Bands

KC & The Sunshine Band on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert

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The new sound of Disco was a reaction against the domination of rock music in the mainstream.  Disco combined funk, soul, R&B and Latin music into a unique and new sound. One of the first innovators of this dance music genre was KC & The Sunshine Band.

KC & The Sunshine appeared live on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert twice. This past April marked the 35th Anniversary of the band’s second appearance. “The Band that was there in the beginning with the cooking disco sounds” said Don Kirshner about KC & The Sunshine Band as he introduced their second act. On April 1977, the multi-member and racially integrated group performed their famous hit “Get Down Tonight.” That night, as it was expected, they delivered a highly energetic performance. Wearing colorful, flashy, bellbottom jump suits, the entire band was getting down and disco dancing on the stage. The horn players, drummer, background singers and every single band member was boogying like there was no tomorrow, passing on their contagious groove to the public.

KC & The Sunshine Band was founded by Harry Wayne “KC” Casey and Richard Finch in 1973, whose music collaboration began when they first met in the early seventies while both were employed by TK Records in Miami, Florida. As Don Kirshner once said about the band, what made their acts so captivating was the fact that not only did “KC” and Finch, write and produce their own material, but they also performed it. Their performances were known to be engaging, fun, passionate and highly memorable.

Despite earning nine Grammy nominations (including two for their work on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack) and selling millions of records, KC & the Sunshine Band were still vulnerable to the backlash that disco bands felt by the beginning of the 1980s.  This  eventually led to decreasing records sales and the group’s split by the early ’80s.

KC & The Sunshine band will always be recognized as one of the eras biggest disco hit makers with smash hits such as “That’s the Way (I Like It),” “(Shake, Shake, Shake), Shake Your Booty” and “Boogie Shoes.” To this day they are still as widely popular as they were when they first danced into the music scene. One can say that KC & The Sunshine band pointed the direction that pop music would take in the 1980’s.

 

Davy Jones, Dolenz, Boyce & Hart on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert

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In 1975, Davy Jones appeared on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert with fellow band mate Mickey Dolenz. They performed with Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, who together with Neil Diamond and Carole King wrote many of The Monkees’ hits.

Prior to their performance, Don Kirshner gave a rather nice introduction of these four talented artists. Kirshner commented on The Monkees’ success during the late 1960’s and subsequently stated, “Now in the 1970’s the talent of Dolenz, Jones, Boyce and Hart!”

As soon as he finished with his introduction, the camera cut to the four musicians as they pulled up to the theater in a car, wearing blue, white, yellow and red long-sleeved shirts with their names emblazoned on the back. They rushed to the stage as the band was playing “Last Train to Clarksville.” Once on stage, each member grabbed a tambourine and Mickey Dolenz began to sing.  Following this high-energy opening, Davy Jones took over the stage and sang “I Want To Be Free.”

After a performance by the Ohio Players and Rory Gallagher, who were also guests on the show that night, Dolenz, Jones, Boyce and Hart came back on stage to sing “(Not Your) Stepping Stone.” This time Mickey Dolenz was bare-chested wearing a blue wig, beads and a mask. The group ended their performance with Monkees’ hits “I’m a Believer “and “I Remember the Feeling.”

Even though The Monkees never appeared on the Don Kirshner stage as a whole group, Dolenz and Jones’ performance with Boyce and Hart on the Rock Concert was certainly remarkable.

Despite his passing this week, Davy Jones’ impact on music history and memory on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert will continue to live on.  Rest in peace.

Comedians Slideshow

Billy Crystal on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert

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Before becoming a superstar, Billy Crystal, like many other young comedians of the 1970’s, performed on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert.  On January 1st 1975, Crystal appeared on Rock Concert to perform a standup between the musical acts of Natalie Cole and B.T. Express and clips of Led Zeppelin’s rock film The Song Remains The Same.  Dressed in typical seventies fashion, with blue bell-bottom slacks and a tight grey wool sweater, Crystal opened his act by “mistakenly” bumping his head on the microphone and pretending like the sound went out.  He then launched into a bit that included quips about the audience’s drug use and the struggles of life as a comedian. The performance was very well-received by the audience and it was clear that this would not be the last we saw of this young talent.

Sure enough, following Billy Crystal’s appearance on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert, his career really began to gain momentum. He went on to land several TV roles, join the Saturday Night Live cast, host his own variety show, and appear on popular game shows.  However, it was a string of hit movies in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s that really made Billy Crystal a household name. These well-known films included Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally and City Slickers.   

With the great success of his film career, Billy Crystal was invited to host the 1990 Academy Awards.  One of the all-time great award show hosts, Crystal has since gone on to MC the Oscars 8 times – second only to Bob Hope’s 18 ceremonies hosted. This year, Crystal has once again been chosen to host the 84th Annual Academy Awards. 

Billy Crystal has had a tremendously successful career as an actor, director, writer and producer.  Outside of his work in entertainment, he is also involved in numerous philanthropic causes and is well-known as an avid sports fan, often in attendance at Yankees Stadium or chatting up Chris Paul and Blake Griffin while sitting courtside at Los Angeles Clippers games. 

Comedians Slideshow

David Letterman on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert

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Known for having a dry and cynical sense of humor, David Letterman is a pioneer of the “late night show,” as well as one of the greatest comedians of our time.

Letterman’s career started off in his hometown of Indianapolis, as a weatherman, radio host and TV announcer in the early seventies. In 1975, Letterman moved to California, and began working as a struggling stand-up comic at “The Comedy Store” in Hollywood, where the audience often included celebrities like Paul McCartney, Sammy Davis Jr. and Johnny Carson. Soon he was hired to write material for popular TV shows, including “Good Times.” 

By the late seventies, David Letterman’s stand-up began to get national exposure, and he was asked to perform his act on popular TV shows of the time, including Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert in 1978. Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert was not only known for having popular rock bands and musicians on, but it was also known for showcasing many up and coming comics. Following the footsteps of The Ed Sullivan Show, Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert served as a launching pad for the careers of many comedians. David Letterman was one of them.  That evening in Los Angeles, Letterman performed a hilarious bit about how Southern Californian’s freak about a little rain but when an earthquake hits “it’s no big deal.”

While Letterman was already making a name for himself, appearing on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert helped to further propel his career thanks to the show’s large national expsure.  This helped land Letterman appearances on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” where he became so popular that he quickly turned into a substitute host for the show. NBC saw a huge potential in David Letterman and decided to give him his own day time show called “The David Letterman Show” in 1980, which aired only for a few months. However, in 1982 he was given another opportunity to host his own show, a late night show following Carson’s called “Late Night With David Letterman.”  His show later moved to CBS and changed its name to the current – “The Late Show With David Letterman.”

With his original and irreverent style, David Letterman was one of the iconic comedians who performed on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert.