Born in
Indianapolis, Indiana, the second youngest of five children, Finch moved with his family to
Hialeah, Florida, when he was an infant. When Finch was five, his 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, 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==