"[1] Born in the Bronx as Henry David Epstein,[2] Stone began playing the trumpet in his teens while at an orphanage in Pleasantville, New York.
In 1947, Stone settled in Miami, Florida, setting up his own distribution company, Seminole, and shortly afterwards the Crystal recording studio.
In 1960, Stone cut "(Do The) Mashed Potatoes" by "Nat Kendrick and the Swans" – actually James Brown's backing band - for the Dade label.
[4] In 1972, Stone heard from Jerry Wexler that Warner Record's Atlantic and Elektra divisions would merge, handle its own distribution, and no longer use Tone.
[3] As KC and the Sunshine Band, they released a string of hits including "Get Down Tonight", "That's The Way I Like It" and "Shake Your Booty", all on Stone's TK label.
Prior to the success of KC and the Sunshine Band, Casey and Finch wrote and produced the number one hit, "Rock Your Baby" by George McCrae, and his follow-ups.
Stone’s companies produced numerous other hits during the 1970s, including The Beginning of the End's "Funky Nassau" (on Alston), Latimore's "Let's Straighten It Out" (on Glades), Anita Ward's "Ring My Bell" (on Juana), Little Beaver's "Party Down" and Gwen McCrae's "Rockin’ Chair" (both on Cat), Peter Brown's "Do Ya Wanna Get Funky With Me" (on Drive), and Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do for Love" (on Clouds).
[3] By the late 1970s, the TK Records and its sister labels became pre-eminent in the dance and pop music scene, but suffered badly from the anti-disco movement which followed.