Harry Wayne Casey

Harry Wayne Casey is "K.C." of K.C. and the Sunshine Band. He co-wrote and co-produced the first worldwide disco hit, "Rock Your Baby," and then followed it up with five number ones and a number two with his own group. K.C. worked his way up from record store clerk to label employee to international hit artist...on an independent label! Here we get the history as well as insight into the whirlwind of international stardom and an update on what K.C. is doing today.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back to the Bob Left Sets podcast.
My guest today is very Way Casey. Yes, Casey Casey
and the Sunshine Day. Casey. Great to have you here.
Thank you. It's been to be here, Bob. So, how
you've been coping with a coronavirus and stay at home
et cetera. I don't know, it's been. It's been very interesting. Um.

(00:33):
I have been through a lot of different types of emotions.
I've never been this idol in my whole seventy years.
So have you gone through it alone or do you
have a significant other? What's it been like now? I, uh,
my nights are alone, but um, you know I have
staff here at the house, so, um, I'm around people

(00:56):
during the day, but you know I have family members
and friends that stopped in and stuff. But yeah, so
it's been very interesting. I mean I've been I've been
going out pretty much. I mean, you know, whatever they
would allow here in Miami, which has been pretty open. Okay,
And have you been vaccinated? Um? Okay, I was vaccinated.

(01:20):
I had COVID that I had the regeneral IVY infusion
done and then had my second um vaccination. Do you
have any idea how you got covid Um, I'm not
really sure because the only thing I could think of
maybe because I was out with a friend of mine,

(01:42):
her and I went while we we were together on
a Thursday night, and on a Friday night we went
out with two other friends. And then um, seven days later,
five days later, I detected positive, told her, and then
she got a test and she detected positive. And but
our friends didn't. They didn't, they were negative. So the

(02:04):
only thing I can maybe think of is where I
might have been a little bit lacks of daisical and
not you know, paying attention. Is Valet Valet parking And
on that Friday night, someone Valet parked my car, so
I don't know if they could have gotten the cars
coughed in it or whatever. And the Germans, I don't
know how long the Germans floyd you know, float around,

(02:25):
if they were on the air conditioning vent, I don't know.
I'm not sure. Um, that's the only way I could
have gotten at that at that point. Really, and how
long did you get it? Um? Actually I got it
Um two days before my seventieth birthday in January. Okay,

(02:47):
So psychologically, what was it like hitting seventy. Um, I
don't like the number, but you know, hitting all these numbers,
doesn't we feel too much different? Then? Um? You mean
I don't feel any different inside than the year before whatever,

(03:09):
or two years before, ten years before. Really? Uh so? Um,
I mean it's it's not you know, it's a seven.
It's I'm sure there must be you know, some kind
of psychological stuff going on in my head, but I haven't.
You know, I don't know if I've recognized that yet. Well,

(03:30):
I know that sixty really fucked me up. And uh,
in terms of numbers, I always felt young until I
hit sixty seven. I said, I don't care how I feel.
That number is old and it's scary. It is scary.
I mean I do think of it now like wow,
I'm seven, you know zero, It's like it is kind

(03:50):
of crazy because it is an old number. It's not
like I'm not like twelve. I'm not twenty one, I'm
not thirty love forty. You know. Well, light turned sixty
eight month or so ago. And one thing, especially in
light of COVID is ship. If there's something I want
to do, I'd better do it because it's not like
I have endless runway here right right? So, Uh during

(04:17):
the break, did you play music at home? Did you
write music at home or anything? Um? You know, I've
been working on a project now for the last eight years,
I think going on nine now, because I started in
two thousand and twelve, and so actually during that time, Uh,

(04:39):
I was working on a musical and in the book
for you know, a possible movie and that. You know,
So that's kind of what I was working on a
little bit during that time. Um, we released a single
put on Love in Your Heart. Uh. So I'm just
working on different things. You know. We have have a
new single coming out July called Romantic Cup. It's from

(05:02):
my album. Um, I'm getting ready to release fifty three
brand new songs. How do you plan to release them
one month at a time for seven months? And are
they already uh? Fifty three? You mean if there's fifty
three seven months, we won't get through all fifty three
if it's one month at a time, No, no, no, no.

(05:24):
We're dividing the seven months into the fifty three songs,
so it'd be like seven individual EPs coming out. And
are you putting them out yourself? Ors are a label involved? Um? No,
there is right now. I mean I have a deal
with UH, a label that's distributed through Sony, and then

(05:44):
in Europe we have a German label called z y
X Records. I'm not sure if they're the ones getting
it or whatever, but we're still shopping it. And right
now that's what I have, you know what we have
now now, But I don't know that they're going to
really end up getting it or not. So all fifty
three songs are done, yes, and why fifty three and

(06:08):
y seven is just numbers or they thematically sit to
me because I couldn't stop, because I couldn't stop. And Uh,
this guy that I right with over in the UK
sometimes was messing around, and you know, he always goes
online showing how he creates a song or whatever. And
he came up with this quirky little song two or

(06:28):
three weeks ago, and I just I love that, said
send me the track or whatever, and I went in
and put a vocal on it. It's it's really a
fun song. So that put it in fifty three. And
you know, the music business certainly changed since the last century,
so it's very hard to get attention. So to what degree,

(06:50):
what plans do you have to gain attention, and in
terms of expectations, what expectations have you got? I don't know.
I've been in discussion with my managers and stuff, and
they're introduced me to me. I guess there's a lot
of um what they call influencers out there right now,
and you connect with these influencers and uh, they helped

(07:11):
kind of spread the word um aside for some of
the traditional ways or whatever um uh and doing dance
versions of the songs and maybe having it, you know,
come from the club, you know, backwards through the clubs
or whatever. I don't know, you know, it's just it's
a whole new world. I mean when we when we
used to really release a record, we would put it

(07:34):
in few markets. We'd press up a few hundred or whatever,
and make sure there was some records and record stores
in those markets. And you know, if it started, if
you started seeing something happened, then you knew to press
more records and to put it in more markets. UM.
I just there's just there's no consistency to anything. I

(07:54):
don't know how anybody's doing it anymore, um other than
you know, in radio has gotten so like one company
owns everybody, so if the one guy doesn't like it,
nobody plays it, you know, or whatever. You know. I
guess the amount of money you have to spend to
get it on radio is you know, just astronomically high, Um,

(08:19):
you know to hire up a PR person. Uh So,
it's it's very interesting. I mean, it's just you know,
a lot different than when I was growing up, that's
for sure. And I'm sure we you know, we'll figure
it out. I mean, first of all, you know, I
hit record always reveals itself, so um, I mean, we're
just gonna go through the regular channels and marketing and

(08:40):
promotion and and some newer channels, like I said, you know,
with influencers and and other things that my managers have
been talking to me about, and you know, we'll see
what happens. So, at this date, with the business having
changed and you having gigantic success in your history, what

(09:00):
keeps you motivated to create new music and stay in
the business. It wasn't like, you know what what's really
interesting is, I wasn't all of a sudden two thousand
and twelve. It's like I woke up out of some
kind of creative coma and I kind of felt like

(09:21):
I was twenty three again with the creative process that
things were going through my head and that's what led
to these fifty two songs. I just couldn't stop. And
I don't even know how to explain it, um, but
it's almost like some other force or whatever is uh
is driving it. I know, up until that point, I

(09:46):
was a little bit sort of afraid of you know,
maybe being successful, you know that way again, or having
you know, uh some kind of success with recordings or whatever.
And I used to fight it all the time. And
then I woke up one morning and said, I'm not
gonna fight this. I'm just gonna let, you know, let
the forest take it, or let whatever it is, you know,

(10:08):
take it. And in two thousand twelve, that light came
on and those doors opened, and here I am, two
thousand one with fifty three songs. Um that I really
think it's some of the best stuff I've ever done
in my career. Um. And you know, I'm very happy
with them all, very proud of it all. And um,

(10:29):
you know, we'll see where it goes. So let me
just understand this week. Prior to that, well, you were
afraid of not reaching the heights artistically and commercially of
what you've once reached. I was more afraid of success
than reaching I'm never afraid to reach it. I mean,
I've been in this business so long, and you know

(10:51):
you're you're always as hot as your last record or whatever.
And you know, you put stuff out there. If it happens,
it happens. If it doesn't, you move when you do
something else. Um, so uh for that. And I still
have nine number one records that I have or whatever,
and I toured do shows a year, So you know,

(11:14):
I'm fine with anything I I I you know, whichever
way the wind's gonna blow, it's gonna blow. Um. You
know my destiny has already been set. Well, when you
say fear of success, can you tell us a little
bit more of them? Um, especially in this world today

(11:34):
with the pressed media the way there. I don't know,
I just you know, for me, you know, I had
these dreams of what I thought success was, and it
definitely was nothing what I thought. It was very political, Um,
it was very lonely, lonely. Um, it was very um demanding,

(11:58):
sometimes demeaning. Uh, sometimes it was you know, there were
just a lot of different emotions that came from it.
All and some of it was enjoyable and some of
it wasn't. Um, and so I was more afraid of
what wasn't enjoyable than the other part that was enjoyable,

(12:19):
and whether I wanted to put myself back into that
situation again, um and and again. I just one day
just woke up and said, I'm just gonna let everything
happen and go and see what happens. Uh. You know so, UM,

(12:39):
I mean That's where I'm at right now. Tell me
more about the loneliness of success. I don't know. It
was just you know, I'm a very I'm a very
person person. Um, Did I say that right? Message. I'm
a very people person. So for the most part, I
do like to like be around a one everyone's having

(13:00):
a good time and then kind of just go step
aside for a minute. I like my alone time too,
But I'm a very people person. I love to be
around people. And so the height of my career, whatever
her I was, I couldn't go anywhere, I couldn't do
anything because I would just be mugged or you know, thousands.
I mean in my hotels will be five six thousand
people outside the hotel. You know, I you know, we'd

(13:22):
have guards on the elevators and on the exits and
every entrance, and um, you know, it's it was like
I was always on the outside inside looking out and
you know, from my hotel room looking down on all
these people and like, wow, I just really like to
be in the middle of that or be down there
with everybody, knowing that that really wasn't a possibility. And

(13:45):
for many reasons, uh and and and and just the
whole thing you know, of success, you're very isolated. You
have all these people around you, but you know you're
you're doing all these other things that you have you
kind of have to do, um, not all of them

(14:06):
that you want to do, but you have to kind
of do them because it's all part of the process.
And so everybody else is like having a good time
and going out and doing all this and you know,
I'm sitting in the room by myself or I'm sitting
there having to do fifty interviews or whatever it is,
you know, um and and and it's it's it's not

(14:27):
like it's an eight hour job. It's like a twenty
four hour job. And then you know, on top of it,
having to you know as uh not only having to
come up with the next project for Casey the Sunshine Band,
but other artists that I was producing and writing for
at the time was a George McCray or Jimmy ball
Horn or or different you know, other artists and stuff.
So I had a lot of obligations to do stuff,

(14:51):
which kept me kind of you know in this space.
You know, uh uh you know, you know, twenty four
hour or seven days every day. I mean I didn't
really go on vacations. I didn't do anything. I just
um just worked on music. So what did you think
success would look like? And what did it actually look like? Think?

(15:16):
What everybody? You know, we always have this running joke
when does the glamour begin? You know, I think everybody
thinks it's glamorous. I think, I mean there's a glamorous
part to it and everything, but uh, you know it's
it's it's not everything. You know, you only see the
book cover. The book covers always look great. So you

(15:37):
read the book or you're inside the pages yourself, you know,
then it's a whole different story. So, um, yeah, I
don't I don't know what I expect. I mean, it's
not like I wasn't I was ignorant to what to
expect because number one, I was in a record company
for five years before my success with other artists who

(15:58):
were successful. I was managing, you know, uh, a couple
of the artists and doing their bookings, and I was
doing a lot of different things. I just wanted I
wanted to know the business. Uh. You know, my family
has been an entertainment business, more on the gospel end
of it or whatever and stuff. So I've always kind
of been around that level of success, whatever it is,

(16:19):
and you know, knowing the ups and downs of it
and that sort of thing. So but I don't think
I ever paid much attention to it because I was
just I was around it a part of it, and
I was happy being in the back drop. You know.
I wasn't the one, you know what I mean. So
you know, after I was done with them, I could
go hang out with my friends and do stuff and

(16:40):
you know, and and and be anywhere I wanted to
be without you know, someone there goes Casey and then
you know, a mob scene happened, you know, so you know,
just those those parts of it. Um uh. I mean,

(17:00):
I don't know where else to go with this, but okay, well,
let's talk about some of the perks. A lot of
people they want to be successful for the sex, the money,
the access e Did you have that be? Did you
partake of it? See? Was it fulfilling? Wow? You Bob,
you really dig deep, don't you? Otherwise we're just gonna

(17:22):
repeat where you said, like for forty years. But you
know what, because it's very simplistic, I'm not that. I'm
not a kind of person. I didn't really do this
for money. Number one. I didn't because it's something I like.
It's something I felt like I was born to do
and always had this inner feeling that this is what
I was gonna do. You know, I definitely didn't do

(17:43):
it for sex. Um you know, sex comes no matter
what profession you're in. Really, I guess maybe more if
you're an I guess it could be more of you're
an entertainer or whatever. But um my, my look at
the whole thing was always on a professional level. Um,

(18:06):
I did a lot of things because I knew I
had to do a show the next day. I didn't
do a lot of things. I mean I didn't do
a lot of things because I knew I had to
do a show the next day, and I had an
obligation to to the people that had worked hard for
their money or whatever to come and see us. And

(18:26):
you know, they expected as certain you know person on
that stage, and I I had, you know a lot
of things I just had to put aside. You know,
this was this was not this was an obligation. It
wasn't like a job. You know, I felt obligated to
to to be what everyone expected when they came to

(18:49):
see a show. But talking about the exterior other than
actually performing, the nature of being famous and famous for
your own work, a lot of doors are open to
a lot of situations you get put in where you
might pinch yourself and say, I can't believe I'm here,
whether it's meeting famous people or was that part of

(19:10):
the success? Those were those were great parts, um, you know,
getting to meet people. I mean, you know, Dina Ross
was a very big influence. I mean, the whole Motown thing.
So getting to meet all those Motown people and stuff
like that, and you know, just everybody from you know,
entertainers to musicians to actors and actresses that I've grown

(19:31):
up you know, watching on TV all my life. Begetting
to actually shake hands with them, talk with them and
chat with them, and some of them even have relationships
with some of them. Um, that was all like, that
was surreal. That was just those those are definitely pensioned
me moments. Um. I lost the rest, you know the
other part of the question. Um, I think you answered it.

(19:53):
That's pretty good. Let's go back to managers. You talk
about your managers, telling you what has been your experience
with managers to your career. A lot of the acts
you know are not positive with their management history. Well,
I managed myself up until nineteen and then I signed

(20:13):
with a management company in l A. Cat's Gallinamore, who
were the number one artists representatives in the country. They
had the Dolly Pardon, they had shared they had Aba Godboard,
Jaja Gobard, Kate Smith, mac Davis, um Um America, UM Olivia,

(20:40):
John Lily Tomlin. I mean they just had They were
a major, major, major, major uh uh artists representatives and
so UM, I'm not sure how all that really went
because it was the first time kind of letting go

(21:02):
and everything, and um, there were some things I probably
wasn't happy with, but you know a lot of things
that I was uh because it released me from from
having to deal with it, you know, the way I
had I was up until that point. Uh, it just
it just left more room for creative processes and and

(21:24):
just gave me a little bit more of life back,
you know, other than just being seven booking myself, you know,
making making, I mean, just doing everything myself pretty much.
But you had an agent, right, Uh? Yeah, I had
a great agent, Gary. His name was Gary, Gary Weinberg.
He was at I see him. He was. He was

(21:45):
the most amazing agent I've ever had in my career,
so great. You know, we just had a great relationship.
And he always made sure that you know, I knew
about everything going on or whatever. And if I liked
an idea, whatever, he made sure I was on it
or was doing it. Um. He was more of my
manager than than my managers really. Uh uh. You know.

(22:10):
It's it's when you have a really great agent that
that's on top of everything all the time. You know,
not very much can go wrong. Okay, Now you were
having success when you were still self managed. I'm sure
you know managers came to you. In addition, most acts
didn't have the manager to do consciously say hey, I

(22:32):
want to maintain control. Um. You know that didn't happen
too much that I that I recall, because number one,
I didn't allow myself to be in those situations. And
I think part of that was because I was in
Miami and other than going out to do some TV
shows or whatever and not doing those people could get

(22:54):
to me or got to me. Um, you know, because
of my own staff or the way I moved in
and out of a place, you know, a situation, a
TV show or whatever I was doing. Um, I don't
think I was that accessible. Um. And um again, being
in Miami and not in l A or New York,
where I could probably be, you know, more in situations,

(23:17):
going to more parties and stuff where these you know,
different people could show up and approach me. Um. I
was never in that type of situation, I think. Um.
I can't remember how the cat's gallon thing happened. Um uh, yeah,
it might have been when I changed to from I

(23:38):
See Him to William Morris maybe and they said, you know,
we have a management coming would be interested in you.
I can't remember what happened. Do you remember why you
switched from my c M to William Morris? Um? I
See Him was going through some changes at that time.
I mean Gary passed. Gary, I think it passed away. Um.

(24:02):
I think one of the agents, um, Jim Ramos, who
was one of my agents. They're also, uh, you know,
trying to remember all this stuff because it's been so long. Um,
but your main guy died, is really the king? Well

(24:22):
that that there was just a big shake up in
I C M or whatever, and I, you know, sometimes
it's time to change and try new things. Let's talk
about Florida. Florida was kind of sleepy in your heyday. Ultimately,
there were recordings at Criteria. Miami became a thing somewhat
in the mid seventies. But even though people from the

(24:43):
Northeast were moving to Florida and vacation of Florida forever,
suddenly starting in the eighties and nineties, Miami becomes hip.
Everybody moves to Florida. Many people say Florida's the new California,
well at least in terms of crazy stuff going on.
And now Californias switched from left to right. You have

(25:03):
this Governor de Santis who's having all these res all
these laws in the name of freedom. What's your viewpoint
on what you're going on there in Florida. Since you've
not getting in anything political, well let me ask you,
what is your viewpoint of what's going on? I mean,
just state, since you're on the ground, not nothing, nothing political. Okay,

(25:27):
We're not going to mention any political and I'm not
gonna push you whatever. I'm not going to. But just
just I don't talk about that stuff, Okay, I'm just
I'm just interested. Why do you not choose not to
talk about that stuff? I don't think it's the thing
people should be talking about. I don't know. I mean
just because I talked to a lot of people. Are

(25:49):
you fearful that a potential fan might not agree with you? No,
I'm not. I'm not fearful. I just don't want to
talk about it, Okay, you know, I just I don't
talk about it. You talk about it with your friends,
not really? Do you keep up on the news? Um?
I do doom? Are you optimistic for do you? Do

(26:14):
you have any children? No? I don't, but I have
I have some wonderful nephews and nieces and great nephews
and nieces. So you optimistic for the future or you know,
because well you and me only have a limited number
of time, amount of time left. I don't know. I've
been here seventy years and I don't think anybody's ever
done anything, correct, So, uh, you know I'm down in

(26:39):
the middle. Okay, So let's go back to this creative
jack you've been on with the fifty three songs. What
inspires you to write a song? Um? Well, I mean
I I started writing mostly you know, as a young

(27:00):
young man, um because back then you really couldn't talk
to your parents about things the way kids can talk
to their parents now and stuff. That everything was always
supposed to be hush hush, And so I would always
write my feelings, whether it was um, something going on
in the world, you know, or or um or how

(27:24):
I was feeling or how I you know, I was
feeling rejected by a person, or you know that I
had feelings for or situations that I had been in,
you know, with another person. So a lot of it,
a lot of it comes from just personal experience, a
personal observation, and wishful thinking. Okay, Now, in this jag

(27:48):
in the last ten years, do you say, Okay, it's noon,
I have to go to the studio or you're brushing
your teeth, are showering and you have a great idea
and you gotta run to the keyboard. No, I have
an iPhone now, so I just pushed record. Um, I
write it down in my notes on my iPhone. Uh.

(28:09):
And then if it's if it's an idea of a
melody or something, I will uh um, I will uh
go to my iPhone and uh recorded on the record
thing on the iPhone. Let me just put it in
a different way. Some of the greatest records of all time,
we're at least talk about satisfaction by the Stones. You know,

(28:32):
Keith Richards had the idea of the middle of the
night leaned over and estrelco saying the riff you have that,
whereas today you might have literally twenty writers on a
song where they build the track from you know, the
bottom up. So are you more of Let I have
the inspiration and let me expand that. Or okay, let

(28:53):
me sharpen my pencils, let's see what I come up with. Okay,
so my album or the way I mean before, I
would always go into this hand, my own studio. I
would go into the studio and pretty much put together
the song all right then and there. Um. Some of

(29:15):
the ideas, and some of the things from this new
album were created. Like I'd be on I'd be at
a sound check or whatever, waiting for the band to
get it whether and I'd be messed around the keyboard,
come up with a little idea or whatever and kind
of put that down on you know, run my phone
or whatever, and then go to the studio. When I
was doing these projects and recorded with the band, other

(29:36):
situations that presented themselves recently were, uh, people that I'm
collaborating with send me a fully recorded track, at which
point I write the melody and lyrics to that track,
and um, maybe add some production to that track. Um

(29:59):
so m hm. That's a newer way that I've been
doing things involving other people. Uh, it's not the way
I always did it or or the way I you know,
I I can go into a studio and come up
with a track like that. I mean, it's just doesn't
take give me a beat and I can give you

(30:21):
a song. Is that because just you've done it so
much you just have that skill. I just I just
have that natural ability, you know. That's it might be
part of I mean, it's just it's just something that's
inside of me. It's it's just this thing that I've
never been able to really understand or explain to me.

(30:44):
It's mystical, it's magical. Um, it's you know, it's uh,
it's there, It's just there. Okay, you grew up in Hialeah.
I think High Alie is where the dog track was

(31:06):
or something was where the race track was. Okay, with
the racetrack, what was what was Highlia? Like, Well, you
have to realize I grew up in Miami, So Miami
is very transient in a way. I mean it's a
tourist you know, our our our what do you call it? Um,

(31:30):
I can't think of it. What it's it's it's for
my tongue. Um. You know we depend on tourism. That's
our main What am I trying to say our main economy? Well, yeah,
but uh, you know some people are known for steel,
you know, they manufactured steel. We don't have like you

(31:51):
kind of manufacturing places that I know of or whatever. Uh.
Our our our economy, you know, is based on tourism.
I guess I could say that. So with that said, Um,
like in the neighborhood I grew up when I don't
think there's one person from the same state or city. UM,

(32:13):
And most of the time the northern folks would come
down and um at the beginning of winter, which would
be November, and stay until you know, springtime and then
go back up north. And you you can always can
still tell the difference when it's summer and and summer

(32:35):
and summer and fall and winter and spring in Miami,
in Florida, South Florida because of the traffic, there's always
less traffic during the winter during the summer. So you
grew up right in Miami, So I was I. My

(32:56):
grandfather had some shops and stuff in Miami. My mother
was born in Miami, Florida. UM. I was born in
the town called Opalaka because at the time we were
living in Miami, but at the time I was born,
um Opalaka was basically a army base or naval base

(33:16):
or something army base, I think, And I'm not sure
why I was born in that hospital, but that's where
I was born. And then when we were seven years old,
we moved into an area called Palm Springs, which was
still Dade County, was still Miami, but it was surrounded
by Hialeah, and they gave us a highly zip code
even though highly A police couldn't come in there or whatever.

(33:38):
And I had to go to a High LA school
because that was the closest school. There weren't any schools
in this Dade County, this little small little area called
Palm Springs that there was really Miami Dade County. It
wasn't Highalia. Uh, you know, we didn't. We didn't. We've
paid Dade County taxes, not highly AT taxes or whatever whatever.

(34:00):
It is really two separate places, although we had a
highly A zip code. So basically I grew up in
the middle of High Aliyah okay, outskirts of it, the
middle of its where you grew up. How far were
you from the beach and was there a beach culture? Well,
I mean, I'm I'm fifteen twenty minutes from the beach.
You know, maybe depending on traffic now, but the beaches

(34:23):
due east of me, um yours, So you're still where
you grew up. Yes, I haven't left, and you know, uh,
is there a reason for them? Well other than my
family being here and everything. I mean, my parents are

(34:44):
buried within ten minutes from my house, and that's where
I'll be buried. Um, you know, there's just I just
had this connection here all my life. Still in the
same house that I purchased in nineteen seventy. Um, and
it's not no like big ten thousands Griffin mansion, you know.
So it's like, um, I'm content in this area. It's

(35:06):
not on the beach, it's inland. It's away from all
the craziness and and and everything, and um, I can
be any where I want within fifteen I'm kind of central.
I'm I'm dou south of north of Miami International Airport
and kind of southwest of Fort Lauderdale Airports. I'm kind
of in the middle of both of them, twenty minutes

(35:27):
from either one of them. So I'm in a very
convenient spot for getting around and doing whatever I want
to do and being away from you know, the whole
South Beach scene and you know whatever other you know.
I mean, downtown is growing now there's all these you
know with windwood and brick hole and you know downtown.

(35:50):
The rend of the revitalization of downtown Miami. The Miami
is starting to look like New York. I means, so
many skyscrapers going up. It's crazy. And to what degree
to people talking about climate change in the water. I
just saw the people of other day. They're talking about
building a sea wall. That's something people talk about there.
I don't know. You know, it's industy. You brought it

(36:11):
up because a friend of mine and we're talking about
it last night for some reason. I don't know why
he brought it up. It got brought up. And you know,
I don't know where I believe in all of that stuff.
I mean, number one, Florida uh has always been underwater.

(36:31):
Um where I live and most people live here, uh,
sand and things were brought into building up six ft
above the sea level. The Everglades is below sea level
so pretty much. And that's not too far from where
I live and too far from what all of minew
was pretty much. You know, the Everglades are underwater at

(36:53):
one point. So I guess if it goes back to that,
then it's the circle of life, isn't it. Do you
used to watch that Everglade show grown up? Um? Maybe
on occasion. Did you ever go out in here? But
I used to watch that religiously. Do you ever go
out in the airboat? I mean that was like a
big thing on. Yeah, it's not like it's fun, it's exhilarating.

(37:18):
I mean, you know, it's you know, you're selling through
these uh figuring out the grasses. Um, you know, it's
it's it's exhilarating. It's it's a lot of fun. They're
very fast. Okay, So what kind of kid are you
growing up? Um, I'm like spanking and our gang and

(37:42):
stuff from the little Rascals pretty much. I was doing
all of that stuff, building things. Um, we would have
shows and parades and um, you know I built my
had you know, wouldn't you know race cars and uh,

(38:03):
I build rides in my backyard. I mean I I did,
you know, I did everything. I loved everything. I mean, uh,
you know, would put up a garden. I mean I
just I I really, you know, I and I grew
up in a great neighborhood with a lot of kids,
and we had we had baseball in the middle of

(38:24):
the street and football and box ball and every season
was you know, that's what we would do. And um,
you know we were just very close. You know, families
were close then and kids were in you know, we
were outside except to eaton and go to bed. Yeah,
and how many kids in your family? I just had

(38:47):
one sister, younger sister. Okay, and your parents did what
for a living? Um? My mother originally didn't work and
my father. Um, my father owned the furniture store when
he first in the Miami and then he was ahead
of of a feed company, security feed company, and then

(39:07):
he retired from all that and became a postman. Actually
he um, um, that's what he wanted to do. He
just he was you know, he wasn't that for long,
but he just he wanted to be that. He just
wanted to kind of, he said, as being a being
a postman, he didn't have nobody standing over him telling

(39:28):
you know, or anything like that. You know, they wanted
him to be a supervisor. At one point he refused it,
I don't know how many times. And we your parents
supportive of your dreams. What kind of relationship did you
have with them? My father was a very My father
raised my sister and I had to be very independent. Um.

(39:49):
He never um, I don't ever remember him commenting on anything.
The only thing he ever was concerned about me was
who I was hanging around with, and and and that
sort of thing. Um. He never did. Uh. My father
is just a regular average guy. Um. He didn't want

(40:12):
for anything he didn't material things were not important to
him at all. Um. I don't think he ever bought
The only radio he ever bought his entire life was
from my mother or maybe one maybe one for me
for Christmas. But he I don't think he ever owned
his own radio in his entire life, or a record
player or anything like that. Um. He definitely wasn't musically inclined,

(40:36):
although he although many of his fan member family members
were My mother, on the other hand, um uh, she
was quite a She loved to dance, she loved you know,
her and her sisters actually did radio commercials when they
were younger. Um. And my mother, you know, was kind

(40:57):
of hanging out with people like Aretha Franklin and the
Salmon Dave and Ray Charles and whoever would come into Miami.
She'd be at those clubs, hanging out with them and stuff.
And my mother at one point, you know, told me,
why don't I get a job and make something to myself.
I think, because you know, she hung around that crowd
or whatever. UM was probably fearful of what I would

(41:19):
get into and and and you know that sort of thing.
So um. Although they you know, my my parents were
divorced so it wasn't like I was living my father,
So my mother went't around it up to you know,
to say anything. Um, but I generally think that you know,
I was allowed to do and be whatever I wanted

(41:41):
to be in It didn't matter. I was going to
be what I wanted to be. Anyway, What age were
you and your parents divorced? Ten and you ended up
living with your father's Your sister lived with the father too, correct,
and that's unusual at that time. My mother didn't show
up the court. I understand. Wow, So you're playing in

(42:02):
the street, etcetera. Um, were you just remember the group
or were you a leader where growing up? Um? I
would say, I'm somewhat of a leader. I mean I'm
not much of a follower. Um, although I mean, you know, um,
I will go along with something. You know, I'm I'm

(42:25):
gonna quarius. I'm kind of a chameleon. I kind of
fit into any situation that can make myself into any situation.
I'm not, you know, not one that has to be
the leader or whatever. I like a little consistency and
you know, direction, but um uh yeah, I mean I'm

(42:47):
just to like go with the flow kind of person
as long as the flow is not dangerous. Okay, So
when do you start playing music? All my life be much? Um?
Because interesting enough, in elementary school or whatever I was playing,

(43:07):
I started playing a clarinet. I mean, I'm not seven
sure why I picked that instrument. Um. We didn't have
a piano in the house that I remembered till my
sister I wanted to take piano lessons. Uh, and all
of a sudden we had a piano, even though everyone
knew I wanted to play the piano. I mean I
go to my aunt's homes and we all had pianos,

(43:28):
and they wouldn't even let me near the piano because
I guess they said I was banging on it or whatever.
And Um, I remember growing up in my grandmother I
always loved the organ and the keep. But my couch
I had a cousin that was just one of the
most amazing piano players you've ever you've ever listened to.
There was nothing he couldn't play, and all by ere

(43:49):
he was never trained. So um, I always loved the keep.
I remember being in my grandmother's backyard and just taking
a piece of board or whatever and pretending it was
a key or to go. Do you know making this
sounds like it was an oregon and moving my fingers
across the piece of wood. Um, so, I guess I've
been playing a long time. It was a piece of

(44:09):
wood without anything on it. They take clarinet in school.
Do you ever take piano lessons? Um? I did take
some piano lessons until the teacher said I knew more
than her. And I'm not sure if that was because
I just I didn't. I never, you know, I played piano,
and I have some regrets that I don't. You know,

(44:31):
I'm not like n I mean it's very interesting because
I mean I'm a very simplistic player or whatever. But
the most educated of Berkeley train pianos can't even duplicate
what I play. So I I am too. At a

(44:53):
certain part of my life, I certainly wasn't one to
said gonna go dun dun dune, Dune, Dun Dune Dune.
I mean, I just didn't have that in me. I
just had more energy and wanted I'd rather be outside
with my friends and and everything then going, you know,
dune Dune done. Although I did enough to you know,
to learn to you know, to make my my teacher happy. Um,

(45:17):
but I was always worried about Um. I like, like
when I went to college and I took music classes, Um,
I never would have probably been able to be a
concert pianist or have a degree in music because I
didn't want to. Uh. I was worried about if I

(45:38):
took these classes it would change the natural ability that
I had. Then it would uh uh just made me
like the rest of I guess I was a little
bit of anti establishments. It would make me like like
the rest of the machine. And I didn't never want
to be part of the machine. So it makes sense. Yeah,

(45:59):
absolutely so. And you read music as far I mean,
like if I sat down, Yeah, I mean I could. Yeah,
I mean I can read it. I don't know how.
I mean, years ago, I probably read and played it
faster than I probably could now. But I could definitely
sit down, and I know what G is A. I mean,

(46:19):
I know what they are, and I could play them
on the I definitely can play them. Yeah. And uh,
did you finish college? Uh No, because I I two
years into my college, I had the number one record
in the in the world. Oh that's certainly definitive. But
going back a chapter Um, in the Beatles came. Was

(46:43):
that a big transitional moment? At what point did you
decide you wanted to make music your career. Well, evidently
my decision was made in elementary school. Um, there's not
a time. I can't remember that. We just have to
devout these three by five cards every year for some reason,

(47:04):
you know, you had to fill it out with your name.
They would have had occupation and then I always put
an entertainer. Um. I can't remember ever putting anything else
uh in that in that spot, but entertainer. Um. And
so I've known all my life this is what I
was going to do, and this is what I was

(47:24):
meant to be. Were you affected by the whole music
explosion in the sixties in terms of the Beatles, British
invasion and then you know San Francisco and the English
blues groups? Or was that not your thing? Okay, well
number one, it wasn't really my thing. I was very
My mother loved R and B music, So I grew
up listening to Nancy Wilson, the Flamingos, Ray Charles, you know,

(47:48):
all this great R and B music. Um. And so
by the time I was twelve or thirteen, there's songs
like the Locomotion were a little Eva, and the whole
motown thing was kind of starting. Um, almost at the
same time that the Beatles thing was happening in a way. Um,
I was not a big Beatles fan. I like some
of this stuff. It was, you know, maybe some of

(48:10):
the earlier stuff. I kind of liked it. I've always
liked I've always liked all kinds of music, although I
gravitated more towards R and B or anything that was rhythmic.
So even it was a pop record that was rhythmic enough,
that sounded R and B enough or fit that kind
of feel, um, I would gravitate towards it. Okay, so

(48:31):
you're in college. How do you end up getting into
the music business? Okay? So I started working at a
record store and on Mondays and Thursdays we would place
the order. Well, first of all, like I was, I'm

(48:54):
a I was a avid record collector. I mean and
and and I spent every time I had, you know,
buying records. And then I you know, back then, you
can look on there and you can see who wrote it,
who produced it. Uh, there was usually an address on
the bottom, whether it's said Detroit, Michigan for the Motown

(49:16):
or Atlantic Records New York, New York or whatever. For
most for the most part, you know, the label would
have you know where they were from. I don't know
if all the music was produced there, I mean then
then you knew that, you know some stories recording the
muscle shows or Memphis or whatever. But for the most part,
every label had an address on the bottom of it.

(49:36):
So working in the record store, so like on Mondays
and Thursdays, we had to place these orders and we
have to go to the distributor on Tuesday and Friday
and pick the order up the local distributor. One of
the local distributors was a distributor called Tone Distributors and
maybe the largest independent record distributor in the southeast of
the United States. They they distributed UM Independent Distributor for

(50:01):
Warner Brothers, for Atlantic, for MGM, for a Motown, for Stacks,
um everybody. But at one point they even had Columbia
Records in Epic. But so they had everybody for Columbian Epic,
R C A and UH A and m came along

(50:22):
A and m UH, but they had everybody else. They
had Dunhill, they had UH all these major labels anyway,
they distribute all of them. So on. So going back
to meet, always paying attention to what's on the records. Uh,
there was a record that came out in nineteen seventy.

(50:43):
I think I was already there then. Anyway, I noticed
that there was a label like a lot of different
records were coming out because we'd always get sent the
newest R and B records and you know, whatever is
going on the chart. And I noticed this address four
Southeast tenth Court, and that's where I used to pick

(51:05):
up the records at four Southeast tenth Court, which is
Tone Distributors. And I eventually learned that an artist who
I kind of grew up listening to it, he was
also the host of a TV show called Where the
Action is named Steve Alamo was there, uh, you know

(51:27):
and everything, and that they had a recording studio on
the back and that's where these records, it's at Southeast
tenth Chord were being recorded. So I am um I
remember once I learned that, Um, I learned some other

(51:47):
things that there's a writer in Clarence read there or whatever. Uh,
and I wanted to have a meeting with him and
eventually quit my job at the record store and asked
Henry if he Henry was the owner of the Tone distributing.
I got to know him by because he would always
be in the warehouse, you know, when I pick up records,
and asked him if he had a job there. He

(52:09):
said he didn't. So I got a job at his competitor,
and every day after work I would go hang out
at Tone Distributors in the back or whatever, um and
waiting for this guy Clearence read. I guess the joke
was always on me, because I guess he'd always told
a lot of people he'd meet him and never show up. Meanwhile,

(52:30):
while I'm sitting there, I just started doing odds and
then things. You know, if the trash and trash would
be overflowing and nobody would be emptying it, I try
started emptying it. The phone ringing back then there's no
one answering the phone. So I'd started answering the phone. Um. Eventually, UM,
Walner brothers in Atlantic, we're gonna have all their records. Uh,

(52:51):
They're gonna start their own distribution company and pulling all
the records out of all the independent modern pop places.
And so I started boxing up all those records and
have the number and label every one of them to
ship back to one to Atlantic Records to Warner Brothers. Uh.
And so just from all that, just hanging out at
the studio whatever, and sometimes doing a background session, eventually

(53:14):
doing some co writing and playing on some stuff, and
just kind of hanging out there, you know, uh until
you know, the place we closed and finding Henry gave
me a key to the door so I could kind
of come and go, and you know, just just slowly
learning everything I could their promotion, you know, eventually starting

(53:36):
my own old section in his warehouse, you know, because
there's all these boxes and boxes of old records up
in the attic and stuff, which I was like, can
have it, because he said I could have anything I wanted.
It's like, holy God, I just died with the heaven,
you know. And so you know, just hanging out and
you know, being in the right place, not stepping on

(53:58):
anybody's toes or anything, and just finding my own way
and creating the little management company thing or whatever and
just helping out, you know, just to be a part
of it. I wasn't there to take over anybody's position
in particular, whatever I was just there too to be
anything and everything anybody needed, you know, uh at any

(54:20):
one time. So eventually, you know, I worked my way
into the studio. Okay. A couple of questions. At what
point did you stop working for the competitor and start
working for Tone? I don't remember when that was. Um um,
I really were not really important. Do you still have

(54:41):
all those records you collected back in the sixties and seventies, Yes,
every one of them. How many how many records have
you got? I probably have over a fifteen or twenty
thousand records albums And do you play them? No, they're
they're they're all in storage. Okay, my warehouse, I have allline,

(55:04):
same deal. Okay. So I did have them all here
and they were just sitting there and I just said,
you know, let me just box them all up and okay.
So to what degree do you learn the studio itself,
becoming an engineer, etcetera. Wow, Well, during the whole process,
I mean, so there were other artists there and other

(55:28):
people that nobody was paying attention to. So, you know,
those nights or whatever, I would go in and you know,
get some some some of the people that were student
musicians there to come in, and you know, I'd mess
around and messing around on the board and do my
own recordings because you know, it wouldn't look like anybody

(55:48):
was going to like, hey, here you do it, so again,
just trying to learn everything. I eventually, you know, got
up to the to the board, had somebody show me
enough to you know, where I kind of knew what
I was doing or what my ears were hearing and
that sort of thing, and uh you know that's uh

(56:10):
so just kind of writing these little songs for these
other artists that everybody was playing no attention to. Okay,
were you writing him at home or writing him in
the studio? Well, it happened in different places a lot
of times. You know, I come up with the idea
at home or whatever, and then go to the studio.
I mean, it wasn't like I had to record it
or anything, because once I did something in my head,

(56:33):
it stays in there quite a while, and I always
felt like if it doesn't, then it wasn't meant to be. So,
you know, whatever stayed in my head, that's what I
would work going and work on the next you know that,
you know, whatever, you know, prepare myself again sometimes you know,
I would do it right there in the studio. But okay,

(56:54):
what point does your independent workings at night cross over
into the mean stream of the studio. Were you not
working to make records they're interested in? Well, I mean
I was. I was always trying to make a record
that they would be interesting, interested in. UM. So you know,
I had three or four So it was I was

(57:16):
managing Timmy Thomas at the time, who had a big
hit called why Can't We Live Together? I booked him
at a show in Washington, d C. At the Capitol
Center with Rare Earth. UM. Prior to that show, I
had gone to a wedding I believe was Betty Right's
house or something, and she had hired a what's called
a junk, a new band to play at the wedding.

(57:37):
And uh junk a new music from the Caribbean, and
I've mostly associated with the Bahamas. It's drums, horns and whistles.
It's very infectious. You can't help but move when when,
when you're you're even you're anywhere near it. So anyway,
I booked me on this show and Washington, d C.

(57:58):
And the entire audience was blowing whistles, and I thought wow,
and I thought, like, you would be great to take
this music that I just was at this party and
and and you know, bring it to the masses and
do these whistles. So I wrote this song called blow
Your Whistle. I went the studio and got some of

(58:20):
the the local guys there, uh, and I recorded this
where I go. I brought in the drunk Adu band
and had them play on the record. And I wrote
this song called blow Your Whistle. And now I needed
to come up with a name, uh, you know, for
who I was going to be. And I didn't want
to use my real name or any part of my

(58:42):
real name. So I came up and I called it
Casey and the Sunshine junk Anuman, Okay, and then UH
continue the narrative, what happens with your career? Well, so
uh we Henry puts the record out of the normal fashion.
He presses up a few hundred whatever gets puts it

(59:04):
on some local radio stations and covering other stations, and
it starts making a lot of noise, uh, and then
spreads a little bit into Europe. Um. It goes to
number eighteen on the R and B Billboard. R and
B chart, and enough to where making enough noise to her.
Now Henry wants another record, and so now I think

(59:26):
we're all. I loved horns and everything. So now I
write this song called sound Your Funky Horn, and it's
just basically a song about uh, you know, you know,
everybody sound base member in the bottom, which is the base, um,
base member in the bottom, drummer, drum the beat, which
is the drummer, h tenor man, which is this like saxophone.

(59:50):
Come blow your horn. Um, everybody, get on your feet.
Everybody's sound your funky horn. So now sound your fuck
horn starts doing the same amount of noise, even a
little bit more than blow your whistle, but still goes
to the number eighteen. I think on the R and
B chart might have got a look a few points higher,

(01:00:10):
and I can't remember. I'd have to look. Uh. And
so now, um, I'm in the studio and we we
dropped the junken New band, I dropped the junken new
band name, and just it just becomes Casey in the
Sunshine Band on the second record. So now um, I'm
Timmy Thomas's organs upstairs in the studio, and that he

(01:00:35):
wrote why can't we lived together on it? And it
was a lorry organ and it had like you know
that time they started adding the beat boxes. So I
sat down at the organ. I'm still writing songs for
you know, my new album and everything, because now Hitry
wants an album and I've already written subtracks and I'd
come up with this. I started, I pushed the somber
or whatever it was on the thing, and I started

(01:00:56):
playing these chords or whatever, and you know, uh and
rock your baby was born, and so um, I was
looking for somebody to I didn't think it was like
something that it was a little different than I was writing,
you know, for that I'd done for boy Whistle and

(01:01:16):
sign you if You On? And what the direction. I
was already writing for others stuff on my on the
case of the Sun Traine record that I was working on,
and so um uh. At the time, I think I
thought about Jimmy bull Horn singing the record, and I

(01:01:37):
was waiting for him to come in. And George mccraize
showed up that day and I said, George, come over here,
and you know, hum this melody, and I hummed the
melody to him. In the minute I heard his voice.
I knew that, um, he was the one that should
sing this song, and I took him and went up
in the studio and we recorded the song, and four

(01:01:57):
or five weeks later was number one in fifty one
countries around the world. Okay, a couple of things. It's
considered to be the It's V four, the first UH
disco record dance record is considered to be the used

(01:02:18):
corporation rocked the Boat, and then George mccraey's song, which
came first the sound or the nightclub. Were you making
this totally independently or were you aware of a nightlife
scene that you were trying to make music for that
you were participating in. Okay, well, I was aware of
a nightlife see, definitely, but it wasn't any different than

(01:02:41):
the sock Cops, and all they were doing is playing records,
you know. Um. But the the the part behind Casey
and Sunshine Man sound in that whole creation was I
loved dance music. My mother loved dance and I've always
loved anything up tempo, and I would get kind of,

(01:03:06):
you know, disappointed when it because great dance record come
out and then you buy the album and it was
all these slow songs and all this other crap on there.
So I wanted to change that. I wanted to make
every song up tempo, um and on side A to
side B. So that's what I was doing with Casey

(01:03:28):
in the Sunshine Band. Besides that, UM, I believe we
might have been the first ones to ever do a
twelve inch or a longer version of a song, you know,
strictly for the clubs. With Rock Your Baby, we took
we took the instrumental the record, took the vocal off,
spliced in about three minutes of instrumental, and then added

(01:03:51):
the vocal back at the end, making the song six
minutes and ten seconds long or something like that. So
Rock your Baby goes to number one? What's next for you? Um? Okay?
So me and it was are now they they make
a deal with the label in the UK, and the

(01:04:12):
owner of that label, uh, South Kasner, I think not.
She was a South Kasner. David Kasner comes over and
wants to hear the new case in the Sunshine Man album.
So one of the songs I, you know, so I'm
playing in the album, and here's this song on the
album called the Queen of Clubs and he says, that's

(01:04:35):
a number one record in my country. I'm thinking, okay,
that's nice. I'll take that. He takes it back to
the UK and the record shoots to the number four,
and not only in the UK, but kind of all
over Europe some places number one. So it's like, holy cow,

(01:04:59):
you know, I got to go on tour. I've never
really played. I've never really played live before like that,
you know, singing and playing at the same time. So
they booked us a tour over there for forty eight
shows in twenty four cities and two nights before. I

(01:05:20):
haven't an emergency appendecti appendectomy operation. I've penicide it, you know, appendectomy.
So um, that gets canceled. And thirty days later we
go over and I do these forty eight cities in
twenty four days, wearing a thing around me to you know,
like the last Eigg band or whatever, uh, to make

(01:05:44):
sure I didn't hurt myself or anything. And now they,
you know, they want the next record or whatever. And
that's the way I canna get down tonight where we're
created out of that, and I actually changed, you know,
the sound of you know, the way I sang the
songs a little bit and actually remember recording them with
a little bit of a British accent. So how do

(01:06:07):
we get to get down tonight? We get to get
down tonight because uh, I'm in the studio. Really, when
I a lot of times when I would work on
a song, sometimes I have a title, sometimes I don't.
I had a title for that, which at that time
when I when I first wrote it in the studio

(01:06:27):
came up, you know, did the chords and the melod everything,
eng was called what you want is what You'll get,
and you know, it was kind of a working title
or whatever. And the more I thought about it, you know,
it just wasn't ringing the bells for me, and get
down was kind of a uh A saying at the

(01:06:50):
time or whatever, and you know, I started thinking, get down,
get down, get down tonight, um, you know, and then
wrote about you know, what do you What are the
things I like to do? What are the things you
like to do? You know, do a little dance, making
a little love, get down tonight, and then creating the

(01:07:10):
story kind of around that, you know, with being with
somebody else, baby baby, let's get together, honey, honey, me
and you do the things do the things we like
to do. Do a little dance, make a little love,
get down tonight. Yeah it was that simple. Okay, wait
a second. I was more of an FM guy. But
it is living out West at the time and you're

(01:07:33):
driving these long stretches. Prior to satellite radio, you'd be
flipping the dial here stuff on AM radio which had
a long, uh, a large area of coverage. You heard
that track What's and no matter what kind of music
you liked, you immediately got it. He said, holy shit. Okay,

(01:07:53):
I remember the first time that. It's very interesting because
we had always recorded everything ever a TK, but because
we needed to add Nework things to we went to
Criteria to do the vocal and the horns in the
backgrounds tonight. I finished that vocal or whatever, and I

(01:08:13):
must have played that song one times because it was
just so infectious. I it was just I knew there
was something special about it. As a matter of fact,
when Henry finally put it out, it went on the
Billboard chart at and the next week it fell off
the chart. I went to Henry. I said, Henry, this
is a hit song. What's going on? He says, don't
worry about it. That was it. Well, that's what people

(01:08:36):
who don't play at the elite level don't understand. When
you do something that good, you know it okay, and
you rarely can get he can't hit that every day
every month, but when you get there, you certainly know it. Right.
So okay, now you're off and running. Okay with the
next track? Is that's the way I like it? Yeah?

(01:09:01):
So you know, now you have a success. Now you
gotta worry about following it up. Well, the two songs
were almost recorded within the same period of time. You
have to understand. Now I'm I've moved from the first
album and now working on the second album. So tracks
were in the progress in progress, whether it was you
know and and and all the songs were almost recorded

(01:09:22):
a year before. So get down to Night Investady like
it would have been recorded in nineteen seventy four, like
seventy four or whatever, after I got back from tour
in England. Uh so, Um, it was already in the
can before the was already Yeah, I was already in
the can. And then what about shake your Booty? What

(01:09:43):
about it? Um? How did you come with booty? Well,
it's an interesting story behind that, other than booty being
a famous another word that was popular at the time.
But you know, from doing these concerts, a lot of
times I'd be in situations and you know that there
would be I just felt like still people were a

(01:10:05):
little afraid to let themselves go, let themselves be what
they whatever they want to be, and still had this
fear of like I said, all right, to get up.
And so I'd be doing these concerts and you know,
thousands of people be standing up and I'd be drawn
to the one person sitting there with their arms crossed
or whatever. Which sometimes that's kind of me um. But

(01:10:28):
it's not that I'm not having a good time. It's
just I'm just I'm comfortable to relax. But anyway, I
I just so it was kind of a song about
and and and also I felt like a lot of
people didn't have enough faith in themselves and believe in
themselves enough. And it was kind of a song meant
to be let you know that you're as good as

(01:10:49):
the next person. There's anybody else. Get up and shake
your ass, get up and shake your booty. You know
what I mean. You're the best to see, um, you
can you can't do it very well? Are the best
in the world, I can tell you know, I mean shake, shake, shake,
shake your booty. So is that kind of thing, like
a little bit of a motivational thing in a way

(01:11:10):
for people to to have a belief in themselves and uh,
to enjoy life, to to shake your booty. And now
you're on a run, do you feel the pressure to
have more hits? Hits? No? I mean, first of all,
you have to say, and I came from a label
that had nothing but one hit, Wonders. Um. I you know,

(01:11:34):
out of all the songs, I wasn't sure about shake
your Booty until um because it just seemed too easy
to do. The vocal everything was just so easy with
that song. Um. And I remember it wasn't until we
i um, we performed at the first time, I think
right before the record came out in Dallas, Texas at

(01:11:56):
six Flags over Texas Arlington Texts or wherever six Flags
is there, and you know, the fans went nuts. I
mean they went nuts, and it just felt right even
performing it. It just felt like, Wow, I was you
know this one, this is this is gonna be huge
and you know that it was okay number three, You're

(01:12:21):
working at an independent label, which is still independent after
the wild West of what comes before the sixties and fifties. Okay,
So ultimately with the label went bankrupt, it was Saltimore's
Levi's Roulette, which needles to say, has a reputation of

(01:12:41):
working in the mafia world. You're working at t K.
To what degree are you getting an honest accounting? To
what degree is the business legitimate? To what degree are
you getting paid one to me, two or three out
the door? And you were aware of that pretty much

(01:13:03):
then you thought, what, I don't think too much of it.
I mean I was, Um, it was until I am
audited that I thought about it too much at all.
That was near the end. And how about ownership? Was
there ever an issue of them wanting part of the pot? Okay?

(01:13:23):
So after that, after that's what we like, and I
went renegotiated. Um, you know, my deal with him for
half the publishing and better points and better everything. So
at this late date, what do you own? And Henry
game in my own label? You know, I mean he
was pretty much you know, supporting my label and everything else. Okay,

(01:13:48):
but right now, what do you own half of you
have half the publishing, and then and how much of
the writers share my percentage. Okay. So a lot of
these songs were co written with someone else. Yeah, and

(01:14:13):
what did you do and what did that other person do?
And why did that end? I did it all? So
why did he get credit? We just had it. It
was just a business thing that I gave him credit. Okay,
So he really did he do anything for his credit
business wise or anything? No? He played bass, and he

(01:14:33):
was a great engineer, and he was good at some
of the production. Okay, production. Going back to the songs, okay,
so you have maintained your ownership. You're getting royalties now? Yeah,
and who administers those songs? Sony, Sony. It's been through,
it's been through so many different people. But you have

(01:14:55):
continued to get paid or do you have to audit
for your money? And who knows whether you're getting paid?
How many cents on the dollar? No, you know, I
mean it's I mean you always do audits. Well, let's
but if you never worked again, you got plenty of
money coming in with the royalties. I'm okay, you're okay.
You go on the road. What's the incentive to go

(01:15:15):
on the road because I have fun and I like it? Okay,
But it's not primarily money, or is it. No? No,
so you go on the road. Uh, in the last
fifty years, have there been times you've stayed off the
road going back on or if you consistently work that
whole time? Um? I for ten years between eighty four

(01:15:43):
and ninety five around there somewhere, I didn't I didn't
tour at all. I didn't want to have anything to
do with this business. I hated it. I was done.
I didn't want anything to do with it. It wasn't
until our Cindy oh Hall I wanted to see a
reunion on his TV show that I realized I had
stopped doing something I love to do. And I started

(01:16:05):
putting my feetback in, you know, out there in the
water and testing the waters and put a band back together.
What did you do for this? I've been I've been
doing it ever since. Then? Would you do for those
ten years? Took off a lot of drugs and a
lot of partying. There's a lot of nothing, so you
were kind of just kind of just living life. No,

(01:16:26):
I was done. I was not gonna know nothing. Were
you done? Just because the whole effect or you felt
ripped off for too much pressure? I was just tired
of I was kind of just tired of being told
what to do, when to do it, how to feel,
when to be this place, and that I just wanted
to like, I wanted life back. I wanted like a

(01:16:49):
normal life back. That's just what I wanted. I just wanted.
You wanted to feelm normal again. I think just if
that was even possible, which it's not because of who
I am or what I've done, but as normal as
normal can be for me. After you're done with t K,

(01:17:09):
you move on to what is then CBS Records now
sonydor good or bad experience? How different? I left t
K because I had an auditor and they owned me
nine million dollars. Did you get it? Nope? Say taken
because I figured I would have been gone to court
and when I would would have been in court for
years and years. And I said take it and shot

(01:17:31):
it and I signed with CBS. What epic And so
you signed? How was your experience an epic? Not a
great one, not a great one at all. Um. I
think at the time, EPIC was just so so into
the Michael Jackson thing or whatever that maybe they're just

(01:17:52):
buying up competition. I don't know what they were doing,
but they didn't have any If you look at that period,
they didn't have any time for anybody but Michael because
Frank de Leo, who was running Epic. You know, I
wanted to be Michael's manager. And I remember the first
album I did for them, Um, you know that they
were happy with it and all that sort of stuff,

(01:18:13):
and then nothing, you haven't to it. I remember going
in and say, look, I don't need your charity. If
you don't like something, you better tell me. You know,
if you're not gonna back this and you're not gonna
believe in what I'm doing, then I don't want to
do it. And you know what I mean, I'm not
a charity here, So you know, I went and did
the second album and they got more involved in it
and everything, and um, except when it came time to

(01:18:34):
put out and give it up in America after it
was number one for six weeks in Europe, they didn't
want to do it. So I said, let me have
the record. I went off the contract and they paid
me a hundred thousand dollars, gave me the record, and
I put it out myself said, and it was the
number one record, even though Billboard didn't reflect it correctly.
Explain that a little bit more. Okay, So the Billboard

(01:18:57):
charts mainly or they eased on points. They give radio
stations and how far you got the charter when you're
on a radio station, so um, depending on mean radio
stations you're on at the time you get points, it
goes up when when stations are off of it, you
lose the points. So there are a lot of stations
like in Miami and other stations. It went on very

(01:19:19):
very very early and off the success of the UK
and um Epic didn't want to release it as single,
and so I lost the momentum and the points. Even
though that record was number one on every radio station
in the United States of America for at least five
to six weeks, there was not one station in America

(01:19:41):
that record wasn't number one on. But because of the
way the point system is and the timing of the
ones that went on at early and the ones that
went out late is it was coming up. Other stations
were had already had there's six weeks, you know, their
their patients are starting to go down. So I was
losing points here by gaining all these points you know here, Okay,

(01:20:03):
one other truck I want to talk about is my
favorite other than Get Down Tonight. And it's very different
from the upbeat tracks. That's please Don't Go. How did
that come about? Um? I was sitting at the piano
waiting for the next session to start or whatever, as
I always did, while they were trying to get the

(01:20:23):
sound of you know, the instruments and everything else. Was
always a long process. And I was sitting down at
the the grand piano and just these cords just came
to my head, and um uh it was just different.
I just you know, it was just I don't know

(01:20:46):
if I was thinking, like you know, you know, the
disco thing was happening or or you know, and I
just felt like I wanted to change. I wanted to
do something a little bit different that I always swore
I would never really do it, which was like a
ballot or something slow. And you know, it just all
just again these things. I can't explain these things to you.

(01:21:09):
I can try to explain it and make an excuse
or a reason. There's no reason. There's no I didn't
know how to explain how God or whatever this that
is comes into my hands sits them down on this keyboard,
and and all of a sudden, these things start happening
kind of beyond my control, as if it's automatic. It's

(01:21:30):
just like I put my hands down and all of
a sudden this starts happening and develops into this other
thing that just becomes massive. I can't explain that. I'll
never will be able to. Did you expect it to
be commercially successful? Once I heard it? Once it was done, absolutely, Oh,
I knew it right away. Any of your tracks that

(01:21:52):
you thought were hit that didn't go, um, I I've
had a few, maybe in the in later years. But
then if I look back at I mean, um, if

(01:22:14):
I look back at some of them and dissect them,
I can probably understand why maybe they didn't. But again, again,
it's all in sometimes promotion and marketing too. It's like,
you know, one another. One reason I was leading t
K because I felt like they were getting all these
new people coming in there, and they all wanted to
make their marks. So they weren't interested in somebody who

(01:22:36):
was already making had already made a mark. Um, there
was nothing for them to do, you know what I mean.
They wanted to make the next one. That's you know,
I felt like, so I here, I made this company,
and this company was now starting to ignore me. I
hear you. So, uh do you think you were victimized

(01:22:57):
by the disco backlash? Not at all? Well, I mean,
I don't know, because it's very confusing because even though
I'm considered and and probably one of the beginning of
that whole thing, it was really R and B music
that was being played at the time up until night
until the Saturday Night Fever album or nine. When when

(01:23:19):
when a lot of the things changed. And so for me,
I feel like I had already moved on with please
Don't Go. Then I had Yes, I'm ready with Terry
to Sarrio. You know. Uh, so I feel like I
had already moved beyond that sort of scenario, if that
makes sense. I didn't like the word disco to begin with.

(01:23:44):
Were you a guy who went to the clubs? Yeah?
I went to club and I went to clubs because
I love to dance. I you know, um, I you
know everybody was going so I mean, but you know,
I just I love music. So anywhere there was music,
I was going to be And so other than when

(01:24:06):
you're creating to what degree are you listening to music today? Um?
I go on I iTunes every day and check out
whatever the latest thing is or the whatever records on.
I mean, I'm really in love with this song called
Imagine by Ben Platt right now. I think it's just
a great song. But I don't see it making very

(01:24:28):
much noise, which I don't understand why unless it's just
I just they just haven't got behind it yet. I hopefully, hopefully,
because I think it's a great, great song and he
sounds amazing on it. Um. But I I mean, I
I listen everything. I have country on my phone, I
have pop, I have I have everything. You know, music
has changed a lot. I mean R and B s

(01:24:49):
now what R and B used to be. I wished
it was. It would be great to hear some great
R and B music, But I don't know when that's
going to happen. I I see, I see I see
it slowly how happening. There's a lot of up and
coming UM R and B artists who seem to be
embracing that historical sound, and I hear it coming out

(01:25:16):
of their productions and their music, and it's kind of
exciting in a way. Okay. I saw you in the
band perform on a cold winter night in Veil, Colorado,
and it was spectActor. That's what really resonate with it.
Please don't go for me, But on stage you make
fun of yourself. Where did that come from? Where did

(01:25:39):
that come from? That came from wanting to make myself
relax and and feel comfortable on the stage or whatever. Um,
I'm not don't. I don't know, I don't. It's just
especially at times when I put on a few pounds
or whatever. I'm all. You know. Some of it started

(01:26:01):
with seeing young kids in the audience and thinking, you know,
you have no clue who I am or or what
you know, and I was trying to kind of relate
to them a little bit. So you know, one of
the running jokes came, I'm your mother's justin Timberlake, you
know what I mean. So, you know, part part of
it came from that, But part of it's just facing

(01:26:22):
the realities, like if I put a little weight and
then you know, like he's like God, he's getting the waiter,
He's done this, and you know, let's let's just joke
about it so I don't have to sit there and
think about what they're saying, you know what I mean. Um,
and it just kind of relaxes me. I I kind
of have fun doing it. Um you know, Um does

(01:26:43):
that answer the question? Yeah? Absolutely. You tell a joke
about KFY and KFC that's pretty funny. Oh yeah, well's see,
I've I've brought in some writers and stuff to give
me some lines. And that was you know, that was
one of the even though I don't really eat Kentucky
Fried Chicken, I don't eat a lot of fried foods
at all, but um, yeah, it was this this writer,

(01:27:09):
that comedic writer that writes for a lot of people,
I wrote wrote that one, and it was it's a
fun joke. So when are we going to see you
back on the road? Um? Right now, I'm planning on going,
you know, back in after this mess settles down a
little bit. Um. You know, they wanted me to kind

(01:27:31):
of go. I mean, I just lost my guitar player
from twenty something years, so I got to find a
new guitar player number one and there's gonna be some
big shoes to fill, um number two. I just I
you know, until this pandemics kind of done and you know,
really kind of over I don't want to be flying

(01:27:52):
around a lot, you know, with mass Shawn and playing,
you know. I mean, I've been going, you know on
a few little many vacations and stuff, but it's not
like having to fly every day three days in a row,
and you know, dealing with all this craziness out there
right now. So I decided and then, you know, just

(01:28:16):
at the time, I wasn't sure, you know, I just
we didn't want to put anybody in situations. I didn't
know how you know, a lot of places haven't really
fully opened. Uh, you know, I just didn't want to
deal with a whole mass. It's just it's all insanity,
and I just just when it's over, let's let's get
back to business or whatever. And then at one point

(01:28:37):
I thought, you know, maybe I don't want to do
this anymore. I don't know, but um, you know, I
think I want to go back. I think I miss it.
I miss you know, Um, I've never you know, you know,
since I went back out, I haven't stopped. And so
this whole pandemic and me being so idle after all

(01:28:58):
this time, and you know, just I don't know if
I needed it, maybe we all needed it. I don't
know to just to rethink and to read to re
um uh, can't think of the word um re calibrate, yeah, recalibrate. Okay, Harry,
this has been wonderful. One thing about you have to

(01:29:20):
know your tracks are forever. It's funny. Very few people
can say that most things are of a time and
they die. But you consistently, you know you're sustained. Really incredible. Okay,
thanks for taking the time once again. Thank you. You bet.
This is Bob left sense.