WASHINGTON — Do a little dance. Watch a little fireworks. And get down with timeless music against the nation’s ultimate patriotic backdrop.
The 34th annual “A Capitol Fourth” celebration returns to the National Mall on Saturday, July 4.
This year’s lineup includes Barry Manilow, Alabama and KC & the Sunshine Band.
“We’ve been asked many, many times, and it just never would fit into our schedule … So it’s really exciting to be in the nation’s capital on the Fourth of July,” Harry Wayne Casey (aka KC) tells WTOP. “I have family up in the Maryland area … So, I get to spend it with my family and the nation.”
Turns out, KC’s sister lives in Olney after marrying into the Barnsley family, which owns the Country Boy Market off Rt. 97 in Silver Spring.
KC himself grew up in Miami, combining his name (Casey) with his home state of Florida (“The Sunshine State”) to create the band name. Although, the “sunshine” may have a double meaning.
“I created the songs to bring new life into music, to bring some energy back into music, because I felt music had gotten really dark,” KC says. “Especially in these times we’re living in now where there’s so much sadness and hatred and everything, I think the positive energy of my music just keeps lifting people up, and that’s what we all need.”
There’s no debating the band’s success. Its second album went triple platinum, including No. 1 hits like “Get Down Tonight” and “That’s the Way (I Like It).” Their third album brought two more hits “(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty” and “Keep it Comin’ Love.”
Then in 1977, came “Boogie Shoes” on the legendary “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack, which remains the top selling movie soundtrack of all time.
“They originally wanted to put ‘Shake Your Booty’ on the album, and I suggested that ‘Boogie Shoes’ would be a better fit, and they went with it.”
Even after the so-called “death of disco,” KC insists the genre lives on in other forms.
“The media has brainwashed everyone to think disco’s dead,” KC says. “They just changed the word. … ‘New Wave’ became the new ‘disco,’ and you can’t be more disco than Madonna, really. It never went away, and here it is 2015, and it’s bigger than ever. You can’t go to Las Vegas or anywhere without finding a major super club, dance club or discotheque, whatever you want to call it now.”
This weekend, the discotheque will be the National Mall, and the disco ball will be the Capitol Dome.
A variety of music styles will be on display, including a heavy dose of country, from Alabama to Hunter Hayes to Meghan Linsey of “The Voice.”
“Definitely a bucket list moment,” Linsey tells WTOP of performing outside the Capitol. “I’ve been a huge fan of all those people, so it’s exciting.”
Linsey says she grew up listening to Alabama before forming the country duo Steel Magnolia.
Now, post-“Voice,” she is crafting a soul album, fusing her love for Aretha Franklin and Dolly Parton.
“Definitely a departure from what I’ve been doing, which has been the extreme country thing,” Linsey says. “Obviously, I still write from that place. I still write songs that are very descriptive and stories, but this is more in the soulful, pop vein. It’s exciting. It’s fun to do something a bit different.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEymYmr0iXw
Saturday’s lineup also includes Pussycat Dolls alum Nicole Scherzinger, classical superstar Lang Lang, the National Symphony Orchestra and DC’s own Choral Arts organization.
The event will be hosted by actor Bradley Whitford, who won an Emmy as Josh Lyman on “The West Wing.” You’ll also recognize him from “Scent of a Woman” (1992), “Philadelphia” (1993), “Billy Madison” (1995), “Saving Mr. Banks” (2013) and currently Amazon’s “Transparent” (2014).
“When this thing came up, they said, ‘Are you interested?’ And I couldn’t believe that they were asking me. … It’s beyond my cosmic eggshell,” Bradley Whitford tells WTOP.
“(It’s) such an amazing lineup. An eclectic group,” Whitford says. “KC and the Sunshine Band and the National Symphony Orchestra rarely, rarely share the same stage.”
“A Capitol Fourth” is free and open to the public on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.
Admittance begins at 3 p.m.
The event will be broadcast from 8-9:30 p.m. on PBS.
