Kid Creole & The Coconuts

Kid Creole And The Coconuts Is An American Musical Group Created By August Darnell With Andy Hernandez And Adriana Kaegi. Its Music Incorporates A Variety Of Styles And Influences In Particular A Mix Of Disco 1 And Latin American Caribbean And Calloway Styles 2 Conceptually Inspired By The Big Band Era. The Coconuts Are A Trio Of Female Backing Vocalists/dancers Founded And Originally Choreographed And Costumed By Adriana Kaegi. Thomas August Darnell Browder 3 4 Was Born In The Bronx New York City USA On August 12 1950. His Mother Was From South Carolina With Caribbean And Italian Parents And His Father From Savannah Georgia. As An Adult Thom Browder Began Going By His Two Middle Names As August Darnell. Growing Up In The Melting Pot Of The Bronx Darnell Was Exposed Early On To All Kinds Of Music. 5 Darnell Began His Musical Career In A Band Named The In-Laws With His Brother Stony Browder In 1965. The Band Disbanded So Darnell Could Pursue A Career As An English Teacher. Darnell Obtained A Master's Degree In English But In 1974 Again Formed A Band With His Brother Stony Browder Jr. Under The Name Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band. 3 Their Self-Titled Debut Release Was A Top 40-Charting Album Which Was Certified Gold And Was Nominated For A Grammy. Darnell Began Producing For Other Artists Such As Don Armando's Second Avenue Rhumba Band And Gichy Dan's Beachwood No.9 5 Before Adopting The Name Kid Creole Adapted From The Elvis Presley Film King Creole In 1980 And Co-Founder Adriana Kaegi Came Up With The Name The Coconuts. The Kid Wore Zoot Suits And Danced Onstage In A Style Reminiscent Of Films Of The 1930s And 1940s And Fronted A Multi-Racial Multi-Cultural Band. 5 The Co-Founders Of The Band Were Darnell And His Savannah Band Associate Vibraphone Player Andy Hernandez Also Known As His "trusty Sidekick" Coati Mundi. Hernandez Served As Darnell's On-Stage Comic Foil As Well As His Musical Director And Arranger. The Original Coconuts A Collection Of Glamorous And Often Skimpily-Attired Female Backing Vocalists Were Led By Darnell's Then-Wife Adriana "Addy" Kaegi Who Also Served As The Choreographer And Costume Designer Of The Coconuts. Early Recordings Featured A Coconuts Lineup Of Kaegi Cheryl Lee Poirier Fonda Rae And Lourdes Cotton Lori Eastside Was Also A Coconut On A Handful Of Early Singles. By 1982 The Coconuts Were A Trio Of Kaegi Cheryl Poirier And Taryn Hagey. This Lineup Of The Coconuts Recorded A Spin-Off Album Project In 1983 With Poirier Taking The Lead Vocalist Role On EMI. Throughout The 1980s The Band Also Included Peter Schott On Keyboards Schott Also Occasionally Co-Composed Material With Darnell Drummer David Span Bass Player Carol Colman And Legendary Jamaican Drummer Winston Grennan. With Horn Players Percussionists And Other Adjunct Members The Full Band Lineup Often Swelled To Over A Dozen Players. 6 Kid Creole And The Coconuts' Debut Album Off The Coast Of Me Was Critically Well-Received But Not Successful Commercially. They Made Their National TV Debut Performing "Mister Softee" And "There But For The Grace Of God Go I" On Saturday Night Live In November 1980. The Second Release Fresh Fruit In Foreign Places Was A Concept Album Matched With A New York Public Theater Stage Production It Received Positive Reviews With Darnell Recognized As A Clever Lyricist And Astute Composer Arranger And Producer. By Whom? By The Second Album They Were Accompanied By The Pond Life Horn Section Charlie Lagond Ken Fradley And Lee Robertson As Well As Lead Guitarist Mark Mazur. The Album Charted Briefly And Subsequently Coati Mundi's Early Latin Rap "Me No Pop I" Though Not Originally On The Album Became A Top 40 UK Hit Single. It Was The Band's First Hit. Their Breakthrough Came With 1982's Tropical Gangsters Which Hit #3 In The UK And Spun Off Three Top 10 Hits With "Stool Pigeon" "Annie I'm Not Your Daddy" And "I'm A Wonderful Thing Baby." "Dear Addy" Also Made The Top 40. In The US The Album Was Retitled Wise Guy And Reached #145 And "I'm A Wonderful Thing Baby" Flirted With The R&B Charts. Their Live Shows At This Time Were Among The Most Propulsive And Enchanting Of The Period With Outlandish Dancing And Cod Theatricals Garnishing The Latin Beats." 7 Darnell Subsequently Produced A 1983 Spin-Off Album For The Coconuts With Cheryl Poirier On Lead Vocals. Coati Mundi Also Released His Solo LP The Former 12 Year Old Genius Before The Fourth Kid Creole And The Coconuts Album In 1983 Doppelganger Was A Relative Commercial Disappointment Despite The Single "There's Something Wrong In Paradise" Reaching The UK Top 40. The Group Performed The Song "My Male Curiosity" With Choreography By Adriana Kaegi For The 1984 Movie Against All Odds 8 The Song Also Appeared On The Best-Selling Soundtrack Album. The Coconuts Also Sang Background Vocals In The Songs 'Red Light' And 'Surrender' On U2's Album 'War' Which Was Released On 28 February 1983 On Island Records. Darnell And Kaegi Divorced In 1985 Though She Remained With The Band. Taryn Hagey Dropped Out Of The Coconuts Around The Same Time And The Two Remaining Coconuts Adriana "Addy" Kaegi And Cheryl Poirier Formed Their Own Spin-Off Group Boomerang With Perri Lister. This Group Released A Dance-Oriented Album Somewhat Different In Sound To Their Coconuts Recordings On The Atlantic Label In 1986. The Producer Was David Kershenbaum. Kid Creole And The Coconuts Continued Now With Third Coconut Janique Svedberg Replacing The Departed Hegey. On Record Though Billed As Guests And Not As Coconuts During This Era Some Female Co-Lead Vocals Were Performed By Haitia Fuller And Cory Daye. In The Mid To Late 1980s The Group Contributed To Various Film Soundtracks And Other Such Projects. They Also Appeared At The Montreux Jazz Festival In 1986 And In This Period Released The Albums In Praise Of Older Women... And Other Crimes Which Included The Fan-Favorite Single "Endicott" And I Too Have Seen The Woods Neither Of Which Charted In The US. Still The Group Continued To Mount Highly Successful World Tours Performed Sold-Out Shows At Carnegie Hall In New York City And Was Invited By Princess Diana To Perform At A Private Function In The UK. In 1987 Kid Creole And The Coconuts Made Their Only Appearance On The US Hot 100 Charts With "Hey Mambo " A Track From Barry Manilow's Swing Street Album. The Single Credited To "Barry Manilow With Kid Creole & The Coconuts" Peaked At #90. The Band Also Performed On The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Longtime Associate Hernandez Left The Ensemble Before 1990's Private Waters In The Great Divide An Album Described By The NME As "a Return To Form With Inspired Lyrics And Buckets Of The Type Of Sexual Innuendo That Creole Has Made His Own." 7 The Band Had A UK Hit With The Single "The Sex Of It " A Song Written By Prince And Recorded At Paisley Park Studios With Sheila E And Levi Seacer Jr.. Except For Darnell's Vocal The Track Is Entirely Performed By Prince And His Associates It Is The Group's Last Major Hit To Date. The Coconuts Still A Trio Of Kaegi Poirier And Svedberg And Working As An Independent Unit Issued A 1991 Japan-Only CD Called Killer Bees. Darnell Was Listed As The Executive Producer Of This Release. After The 1992 Kid Creole And The Coconuts Album You Shoulda Told Me You Were... Failed To Achieve Significant Commercial Success The Group Splintered. The Female Backing Trio All Left And Have Been Replaced With A Rotating Group Of New Coconuts. With A Revised And Slimmed-Down Lineup The Band Kept Releasing Albums Throughout The '90s On Independent Labels Though None Of The Recordings Received Much Attention Or Wide Distribution. Despite Still Touring The Band Went Into A 10-Year Recording Hiatus After Their 2001 Album Too Cool To Conga! Re-Emerging In 2011 With I Wake Up Screaming. Kid Creole And The Coconuts Have Appeared In A Number Of Films Such As Downtown 81 1981 An Art Film Starring Jean-Michel Basquiat Against All Odds 1984 And The Lambada-Themed The Forbidden Dance 1990 They Also Starred In A UK Produced TV Movie In 1984 There's Something Wrong In Paradise Based Around Their Songs From The Doppelganger Album And Produced For Granada Television. 9 Andy Hernandez Has Also Made Appearances In A Number Of Films Separately And Adriana Kaegi Produced And Directed A Documentary Film About The Band Called Kid Creole And My Coconuts. 10 She Now Runs Her Media Production Company In New York And Has Her Own Styleculture.Tv Channel.They Also Composed Music For The 1999 French Animated Series Pirate Family. read less