That's the Way (I Like It)
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"That's The Way (I Like It)" is a song written by H.W. Casey and R. Finch, and recorded and released in 1975 by KC and the Sunshine Band for their eponymous second album. The song was considered risque at the time because of the obvious meaning behind the title as well as its chorus with multiple "uh-huhs" and its verses. It became their second number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and is one of the few chart-toppers in history to hit number one on more than one occasion during a one month period between November and December 1975. It is considered by many as one of the most popular of the disco era. It topped the U.S. pop chart for one week and was replaced by "Fly, Robin, Fly" by Silver Convention. It returned to number one for an additional week after "Fly, Robin, Fly" completed its three-week run.
[edit] Trivia
- "That's The Way (I Like It)" has been covered several times, most notably in 1976 by soul singer Madeline Bell and in 1984 by new wave group Dead or Alive. KC even remade the song himself on the group's 1993 dance album Oh Yeah!
- The song has been sampled often by rap artists including Oaktown's 3.5.7 "Get Loose", Vanilla Ice "The V.I.P. Posse 1 by 1", 2 Live Crew "Face Down, Ass Up", and Luther Campbell "I Wanna Rock [Doo Doo Brown]". An interpolation of the song's dramatic introduction was used by Beyoncé in 2002's theme to the motion picture Austin Powers in Goldmember.
- "Party song", a b-side to Pet Shop Boys 2006 single "Numb" included elements of the song.
- The title, "That's the Way I Like It", was also used for a biography of H.W. Casey by Craig MacInnis.
- During the 1990's the song was used in a Crest toothpaste commercial and in a commercial for Burger King.
- KC and the Sunshine Band performed the song during their first national television appearance on American Bandstand in 1975. Twenty-five years later on New Year's Rockin' Eve 2001 (aired December 31, 2000) the current incarnation of the band performed the song during a medley of their greatest hits.
- A loosely-based remake of the song was recorded by dance artist Dino in 1988, titled simply "I Like It". Part of the first verse and second verses leading to the chorus includes the lyrics "take me by the hand, let me be your man"; no doubt similar to KC's "when you take me by the hand, tell me i'm your lovin' man." The song chorus is "That's the way it has to be 'cause that's the way i like it", complete with a female vocalist whispering "ooh, i like it" and Dino whispering back "uh-huh...uh-huh, uh-huh." Despite the similarities, no songwriting credit is shared with Casey and Finch.
- "That's The Way (I Like It)" was shown to have a space complexity of O(1) in the article, The Complexity of Songs, by the computer scientist, Donald Knuth.
- Spin Doctors and Biz Markie remade this song for the Space Jam soundtrack.
Preceded by "Island Girl" by Elton John |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single November 22, 1975 |
Succeeded by "Fly, Robin, Fly" by Silver Convention |
Preceded by "Fly, Robin, Fly" by Silver Convention |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single December 20, 1975 |
Succeeded by "Let's Do It Again" by The Staple Singers |
[edit] References
- Craig MacInnis, "That's the Way I Like It (The Harry Wayne Casey Story)", Team Power Publishing, 2002, ISBN 2-89568-059-0