Today (August 16, 2010) is the 57^th birthday of James "J.T." Taylor. He was the lead singer of the band Kool & The Gang from 1979 to 1988 (not to be confused with the folk singer of the same name). Though he was the lead singer, he is not actually "Kool"; that would be Robert "Kool" Bell who is the bass player and founding member. The band had 70s hits like "Jungle Boogie," "Open Sesame" and "Ladies Night" before hitting it big with 1980's "Celebration." That song would hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1981, dominate the radio that entire year and has been played at nearly every wedding reception since. This song's success and J.T. taking over lead vocals are not a coincidence and it marked a change to more of a pop R&B sound for the group in the 80s.

In 1983, they would release the single "Joanna" which would reach #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and ranks on my Top 80s Songs with Girl Names in the Title list. I really liked that ballad, but the album I remember best is 1984's Emergency! which yielded four top-20 singles. I remember two of those especially well. The first is "Fresh" which would peak at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100, but reached #1 on both the Billboard Dance as well as R&B charts in May 1985. This week's first flashback video is "Fresh" by Kool & The Gang...

The other single from that album that stands out is "Cherish" which would get all the way to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September of 1985 staying there for 3 straight weeks. This song, like "Joanna," is a bit of a cheesy love ballad, but J.T.'s smooth voice makes them work. This week's second flashback video is "Cherish" by Kool & The Gang...

The other two top-20 singles from Emergency! were "Misled" and the title track. Kool & The Gang really seemed to like one-word song titles and, though they had several that qualified, "Celebration" ranks on my Top 80s Songs with One-Word Titles list. The band would have a couple more very minor hits after that, but none to speak of after the 80s. Nonetheless, Kool & The Gang has sold over 90 million albums worldwide.

In 1988, J.T. Taylor separated amicably from Kool & The Gang to pursue a solo career. As a solo artist, Taylor has released four solo albums to date with the last being in 2000. Taylor continues touring worldwide singing both his Kool & The Gang and solo hits. In 2008, he released a single titled "Winner," as an homage to then-Presidential candidate Barack Obama. Taylor is reportedly currently working on a new album, but no matter what he does as a solo artist, I will always remember him fronting Kool & The Gang back in the 80s.

That's all for another issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks for reading. If you are interested in reading any of my other 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. If you want to see the past issues of Flashback Videos, just type that into the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column and it should give you a list of all of them. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use that Google Search Box to find any past issues or topics you may have missed. If you are a fan of Kickin' it, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LOGO in the upper right hand column. This will take you to the Fan Page where I ask you to then click on the "Like" button. Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. You can also follow Old School on Twitter by clicking on the FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER LOGO also in the upper right hand column. This will take you the page and you can just click on the box that says "Follow". Even though the blog only updates a couple times a week, I try to send out daily 80s tweets. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.