Submitted PhotoExile, the band that had a hit with 'Kiss You All Over,' returns this week to play Lakeland.

LAKELAND — Commenting on the 40 years since a change in the band’s membership, Exile frontman J.C. Pennington said, “I think we tolerate each other pretty well.”

The country-pop band returns Friday at the Lanier County town’s Threatte Center, said Sandy Sanders, Lakeland-Lanier County Chamber of Commerce president. The band last played Lanier County in 2015.

In the 1980s, Exile was a country supergroup with nine No. 1 hits that included “Kiss You All Over,” “Woke Up In Love” and “Want to be a Memory.”

Despite a solo career and some early band changes, Pennington has been leading Exile since the early 1960s when he was 14 years old.

“Originally, we were The Exiles,” he said in a 2015 phone interview with The Valdosta Daily Times. “It was 1963 and we took the name from the Cuban exiles coming over from Cuba in boats. … Our hair was a little longer, which was out of the ordinary then and we were frequently ostracized because of that. So, The Exiles seemed to fit.”

During the next 15 years, the band dropped the “The” and became Exile, played, traveled, had some close calls with making it big, saw some members come and go, went from rock to pop to country to a blend of several musical genres, until 1978 when Exile released the single that changed everything for the band.

“Kiss You All Over” roared to No. 1 on the charts and became an international hit.

Basically, the same band that will play Lakeland this week is the band that made “Kiss You All Over” famous.

“We were an over-night success 15 years in the making,” Pennington said. “We were beating the bushes for a long time before that. There were a lot of instances of hearing no.”

In the 1980s, Exile moved further from being a pop/adult contemporary band to being a country music band.

“The ’80s were our heyday,” Pennington said.

The band toured, traveled, recorded at a non-stop pace.

“I wish I could have slowed down a little to appreciate it,” he said.

Though the band occasionally records new music, Pennington said he is aware that audiences attend Exile concerts to hear the hits. Instead of five-week tours, the band is more likely to play concerts during weekends and stay home during the week.

But Exile still loves performing. Pennington said he cannot imagine calling it quits.

“As long as I don’t have to have a walker to get up on stage,” he said, “I’ll keep doing it.”

SHOWTIME

Exile plays, with the area band Dirt Road Therapy opening, 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, Threatte Center, Lakeland. Ticket: $30, general admission. Tickets are available through the Lakeland Chamber website www.Lakelandchamber.org, or the Threatte Center Facebook page, or call (229) 482-9755.