Did you know Elvis was infuenced by Frank Sinatra? Justin Timberlake by Michael Jackson? Take a listen. You'll hear it clear as day. How has music evolved? Who did your favorite artists listen to? In this series we'll give you the facts and a little extra on American Music History.
By Sean Hillegass, 02.09.07
In 1972 rock music dominated the airwaves. While disco still several years away, Rick Finch, an aspiring sound engineer and bass guitarist, was hired by record executive Henry Stone to operate the T K recording studio in Hialeah, Fla. Soon Finch and several of the T K studio musicians, including Jerome Smith and Robert Johnson, began performing at night as the Ocean Liners. Several months later, Harry Wayne Casey, joined the group. Finch and Casey forged a friendship that would later pay big dividends, musically and financially.
Within a year the Ocean Liners changed their name to KC and the Sunshine Band, and Finch and Casey began a songwriting duo that would garner them nine Grammy nominations (winning three), five American Music Award nominations (winning one) and 12 No. 1 singles.
The duo’s first No. 1 single came in the summer of 1974 with “Rock Your Baby” performed by George McCrae. Between 1975 and 1980 the Finch/Casey songwriting team wrote five more No. 1 singles performed by their group KC and The Sunshine Band.
