Richard Raymond Finch (born January 23, 1954) is an American songwriter, producer, engineer, and song arranger. He is best known as the co-founder, producer and former bass guitar player of KC and the Sunshine Band. Along with Harry Wayne Casey, he co-wrote six No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits.
Biography
Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Finch's family moved to Hialeah, Florida, when he was an infant. At five years old and the second youngest of five children, Finch's father died unexpectedly leaving his mother to raise Finch and his four siblings alone. His favorite group growing up was The Beatles. His musical tastes grew to include soul and country music. In his early teens, Finch got his first electric bass guitar and began to learn country music bass lines. He joined several country bands before joining the band Ball & Chain.
Finch became interested in audio recording techniques while working at an Opa Locka, Florida electronics and record store. A schoolmate introduced him to the singer-songwriter Clarence Reid from TK Records. His high school attendance suffered as he spent every free moment at TK Records and unbeknownst to his mother, he dropped out of high school his sophomore year and shortly thereafter was hired as a part-time recording engineer for the label. Henry Stone, Clarence Reid and Willie Clark (in a comment to SongFacts on an interview conducted with Finch in 2010) introduced Finch to Harry Wayne Casey, three years his senior. Casey was hired to work in the shipping department and act as TK's occasional receptionist.
Prior to his introduction to Casey, Finch had already established himself at TK as a skilled engineer, with numerous singles produced before the age of 17, including various tracks for the Allman Brothers and Mother's Finest. and in 1972, 'Have A Good Time' for recording artist Jack Vino for Steve Alaimo and TK Records on the Bell Records Label.
Within weeks of meeting, the Finch-Casey songwriting collaboration began, with their first hit songs recorded by Betty Wright ("Where Is the Love") and George McCrae ("Rock Your Baby"). Finch then assembled the future Sunshine Band members, utilizing his already-established friendships with TK session musicians, guitarist Jerome Smith and drummer Robert Johnson.
The Finch–Casey collaboration produced numerous hits, including "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", "Get Down Tonight", "Please Don't Go" and "Boogie Shoes".
Criminal convictions
On March 23, 2010, Finch was arrested in Newark, Ohio, accused of having inappropriate contact with a 17-year-old male. Police stated that during an interview, he admitted to having inappropriate contact with that teen, and other teens aged 13 to 17.
At his bond hearing on April 6, 2010, Finch entered a plea of not guilty to all charges. In December 2010, Finch pleaded "no contest" and was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. He served his sentence in Chillicothe Correctional Institution, a medium-security state prison in Ohio, and was released on March 13, 2017. In April 2019, Finch received a parole infraction notice which modified his post-incarceration sentence and added an additional seven months to his parole, which ended in October 2022.
Intellectual property lawsuit
In October 2021, exercising his right under Federal Law to terminate a prior assignment of his co-created musical compositions, Finch sued Sony Music Publishing to reclaim his fifty percent ownership rights and royalties to the songs he co-wrote with Harry Wayne Casey.
On January 11, 2022, the lawsuit was moved to the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
On February 23, 2022, EMI Consortium Songs, Inc. was removed from the complaint, with Harry Wayne Casey (Finch's co-writer) remaining as the sole defendant.
On February 7, 2023, the case was dismissed with prejudice citing a statute of limitations had passed.
On February 22, 2023, an appeal was filed in the 11th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals to challenge the lower court ruling from United States Magistrate Judge Edwin G. Torres (case #23-10554).
On July 25, 2023, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirmed the lower court ruling.
On October 23, 2023, Finch, through his counsel, David P. Reiner II filed a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari with the United States Supreme Court to appeal the ruling made by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on July 25, 2023.
Relationship with Harry Casey
During a 2023 podcast interview, Harry Casey was asked about the duo's individual contributions to their songs. "I did it all," Casey said. "It was just a business that I gave [Finch] credit."