KC & The Sunshine Band 'Give It Up'

Chart Peak: 1
YouTube

The 10th Top 40 Hit became the first British No. 1 for KC (Harry Casey) in Augsut 1983. It spent 3 weeks on top of the chart. Despite his 5 US No. 1 singles, 'Give It Up' was not a Hit in America until the following year.

This one takes us right the way back to Now 1, and the sixth song I ever wrote about on here. In the US, it was clearly a victim of the backlash against disco acts, although with hindsight it's not exactly a disco song. It may also have suffered from the falling out between KC and the act's other founding member, Richard Finch: this track was recorded before the split but released afterwards, and only made the US chart when re-issued as a KC solo track. Although it was a major comeback hit in itself, he/they never had another Top 40 hit on either side of the Atlantic and drifted into retirement by the mid-80s. At least the compensation is this one mega-hit, still a wedding DJ and radio favourite over here and presumably a big money-spinner. It isn't and never has been cool but the combination of those burbling synths and the marching band-like call and response from the brass and woodwind arrangements is hard to argue with.

Available on: The Original Hit Recording - Give it up

KC & The Sunshine Band 'Give It Up'

Chart Peak: 1 (3 weeks)

YouTube

That's one weird video (a longer, but almost inaudible copy is here).

If you want to judge a record in terms of its own intentions, then you'd be hard-pressed to beat this one. It's pretty self-evident that Harry Wayne Casey (aka KC) was hoping to create a sort of non-club dancefloor anthem - I'm sure this wasn't considered any hipper at the time than it is now, but it's the sort of thing that's always being played at wedding discos, office parties, pubs and so on. Even though it's nominally a song about sex, it covers the subject in such safe, U-certificate terms that it could safely be played to school kids, although I presume it isn't now. It certainly was in my day and it's one we all remember, even if we can't remember which ones are KC & The Sunshine Band and which ones are Kool & The Gang.
In fact, suggesting that this song is about anything is a bit of an exaggeration; this being one of the more familiar tracks in the list, I thought I should pay more attention to the lyrics when re-listening, but quite aside from the distractions of that video, there isn't really much to them. The vocal is just another part of the track, like the call-and-response horn arrangement and the whooshing synth intro, all intended to build up to that "Na-na na-na..." chorus. KC (and co-writer Richard Finch) certainly knew what they were doing. They wrote 'Rock Your Baby' too.

Strangely enough, despite topping the UK chart, this wasn't among the group's many US Number One singles. Perhaps even more suprisingly, it turned out to be their last Top 40 hit here, which means they're the first act ever to make their last Now album appearance.

Available on: Get Down Tonight