VIA PRESS RELEASE | Renowned dance/funk/Latin/pop/disco group Kid Creole & The Coconuts, fronted by the multi-talented August Darnell, will release their first-ever official live album Live In Paris 1985 March 1 via Los Angeles-based Rainman Records. Captured at the peak of their music prowess, the album celebrates the genre-defying group’s raucous best. Live In Paris 1985’s 14 tracks (recorded 9/15/85 at Le Zenith) covers the gamut of their first five studio albums and features the high-octane performance the band is famous for.
Kid Creole & The Coconuts formed in New York City and made their national television debut on Saturday Night Live in November 1980, just as their first album was getting noticed by critics. Three early ’80s top 10 singles in Europe helped expose them to a world-wide audience. His breakthrough album Tropical Gangsters (issued as Wise Guy in North America) had big hits including “Stool Pigeon,” “I’m A Wonderful Thing, Baby,” and “Annie, I’m Not Your Daddy.” The band developed a devoted live following and released a long string of acclaimed, eclectic music incorporating Latin, funk, disco, pop and more. The Los Angeles Times’ Richard Cromelin noted the band’s eclectic nature: “There’s Cab Calloway, for the overall image. Frank Sinatra for vocal phrasing and romantic attitude. Elvis Presley for dance moves and hero-worship. James Brown for live performance. Calypso singer the Mighty Sparrow for witty lyrics.”
Of Live In Paris, Darnell says he’s really excited about how it turned out. “I am astonished by how CONFIDENT we all were. The musicians were all at the top of their game. I was fortunate to have gathered such an ensemble. When I listen to this concert, I am reminded of how much time we spent rehearsing in Manhattan before each tour. Time well spent. And the humor in the show—that is what really stands out for me. We did not take ourselves seriously, but at the same time we’re laying down some serious grooves and serious lyrics and very serious musical arrangements.”
In a later live review, the New York Times’ Jon Pareles said, “August Darnell’s band was treating rock concerts as song-and-dance revues before most pop stars were doing the same. And before ‘world beat’ became a marketing category, he lived up to the Kid Creole name by merging Caribbean and North American dance music…Kid Creole and the Coconuts still know how to put on a snappy show, jumbling eras from the 1940’s to the present…Mr. Darnell, a former English teacher, is one of rock’s most literate lyricists. Like an updated Broadway songwriter, he toys with poetic meter and tosses around words like ”epitome” and ”mesmerize,” and he keeps Kid Creole’s own character fluid. Songs like ‘Annie, I’m Not Your Daddy,’ ‘Endicott,’ ‘I’m a Wonderful Thing, Baby,’ ‘Caroline Was a Drop-Out,’ ‘No Fish Today’ and ‘Stool Pigeon’ (which included, onstage, a rap summary of the band’s history) are sympathetic and unsympathetic, straightforward and cynical and jokey.” The Times also praised Darnell’s theater production Cherchez La Femme: The Musical, when it debuted in 2016.
And of his continued legacy, Darnell says, “I leave such thoughts to the critics. I recall how much I borrowed from my idols, and I am grateful I had such idols (James Brown, Mighty Sparrow, Bob Marley, Elvis, The Beatles, Cab Calloway, Louis Jordan, etc., etc., etc.). I am sure the Kid Creole Credo (live and recorded) has reached a whole lot of people and touched them in many splendid ways. This makes me smile.”
Now based in Maui, Kid Creole continues to perform around the world.
Live In Paris Track List:
Don’t Take My Coconuts
My Male Curiosity
Table Manners
Mr. Softie
Annie, I’m Not Your Daddy
I’m A Wonderful Thing, Baby
No Fish Today
Dear Addy
Stool Pigeon
Say Hey
The Lifeboat Party
Endicott
Indiscreet
Caroline Was A Dropout
