Kid Creole & Coconuts

All of the early records (Fresh Fruit, Tropical Gangsters, Doppelganger) were IMHO great records. Then there were a few spotty releases followed by Kiss Me, To Travel Sideways, and Too Cool to Conga all of which I like a lot (tho they all took some time to register). As noted above, I really like the new one.

There are a bunch of really good hits CDs and the latest live CD (don't know the title, but, for ID purposes, the first track is a cover of "Oh! What a Night" and the last track is "It's Automatic") is IMO great!

Marty

Thanks for the link. I agree - best version I've ever seen (and I've seen A LOT). I will always believe that KC & his Coconuts were, at their peak, the best live band of our time.

Marty

BTW, his newest release "I Wake Up Screaming" is actually very, very good. He did a good job of incorporating contemporary dance music elements into his own ouvre, so it's a little different, but still recognizably the work of the master. If you like the Kid, it's definitely worth checking out.

Halcro,

I don't know about vinyl availability because I got lazy and went pretty much exclusively to the binary dark side several years ago. I have the first five or so on vinyl from back in the day (which I'll keep in case I get "un-lazy" one day), but - after those - I'm not sure what was released on LP.

Dreadhead,

Their rounds in NYC included the late, lamented Trampps, The Ritz, and The Bottom Line. I probably saw a dozen or so of their shows, including those in which Coati Mundi had the trampoline hidden behind his gear and he would suddenly, inexplicably launch himself. In one later (mid 90's?) show, when he had left the band, Coati opened for the kid and did a wild, acid jazz flavored set, before sitting in on several songs when KC & The Coconuts hit the stage.

As some here also know, KC & The Coconuts played my 50th birthday party at The Key Club here in LA five years ago. It was a great time, but the band was a shell of those monster funk outfits he put together back in the day.

Marty

PS - Kid's brother, the late Stony Browder, led a band called Dr Buzzard's Savannnah Band in which Kid played bass. Dr Buzzard played a "lusher" variation of KC&TC's latin jazz/Disco/ dance rock stew. It's fun, and worth hearing, but less involving than Kid's stuff for me. Kid also had an "alter-ego" called Elbow Bones. If you can find the Elbow Bones and the Racketeers CD, it's pretty fantastic IMHO.

Marty