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Thursday. May 17. 1984 - THE CHARLOTTE POST • Page IB
Kool’s Glowing Statistics Speak For Themselves!
By Loretta Manago
Post Staff Writer
The glowing statistics
that Kool and the Gang
have earned over the years
speak for themselves.
Their recent single,
“Joanna” saw the band’s
ninth top 40 pop single
since January 1, 1980,
making the group the most
successful R&B, pop band
of the 80’s. '
In the last four years
alone, the band has had
five gold LPs in a row,
three of which wait plati
num. -
Throughout Kool and the
Gang’s career, the band
has amassed a total of 14
top 40 hits, one of the high
ad totals ever accumulat
ed by any group- rock, pop
or country.
“Past reviews by “Roll
ing Stone" called them the
"nicest dance band
around” and “Stereo Re
view” described their al
bum, “As One,” “as revi
talizing as taking a vaca
tion.”
Although Kool and the
Gang is excited by their
many achievements over
the years, their leader,
Robert “Kool” Bell uses
the past to help them keep
their spiraling success in
perspective. “We remem
ber what we went through
and we remind each other
constantly that it wasn’t
always roses from day
one,” remarked Kool.
The story of Kool and the
Gang began in 1961. And
what began as a childhood
interest in music led to a
serious commitment. Hav
ing grown up in the Green
wich Village environment,
“Kool,” his brother,
Ronald and most of the
future members of the
band were hanging out at
the legendary Cafe Wba.
Here they were influenced
by such Jazz luminaries as
John Coltrane, McCoy
Tyner and Pharoah San
ders. That influence led
“Kool” and the other guys
to form their own group,
Hie Jazziacs.
It wasn’t long before the
Jazziacs became Kooi and
the Gang and they shifted
their musical direction
'
KOOL AND THE GANG
^Basking in current success
from, jazz to rhythm and
blues. From ’69 to ’76 the
group proceeded to make
some of the funkiest music
ever recorded. And with
such tunes as “Jungle
Boogie” Funky Stuff,”
and “Hollywood Swinging”
Kool and the Gang was
forever established as one
of America’s foremost
party bands.
However, the group ex
perienced a dramatic shift
when disco became popu
lar. Both the groop’s
record sales and popu
larity plummeted. But
“Kool” was always deter
mined to keep the group
intact. “Our approach was
too progressive. We were
playing the groove, but
with jazz progressions on
top. That’s not what the
public wanted to hear. We
realized that maybe we
ware too dose to the music,
that we needed someone
objective from the outside
to come in. That’s when we
decided to look for an out
side producer,” expounded
Kool .
With Deodato as produ
cer and the additional vo
cals of James (J.T.) Tay
lor, Kool and the Gang once
again soared to the top.
They stayed with the for
mat that Deodato had laid
for them, but the urge to
protect their own musical
ideas soon resurfaced.
“We had musical ideas
that hadn’t been getting
onto records. For example,
when we took over as our
own producers in “In The
Heart,” we were able to
use jazz progressions on
‘You Can Do It’’and rock
guitars on ‘Tonight,’” re
vealed Kool.
This nine njale aggrega
tion will be appearing at
the Coliseum Saturday
night along with the Bar
Kays, Dazz Band and
Evelyn King. The show
starts at 7:30 p.m.
Yongue Wins W90C ScholanWp
Charles Jeffrey Yongue
is the first winner of the
WSOC Television and
Radio Scholarship at John-’
son C. Smith University.
He will receive a $1,000
tuition grant for the 1984
85 academic year from
Carolina Broadcasting Co.,
operator of WSOC-AM, FM
and television stations.
Yongue, 21, will be a
senior Communication
Arts major at Smith in the
fall. He plans a career in
broadcasting.
To gain experience, he
has served asjpne of the
principal studio camera
operators and as a remote
camera operator in cable-_
production projects con
ducted by the Black Me
dia Association of Char
lotte.
At Smith, he has per
formed in dramatic pro
ductions and has served on
the Student Advisory Coun
cil to the Communication
Arts Department.
Yongue was selected for
the scholarship by a re
viewing committee com
posed of Smith faculty
members and Ms. Jeanne
Bohn, community affairs
director at WSOC.
He is the first recipient
of a scholarship to be of
fered annually by WSOC to
a senior Communication
Arts major who plans a
career in broadcasting.
The scholarship was
established recently after
discussions by Greg Stone,
vice president and general
manager of WSOC-TV;
Lee Morris, vice president
and general manager of
WSOC radio; Smith Presi
dent Robert L. Albright;
and Communication Arts
Head Robert Kreiling.
“The faculty is pleased
, by the creation of the
WSOC Television and Ra
Charles Yongue
...Communications major
dio Scholarship, and we are
proud to have Jeff Yongue
as the first winner. He is
one of our most experi
enced and promising stu
dents in broadcasting,”
Kreiling said.
Yongue is on the Dean’s
List and a member of the
Ira Aldridge Drama Guild,
Alpha Psi Omega drama
honor society and the First
United Presbyterian
Church of Charlotte.
He is a 1981 graduate of
Independence High School,
where he was president of
the student chapter of the
National Association for
the Advancement of Co
lored People and a giejrjn
ber of the track team!
He is the son of Charles
and Vaughn Yongue of
1804 LaSalle St. He has one
brother, Curtis, 23.
Kool & The Gang
Kool & the Gang riding
high on the charts with the
single "Tonight”, have had
another honor as well.
When the group performed
a recent Nashville concert,
Tennesse’s governor La
mar Alexander declared
Kool and the Gang day in
the state. -