Scoop! - All the news on Was (Not Was)
Boo! Fair Hearing? - April 6th, 2008
Reminiscent of their masterwork album ‘What Up Dog?’, this new set is after a 16-year wait MORE than welcome. Recorded here and there over a long period, there is no lack of cohesion and everything this strange crew do is well-represented here and no fan will be disappointed. Savour the deep soul balladry that so echoes The Impressions but maybe whisked away to a solar platform gazing at Planet Funk ; the nod to Bootsy on ‘Your Luck Won’t Last’ – surely a great campaign song for Mr McCain ? – exemplifying the skewed disco vibe Was Not Was often hit. Smile at opener ‘Semi-interesting Week’ and MC5 guitar honcho Wayne Kramer trying not to sound like Wayne Kramer…have your heart broken by the sad story unfolding on ‘From the Head To the Heart’ sung I think by Donald Ray Mitchell. With other vocalists dapper Sweet Pea Atkinson and (are you related to Philip Banks?) Sir Harry Bowens aboard, you have to ask – what other group has THREE singers you would cross town to see ? In one lineup.
Pete Sargeant – Fair Hearing
Boo! D’Noo Review - April 6th, 2008
“WAS (Not Was) may have been napping, but they never stopped having nightmares!” runs the blurb which accompanies the group’s first album of original material in 18 years, for which David and Don Was have been rejoined by their dapper vocal foil Sweet Pea Atkinson and by the jolly Sir Harry Bowens. Boo! sounds a bit like an acid-fried version of those old Southern Comfort ads, with some Detroit funkiness added to the southern rhythm’n’blues mix. It’s an anachronistic-sounding album which pays scant attention to any musical water that has passed under the bridge in the last two decades, but there is enough of their business-as-usual offbeat humour and an atmospheric spoken-word cameo from Kris Kristofferson to compensate.
FIONA SHEPHERD – Scotsman
Boo! Review Too! - April 5th, 2008
Two decades after walking their dinosaurs, Detroit’s avant-garde funksters, led by David and Don Was, are back to give their wah-wah pedals a workout. Red-hot soul, dirty grooves, surreal jokes about presidents’ daughters . . . it’s as if the party never stopped. Joining in are Kris Kristofferson, who lends waggish, 100-a-day vocals to the trippy Green Pills, while Bob Dylan co-wrote Mr Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
Phoebe Greenwood – Tmes Online
Calling Denver - April 4th, 2008
There is a Was (Not Was) gig at the Gothic Theatre on May 15 at 7:00PM
Boo! Review Two - April 4th, 2008
With the current penchant – musically and fashionwise – to live the dream like the ’80s never happened, the landscape is primed and ready for Was (Not Was)’s first studio album in 20 years. Because for Don and David, it’s not so much as if the ’80s never happened as that they never stopped.
How to describe them, then, for today’s young whippersnappers who may not have been born the last time they graced the charts? A slightly funkier Flaming Lips, perhaps. Gnarls Barkley with snappier suits would also do the trick.
Jenni Cole – MusicOMH
Boo! Review - April 4th, 2008
As unaccountably gifted Jewish wiseacres with a sophisticated grasp of music and a penchant for darkly droll lyrics, operating as the twin-brained hub of a musical machine manned by impeccable players, Don and Dave Was have always struck me as being rather like the kid brothers of Steely Dan’s Becker & Fagen.
Andy Gil – The Independant
Calling Somerville, MA. - April 3rd, 2008
The band are appearing at Johnny D’s Uptown on 30 April
Calling Detroit! Are You There Detroit? - March 31st, 2008
Was (Not Was) are playing the Majestic Theatre in Detroit on May 9 at 8:00 PM. Tickets available here
Calling London! - March 29th, 2008
Was (Not Was) have just announced a rare UK concert at the London Islington Academy on Saturday 26th April. Tickets are priced £22 and go on sale today. The band will perform songs on Later With Jools Holland television programme “live” on Tuesday 22nd April, repeated on Friday 25th April on BBC2 television. The TV appearance marks the first time in 16 years since Was (Not Was) performed on the very first “Later With Jools Holland” show in 1992.
Full details of the band’s London concert can be found here
An Evening With Was (Not Was)
Saturday 26th April 2008
Carling Academy Islington – Tickets: £22.00
Box Office: 0844 477 2000
Online Booking
The concert follows hot on the heels of BOO!, the band’s first album in 16 years, released in the UK on Monday 7th April by Rykodisc. The new album features the original line up and includes the songs “Mr. Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” co-written by Bob Dylan, David Was and Don Was, and “Green Pills in the Dresser” featuring Kris Kristofferson on lead vocals.
Calling New York! - March 28th, 2008
Thu, May 1, 2008 08:30 PM
Blender Theater at Gramercy
New York, NY
General Admission for $28.50 & Loge Seating or $34.50.
Limited seating and General Admission Standing on the floor
Presale is now and the password for the Nokia Ticket Rush is “Rock”.
Calling Annapolis - March 26th, 2008
Bill sends in news that the Ram’s Head in Annapolis, MD is selling tickets for a 1 pm show on 5/3.
BOO! Now available from Amazon - March 18th, 2008
Boo! is now available on pre-order from Amazon.
Video – Crazy Water - March 18th, 2008
Video of Crazy Water from Boo!
SXSW Was (Not Was) tears the roof off - March 18th, 2008
AUSTIN, Texas — Was (Not Was) may not have, as its song says, blown up the United States in the week hours of Sunday morning, but the Detroit-bred group did blow righteously during a festival-closing show at the club La Zona Rosa.
SXSW review: Was (Not Was) - March 18th, 2008
Best show, far and away: Was (Not Was), who probably played the last note of SXSW, since La Zona Rosa staff finally had to turn the lights on Saturday night and point us all toward the exit. If they’d given the band 10 more minutes, they could have just finished tearing the roof off, so we could all leave via levitation.
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