Egyptian symbolism like those found on this 1994 £5 The God Osiris Ancient Egyptian Treasures coin is found throughout many of the art and fashion aesthetics embraced by culturally transformative 1970s band Earth, Wind & Fire. Click image to enlarge.
“Do you remember the 21st night of September?”Well, “Ba-dee-ya,” the 1970s multi-genre band Earth, Wind & Fire certainly did in their 1978 disco hit “September” with the lines, “Do you remember/the 21st night of September?”
The song calls to mind the joy of falling in love. Though as Maurice White, the founder of Earth, Wind & Fire, shared with journalists, the 21st of September was the expected due date for his son's birth. Song co-writer Allee Willis and other band members noted the sound of the ordinal number “21st” had better melodic qualities than other numbers. And the song, now etched into the cultural fabric – so much so that the song “September” was chosen for indelible preservation in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress as a culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant audio work.
Earth, Wind & Fire, a band which still performs to this day, was more than just another musical act during their heyday, notching a string of Billboard Top 40 hits from the early 1970s through early 1980s. They helped redefine popular musical trends while honoring African culture. Among the many ways Earth, Wind & Fire introduced many of their fans to African traditions was by utilizing the kalimba, a small African piano played with thumbs, in many of their songs. The first Billboard hit song to ever capture the strains of the kalimba was “Evil,” a 1973 tune by Earth, Wind & Fire, which released the popular “Kalimba Song” a year later.
Earth, Wind & Fire also imbued African touchstones on their album covers – each showing the bandmates in vibrant attire reflecting a palette of color and styles. Maurice White had a passion for ancient Egyptian themes, and the band’s logo and cover art frequently incorporated spiritual and cultural Kemetic symbols, including pyramids, the Ankh, and Eye of Horus. These and related symbolism can also be found on the coins of Egypt, which represent a large body of numismatic issues going back millennia and are widely collected on the PCGS Set Registry.