Boo! BY Was (Not Was) Reviewed by Adam D. Miller    It’s been eighteen years since Was (Not Was) released their fourth LP, Are You Okay? The offbeat pop collective, founded by a pair of childhood chums from the Detroit area, was best known for their 1987 hit single “Walk The Dinosaur” and fused elements of pop, soul, funk, disco, and beat poetry to much critical acclaim before they pretty much disappeared.Don Fagenson (a.k.a. Don Was) and David Weiss (a.k.a. David Was) remained active in music, mostly on the production side. Fagenson won a 1995 Grammy for Producer of the Year, and has worked with everyone from The Rolling Stones and Brian Wilson to Bonnie Raitt, The Black Crowes and Hootie & The Blowfish. Weiss, meanwhile, is a regular contributor to NPR’s Day To Day, and has worked extensively in film and television. Given their extended hiatus as performers, Boo! seems an appropriate title for this sudden re-emergence of Was (Not Was), which along with Don and David Was also includes soul singers Sweet Pea Atkinson, Sir Harry Bowens and Donald Ray Mitchell. Other guests featured on this album include Booker T. Jones, Marcus Miller and Wayne Kramer. Evidently, it’s business as usual for Was (Not Was) on Boo!. Their music remains just as weird, funky, eclectic and poetic as ever, and the songs run the gamut from upbeat, melodic numbers to weird sonic experiments and spoken word tracks. The only thing that seems different about the band moving forward in the 21st century is that the dated 1980s production techniques has mostly been abandoned in favor of a more contemporary sound. The best moments on Boo! are the funky soul numbers, and the album gets things moving right away with the lead-off track, “Semi-Interesting Week.” Our trio of talented soul singers take us through a bizarre and eventful sequence of days that start with a one night stand with a pair of twins from Washington DC before moving on to a run-in with an anti-Semite. Later, the narrator is lunching with some friends when suddenly a UFO arrives containing L. Ron Hubbard and Tom Cruise “reeking of some science fiction sex.” Later, Was (Not Was) borrows from Wilson Pickett’s “634-5789” for the fantastically catchy “Crazy Water,” another album highlight. Another notable track on the album that falls into the soul-pop category is “Mr. Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” a song co-written with Bob Dylan for Paula Abdul in the early 1990s (no joke, though the song was never recorded by Ms. Abdul). Stepping away from soul, the album closes on a high note, with the eerie “Green Pills In The Dresser,” a spoken word track featuring a compelling vocal performance by Kris Kristofferson. Although Boo! contains a fair share of songs that are both catchy and substantial, there are other tracks that are simply too weird to bear repeated listening. “Needletooth” is a bizarre cosmic sound experiment that gets old pretty quickly, and tracks like “Your Luck Won’t Last” pale in comparison to the aforementioned highlights. But ultimately we’re glad to have Was (Not Was) back, and let’s hope they don’t wait another 18 years before gracing us with their presence again. |  |
Take Me Home - FAQ - Contact Us - Privacy Policy - Donate
©2004-2008, Being There Media.
ISSN 1718-5033 Being There Magazine