Was (Not Was)

{{short description|American band}} {{about|the band|their debut album|Was (Not Was) (album)|the Eric Prydz and Steve Angello song|Woz Not Woz}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Was (Not Was) | background = group_or_band | image = | caption = | origin = Detroit, Michigan, United States | genre = {{hlist|Dance-pop|funk<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.spin.com/2012/05/20-years-ago-was-not-was-still-boggle-mind/ |title=20 Years Later: Was (Not Was) Still Boggle the Mind |last=Sherburne |first=Philip |date=May 7, 2012 |work=Spin |access-date=2023-08-09 |quote=Was (Not Was) were a quirky funk-pop act armed with a sardonic wit and irreverent songwriting approach.}}</ref>||post-disco|dance-rock|college rock<ref name=AMG/>}} | years_active = {{hlist|1979–1992|2004–present}} | label = {{hlist|ZE|Geffen|Chrysalis|Fontana}} | current_members = {{ubl|David Weiss|Don Fagenson|Harry Bowens|Carol Hall|Donald Ray Mitchell|Randy Jacobs|James Gadson|Rayse Biggs|David McMurray|Luis Resto (musician)|Jamie Muhoberac}} | past_members = {{ubl|Marcus Belgrave|Bruce Nazarian|Sweet Pea Atkinson|Debra Dobkin|Wayne Kramer}} | website = [http://worldwidewas.com/ World Wide Was] }}

'''Was (Not Was)''' is an American band founded in 1979 in Detroit, Michigan, by David Weiss and Don Fagenson, who adopted the stage names David Was and Don Was.<ref name="Larkin80">{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books|date=2003|edition=Third|isbn=1-85227-969-9|page=491}}</ref> Their song catalog features an eclectic mix of pop and rock styles, often featuring guest musicians from across the musical spectrum. The band's most popular period was during the 1980s and early 1990s, with their highest-charting hit, the song "Walk the Dinosaur", released in 1987 as the lead single from their 1988 album ''What Up, Dog?'', becoming a worldwide top-40 hit and peaking at {{Numero|7}} on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The band went on indefinite hiatus in the mid-1990s, but has returned sporadically since the turn of the millennium. Their most recent release was the 2008 album ''Boo!.''

==Career== ===Beginnings=== Weiss and Fagenson were childhood friends who grew up together in suburban Detroit, Michigan, United States.<ref name="Larkin80"/> Partly due to Fagenson's poverty they decided to form Was (Not Was) in 1979.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Was Not Was |url=https://randyjacobs.com/randy-jacobs-bio/was-not-was/ |access-date=2023-09-19 |website=Randy Jacobs |language=en-US}}</ref> The name of the band was derived from Fagenson's then-infant son Tony, who was just beginning to talk and enjoyed contradicting words such as "Blue" with "Not Blue". Their first recording was "Wheel Me Out", a 12-inch dance record for the avant-garde ZE Records. David's mother Elizabeth Elkin Weiss, an actress and radio pioneer in their native Detroit, provided the outré vocals. The track was later included on the 2000 compilation album ''Disco Not Disco''.

Their first album ''Was (Not Was)'' (1981) was an amalgam of rock, disco, Weiss's beat poetry, Reagan-era political-social commentary, and jazz.<ref name="Larkin80"/> On vocals they recruited Harry Bowens and "Sweet Pea" Atkinson, who frequently found themselves singing absurdist and satirical songs alongside tender ballads.<ref name="Larkin80"/> Wayne Kramer of MC5, The Knack's Doug Fieger, and trumpeter Marcus Belgrave were among the guest players.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/was-not-was-mw0000697833/credits|title=Was (Not Was) - Was (Not Was) | Credits|website=AllMusic|access-date=November 10, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Was and Its Madness|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 15, 1981|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/15/arts/was-and-its-madness.html}}</ref>

In 1982, the group played on ''Don't Walk Away'', a solo album for lead singer "Sweet Pea" Atkinson.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/dont-walk-away-mw0000849080|title=Don't Walk Away - Sweet Pea Atkinson | Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=AllMusic|access-date=November 10, 2019}}</ref>

===Development=== ''Born to Laugh at Tornadoes'' (1983)<ref name="Larkin80"/> had even more guest musicians, including Ozzy Osbourne rapping over electro, Mitch Ryder singing a techno-rockabilly number, Mel Tormé performing a ballad about asphyxiation, and an abstract funk piece called "Man vs. the Empire Brain Building". Singer Donald Ray Mitchell joined the group as third lead vocalist.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/born-to-laugh-at-tornadoes-mw0000204931/credits|title=Born to Laugh at Tornadoes - Was (Not Was) | Credits|website=AllMusic|access-date=November 10, 2019}}</ref>

In 1988, they found their biggest hit with the album ''What Up, Dog?'', which featured the singles "Walk the Dinosaur"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQdCDcehCf8|title=Was Not Was Walk The Dinosaur|date=June 2, 2013 |publisher=YouTube|access-date=November 10, 2019}}</ref> and "Spy in the House of Love".<ref name="Larkin80"/> Special guests included Stevie Salas, John Patitucci, Frank Sinatra Jr., and a writing credit from Elvis Costello.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/what-up-dog-mw0000201834/credits|title=What Up, Dog? - Was (Not Was) | Credits|website=AllMusic|access-date=November 10, 2019}}</ref>

===Film and animation work=== Artist/animator Christoph Simon<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scad.edu/academics/faculty/christoph-simon|title=Christoph Simon|website=Scad.edu|access-date=November 10, 2019}}</ref> created videos to accompany some of their stranger album tracks, such as "What Up, Dog?",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QF-TK3W4lI|title=What Up Dog?|date=March 24, 2008 |publisher=YouTube}}</ref> "Dad I'm in Jail,"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJEwo_gwO9M|title=Hello Dad, I'm In Jail|date=March 24, 2008 |publisher=YouTube|access-date=November 10, 2019}}</ref> and the Tom Waits-style "Earth to Doris."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3tDw6Q0UL8|title=Earth To Doris|date=March 24, 2008 |publisher=YouTube|access-date=November 10, 2019}}</ref> The videos appeared on MTV's ''Liquid Television'' and in various film festivals, including the Spike & Mike festival. Around this time, the Was Brothers developed separate careers as producers, film scorers, and music supervisors.

===Hiatus=== The group followed up with ''Are You Okay?'' in 1990,<ref name="Larkin80"/> spearheaded by a cover of "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone". Guest musicians included Iggy Pop, Leonard Cohen, The Roches, and Syd Straw. After a tour with Dire Straits in 1992 and a UK Top 5 single with "Shake Your Head", which included vocals from Ozzy Osbourne and actress Kim Basinger, Weiss and Fagenson drifted apart, subsequently releasing only a compilation album ''Hello Dad... I'm in Jail''.<ref name="Larkin80"/> Some members, however, did appear on Don's Orquestra Was project ''Forever Is a Long Long Time'' (1997), which re-interpreted Hank Williams in a jazz/R&B vein.

===Reunion=== In late 2004, Was (Not Was) reformed for a two-month club tour through the US, including stops at the House of Blues in Cleveland and Chicago and the Trocadero in Philadelphia. In October 2005, they played four gigs at the Jazz Café in London.

In 2008, they released their fifth studio album, ''Boo!'', featuring guest appearances from Kris Kristofferson, Wayne Kramer, Marcus Miller and Booker T. Jones, plus a song originally co-written with Bob Dylan nearly 20 years earlier. On April 22, they performed on the British show ''Later... with Jools Holland'', and on May 2, they were the musical guest on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''. The band toured the US that year, beginning on April 30.

==Commentary== Writing in Detroit's ''Metro Times,'' Brian J. Bowe described the band as "an endearing mess....a sausage factory of funk, rock, jazz and electronic dance music, all providing a boogie-down backdrop for a radical (and witty) political message of unbridled personal freedom and skepticism of authority."<ref>{{cite news|author=Bowe, Brian J.|url=http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=7137|title=Out Come the Freaks|work=Metro Times|date=December 29, 2004}}</ref>

==Discography== {{Infobox artist discography | Artist = Was (Not Was) | Image = | Caption = | Alt = | Studio = 5 | Live = | Compilation = 4 | EP = | Singles = 19 | B-sides = | Soundtrack = }}

===Studio albums=== {| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center; !rowspan="2"| Year !rowspan="2" width="275"| Information !colspan="5"| Chart positions |-style="font-size:smaller;" !width="30"| US <ref name=AMG>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/was-not-was-mn0000817011/awards|title=AllMusic - Billboard Awards – Was (Not Was)|publisher=Billboard|access-date=2008-12-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130815220446/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/was-not-was-mn0000817011/awards|archive-date=August 15, 2013}}</ref> !width="30"| AUS <ref name="AUS"/> !width="30"| NL <ref name="Dutch">{{cite web|url=http://dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Was+%28Not+Was%29|title= Discografie Was (Not Was)|publisher=2003-2012 Hung Medien|access-date=2012-12-28}}</ref> !width="30"| NZ <ref name="NZ">{{cite web|url=https://charts.nz/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Was+%28Not+Was%29|title= Discography Was (Not Was)|publisher=2003-2012 Hung Medien|access-date=2012-12-28}}</ref> !width="30"| UK <ref name="chartstats-UK">{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/21455/was-(not-was)/|title=The Official Charts Company - Was (Not Was)|publisher=Official Charts Company|access-date=2008-11-09}}</ref> |- | 1981 |align="left"| ''Was (Not Was)'' * Released: 1981 (Expanded and reissued 2004 as ''Out Come the Freaks'') * Labels: ZE/Island | – | – | – | – | – |- | 1983 |align="left"| ''Born to Laugh at Tornadoes'' * Released: September 1983 * Labels: ZE/Geffen | 134 | – | – | – | – |- | 1988 |align="left"| ''What Up, Dog?'' * Released: April 1988 * Labels: Chrysalis Records (US), Phonogram (Europe) | 43 | – | 57 | 41 | 47 |- | 1990 |align="left"| ''Are You Okay?'' * Released: July 1990 * Labels: Chrysalis Records (US), Fontana (Europe) | 99 | 107 | 82 | 34 | 35 |- | 2008 |align="left"| ''Boo!'' * Released: April 8, 2008 (Expanded and reissued 2023) * Labels: Ryko | – | – | – | – | – |- | colspan="9" style="text-align:center; font-size:9pt;"| "–" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. |}

===Compilation albums=== {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! Information |- | 1984 | ''The Woodwork Squeaks'' * Remixes and B-sides * Released: 1984 (Reissued and expanded in 2004) * Labels: ZE/Island |- | 1989 | ''New Steak Trend'' * Remixes and B-sides * Released: 1989 * Label: Fontana (Japan only) |- | 1992 | ''Hello Dad... I'm in Jail'' * Greatest hits album * Released: June 1992 * Labels: Polygram, Fontana (Europe) * Chart Position: No. 61 (UK)<ref name="chartstats-UK"/> * Chart Position: No. 132 (AUS)<ref name="AUS"/> |- | 2004 | ''The Collection'' * LP tracks and B-sides * Released: May 2004 * Labels: Spectrum Music |- | 2010 | ''Hey, King Kong!!!: Pick of the Litter 1980-2010'' * Career retrospective * Released: February 23, 2010 * Labels: Micro Werks |- |}

===Singles=== {| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center; !rowspan="2"|Year !rowspan="2" width="275"|Title !colspan="10"|Chart positions !rowspan="2"|Album |-style="font-size:smaller;" !width="30"| US Hot 100 <ref name=AMG/> !width="30"| US Club Play <ref name=AMG/> !width="30"| US R&B <ref name=AMG/> !width="30"| AUS <ref name="AUS">Peaks in Australia: * 1970 to 1988: {{cite book|title=Australian Chart Book 1970-1992|author=David Kent|isbn=0-646-11917-6|year=1993|publisher=Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W.|author-link=David Kent (historian)}} * ARIA 1988 to 2024: {{cite web|url=https://imgur.com/a/rkxyIYX|title=Was (Not Was) ARIA peaks (1988 to 2024), received from ARIA in October 2024|publisher=ARIA|via=Imgur.com|access-date=2 November 2024}} N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart. * "Papa Was a Rolling Stone": {{cite Ryan|page=297}} * "Shake Your Head": {{cite web|url=http://australian-charts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Was+%28Not+Was%29|title= Discography Was (Not Was)|publisher=2003-2012 Hung Medien|access-date=2012-12-28}}</ref> !width="30"| IRL <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishcharts.ie|title=The Irish Charts|publisher=IRMA|access-date=2008-10-02}} Searchable database</ref> !width="30"| NL <ref name="Dutch"/> !width="30"| NZ <ref name="NZ"/> !width="30"| UK <ref name="chartstats-UK"/> !width="30"| SA <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://rock.co.za/files/springbok_top_20_(W).html|title=South African Rock Lists Website - SA Charts 1965 - 1989 Acts (W)|website=Rock.co.za|access-date=November 10, 2019}}</ref> !width="30"| FR <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chartsinfrance.net/Was-Not-Was/Walk-The-Dinosaur-s651.html|title=French TOP 50, May 16, 1988}}</ref> |- | 1980 | align=left| "Wheel Me Out" | – | 34 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | align=left|''Mutant Disco: A Subtle Discolation of the Norm'' |- |rowspan="2"| 1981 | align=left| "Out Come the Freaks" | – | 16 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | align=left rowspan="3"|''Was (Not Was)'' |- | align=left| "Where Did Your Heart Go?" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | - | – |- | 1982 | align=left| "Tell Me That I'm Dreaming" | – | 3 | 68 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |- |rowspan="2"| 1983 | align=left| "Smile" | 106 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | align=left rowspan="3"|''Born to Laugh at Tornadoes'' |- | align=left| "Knocked Down, Made Small (Treated Like a Rubber Ball)" | 109 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |- | 1984 | align=left| "(Return to the Valley of) Out Come the Freaks" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 41 | – | – |- | 1986 | align=left| "Robot Girl" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 95 | – | – | align=left rowspan="7"|''What Up, Dog?'' |- | rowspan="3"|1987 | align=left| "Spy in the House of Love" | 16 | 1 | 77 | 79 | – | 16 | 41 | 51 | – | – |- | align=left| "Walk the Dinosaur" | 7 | 11 | – | 9 | 11 | 10 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 49 |- | align=left| "Boy's Gone Crazy" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 84 | – | – |- | rowspan="3"|1988 | align=left| "Spy in the House of Love" (re-issue) | – | – | – | 90 | 13 | – | – | 21 | 26 | – |- | align=left| "Out Come the Freaks (Again)" | – | – | – | – | – | 86 | – | 44 | – | – |- | align=left| "Anything Can Happen" | 75 | 19 | – | – | – | – | – | 67 | – | – |- | rowspan="3"|1990 | align=left| "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" | – | 10 | 60 | 75 | 11 | 14 | 22 | 12 | – | – | align=left rowspan="3"|''Are You Okay?'' |- | align=left| "How the Heart Behaves" | – | 35 | – | – | – | – | – | 53 | – | – |- | align=left| "I Feel Better Than James Brown" | – | – | – | 163 | – | – | – | 91 | – | – |- | rowspan="3"|1992 | align=left| "Listen Like Thieves" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 58 | – | – | align=left rowspan="3"|''Hello Dad...I'm in Jail'' |- | align=left| "Shake Your Head" | – | – | – | 47 | 8 | – | – | 4 | – | – |- | align=left| "Somewhere in America (There's a Street Named after My Dad)" | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 57 | – | – |- | colspan="15" style="text-align:center; font-size:9pt;"| "–" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. |}

===Contributions=== * ''A Christmas Record'' (1981, ZE Records) - "Christmas Time in the Motor City" * ''That's the Way I Feel Now: A Tribute to Thelonious Monk'' (1984, A&M Records) - "Ba-Lue-Bolivar-Ba-Lues-Are" * ''Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films'' (1988, A&M Records) - "Baby Mine"

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://worldwidewas.com/ World Wide Was] * [https://archive.org/details/WasNotWas Was (Not Was) collection] at the Internet Archive's live music archive * {{discogs artist|Was (Not Was)}} * {{IMDb name|3041141}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Was Not Was}} Category:American funk musical groups Category:American post-disco music groups Category:Rykodisc artists Category:Geffen Records artists Category:Chrysalis Records artists Category:Musical groups from Detroit Category:Musical groups established in 1979 Category:Musical groups reestablished in 2004 Category:ZE Records artists Category:Fontana Records artists