Earth, Wind & Fire

Massively successful in clubs and on dance floors around the world, Earth Wind & Fire are also one of the most innovative soul-funk-R&B-disco bands of all time. Formed in the late 1960s by singer Maurice White, the band has had a range of lead vocalists over the decades with Philip Bailey being one of the most successful and well known. But the defining sound of EW&F is that punchy, vibrant, effervescent horn section. Providing groove, bounce and brilliant waves of brass magic, the sound has been much imitated but rarely bettered.

Influenced by the funk of Sly and the Family Stone and the vocal sharpness of The Fifth Dimension, Earth Wind & Fire were massive during the disco era where their grooves and melodies combined to pack dance floors and storm the charts.

With twenty-one studio albums—six of which were US Top 10 hits in the 1970s—four live records, and an astonishing seventeen compilations, there is a lot of music to get your head and feet around. Perhaps a Greatest Hits comp is a good place to start!