I've had two songs by Kid Creole and the Coconuts stuck in my head all week, which makes me wonder why I never seemed to hear them on radio stations in the 80s. Perhaps they just weren't "80s" enough to chart high up on the pop charts. This group's sound has been described as Latin American, South American and Caribbean but the one genre I hear the most in Kid Creole and the Coconuts is the Big Band sound. Kid, whose real name is Thomas August Darnell Browder, adopted a musical look and persona that was directly inspired by Cab Calloway, down to the color popping zoot suits.
But what about those Coconuts? They were the female trio of backup singers/dancers in the group made up of Adriana Kaegi (who helped cofound the group and who was married to Kid, but stayed in the band after their divorce), Cheryl Poirier and Taryn Haegy (who was replaced by Janique Svedberg.) My introduction to Kid Creole and the Coconuts was when the Jeff Bridges movie Against All Odds was shown on TV. They perform a song called My Male Curiosity and I'll be honest--when I watched the Coconuts do their thing, I thought they looked downright 80s glamorous and sexy with their big hair and shimmery two pieces (but not the slightly unshaven armpits!) It would be fun to be a Coconut.
The band is still active today but sadly, the new Coconuts that have recently toured with Kid Creole are nothing like the original ladies. It's actually kind of painful to watch. Best to stick with the 80s line-up of the band. So without further ado, here's the two songs I've had in my craw all week...how can I not when the music is this contagious and good?
