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No matter your distance from the equator this holiday season, the multi-platinum selling, Miami-born dance group, KC and The Sunshine Band, delivers A Sunshine Christmas. With four of the album’s tracks penned by lead singer, Harry Wayne “KC” Casey, A Sunshine Christmas fuses original never-before-heard songs with holiday favorites from decades past including “The Little Drummer Boy”, “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”, “Last Christmas”, “Do You Hear What I Hear”, “Carol Of The Bells”,and “Go Tell It On The Mountain”.
The sunny new music though seasonal, is cheery and upbeat for all-year round, and is infused with the band’s signature sounds of trombone, saxophone and trumpet which helped to make mega hits like “(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty”, “That’s The Way (I Like It)”, “Get Down Tonight”, “Boogie Shoes”, among a multitude of others, so wildly memorable.
Months in the studio to record the band’s latest studio album, Feeling You! The 60s, (March 2015), spurred KC to write, record and produce a holiday album that would challenge the traditional cold-weather themes which make up much of today’s popular Christmas music. Instead, with the new project, KC and his band strive to bring its listeners to the beaches of Miami where The Sunshine Sound was born.
“I’ve always loved the holidays… It’s my favorite time of the year. A friend had said to me, ‘You know, KC? There’s never been a Christmas album done ‘Sunshine Band’ style.’ The wheels started turning, and ‘Jingle Bell Boogie,’ was written in just a few days,” said KC, who’s been widely dubbed the Founder of The Dance Revolution since his reign in the 70s.
“Some of the tracks are classics that the band and I have put our own spin on over the years, like ‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,’ and then there’s new material, like ‘Jingle Bell Boogie,’ which came from my heart. The remaining tracks like ‘Carol Of The Bells,” are classics reimagined in a way unique to me and my band,” he added. “I hope when friends and family are gathered together celebrating, or co-workers are cutting loose at their holiday party, that my record will be playing in the background and bringing some happiness as we look back on the blessings we’ve enjoyed over the past year”.
The award-winning Unity On The Bay Choir, which hails from South Florida, joins KC as the background chorus on the ambient stand-out track, “Carol Of The Bells,” and premiere track “The After Christmas Song,” penned by KC, kicks off the album with an addictive drumbeat as it wishes listeners a “Happy New Year” at Christmas’s end. Colorful cover art of an animated beachfront complete with lighted palm trees, blue parrots and a bright shining sun successfully communicate the tropical essence of the project as a whole.
A Sunshine Christmas was co-produced by Harry Wayne “KC” Casey, the group’s lead singer, and Eric Lue Young, with Marc Burrows as a co-producer on select tracks. It was recorded at Circle House Studios in KC’s hometown of Miami, Florida for Sunshine Productions, Inc. and distributed in partnership with Sony RED.
A Sunshine Christmas Track Listing:
1.) The After Christmas Song
2.) Jingle Bell Boogie
3.) The Little Dummer Boy
4.) Let’s Go Dancing With Santa
5.) Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
6.) Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
7.) A Sunshine Christmas
8.) Last Christmas
9.) Do You Hear What I hear?
10.) Carol Of The Bells
11.) Go Tell It On The Mountain
12.) Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (Reprise)
Upcoming KC and The Sunshine Band Tour Dates:
Dec. 31 Thunder Valley Casino – Lincoln, Calif.
Feb.13 IP Resort and Casino – Biloxi, Miss.
March 19 Ocean Reef Cultural Center – Key Largo, Fla.
March 20 Seminole Hard Rock – Hollywood, Fla.
*Additional dates in 2016 to be announced soon
About KC and The Sunshine Band:
KC and The Sunshine Band aim to serve a single purpose: to create instant happiness through music. For over 40 years the group has done just that, topping the charts with seven No. 1 singles and three triple platinum albums, winning three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year for the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, an American Music Award, and becoming the first act since The Beatles to score four No. 1 pop singles in one 12-month period in 1976. KC and the Sunshine Band’s unique meeting of Caribbean, pop, R&B and Latin inspired infectious grooves and their distinctive Sunshine Sound, impacting the world over and teaching them how to boogie. The band’s infectious sound has given life to countless ad campaigns, hundreds of movie soundtracks and numerous television shows, including the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2014. In 2001, KC was honored with the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences Governor’s Award, the highest honor given by a chapter of the Academy. KC and The Sunshine Band has defined dance music and forever influenced music with its timeless sound and mission of getting people out of their seats to celebrate, which is still being fulfilled today.
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