KC and the Sunshine Band Headline July 4 at Charleston's Sternwheel Regatta

Harry Wayne Casey, or just KC to the rest of the world, said he was looking forward to bringing KC and the Sunshine Band to Charleston for the Sternwheel Regatta. He’s glad to be playing music, still, at the age of 74.

“We’re out mostly on the weekends,” he said. “I’m just not ready to retire yet.”

And people still come out to hear them.

To be sure, KC and the Sunshine Band were a band of a specific time. They were one of the reigning champions of disco in the mid-1970s with hits like “Get Down Tonight,” “Shake Your Booty,” and “That’s the Way (I Like It).”

The group registered over a dozen pop hits in the U.S. and around the world before fading into the background as popular music tastes went from disco to New Wave and Punk. By the early 1980s, Disco was mostly gone from radio airwaves and played not at all on MTV and KC retired from music.

It didn’t last. By the early 1990s, interest in Disco returned and KC reformed the band with a mix of old and new members and has continued on since.

Music releases from the band have been slow, with great gaps between new records, but KC said he still writes.

“For about ten years, I really backed out of that part of the business or as far out of the business as you can, I guess,” he said. “But then about 12 years or so, I got this creative bug. I don’t know. I felt creative again. I felt like I was 23 again and had that old creative drive.”

It led to some new writing along with collaborations with other musicians and a stage musical that’s still undergoing changes and tweaks.

“It’s about some friends growing up in Miami. Only, one of them wants to be a star,” he said. “It’s about the part of my life before success.”

The musical, originally titled “Who Do Ya Love?” debuted last June at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the United Kingdom to positive reviews. The musical was renamed “Get Down Tonight” and is still under construction.

“We just keep cutting the diamond until it’s sparking, shining, if you want,” KC said.

He and the band keep a full schedule. When he’s home, he said he spent time with family, took little, mini vacations and played lots and lots of tennis.

“I put on a lot of weight I’m trying to get off,” he said. “So, I try to get out and play every day.”

He also has a bicycle.

On tour is its own sort of exercise. A KC and the Sunshine Band show is more than a band playing the hits, though they’ll be doing that. KC promised more, however.

“We’ve spent time recording the singers and choregraphing the entire show,” he said. “We’re coming to Charleston with a lot of good stuff. It looks great and we’re excited. Everyone is picking what they do. This is our passion and my happy place.”

WANT TO GO?

KC & The Sunshine Band with The Velvet Brothers, followed by fireworks

WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Friday, July 4

WHERE: Haddad Riverfront Park

TICKETS: Free

INFO: charlestonregatta.com