’s 1975 album KC and the Sunshine Band. The song was the first #1 hit for them (the first of five #1 hits). In 1975, “Get Down Tonight” rose to #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Soul Singles. It was #6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Disco Singles. It also was #1 on the U.S. Cash Box and U.S. Record World Charts, as well as in Canada.

The unique introduction to the song is a recorded guitar solo at double speed over a normal-speed guitar line in the background. It is used to create an excitement for the song without sounding artificial, as many artists were experimenting with the new sonic landscape the studio could provide.

“Get Down Tonight” has been featured in films, including Forrest Gump (1994), Arlington Road (1998) and Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999). The song has been sampled by Mack 10 in “Get a Lil’ Head” and by Bamboo for “Bamboogie.”

Personnel included Harry Wayne Cayse (keyboards, vocals), Jerome Smith (guitar), Richard Finch (bass guitar, drum, percussion), Robert Johnson (drums), Oliver C. Brown (percussion), Ken Faulk and Vinnie Tanno (trumpet), Mike Lewis (tenor Sax), Whit Sidener (baritone sax), and background vocals by Beverly Champion, Margaret Reynolds, and Jeanette Williams.

KC and the Sunshine Band formed in Hialeah, Florida in 1973. The KC refers to Harry Wayne Casey. The sunshine part refers to Florida, which is known as the sunshine state.

Here are the lyrics to “Get Down Tonight” by KC and the Sunshine Band:

Baby, baby let’s get together
Honey, honey me and you
And do the things, oh, do the things
That we like to do

Oh, do a little dance, make a little love,
Get down tonight, get down tonight
Do a little dance, make a little love
Get down tonight, get down tonight

Baby, babe I’ll meet you
Same place, same time
Where we can, oh, get together
And ease up our mind

Oh, do a little dance, make a little love
Get down tonight, get down tonight
Do a little dance, make a little love
Get down tonight, get down tonight, baby

Do a little dance, make a little love
Get down tonight, get down tonight
Do a little dance, make a little love
Get down tonight, get down tonight, baby

Get down, get down, get down, get down
Get down, get down, get down, get down, get down tonight, baby
Wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo
Get down, get down, get down, get down, get down tonight, baby
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na
Get down, get down, get down, get down, get down tonight, baby
Wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo
Get down, get down, get down, get down, get down tonight, baby
Get down, get down, get down, get down, get down tonight, baby
Wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo
Get down, get down, get down, get down, get down tonight, baby

For another song by KC and The Sunshine Band: “(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty.

For More 70s Tunes

The System has daily featured music from all sorts of genres of 1970s music. You’re welcome to listen to any of the 40+ selections in The System. Thank you for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed “Get Down Tonight” by KC and The Sunshine Band.

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