Kool & the Gang - Straight Ahead • TopPop

’Straight Ahead is the single from the album ’In the Heart’, the fifteenth studio album by the funk band Kool & the Gang, released on November 21, 1983. The album became a hit and brought a return to the Billboard charts for the band. “Straight Ahead“ was a top twenty hit in the UK. Kool & the Gang is an American band formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964 by brothers Robert “Kool“ Bell and Ronald Bell, with Dennis “D.T.“ Thomas, Robert “Spike“ Mickens, Charles Smith, George Brown, and Ricky West. They have undergone numerous changes in personnel and have explored many musical styles throughout their history, including jazz, soul, funk, rock, and pop music. After settling on their name following several changes, the group signed to De-Lite Records and released their debut album, Kool and the Gang (1970). The band’s first taste of success came with the release of their fourth album Wild and Peaceful (1973), which contained the US top-ten singles “Jungle Boogie“[1] and “Hollywood Swinging“. Kool & the Gang subsequently entered a period of decline before they reached a second commercial peak between 1979 and 1986 following their partnership with Brazilian musician/producer Eumir Deodato and the addition of singer James “J.T.“ Taylor to the line-up. Their most successful albums of this period include Ladies’ Night (1979), Celebrate! (1980), and Emergency (1984), their highest selling album with two million copies sold in the US. Their hit singles during this period included “Ladies’ Night“, the US number one “Celebration“, “Get Down on It“, “Joanna“, “Misled“, and “Cherish“. The band continues to perform worldwide, including as support for Van Halen in 2012 and their fiftieth-anniversary tour in 2014. ’Straight Ahead’ reached # 11 on the Dutch Top 40 on 25 February 1984. The TV recording for Toppop was recorded around 19 January 1984. Watch our great music videos ❯ More TopPop? Subscribe here ❯ More info on Wikipedia ❯ Broadcast date: 21-11-1983 This is to let you know that the video recording of the video clip was originally recorded by AVROTROS Broadcasting. AVROTROS Broadcasting hereby warrants and represents that it is the sole and exclusive owner of the physical film and/or videotape footage in this video clip. The performance of the artist(s) in the clip was filmed and recorded with the written consent of the artist(s) and their representatives. AVROTROS is a Dutch radio and television broadcaster, founded in 2014 from a merger of AVRO and TROS. From January 1st, 2014 the name of the merged broadcaster was used in joint programmes. AVRO was founded in 1923 as the Netherlands first public broadcaster. TROS started broadcasting in 1964. Toppop was a weekly AVRO pop program that was aired between 1970 and 1988. AVROTROS Broadcasting PO Box 2 1200 JA Hilversum The Netherlands TopPop was the first regular dedicated pop music TV show in the Dutch language area. Dutch broadcaster AVRO aired the programme weekly, from 1970 to 1988. Presenter Ad Visser hosted the show for its first fifteen years. World famous music artists performed on TopPop: ABBA, 10CC, Bee Gees, The Jacksons with Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Earth & Fire, Queen, Golden Earring, Boney M, KC & The Sunshine Band, Chic, Donna Summer and many many more.