Kool & The Gang "Celebration" 1981

[areyoureadytojump]

The video:



Went to #1 for 2 weeks in February 1981.

I hate this song!!

[Deleted]

I don't like this one. My favorite Kool & The Gang song is "Summer Madness".

[620 Soul Train]

It's a fun but overplayed song. I heard this at my sister's wedding reception. As a DJ I have no problem playing this but as for my Ipod, forget it!

[freakyflybry2]

Great song! They had a lot of fun songs around this time, and this was a perfect example of it.

[recjus85]

DOn't like it.

[EvanJ]

I like it and still listen to it.

[irock]

One of the most overplayed songs of the 80s. It was a fun little tune at first, though.

I was a disco deejay at the time this was a hit, and I remember how perfectly you could mix it into A Lover's Holiday by Change (which, in turn, made a lovely mix into Lipps, Inc.'s Funkytown). The short horn melody that's repeated throughout Celebration will mix perfectly into A Lover's Holiday right at the point in that song's lyrics where the word "celebrate" is emphasized.

Just so you understand what I mean by "into"; if I were to use this specific mix of songs, I'd start out with Funkytown, into which I would mix A Lover's Holiday, into which I would mix Celebration.

Which reminds me: Celebration featured a couple dramatic switches in tempo, which could screw up your mix if you weren't careful.

[esoteric76]

I absolutely cannot stand hearing this song anymore because it was like the theme song to every Bar Mitzvah I went to in the 80's and it's just become to "novelty" for me. However, a few years ago teen group Jump5 covered it, and really injected it with some life.

[Soulsista]

Topped the R&B chart for 6 weeks. This is definitely a staple at weddings and parties.

I still like it, but they've had better.

[🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲]

Agreed that it's totally overplayed, but a fun song. Not exactly my go to song. I choose their other hits over this.

[disman00911]

Fun but overplayed party song.  Always heard this on B96 (especially around New Years Eve/Day) when I was younger.  Defunct 103.5 Jammin' Oldies was another station of my youth that played it.  Due to overplay, I prefer several Kool and the Gang songs over it, including "Hollywood Swingin'", "Too Hot", "Ladies Night", "Fresh", "Tonight", "Summer Madness", etc.

[🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲]

#298 on Billboard's 500 Greatest Pop Songs


www.billboard.com/lists/best-pop-songs-all-time-hits/99-lmfao-feat-lauren-bennett-goonrock-party-rock-anthem/

You Know What It Is: The song playing somewhere right now for exactly 20 seconds at full volume, before the DJ comes on the mic to go, “Allllll right, for the first time, let’s give it up for Mr. and Mrs……”

Come Together: The inspiration for “Celebration” actually came from the Qu’Ran, as writer Khalis Bayyan (formerly Ronald Kool) “was reading the passage, where God was creating Adam, and the angels were celebrating and singing praises,” he told Al Jazeera in 2014. “That inspired me to write the basic chords, the line, ‘Everyone around the world, come on, celebration.’”

These Words: “Celebration” worked so well in large part due to its emphasis on egalitarianism, without Kool & the Gang pushing any specific celebratory agenda: “It’s up to you, what’s your pleasure?” singer JT Taylor asks, seemingly with genuine curiosity.