Was (Not Was) - Live London 1989

Rebooted... 
Originally posted February 6, 2016 & January 28, 2021

Was (Not Was) - Town & Country Club

December 12, 1988

London, UK

FM Source @256

BBC 1 in Concert Series....

Was (Not Was) play contemporary R&B dance music, with lyrics that range from the satiric to the bizarre. The group is led by Detroit natives David Weiss (David Was), who plays flute and writes those lyrics, and Don Fagenson (Don Was), who plays bass and writes music, but the group is fronted by singers Harry Bowens and Sweet Pea Atkinson. Was (Not Was) first gained notice for a dance single called "Wheel Me Out" in 1980. Their first album, Was (Not Was) (1981), did not reach the charts, but its follow-up, Born to Laugh at Tornados (1983), did. Then little was heard from the group for five years. They returned in 1988 with What Up, Dog?, which featured the number 16 hit "Spy in the House of Love" and the number seven hit "Walk the Dinosaur." (During this period, Don Was had become a prominent record producer, handling the board for Bonnie Raitt's Grammy-winning Nick of Time, among many other mainstream pop records.) The fourth Was (Not Was) album, Are You Okay?, appeared in 1990. Are You Okay? wasn't as commercially successful as the previous What Up, Dog? After the album's release, Don Was continued to pursue his production career, which began to increase tensions between Don and David. In 1993, they parted ways but returned 15 years later with Boo!, an album featuring several Was (Not Was) vets, including Bowens, Atkinson, Wayne Kramer, David McMurray, and Luis Resto.
~ William Ruhlmann - Allmusic.com

One of my all time favorite bands. They combined soul, jazz and funk with some really creative and inventive song and lyrical writing.

 

Set List:
1. Out Come The Freaks
2. Bow Wow Wow Wow
3. Anytime Lisa
4. Wheel Me Out
5. Spy In The House Of Love
6. Walk The Dinosaur
7. (Return To The Valley Of) Out Come The Freaks
8. 11 Miles An Hour
9. Back In Love Again
10. Can’t Turn You Loose

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Was (Not Was) - Born To Laugh At Tornadoes -1983 {Out Of Print}

Was (Not Was) - Born To Laugh At Tornadoes - 1983

Studio Soundboard Recordings @320

{Out of Print}

This is for those of you who haven't seen or heard of this recording which was the second record put out by Was (Not Was).

Go here for musician and track info

Here's a cover and a title that caught my eye back in 1983 and I just had to buy the record even though I had never heard of the group and had no idea what to expect. But I figured that if I liked the cover chances were that I'd like the music as well. So what did I get?

The opening punch of a pop/rock melody, singer Sweet Pea Atkinsons raspy vocals and the dark but funny lyrics of "Knocked Down, Made Small (Treated Like A Rubber Ball)" convinced me; I had made a wise decision buying this album!

Some would say it's an unfocused album, with different sounds, different type of songs. But I heard it as a creative and ultimately fun record that I keep playing to this day.
You get songs about weird, offbeat characters trapped in a normal, everyday life or about "normal" persons in weird and offbeat situations.

The guestlist is "eclectic": Doug Fieger from 80s group The Knack, Mitch Ryder from MC5, Ozzy Osbourne (who's vocals on one track replaced Madonna's!), Branford Marsalis and even Mel Tormé.

ODD FACT #1:
President Nixon was apparently asked to play piano for "(Return To The Valley Of) Out Come The Freaks", but refused.

ODD FACT #2:
Mell Torme was lined up to record a version of Dante's Inrferno with Was (Not Was) to be called either "Mel In Hell" Or "Torme In Torment".
~Neb Stephenson


Track List:
01. Knocked Down, Made Small (Treated Like a Rubber Ball)
02. Bow Wow Wow Wow
03. Betrayal
04. Shake Your Head (Let's Go to Bed)
05. Man Vs. the Empire Brain Building
06. (Return to the Valley of) Out Come the Freaks
07. Professor Night
08. The Party Broke up
09. Smile
10. Zaz Turned Blue


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Tornadoes 1983

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