Kid Creole & Coconuts

Check out their first 2 albums, good stuff.

Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah BandProfile: Disco band formed in New York's the Bronx in 1974 by Stony Browder and who became one of the most original musical ensembles of the disco era. The concept of the group was the re-creation of a '30s jazz-swing band, à la Cab Calloway, with witty lyrics, a disco beat and lush disco arrangements and orchestrations. They had a big dancefloor hit with Cherchez La Femme. After their third album, in 1979, Thomas Browder and Andy Hernandez left & went off to form the '80s dance-band Kid Creole And The Coconuts with August Darnnel . One final Savannah Band album followed in 1984.

KID CREOLE & the COCONUTS - LIFEBOAT PARTY CONCERT
(Live from London Hammersmith Odeon - Circa 1983)

What a Rhythm Section.....

Amazing that they’ve still got it....
2018 BIRMINGHAM
1982
2019

And 2018...
Although the Coconuts look a bit worn 🥴
Will never equal the
ORIGINAL LINEUP
But how wonderful to see a whole new Generation waking up....
1985
2015
2014
2013
2017
UPDATED COCONUTS 2018
2017 SOUTHHAMPTON
2018
Still the best concert from the 80’s...
LONDON 1985?
SAME CONCERT
RIP The Professor on Trombone Lee Robertson

A lot can happen in 8 years thanks to the Internet and YouTube.......The world is rediscovering Kid Creole and the Coconuts!!!! 😍
2010 PERFORMANCE
And August is ageless......

I just bought the 3 DVD Set of Kid Creole and the Coconuts.
DVD 1 is the 1982 London Concert (which is my favourite of all the performances I have seen).
DVD 2 is the 1985 Paris Concert which is also great whilst
DVD 3 is a compilation of all known music videos and TV performances.

This is a set for the true believers of Darnell and the best backing musicians you're likely to see?.........and don't get me started on the Coconuts.....:-)

I saw them perform back in the early 80's at The Fast Lane in Asbury Park. It was the wildest, most fun show I think I've ever seen. The girls danced out Hula style in grass skirts and the drummer popped up from behind his kit and crashed the cymbals with a coconut in each hand to open the set. Then the kid came out in a Zoot Suit and the show never let up.

Just bought "Off the Coast Of Me" on vinyl. It's good but not as good as the previous album I mentioned.

Yes....that's a good one Mrmitch.
'Particul'y Int'rested'.......'Name It' :-)
'Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places' is also great on vinyl.
'Private Waters in the Great Divide' however is disappointing.
And 'The Best Of Kid Creole & the Coconuts' has inferior sonics to the original albums.
Must try some of Marty's recommendations......

The only recording I have of them is "In Praise of Older Women and Other Crimes" and its on vinyl on the Sire label.

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

You're right Marty,
Just put on Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places and have been listening all afternoon.
Great album.
There are many you mention which I've never heard of?
Are they available on vinyl?

I would have loved to have seen them in NYC but never did :-(
I can't understand how they managed to pay for all their performers?....the Coconuts, a brass section as well as a percussion and rhythm section?

You'd have to play to an audience of thousands every time....or go bust?
Maybe everyone just plays for 'love'?

I used to see them in NYC at the Ritz in their prime. They played the Stone Pony too. My buddy Gary known as Jr. Smoots in a local reggae band called the Disturbers was friends with the guitar player whose style was a perfect fit for the band. The women bass player was incredible for her rock solid riffs. The Coconuts were beautiful and added the sex appeal the crowd loved. Of course my favorite was Coti Mudi (sic), the perfect foil to Kids coolness. I have what I believe to be Mudi's only solo album on vinyl and it is a prized procession. I consider Fresh Fruit to be one of my top ten albums of all time and the fact that its an opera makes it all the more fun. If you haven't heard it your in for a treat.

Did someone mention Stool Pidgeon ?

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

Love "Endicott".

And another clip

I agree Marty that one had to see them 'live' to really appreciate them?
In fact the 4 albums I have of them are sightly disappointing in 'sound' and atmasphere. Here is another clip from that same tour in 1982
Looove those sexy Coconuts :-)

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.

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

Very good performance, thanks!!!! KC always puts a smile on my face and movement in my body !!!! I have some King Creole vinyl that I enjoy when in the mood, just plane old fun !!!!!!!!