Kid Creole & The Coconuts - Wonderful Thing (2000)@flac

Liner Notes

The Latin craze from the final months of the 20th Century made those with longer memories amongst us think back and remember the time in the early 80s when the charts went Latin, with the inestimable Kid Creole in the forefront. With his Coconuts and his musical foil/stooge Coati Mundi ('Sugar Coated’ Andy Hernandez), August Darnell (a.k.a the Kid) seemed unassailable then as they added Latin tinged settings to a mixture of power pop, disco and Broadway, making an unmistakable sound.
Thomas August Darnell Browder was born in Montreal in 1951 to a Canadian mother and Trinidadian father;
He grew up in the Bronx. After qualifying as a drama teacher, he formed Dr Buzzard's Original Savannah Band with his brother Stoney and Hernandez in the mid 70s playing eclectic *mulatto’ music to New York disco crowds. The group beeame a cult success and this success allowed Darnell to become in-house producer at Michael Zilkha's hip new Ze Record label. The idea of Kid Creole and the Coconuts was cooked up by Hernandez and Darnell in 1980 - building on the eclecticism of Dr. Buzzard and adding even more glamour in the form of the three female Coconuts (originally Lori Eastside, Adriana Kaegi and Carol Colman). Sharing Zilkha’s vision of Kid Creole and the Coconuts to make ‘cartoons’ rather than albums, Darnell blended musical styles and created exotic sounds: part travelogue, allowing a glimpse into a world of sophistication for the recession hit early 80s. The group toured with Talking Heads and The B-52’s and released two critically acclaimed albums with Off The Coast Of Me and Fresh Fruit In Foreign Places.
The group became underground darlings in both America and Britain. The then new style magazine The Face stated that their music “arrived wearing a Panama hat, smoking a Havana cigar and carrying a battered old suitcase plastered with the names of exotic placesDarnell’s image was a carefully cultivated mix of his influences and heroes - Cab Calloway, Slim Qailliard and Duke Ellington.
The Tropical Qangsters album took the group overground, it was a huge success, especially in the UK, where a bit of genuine style stood out a mile in the era of plumbers in frills and make up. The album provided them with three of their biggest hit singles - all included for your pleasure on this collection - I’m A Wonderful Thing Baby, Stool Pigeon and Annie, I’m Not Your Daddy. The band toured its sensational live show in the mid 80s - vaudeville and out and out entertainment sealed Darnell’s reputation as a consummate showman.
Although the major chart successes dwindled, the outfit kept working and performing always popular live shows. Throughout the 90s, Darnell has continued to write and record and it is his reputation as a showman that Darnell capitalises on today - he has recently been performing in the West End musical Oh What A Night! to sell out crowds.
This collection wilt help you refresh your memories, relive your youth or enjoy for the first time the man that continues to inspire generations today.

Daryl Easlea, February 2000