Of the artists who defined the disco era, none may be more strongly associated with their mid-to-late 1970s output than KC and the Sunshine Band. The Bee Gees had already established themselves as stars in the late ‘60, and Donna Summer and Chic (most notably Nile Rodgers) continued to make an impact in the ‘80s, but nearly all of the Miami-based band’s greatest successes occurred during the disco craze. KC and the Sunshine Band did have a Top-20 hit with “Give It Up” in 1982, but it was the exception that proved the rule.
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“Give It Up” was notable for more than simply bringing KC and the Sunshine Band back into the spotlight. The song represented a return to the style of music that made the band wildly popular in the ‘70s, and it was also a personal triumph for founder and namesake Harry Casey. Those who lived through KC-mania in real time may be surprised to learn exactly how robust the legacy of “Give It Up” has become, even compared to KC and the Sunshine Band’s other hits.
As Went Disco, So Went KC and the Sunshine Band
By the late ‘70s, disco’s appeal was in sharp decline. Artists who owed their popularity to disco either found themselves becoming less commercially relevant or shifting to other musical genres. KC and the Sunshine Band went through both of these phases. Between 1975 and 1977, the band notched four No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, and “Keep It Comin’ Love” would have been their fifth chart-topper during that span if not for Meco’s “Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band” and Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My Life” keeping it at No. 2 for three weeks. As disco started to wane, only two of KC and the Sunshine Band’s next nine singles would crack the Top 40, and none made it higher than No. 35.
KC and the Sunshine Band would eventually return to the top of the charts with “Please Don’t Go,” but now they were miles away from the disco round. The spacey slow jam was the first No. 1 song of the 1980s, and it signaled the end of disco. Two months later, Casey would nearly top the Hot 100 again, as his duet with Teri DeSario, “Yes, I’m Ready,” shot up to No. 2. Casey’s rebound would be brief, as he would release two non-charting albums in 1981 (one as a solo artist and one with the Sunshine Band).
A Comeback Hit for Casey, In Spite of His Label
In late 1981, Casey went to work on another KC and the Sunshine Band album, All in a Night’s Work, which would be his second release for Epic Records. In January 1982, Casey got into a car accident that left him concussed and paralyzed on his right side for nine months. Toward the end of his recovery, Epic released All in a Night’s Work. The label released the highly danceable “Give It Up” as a single in several countries, but not in the U.S. Even after it became a No. 1 hit in the UK in the summer of 1983, Epic would not release it as a single in the U.S. Though it had yet to become a popular single in his own country, Casey finally showed he could have success again with a song that was similar in style to his ‘70s hits.
After performing the song on American Bandstand during a 1984 appearance, Casey explained to host Dick Clark he convinced Epic to return the rights to “Give It Up” to him, as he planned to release it as a U.S. single on his own label Meca. (Casey told Clark that Meca stood for “Musical Entertainment Corporation of America.”) Subsequently, Casey recorded a solo album for Meca called KC Ten, and he released it in December 1983 with “Give It Up” as its lead single.
The Impact of “Give It Up”
“Give It Up” brought Casey back to the Hot 100 for the first time in more than three years, and it peaked at No. 18. It also went to No. 24 on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs, making “Give It Up” the first KC and the Sunshine Band song to reach both the Top 40 and Dance Club Songs chart since “Keep It Comin’ Love” achieved the feat in 1977. “Give It Up” was also Casey’s last Hot 100 hit, with or without the Sunshine Band, and it was his only No. 1 single in the UK.
While “Give It Up” was far from KC and the Sunshine Band’s biggest hit when it came out, it has become their most popular track on both Spotify (257 million streams) and YouTube (5.7 million views). In 1993, the Danish group Cut ‘N’ Move had an international hit with their cover of “Give It Up.” Though it didn’t chart in the U.S., it did reach the Top 10 in eight countries. Black Eyed Peas sampled the chord progression from “Give It Up” on “Love You Long Time” from their Top-10 album The Beginning (2010).
During the disco backlash of the early 80s, it would have been hard to imagine KC and the Sunshine Band’s most enduring hit would still be ahead of them. It would have seemed like an even bigger long shot that the song in question would bring back the horns and funk that defined their ‘70s sound. “Give It Up’ defied the odds, and thanks to Casey’s persistence, he had one more U.S. crossover smash to add to his résumé.
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Photo by Brian D. McLaughlin/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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