Ronald Bell from Kool and the Gang performs on stage
© AFP/Keystone/File Markus StuecklinLOS ANGELES (AFP) - Yet 10 years after Kool and The Gang's last new album of original material, the band that gave the world seminal tracks like "Ladies Night," "Celebration" and "Get Down On It" are tackling weightier issues.
In an interview with AFP to mark the release of their new album "Still Kool," founding members Robert "Kool" Bell, 56, and brother Ronald said the serious themes of the record were a reflection of the state of the world.
"It's been 10 years since the last album and we've been travelling around trying to find inspiration to write something new," Ronald, 55, told AFP. "But when you look at the state of the world there's plenty of inspiration."
Although much of "Still Kool" bears the soul-funk-disco combo's unmistakably up-tempo hallmark, tracks like "America," "Too Low for Zero" and "Dave" are notable for their stinging social commentary.
"I guess I've been watching too much CNN," says Ronald. "A lot of what we wrote came from social concern, what's going on in humanity right now."
While the band have been searching for inspiration for a new album, the group has toured relentlessly, spending an estimated 50 weeks a year on the road, playing recent concerts across Africa and Europe.
The need to tour so vigorously was partly a reflection of the music industry. During the 1990s, Robert Bell reveals, the band was given the cold shoulder by radio stations and record companies.
"The industry became hard to the point where a legendary group like us couldn't even get a record deal," Bell said.
"The record companies just flipped on us. They wanted to go with boy-bands or hip-hop acts, because that's what was going on at the time."
The band's glory days from the 1970s and 1980s, when they churned out a series of monster hits, became a double-edged sword, Bell said.
"For a long time radio stations weren't interested -- they'd play the catalogue, but when you bring something new to them they don't want to hear it," he revealed. "We write new music and they want to play the old stuff.
"Don't get me wrong, we love that they still play our music. We just want them to play some of the new stuff, too."
Bell said he is encouraged by the recent resurgence in famous acts from yesteryear, like Carlos Santana, Sly Stone and The Police, and believes that music industry attitudes might be changing.
"A lot of the legendary acts are out there working," Bell said. "Hopefully radio will start opening it up again."
Persuading fans to accept new music from the band was also a challenge, Ronald Bell said. "We get a lot of people wanting us to make the same kind of music that we were making 20 or 30 years ago," he said.
"But to try and redo what you've already done, is very difficult. So that's why we've made a record that has a bit more conscience."
The band has also resisted the temptation to change the style of their music to reflect current trends. "We tried that," Ronald said. "It doesn't work. It's like being a fish out of water."
Following the release of "Still Kool" this week, the band is planning to spend the rest of the year touring -- which they hope will get creative juices flowing for another album.
"In the old days we used to make albums on the fly," Ronald Bell said. "We'd be out on the road, then come back to the studio and record a song, and then get out on the road again, and come back to the studio.
"That worked for us in the past and that's how we're going to do it in future."
©AFP