Kc And The Sunshine Band That’s The Way (i Like It) Other Versions

[Maximilian Lozano]

Ithas happened over and over again in the past few years. Someone in their 20s tells me how much they love Fleetwood Mac, and in particular its monster-selling album Rumours. My reaction is always the same. Their reaction is invariably deep surprise. I could never stand that record.

So 1977 felt like one generation giving the big finger to the the previous one, and it felt good. Rock was shedding its skin; it was a constant amazing rush of wonder and surprise. Attitudes changed. My musical heroes were more likely to be DIY kids than superstars in supergroups. The shows I went to moved from soulless stadiums and arenas to clubs and found spaces. Small labels with tightly defined sounds were popping up everywhere, another middle finger to the corporate bloat that shaped and controlled the music we heard. We think of the Internet as redefining the music industry, but it had a precursor here.

We're a lot more territorial about music we share and hear in our teens and 20s. Back in 1977, my world had zero room or tolerance for a middle-of-the-road, though pretty, rock band like Fleetwood Mac. The shiny production on Rumours felt planned and orderly, which made it suitable for moms and dads in their 30s and up but not for unsettled 20-year-olds and teens. Which makes me wonder why so many in this generation are latching on to that sound.

This morning, 35 years after its release, I thought I'd give Rumours another chance and wirelessly streamed it to my home stereo. For the most part that perfect shine didn't sound as shiny. The pop charts these days are filled with clinical perfection, beats locked to clocks and sequencers that makes Rumours feel more like a casual home recording. Once I got past some of the goofy lyrics ("Lay me down in tall grass and let me do my stuff" made me laugh out loud), I found it to be a fine record, one whose influence is all over many of the records I hear now. Fleet Foxes really aren't that far from Fleetwood Mac in name or in sound ... a bit darker, perhaps. And where Fleetwood Mac, in 1977, was on the extreme pop side of the musical scale, Fleet Foxes feels somewhere in the middle, given the much more extreme landscape today, with, let's say, Carly Rae Jepsen on one side and, say, Godspeed You! Black Emperor on the extreme side.

Radiohead's "Creep" has had an interesting journey during its 30-year lifespan. The song wasn't a big hit when it was first released in 1992, only reaching No. 78 on the U.K. Singles Chart. The BBC actually banned it for a while, basically because it was too emo for the early '90s. (We were all about the angst in the early '90s. Actual sadness and loneliness, not so much. It also had the f-word in it.) But after it became a hit in Israel, its popularity spread, and when it was reissued in the U.K. in 1993, it reached No. 7.

Die-hard fans of Radiohead don't like the song much because they don't think it reflects the band's true sound. The band itself has some mixed feelings about playing it and in their song "My Iron Lung" even expressed resentment of the way "Creep" had pigeonholed them. But its popularity has stuck and crossed generations, spawning multiple cover versions from a wide variety of artists.

Let's start with the weird. The YouTube channel "There I Ruined It" shared a honky-tonk version of "Creep" that's every bit as WTF as it sounds. But the video is meticulously edited to make it look like both Radiohead and some honky-tonk stars are actually singing it, so even though the song is a bit of an assault on the ears (unless you love honky-tonk, in which case more power to you), the video is worth watching purely for the wow factor.

If you need to wash that out of your ears, more pleasant-to-listen-to versions are plentiful. Halle Bailey (of Chloe x Halle twin fame) recently shared a stripped-down cover version on TikTok with just her voice and an electric guitar and it's lovely.

Halle Bailey is only 21, but she's not even the youngest performer to make "Creep" her own. In 2019, sisters Mimi and Josefin, ages 15 and 13, sang the song for their blind audition on Germany's "The Voice Kids." The audience and judges were so impressed with their performance, they sang an encore. The harmonies are what make this rendition particularly fun to listen to.

My personal favorite is the Vintage Postmodern Jukebox cover featuring Haley Reinhart. The big band sound is so unexpected for the song, the vocals are stellar, and it's just hands-down the best version I've come across.

(Final note: It seems remiss not to include the 2021 remix of "Creep" released by Thom Yorke of Radiohead himself. It's not on my list of favorites, but it's interesting to see how he's interpreting the song three decades later.)

Everyone seems to have a theory on the best time to purchase airfare to save the most money. Some say it's right before take-off. Others will swear that prices are lowest six months before the flight. Well, now we have the truth. A scientific study was conducted by Expedia and the Airlines Reporting Commission that found the best times to buy flight tickets to get the best deal possible.

Shariya Small experienced that scenario in a hospital in Indiana, and her nurse Katrina Mullen took note. Small's babies were premature, born at just 26 weeks, when the average gestation for triplets is 33 weeks, according to ReproductiveFacts.org. Due to their early birth, the babies, Serenitee, Samari and Sarayah, had to stay in the NICU at Community Hospital North in Indianapolis for more than five months, according to Today.com.

The pair got to know each other over the months that the babies were in the hospital, but Small continued to be reluctant to open up about her family life. That changed after she found out that Mullen had her first child at 16 and had given it up for adoption. Their experiences bonded the two moms, and Mullen began helping to care for the babies and Small by giving her advice and showing her how to properly care for the infants.

Eventually, Mullen gave Small her phone number before the babies were discharged from the hospital. It quickly became apparent that Small did not have a support system, as she called Mullen often asking for advice. Out of concern, the nurse went to visit Small an hour away, where she was living with a family member.

The condition of the home was concerning enough, but Mullen became even more worried when she saw how thin Small's son Samari was. It turns out he had to be admitted to the hospital, which prompted a visit from Child Protective Services, who determined that Small and her three infants would need to enter foster care. She gave the social worker Mullen's information and things began to fall into place.

Those wishes that DiCaro would die by hockey stick and get raped? Those were the result of her simply reporting on the National Hockey League's most disturbing ordeal: the Patrick Kane rape case, in which one of the league's top players was accused of rape.

DiCaro wasn't writing opinion pieces. She was simply reporting things like what the police said, statements from lawyers, and just general everyday work reporters do. In response, she received a deluge of death threats. Her male colleagues didn't receive nearly the same amount of abuse.

This is the couple Facebook made the "It's Complicated" relationship status for. Their levels of commitment tend to go up and down over time, especially after arguments. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. These folks use those conflicts to help them make decisions about the relationship, and in fact, they didn't appear to be any more destined for a breakup than any of the other groups.

Also, as a bonus, they tend to follow those turbulent downs with passionate ups. "These couples operate in a tension between conflict that pushes them apart and passionate attraction that pulls them back together," said study author Brian Ogolsky.

On the other hand, if your perfect evening with your partner involves grabbing all your friends and hitting the bars or breaking out Settlers of Catan for the hundredth time, this might be the category that best describes you. Social couples usually share a friend group and use that time spent with friends to inform and build their relationship as a couple.

"Having mutual friends makes people in these couples feel closer and more committed," said Ogolsky. They also tended to be pretty stable and have higher levels of love based on feelings of friendship toward each other, which can be a good indicator for long-term happiness.

Unfortunately, not every couple's path is easy. Things may start out good, but tend not to stay that way for dramatic couples. This type of couple tends to make decisions based on negative experiences or stuff from outside the relationship.

"These couples have a lot of ups and downs, and their commitment swings wildly," said Ogolsky. "You begin to see little things eroding, and you start to see the relationship in a negative light, and soon you give up," said Ogolsky.

Different couples work and grow differently. These are different pathways and it'd be a mistake to assume there's a "correct" way to love someone. Or even that you're forever locked into a certain style of relationships. "These are not predefined, for-life patterns," said Ogolsky.

And the researchers willingly admit in their paper that their study doesn't cover all relationships. Many very happy couples have no desire to marry, for instance. And, it should be noted, that it wasn't too long ago that the U.S. didn't even allow all couples to get married!

Because, in our hearts, humans are social creatures, Ogolsky explained. Love, friendship, passion, and commitment are part of the human experience. Understanding relationships can be as important to understanding ourselves as studying chemistry or biology. They can even affect your health!

With KC and The Sunshine Band, the numbers speak for themselves. The joyful group founded in the Sunshine State of Florida has racked up five U.S. No. 1 singles along with two more No. 2s as well as six charting LPs including their self-titled 1975 album which went top ten across the globe. Now, Cherry Red's Robinsongs imprint has celebrated the group's 50th anniversary with a new 3-CD anthology, The Ultimate Collection.

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