Celebrate!

Celebrate! is the twelfth studio album by American band Kool & the Gang. Released on September 29, 1980, the album reached No. 1 on the US R&B chart and #10 on the Billboard 200.[1] The album produced perhaps Kool & the Gang's most recognizable hit song, the #1 chart-topper, "Celebration", which still receives heavy play today over four decades later.[2]

Celebrate!
Studio album by
Kool & the Gang
ReleasedSeptember 29, 1980
RecordedNovember 1979 – March 1980
GenrePost-disco, funk
Length35:18
LabelDe-Lite
ProducerKool and the Gang, Eumir Deodato
Kool & the Gang chronology
Ladies' Night
(1979)		 Celebrate!
(1980)		 Something Special
(1981)
Singles from Celebrate!
  1. "Celebration"
    Released: October 1980
  2. "Take It To the Top"
    Released: January 1981
  3. "Jones vs. Jones"
    Released: April 1981

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]
Record Mirror[4]
Village Voice(C-)[5]
Los Angeles Times(favourable)[6]

Dennis Hunt of the Los Angeles Times called Celebration "the band's mostly excellent new album."[6] Robert Christgau of the Village Voice gave a C- grade saying "It says something for these funk pioneers that unlike James Brown, George Clinton, and the Ohio Players they've adapted painlessly, nay profitably, to disco: a number-one single leads their Deodato-produced album into the top ten. What it says is that their funk was as bland as you suspected."[5] With a 3 out of 5 stars review Amy Hanson of Allmusic found that "Celebrate itself marked the end of an era for Kool & the Gang, as the band would slip even farther from their funk roots and adopted dance grooves into the realms of smooth soul. But what a way to go!"[3]

Track listing
Side 1
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Celebration"Ronald Bell, Kool & the Gang4:58
2."Jones vs. Jones"George Brown, Kool & the Gang4:18
3."Take It to the Top"Bell, Kool & the Gang4:19
4."Morning Star"Robert Mickens, Kool & the Gang3:46
Side 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Love Festival"Charles Smith, Kool & the Gang5:16
2."Just Friends"Bell, Kool & the Gang4:23
3."Night People"Bell, Kool & the Gang3:47
4."Love Affair"Brown, Kool & the Gang4:21

Personnel
  • Bass – Robert "Kool" Bell
  • Lead guitar – Charles Smith
  • Keyboards, saxophone, backing vocals – Ronald Bell
  • Drums, percussion, backing vocals – George Brown
  • Lead and backing vocals – James "J.T." Taylor
  • Alto saxophone – Dennis Thomas
  • Trumpet, backing vocals – Robert Mickens
  • Keyboards, backing vocals – Earl Toon, Jr.
  • Keyboards – Kevin Bell
  • Additional keyboards – Adam Epolito
  • Backing vocals – Cedric Toon, Meekaeel Muhammad, Robert Bell, Coffee, Something Sweet
  • Orchestra arranged and conducted by – Eumir Deodato
Production
  • Recording engineer – Jim Bonnefond
  • Assistant engineers – Bobby Cohen, Clif Hodsdon, Jeff Kawalex, Joe DeAngelis, Jullian Robertson, Kenny Robb
  • Mixed by – Eumir Deodato, Jim Bonnefond, Gabe Vigorito
  • Mastered by – Tom Coyne
  • Producer – Eumir Deodato
  • Associate producer – Kool & The Gang
  • CD Mastering - Joe Gastwirt
  • CD Remastering - Joe Gastwirt

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[7] Platinum 1,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References
  1. "Celebrate! > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums" at AllMusic. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  2. "Celebrate! > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles" at AllMusic. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  3. Hanson, Amy. "Kool & the Gang: Celebrate! > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  4. Hall, Phillip (November 15, 1980). "Kool & The Gang: Celebrate!" (PDF). Record Mirror. p. 20. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  5. Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide Album Kool and the Gang: Celebrate". robertchristgau.com. Village Voice.
  6. Hunt, Dennis (November 16, 1980). "Kool's Gang Celebrates". proquest.com. Los Angeles Times. p. 424. ProQuest 162961076.
  7. "American album certifications – Kool & The Gang – Celebrate". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 



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