Kool & The Gang ~ Jungle Boogie 1974 Disco Purrfection Version

The winters in the 70’s were not as bleak as today due to the overabundance of good upbeat music that played on the radio. Usually after the holidays, everyone is in depress mode since there is not a lot to look forward to after the glorious one two punch of Christmas and New Years, just a lot of snow and some lesser holidays. For example, in the winter of 1973-1974, Kool & The Gang put out “Jungle Boogie“, and it was on the charts as the same time as “Love’s Theme“,“I’ve Got To Use My Imagination“, “Never, Never Gonna Give You Up“ , Boogie Down“. These songs fuelled my early morning routines and the freezing cold hours spent waiting for the bus. The story of “Jungle Boogie“ started when De-Lite records pestered Kool & The Gang to do a cover of Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa“ as import copies of that song were the hottest ticket in disco and the label wanted in on that action. Instead, they listened to that song and were inspired to write “Hollywood Swinging“ , “Funky Stuff“ and “Jungle Boogie“. Those songs were written in one night and at 11AM the next morning, the band convened at Mediasound Studios which was located in an old church on 57th Street. The recording was made in studio B, which was one level below in the old church morgue. The acoustics were perfect for what the band was putting down. “Jungle Boogie“ was the first song released and it peaked at #4 pop, and #2 R&B. An across the board smash, it featured Kool & The Gang roadie Don Boyce, whose deep voice anchored the song’s spoken parts. Who can forget that Tarzan yell at the end? This has been sampled to death. Does anyone out there remember Jade’s “Don’t Walk Away“ from 1993? It sounds like the same like it was directly lifted from the instrumental break on “Jungle Jazz“, which was “Jungle Boogie“ with no vocals only that jazzy ass flute!