Some of my fondest experiences as a nightclub habitué were gigs by the swaggeringly cool singer August Darnell (a.k.a. Kid Creole) and his antic sidekick/musical director "Sugar-Coated" Andy Hernandez (a.k.a. Coati Mundi) fronting Kid Creole & the Coconuts, one of the two great show bands of the 1980s. The other was Morris Day & The Time, the funk-and-frolic machine from Minneapolis that also provided a showcase for musicians/eventual super-producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. But, in concert, Kid Creole had an advantage that no one in The Time could trump: The Coconuts! Yeah. That’s right. A trio of sexy, stylish back-up-singing babes!
The music of Kid Creole & the Coconuts was a wild compendium of R&B, funk, jazz, and Afro-Caribbean sounds. As funky as they were, they smacked more of Harlem Renaissance than the South Bronx. Darnell and Hernandez worked a sort of zoot-suited hipster vibe that one might read as, um, pimp-tastic, but was far more a Cab Calloway thing – in other words, "Hi-de-ho!" not "Check out these ‘hos." Considering the wit and wisdom of their lyrics and their reverence for the Coconuts (who, in songs such as the Hernandez spotlight number "Me No Pop I," took no crap off the guys), there was nothing lowbrow about Darnell, Hernandez and company.
Recently, our brother-in-MOG fistula spume posted a little something about the ensemble that first brought Darnell and Hernandez some chart action – the flamboyant 1970s disco outfit Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band whose "Cherchez la Femme (C’est Si Bon)" was a Top 10 hit in 1977. As entertaining and engaging as the Dr. Buzzard configuration could be, Kid Creole & the Coconuts took it to another level of soul and sophistication.
Although Darnell (who lives primarily in the U.K. these days) and a version of the group have continued to record and tour intermittently, the heyday of Kid Creole & the Coconuts was the ‘80s when they released six critically-acclaimed albums and were cult heroes to many (including yours truly). One of my abso-favorite tracks from that era is Hernandez’s extended 1981 romp with the Coconuts, "Que Pasa/Me No Pop I," available as an extra on some editions of the Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places album. You can hear it at the top of the post. And it would be a shame to not see Kid Creole & the Coconuts at work, so tap into the attached video clip of another of their best, "Stool Pigeon" from the 1982 album Tropical Gangsters.
I’d call Kid Creole & the Coconuts the musical equivalent of a perfectly mixed and chilled Mai Tai or Planter’s Punch - the ideal refresher for a funky Friday.
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Maybe I'm to late to the party on this one, just not feeling the first one. Stool Pigeon is a bit catchy, maybe it came off better live.
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25 years late to the party? I'd say give it a few more listens - or not.
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Both incarnations, Kid Creole and Dr. Buzzard, are OK by me.
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I'd say it's that omniverous love of pop that we share, Masoo.
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CB--sorry you missed these parties..........they were a blast!
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"Me No Pop I" is also on a pretty readily available compilation series of tracks from the mighty Ze Records (itself worthy of a post), called "Mutant Disco." Highly recommended.
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I remember that song...I do....HA!
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I didn't realize it but August Darnell apparently played himself in the movie Be Kind Rewind as "West Coast Video Employee". I also loved seeing Kid Creole and The Coconuts play on the movie Downtown 81. Crap movie but man is it a treasure trove of artists. I only wish I could have seen them in their heyday.
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Robin: I'll say! The fun never stopped - until it did.
ivylander: Seconded. And my Ze Records Christmas compilation - including Kid Creole's "Christmas on Riverside Drive" and The Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping," among other gems - is one of the prizes of my collection.
annieander: Which one? Both? How about "Table Manners" and "Annie, I'm Not Your Daddy," and "I'm a Wonderful Thing" and so on?
fistula spume: So glad I had the chance to get the live experience. Let's just say that if you look in the Urban Dictionary under "tha bomb," you'll find Kid Creole & the Coconuts as one of the entries.
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dude. i see NY on your "resume". we were probably in the same room many times. even though i worked at CBGB's most of the time in the 70's and 80's, the Ritz was my "home away from home". this clip is a bit of a crazy flashback to some of the live stuff. the song isn't like what you posted, but just remember the nights.........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DKV85Ss3H8
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Robin: No doubt. In and out of Manhattan all my life. As for the video, definitely hot hot hot - and doin' their Afro-Caribbean thing. I name-checked "Table Manners" earlier in the thread. It's one of their slyest and jauntiest recordings, but get 'em doin' it on stage, and watch out!
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I have heard and love Morris Day, but this is new to me. Cant stop my foot from tapping though, liking it quite a bit
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Aren't they also in the film "Against All Odds" as well?
One of my favourite bands of the time. Best lyric he wrote? I'll settle for "I don't want miscegination, Just to achieve integration".
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coconut was involved so, as i am from coconutland, i had to say something. :} confession - i really hated Kid Creole & The Coconuts when i first heard 'em. i was a post punk child of the '80s, it did not jive. my mind has started to change over time, of course, and i am both pleasantly surprised and glad that i am digging the tunage. thanks, Sir Knifey!
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That first line of the chorus of 'Stool Pidgeon' was sampled by someone in this decade & I just can't place it since it sounds WAY too familiar! It's gonna drive me crazy till I figure it out.
I'd heard of KC&TC long before I actually heard anything by them. I p/u a new music sampler lp back in the '80s & they had a song on it. I liked the song but not enough to pursue them further since they weren't really my style. But I'm enjoying both of these songs. They'd be great to dance to out in a club.
Ok, I figured it out. It was The Avalanches who sampled it on their song "Close To You" from their album "Since I Left You"(it's toward the end of the song):
~CnP4RA1JpfG.mp3~
I just couldn't mistake that beat & chorus! The mystery has been solved.
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August, let's do that once more with feelings... (:
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Haha, grassy ass ilay! I just did a whole post on my page about The Avalanches posting that song!
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sorry, dear, i thought you'd gone off not knowing the mp3 wasn't working. then i got notifed of your post and was like ... oh. well, visit August's post, people -- it's got stories and stuff on top of the mp3 (and a naked dancing girl if you must be convinced ;p).
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S'ok dear, no worries! I appreciate you looking after me my sweet, hehe. A naked dancing girl? I certainly missed that her @;P
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The one in the vid.
Haven't heard the Annie one...do you have it?
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Rawkkiddoh: You've caught the bug! We may have to call a medic.
Jonh Ingham: You are quite correct about the band appearing in "Against All Odds," but I won't hold it against them. And I couldn't begin to decide their best lyric, although "When I went to the VD clinic, I thought our love was finished" from "Me No Pop I" (as noted by ivylander on fistula's Dr. Buzzard thread) is one of my favorites.
poebegone: Glad you're now on board the Coconut wagon! And you're most welcome...
August: Great investigative reporting and follow-through from you and Ilay. Even worthy of Joxley, Rock Detective. The Avalanches destroy! My thanks.
annieander: Ah. Hope you also checked out the high-larious and infectious "Que Pasa/Me No Pop I." And yes, I have that "Annie" number, which you should have, too. You know the MOG mail address here, right? ;-)
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"You know the MOG mail address here, right? ;-)"
I am a bit confused with this. Huh?
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In other words, contact me directly if you're interested in hearing "Annie, I'm Not Your Daddy." I should be able steer you to the right place.
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I probably bumped in to y'all at CBGB's in the mid 80's, or thereabouts... but only as a spectator, never played there. Should have, but never did...
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van: To be there was to be in a rarefied (if smoky) air.
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Mike: So true... I can't think of any other club that actually captured that same vibe "in and about" the place since... can you? I've tried to find it - there are many sweet venues, in so many cities - for many different reasons - SF having more than its fair share in my book, but I can't think of anything that was like CB's.
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...closest thing was probably the Rat in Boston - but even that - doesn't "come close..."
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The old Mabuhay Gardens on Broadway in North Beach was truly CBGB's sister club - without a doubt.
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Ah... unfortunately I've never been to the club - but yes, have heard some "legendary" things about it. Way cool...
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Mike, while on vacation, I was having dinner at a restaurant surrounded by small pine trees by a beach, and I was sipping a glass of Coconut Lips (pineapple juice, cream, coconut cream, raspberry syrup and a cherry on top). All my senses were covered and pleased, except for my hearing. Wish I had some of these sonical flavours you posted here, it would have been magnificent :)
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Mmmmm. That sounds tasty. The drink, too.