The Isley Brothers Announces the 'You Make Me Wanna Shout!' 60th Anniversary Tour

THE ISLEY BROTHERS recently announced plans for a 2019 U.S. tour celebrating the 60th anniversary of their classic song "Shout," which will kick off July 6 in Tuolomne, California.  Now the sibling funk/soul group has extended the outing into late December.

A total of 10 new shows have been added to the trek, which has been dubbed the "You Make Me Wanna Shout -- 60th Anniversary" tour. The newly added concerts will take place in July, August, October and December, and the outing currently is slated to wind down on December 20 in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Tickets for the shows will go on sale to the general public this Friday, May 17, at 10 a.m. local time. For more information, visit TheIsleyBrothersOfficial.com. A fan pre-sale tickets will be available at BandsInTown.com starting Wednesday, May 15, at 10 a.m. local time.

At the concerts The Isley Brothers will showcase classic songs from throughout their long career, including "It's Your Thing," "That Lady," "Twist and Shout" and, of course, "Shout."

"Shout," which was released on September 21, 1959, was the group's first single to break into the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100, and was later covered by many artists.

"This tour is dedicated to all of our fans around the world!" says Isley Brothers singer Ron Isley. "I love you all and could not have done this without your constant love and support for our music and the Isley Family! Thank you."

Here are all of the group's confirmed U.S. shows:

7/6 -- Tuolomne, CA, Black Oak Casino+

7/12 -- Biloxi, MS, Beau Rivage Casino

7/13 -- Robinsonville, MS, Gold Strike Casino

7/17 -- Nashville, TN, Schermerhorn Symphony Center

7/19 -- Mount Pleasant, MI, Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort#

7/20 -- Chicago, IL, Pitchfork Music Fest

7/27 -- Atlanta, GA, Cadence Bank Amphitheatre*

8/3 -- Wilmington, NC, Wilson Center

8/10 -- West Allis, WI, Wisconsin State Fair@

8/16 -- Reno, NV, Silver Legacy Casino

8/17 -- Modesto, CA, Gallo Center for the Arts*

8/18 -- San Francisco, CA, Stern Grove Festival

8/24 -- Los Angeles, CA, The Greek Theatre*

10/4 -- Lake Charles, LA, Golden Nugget Casino*

10/5 -- Marksville, LA, Paragon Casino*

10/11 -- Thackerville, OK, WinStar Casino

10/12 -- Albuquerque, NM, Isleta Casino*

10/18 -- Atlantic City, NJ, Mark G. Etess Arena*

10/19 -- Oxon Hill, MD, MGM National Harbor Casino

12/7 -- Salem, VA, Salem Civic Center*

12/19 -- St. Petersburg, FL, Mahaffey Theater*

12/20 -- West Palm Beach, FL, The Kravis Center*

* = newly added show

+ = with Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Warren G 

# = with Charlie Wilson

@ = with The Commodores.

An Interview with Robert "Kool" Bell of Kool & the Gang



Legendary and Grammy Award-winning R&B, Jazz, Funk, Soul and Disco band KOOL & THE GANG celebrates a 50 year career milestone this year. With classics such as “Celebration”, “Cherish”, “Jungle Boogie”, “Ladies’ Night”, “Hollywood Swinging”, “Fresh” to name a few, the multi-genre band shows no signs of slowing down. I caught up with founding member and bassist player Robert “Kool” Bell to discuss the bands journey, their sound, recording process for “Summer Madness”, what’s next and much more...

 

TERRANCE: This year marks the 50th Anniversary of Kool & the Gang’s self-titled debut album as a band professionally. What has the journey been like and how would you define it?

ROBERT "KOOL" BELL: Well, I would call it an evolution of experiences. From that point on in the 70’s, we recorded and released several albums like Wild and Peaceful with “Jungle Boogie” and “Hollywood Swinging” on it. Light of Worlds with “Summer Madness” on it and it was also featured in the Rocky movie. Then there’s “Open Sesame” that’s on the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever. The Ladies’ Night record. Our #1 hit “Celebration” from the Celebrate! album. The direction sort of shifted for us as we went into the 80’s when we recruited a lead singer by the name of James “J.T.” Taylor.

TERRANCE: Was that a group decision to get a lead singer as the time and music had progressed?

ROBERT "KOOL" BELL: Actually when we were out on tour with The Jacksons, the promoter Dick Griffey who is now deceased, said to us, that we were doing great as a band but why not get a lead singer? I didn’t think it was a bad idea because if you think about it, The Commodores had Lionel Richie, Earth Wind & Fire had Philip Bailey, etc. and we then had James “J.T.” Taylor for eight years and scored a string of hits “Celebration”, “Get Down on It”, “Cherish”, “Fresh” and so on.

TERRANCE: In one word how would you describe the Kool & the Gang sound?

ROBERT "KOOL" BELL: Contemporary. There’s a mixture of Jazz, R&B and Funk. We open our shows with songs like “Emergency” and “Tonight” which have a Rock feel to them, so people are usually surprised when they come to our shows and hear the wide range of diversity.

TERRANCE: How do you feel about being one of, if not the most sampled band in music history?

 

ROBERT "KOOL" BELL: Well, it shows that the artists that came after us listen to what we do, you know? In a way it brought us a whole new generation of fans who are curious about the original recordings and so I’m grateful of that.

 

TERRANCE: Is there a particular sample that’s a favorite or one that stand out the most to you?

ROBERT "KOOL" BELL: “Summertime” by Will Smith is probably the biggest one. It samples “Summer Madness”. It was his first #1 hit, it went double platinum, it won him a Grammy and then he went into movies (Laughs).

TERRANCE: So talk about the recording process for “Summer Madness”.

 

ROBERT "KOOL" BELL: “Summer Madness” was inspired by the vamp of a song called, “You Don’t Have to Change” from the Light of Worlds record. My brother was listening to “You Don’t Have to Change” and the vamp had a certain vibe to it and he said, ‘Hey that’s two songs in one’. He had just purchased the Arp Pro synthesizers because they were just coming out. It became “Summer Madness” because it happened in the summer and it was an experiment with the synthesizers. Stevie Wonder was using it. That’s how we created “Summer Madness”. We didn’t know what kind of hit it would be or that years later it would be used by so many rappers and in movies.

TERRANCE: You mentioned before that “Ladies’ Night” was your favorite Kool & the Gang song. Can you share the backstory?

ROBERT "KOOL" BELL: I was hanging out in New York over the weekend at Studio 54 or Regine’s or some of those clubs and there was always a ladies night and I said, ‘Hey that might be a good idea for a song’, so I came up with the name. We were working on this new record with James “J.T.” Taylor, which was the first time that we had a lead singer. George Brown had this groove that my brother was working on and so from there we all got together and started writing the lyrics that became “Ladies’ Night”.

TERRANCE: Everyone have their notion of what Unsung is. Do you consider yourselves to be Unsung?

ROBERT "KOOL" BELL: I don’t think we are. We’re still performing and recording 50 years later. We get the calls to do Unsung but no, we’re still out there (Laughs).

TERRANCE: And before we go, can you update us on projects you’re working on or what we can expect?

ROBERT "KOOL" BELL: Well, right now we have concerts lined up. You can visit www.koolandthegang.com to find out if we’re in a city near you. There's new music, a book and a documentary coming as well. Also my son Prince Hakim recently released his debut single and music video called “R.O.Y.A.L.T.Y.” and it features Walt Anderson.

 



 

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New Album: Chaka Khan - Hello Happiness

Grammy winner and Queen of Funk CHAKA KHAN returns with her first new album in 12 years entitled, Hello Happiness via Diary Records.

The 7-track project features the singles "Like Sugar" and follow-up title track for which she recently released the visuals:

Production for the album is handled by Switch's Major Lazer and Sarah Ruba Taylor.

In support of the album, Khan and Michael McDonald will co-headline a tour this Summer. Complete info can be found HERE!

THE INTERNET Announce Forthcoming Album ‘Hive Mind’ + Tracklisting

After releasing their lead single and visual “Roll (Burbank Funk)” earlier this year, R&B/Funk band The Internet recently took to social media to announce their upcoming fourth album Hive Mind. Due on July 20th, the 13-song album is now available for pre-order and includes the brand new single, “Come Over”.

The album has been described as “kaleidoscopic, neo-soul, future sounds that reveal the growth in their creative chemistry”. It’s said to be light years beyond their previous output, both intricate and minimal, while giving each member’s contributions the space to shine.

They chose to highlight this sense of togetherness as a major theme for the album. “After making a few songs we realized that we really want to use this album to live by example and promote camaraderie amongst young black people,” reveals Syd. “We realized that we’re the only band of our kind. And we want to really solidify ourselves as that, as the best.”

THE INTERNET HIVE MIND TRACKLIST:

01. Come Together

02. Roll (Burbank Funk)

03. Come Over

04. La Di Da

05. Stay the Night

06. Bravo

07. Mood

08. Next Time / Humble Pie

09. It Gets Better (With Time)

10. Look What U Started

11. Wanna Be

12. Beat Goes On

13. Hold On