Our next inductee into the latest class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is the funk/soul band Kool & the Gang, eligible since 1995 and nominated for the first time this year. Of the eight inducted members, only two are still alive to receive the honor.
I hate to see artists make it into the Hall posthumously, especially when there have been so many opportunities to add them. Kool & the Gang should have been a shoo-in 30 years ago when these guys were all alive.
Robert “Kool” Bell is the only living founding member, and he continues to lead the band, who released their 26th studio album just last year.
Kool & the Gang were popular in the early 70s before a brief lull and then a major resurgence in the late 70s and early 80s. During that span, they released major hits ‘Jungle Boogie,’ ‘Too Hot,’ ‘Celebration’ (their sole #1), ‘Joanna,’ and ‘Cherish,’ among many others.
Over the decades, their music has encompassed funk, soul, jazz, disco, pop, and yes, rock. They are guaranteed to get feet moving and bodies swaying. Their admission to the Rock Hall is overdue, but better late than never.
Get down, get down
Get down, get down
Get down, get down
Get down, get down
Get down, get down
Get down, get down
Get down, get down
Hey, hey
Jungle boogie (Get down with the boogie)
Jungle boogie (Get it on)
Jungle boogie (Get down with the boogie)
Jungle boogie (A-get it on)
Jungle boogie (Get up a-with the boogie)
Jungle boogie (Get up a-with the get down)
Jungle boogie (Get down with the boogie)
Jungle boogie (Shake it around)
Huh
Jungle boogie (Get up with the get down)
Jungle boogie (Boogie, baby)
Jungle boogie (Get the boogie)
Jungle boogie (Brrr)
Jungle boogie (Get up a-with the get down)
Jungle boogie (A-get the boogie)
Jungle boogie (In the jungle)
Jungle boogie (Down with the boogie)
Get down, get down
Get down, get down (With the boogie)
Get down, get down (Jungle boogie)
Get down, get down (With the boogie)
Get down, get down (It’s the boogie)
Get down, get down (Jungle boogie)
Get down, get down (With the boogie)
Get down, get down (With the boogie)
Get down, get down (Jungle boogie)
Get down, get down (Yeah)
Get down, get down (It’s the boogie)
Get down, get down
Uh, huh
Uh, get it
Feel the funk, y’all
Let it flow
(Get down) A-get down with the boogie
A-talk, talkin’
I’m a-talkin’ ’bout the jungle boogie, get down
Huh, uh, get down with the boogie
Say uh, huh, get down
Say uh, huh-uh, a-get down
Say uh, huh, get down
Say uh, ha, ’til you feel it, y’all
Uh, ha, a-get down, y’all
Uh, ha, a-get down
Uh, huh-ah, a-get up, y’all
Uh, ha-ah, a-with the get down
Uh, ha
Uh, ha, get down
Whoa
Meet Me In Montauk 
I suspect they were passed over because of the Rock Hall’s past resistance to admitting artists from genres other than rock. While I don’t see Kool and the Gang as a “shoe in” then or even now, I’m fine with their induction.