Kalpana Kalpana (Editor)

Get Down Tonight

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B-side
  
"You Don't Know"

Genre
  
Disco funk

Released
  
February 11, 1975

Label
  
TK

Length
  
3:20 (radio edit) 5:19 (album version)

Writer(s)
  
Harry Wayne Casey Richard Finch

"Get Down Tonight" is a song released in 1975 on the self-titled album by the disco group KC and the Sunshine Band. The song became widely successful, becoming the first of their five No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached the top of the Hot Soul Singles chart and was an international chart hit, reaching No. 1 in Canada and charting in Australia (No. 44), Belgium (No. 11), the Netherlands (No. 5), and the UK (No. 21).

Contents

Composition

The song displays some of the signature characteristics of the disco era such as a fast tempo and repeating lyrics. The song also features a distinctive introduction, employing a guitar solo rendered at double-speed.

The song was originally titled "What You Want Is What You Get" before KC changed the title to "Get Down Tonight".

Cover versions

  • In 1988, "Get Down Tonight" was covered by British band Shriekback. Harry Wayne Casey appears in the videoclip for a few seconds.
  • In 2010, the song was covered by Sing It Out Loud for the MTV original movie Turn The Beat Around soundtrack.

    • Sampling

  • Mack 10 interpolated the chorus for the hook of "Get A Lil' Head" off his 1998 album The Recipe.
  • In 1998, the song was sampled by the house production act Bamboo for the hit single "Bamboogie". The song reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1998.

    • Appearances in other media

    The original rendition of "Get Down Tonight" has been used in the films Sid and Nancy, Forrest Gump, Hotel de Love, Rush Hour, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, Pirates of Silicon Valley, Arlington Road and Roll Bounce. It has also been used in the television shows Futurama (episode "Crimes of the Hot"), House, M.D. (episode "Top Secret") and The Big Bang Theory (episode "The Pulled Groin Extrapolation"), among others. It was also used in a Bollywood film The Great Gambler.

  • In 1996, the song was referenced in "The One with the Prom Video" episode of Friends by Chandler, joking about what Rachel's new boyfriend Casey might want.
  • In 1997, the song was featured in a trailer of the film Flubber.
  • In 1998 it was sung by Rodney the guinea pig in Dr. Dolittle.
  • In the 2002 film Austin Powers in Goldmember, the song is featured as part of the medley-song "Hey Goldmember" along with Earth, Wind & Fire's "Sing A Song" and two other KC and the Sunshine Band's songs, namely "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty" and "That's the Way (I Like It)". The lyrics of all four songs were changed completely, and the song is performed by Foxxy Cleopatra, portrayed by BeyoncĂ©.
  • In 2009, an extended version of this song was played during the dedication ceremonies for AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas as the stadium's roof was being opened. The ceremonies took place prior to the Dallas Cowboys' regular-season home opener, a game telecast on NBC Sunday Night Football.

    • References

    Get Down Tonight Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA