He is a bass player, singer-songwriter, arranger and producer born in Indianapolis and growing up in Hialeah, Florida.
He began playing the electric bass when a teenager and concentrated on country music, becoming a member of several bands that included Ball & Chain. He was always interested in the technical side of recording and after he had met the artist Clarence Reid he was given a job at TK Records, first as a member of the shipping department and later as a recording engineer. While there he met Harry Wayne Casey and after they collaborated on the new dance music that Harry had thought up, they recorded two tracks, with “Blow Your Whistle” making it to the R&B charts in 1973.
This was the beginning of the hugely successful KC & The Sunshine Band and their writing partnership as songwriters and producers brought them six No. 1 hits of their own including “Get Down Tonight”, “Please Don’t Go” and “That’s the Way (I Like It)” and many hits for other artists including Jimmy Bo Horne, George McCrae , who had their first ever No.1 chart hit in 1974 with “Rock Your Baby”.
Their production side saw them establishing Sunshine Sound which would be distributed by TK Records and on this label Jimmy Bo Horne hit No. 8 on the R&B chart with “Dance Across the Floor”. He and Harry Wayne Casey , along with their group KC & The Sunshine band, went to Epic after TK Records closed but not seeing any further hits they went their own separate ways with him not returning to work with the band in any reunions.
He has since worked with Blowfly, the Road Thompson Blues Band and Five O’Clock Shadow to name a few and his work on numerous albums includes The Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack, Basketball’s Favourite Hoop Hits, Rock You Baby by George McRae , Disco and Porno Freak by Blowfly, So There By Five O’ Clock Shadow, Dance Across the Floor by Jimmy Bo Horne, Rockin’ Chair by Gwen McCrae , Why Can’t We Live Together by Timmy Thomas, Moonstone by Toninho Horta and Do It Good, Sound of Sunshine and Part 3 by KC & The Sunshine Band. His work in the movies and on television can be seen on Saturday Night Fever, Eyes of Laura Mars, Carlito’s Way, Forrest Gump, Space Jam, Any Given Sunday and Doctor Dolittle.
He is a multi-Grammy Award winner, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, won an American Music Award and been a nominee for the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
George McCrae recordings
It’s Been So Long (Harry Wayne Casey /Richard Finch)
You Got To Know (Harry Wayne Casey /Richard Finch)
Here he is performing on bass with KC & The Sunshine Band on “Boogie Shoes”…
Sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Finch_(musician)
- http://www.answers.com/topic/richard-finch?cat=biz-fin
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KC_and_the_Sunshine_Band
- http://us.imdb.com/name/nm1214864/
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/87815-Richard-Finch
- http://www.myspace.com/rickfinchmusic