“Celebration” – Single by Kool & the Gang from the album Celebrate!
B-side: “Morning Star”
Released: October 1980
Recorded: January – March 1980
Studio House of Music, West Orange, New Jersey
Label: De-Lite
Songwriters: Ronald Nathan Bell, Claydes Charles Smith, George Melvin Brown, James “J.T.” Taylor, Robert Spike Mickens, Earl Eugene Toon Jr., Dennis Ronald Thomas, Robert Earl Bell, Eumir Deodato
Producers: Eumir Deodato and Kool & the Gang
Charted No.1 in US, No.7 in UK, No.1 in Canada, No.17 in West Germany
This upbeat dance song is commonly played at weddings, parties, sporting events and just about anywhere there is something to be celebrated. The song is appropriate at everything from a bar mitzvah to a graduation because the lyrics are so generic, referring to a “party,” “good times” and a “celebration.”
Kool & the Gang had something to “Celebrate” when it went to #1 in February 1981, a few month after it was released in October 1980. only American #1. For the next 40+ years it was the closing number at their live shows, sending fans home on a high.
“Celebration” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on February 7, 1981, and held that position for two weeks before Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” overtook it. It remains the band’s only Billboard No. 1 hit.
By late 1980, the song had also reached No. 1 on both the Billboard Dance and R&B charts. The song was featured heavily on the radio throughout the year. It has since been frequently used in weddings and parties, and is a popular anthem for sporting events, including serving as the theme song for the St. Louis Cardinals after winning the 1982 World Series. In 1981, it was commonly played by radio stations in honor of the release of US hostages from captivity in Iran.[10] It was also an international hit, reaching No. 7 in the United Kingdom on November 29, 1980, spending 13 weeks in the chart.
