Kid Creole & the Coconuts: C o' D, S 'n' D

Utopia Parkway was Amplifier’s best album of 1999 – and deservedly so. For me, it’s almost a perfect record, the sound of growing up in the mid- to late-80s when there were no helicopter parents and kids wandered the suburbs aimlessly, observing their parents and their weird traditions while never really connecting with them, and hardly a thought about their future beyond how to land a pretty girl.

With hindsight, it’s basically a concept record about how we idealize youth and exaggerate its trappings and small victories to justify the choices we make in adulthood. It could have been a recipe for snark. But what makes Schlesinger and Collingwood’s collaboration work is that they genuinely love the characters they write about and take no pride in escaping this life for themselves. That it ends on a song like The Senator’s Daughter—marrying your way into success as the ultimate way out—

I loooove this, buried in soundtrack rights limbo

📹

was listening to dr. buzzard's debut the other day. still sounds great, too. it's the only one i've heard. anybody rep for either of their other 2?

They did three more, but the only one of those I've heard is James Monroe H.S. Presents Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band Goes to Washington---does not sound like a marching band, just another left field joek I guess---enjoyed it when it first came out, in the late 70s, enjoyed the sounds without quite putting the whole thing together, then got distracted by well you know it was the late 70s, lots of compelling music, without so much of the in-crowd insinuations having to gradually sink in---but not s= much stiff competition these days, so maybe I should try it again. It was good, far as I got with it!
Going forward, I was more of a Kid Creole fan, up through You Shoulda Told Me You Were in '90 or '91, don't think I heard any after that.
For related, more on the relatively straight-fwd atmospheric art pop side check Gichy Dan, Gichy Dan's Beachwood No. 9, and Cory Daye's Cory and Me That Going Places mentioned upthread, pulling together lots of Darnell side trips, should be good too, from the tracks I know.

thx for the tips, dow. found gichy dan on spotify and didn't make too much of an impression on cursory listen. maybe it was my mood. maybe i shouldn't've been looking for great songs a la Dr. B or Kid C. listening to what i could find on youtube of the sophomore Buzzard's and it's really enjoyable. i'm more a Kid Creole fan too i guess i just have a soft spot for the Buzzard's weirdness fwiw

Hey! I have the Dr Buzzard debut, never knew it was a Kid Creole thing. Gonna have to relisten.

yeah stony browder, leader of dr. buzzard, was august darnell's brother. august was their lyricist, iirc.

kid creole were a treat in concert. even when they swung through in 2015 it was a party, with cory daye in the house for the ny show.

Sure I wish I could have seen that---will check youtube etc.
xxp yeah no showstoppers on the Gichy Dan, it's more about slowly stirring the colors in an old movie on Ted Turner's Atlanta Superstation, in the early days of (mostly purloined) cable---back then, past a hard day's night at the Southern Collegetown arty dive bar, then afterparties blasting B-52s, Pylon, Ramones, James White & The Blacks---Gichy Dan was part of the Sunday hangover cure.

Not that those weren't some dream colors too (weed was also part of the Sunday hangover cure).

“Cowboys & Gangsters” is a showstopper if there ever was one

They're such a wonderful thing, baby!

swap out one of the Cherchez La Femmes with Caroline Was a Dropout

They were fun live when I saw 'em in DC way back when ('81 I think)...

Watched Downtown 81 again recently and Kid is in that .

Excellent list – I would def. add Schweinerei which, as noted upthread, is a fave (I also apparently posted some legacy shit from another topic from my Zing app, apologies).

I’m having a hard time believing my revival of this thread was only six weeks ago. Feels like six months.

I forgot to mention that the Downtown 81 soundtrack has some reemarkable KC rarities: haven't found these performances of "K-Pasa-Bop" (with Coati Mundi) and "Mr. Softee" (also Coati Mundi's own "Palabras Con Ritmo") anywhere else, though it's been a while since I checked. May have been recorded just for this movie, as xgau says the excellent (live?) DNA tracks were. I like most of the rest better than he does, though yeah some I could live without, but overall quite the lively time trip. Oh, and who the hell is Pablo Calogero? Another KC associate? His "Tangita" is even more furnace room Downtown Latin rock etc.

oooh

Yeah, and his site has two reviews; here's the more informative and relatively less neg:
DOWNTOWN 81
Recall

3 Stars

New York post-punk compilation unearths treasures along with garbage

With its Deborah Harry intro and Rammellzee envoi, this soundtrack to a quasi-documentary starring the late painter Jean-Michel Basquiat makes as if to encompass all the NYC music of its title's post-punk moment. Unfortunately, that moment was oft full of shit, as Walter Steding, Lydia Lunch, Japan's Plastics and a Basquiat band called Gray demonstrate. But sometimes it was anything but, and here you will hear not just all you need of Liquid Liquid, Suicide and graffitist Rammellzee (the indelible rap one-off "Beat Bop"), but--improbably--specially recorded versions that top the hard-to-find originals. The secretly funky avant-noise trio DNA sound more muscular on this "Blonde Redhead" and "Detached" than on the 2004 CD believed to contain all their recorded works. And the two numbers by August Darnell's suavely articulate Kid Creole and the Coconuts rock and/or disco harder than anything in their catalog.

Rolling Stone, Dec. 13, 2007 Do not agree re Liquid Liquid or several others, but duh do re rare KC and related (ditto DNA).

Total mood lifter, this guy and his Coconuts.

^this

hey coconuts!

Not to be overlooked
https://i.discogs.com/zf9f2X2-hAgNa2tE37vVbfa5dCE7bT3fXr34NofROS4/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:501/w:498/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE1Mzgw/NzMtMTI5NzExODk4/MC5qcGVn.jpeg

these LPs can be had for like $5 still, some of the most fun for your money there is

Since it's Prince's birthday today, everyone should listen to this song that he wrote for Kid Creole and The Coconuts. A totally amazing, hilarious composition that never saw the light of day. One of those things that Prince never intended for himself but put !00% into the demo. He loved August apparently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0T5PuF7foY

I guess August wasn't into it and only included it on the album on the insistence of the label. The Kid version not as good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8XC15JlgIY

the hell?

https://t2conline.com/unexpected-unanticipated-unparalleded-nothin-left-but-the-rest-a-new-album-from-kid-creole-and-the-coconuts/

Anybody heard this? I noticed that Spotify has finally gotten the recent remasters/deluxe versions.

oho--several KC etc. tracks stashed here on label page: https://soundcloud.com/2c2cmusic
Also--not strictly nec., but it's an opp:

We are very excited to announce this newly remastered release!
Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band is releasing the first single from the remastered third studio album!
R.S.V.P., recorded and originally released in 1979, hails from the 'James Monroe H.S. presents Dr Buzzard's Original Savannah Band Goes to Washington' album.
The single was written by Stony Browder Jr. and August Darnell. Lead vocals by the inimitable and unique songstress Cory Daye and band leader Stony Browder Jr.
The album was originally released on Elektra Records in 1979.
2C2C is proud to present this single ahead of the newly remastered album set for release later this year.
We're giving all our subscribers EXCLUSIVE EARLY ACCESS to the HD DOWNLOAD of R.S.V.P. ahead of its release on Feb 14.
Click the link below to instantly download the single from 2C2C Music for just $1.29!
The single is being released on all Digital Service Providers (Spotify, Amazon Music, iTunes etc) in the U.S. only but here you can download the single from anywhere in the world!
https://www.2c2cmusic.com/buy-music/dr-buzzards-original-savannah-bands-rsvp

Ah...Thanks

over the past few years he's released just an absolute ton of stuff from his archives under the title "Once Upon a Cassette" -- they're up under the name "August Darnell," not Kid Creole, and they span his entire career -- there's at least 12 volumes of them, you can buy them from his webstore but they're also on the streaming services. Over the years I've come to think of him as one of the best ever, his catalog is amazing, he was great from the minute his feet touched the ground -- albums I've been revisiting for almost twenty years continue to delight, the first four are really the main menu but there's just so much. for real if you ever loved this guy look up those once upon a cassette comps. 2nd song on the first one, "cry baby cry," is minimal funk at such a high level -- kid creole rules imo just rules

duly noted, thanks for the tip. when I started picking up the LPs I was also amazed at the quality of that 80s run

Killer tip. Thank you!

Yeah, this looks great, thanks!

Been listening all morning.

I have had “My Male Curiosity” in my head since this thread was revived.

we're having a moment in my drive-the-kids-to-school CD player with Fresh Fruit -- this is sort of technically his first album, since the actual debut, Off the Coast of Me, was intended as a demo. (It's still great though imo.) The opening track, "Going Places"...like, this is the best, best music to me, the absolute best, just shockingly fresh and wonderful, so much character it's like a feast, and that chorus...like...you can never have set foot in NY in your entire life, and when he sings "Believe me, I know / when you leave New York, you go / nowhere" you'd still be like "You're right, Kid Creole, you're right."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIPfRdZmxl0

and then three songs later you get a ballad this wonderful, this rich, this dense? this thing that sounds like a Rufus Wainwright ballad from 1982?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzsMmC7N0t8

like I'm not young any more but when he sings "If I choose to live my life / loving you / it's my right to" I am so young.

Wow -- that vinyl edition sounds thick.

Bill Caprenter’s exceptional AMG review:

Musical gumbo of esoteric lilting, jazzy, laid-back disco, an acquired taste.

Nice work, Bill Carpenter.

the strut compilation is one of my favorite compilations ever:

https://www.discogs.com/release/1730975-Kid-Creole-Going-Places-The-August-Darnell-Years-1974-1983

Almost kind of a Chic thing happening on the unrelenting unappreciated greatness front (prolly not by now really but like as of uh, 10? + years ago) both in the rhythm section and the arrangements. Like the consistent airtight snap of the piano/rhythm guitar/background vox parts alone, just unimpeachable and fully singular

This is not to elude the songwriting which goes w/o saying imo

-elide

looks like addy is starting a patreon account.

https://www.patreon.com/kidcreoleandthecoconutsarchives?fbclid=IwAR2K2QR7rfnU4lsUlRg3k-hrL6DJcnrHNAOS4SW47pDkYGT7kKp64MwLndQ