There are those who believe that, in terms of sheer lyrical sophistication and out-and-out wordsmithery, nobody else in the ’80s matched August Darnell, a mixed-race former high school English teacher born in Montreal who’d written his Master’s thesis on Richard Wright and Harlem Renaissance authors. Some say he didn’t hit full stride until he started conceiving his albums as full-blown conceptual musical-theater revues (starting with 1981’s island-hopping Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places); one might also argue that a retrospective like the Berlin label Strut’s wide-ranging (and very ZE-heavy) 2008 Going Places: The August Darnell Years is the easiest place to familiarize yourself with the dapper fellow. But the pan-tropical new wave Off the Coast of Me — Kid Creole’s first album, even though Darnell kept his face off the cover for contractual reasons — still sounds fresh start-to-finish three decades later. Mister Softee” is an even better erectile dysfunction song than Elastica’s “Stutter,” if not Freda Payne’s “Band Of Gold”; “Darrio” is probably the only song ever about shunning Studio 54 to dance to the B-52s and James White at punk-rock clubs. And if you’re bothered by however many layers of irony it took to cover World War II German love-lied “Lili Marlene,” the addition on the album’s 2003 Rainman Records reissue of “There But for the Grace of God Go I”—a hit for Darnell in its 1979 Machine version, and an even better song about suburban white flight than Billy Joel’s “Movin’ Out”—makes up for it.
Chuck Eddy: "Designed to Kill: 8 Essentials of ZE Records » : SPIN Magazine Sept. 2012
01 - I’m a Wonderfull Thing Baby - Andy Kidd Re-Edit - 8:04
Written by August Darnell & Peter S. Schott
Published by Cri Cri Music / Schott in the Dark Music
Produced by August Darnell
Original Sound Made by ZE Records © 1982
Re-Edited by Andy Kidd Re-Edit, From London, UK
© 2012 ZE Records Mundo Ltda
02 - Annie, I’m Not Your Daddy - Walter Mengoni Re-Edit - 6:45
Written by August Darnell
Published by Cri Cri Music
Produced by August Darnell
Original Sound Made by ZE Records © 1982
Re-Edited by Walter Mengoni From Florence, Italy
© 2012 ZE Records Mundo Ltda
03 - Going Places - Yam Who? Re-Edit - 5:02
Written by August Darnell
Published by Island Music Ltd.
Produced by August Darnell & « Sugar Coated » Andy Hernandez
for Puddle Production
Original Sound Made by ZE Records © 1981
Re-Edited by Yam Who? From London, UK
© 2012 ZE Records Mundo Ltda
04 - Stool Pigeon - Sir Billy Re-Edit - 6:50
Written by August Darnell
Published by Cri Cri Music
Produced by August Darnell
Original Sound Made by ZE Records © 1982
Re-Edited by Sir Billy From Treviso,Italy
© 2012 ZE Records Mundo Ltda
05 - Maladie D’Amour - De Melero Re-Edit - 6:39
Written by Andy Hernandez / August Darnell
Published by Chapell Music Co. Ltd
Produced by August Darnell
Original Sound Made by ZE Records © 1980
Re-Edited by De Melero Re-Edit From Barcelona, Spain
© 2012 ZE Records Mundo Ltda
06 - I’m Corrupt - Walter Mengoni Re-Edit - 7:13
Written by Coati Mundi
Published by Coati Mundi Music
Produced by August Darnell
Original Sound Made by ZE Records © 1982
Re-Edited by Walter Mengoni Re-Edit From Florence, Italy
© 2012 ZE Records Mundo Ltda
07 - Double On Back - Tim Zawada Re-Edit - 5:31
Written by August Darnell
Published by Island Music Ltd.
Produced by August Darnell
Original Sound Made by ZE Records © 1982
Re-Edited by Tim Zawada Re-Edit From Chicago, USA
© 2012 ZE Records Mundo Ltda
08 - I am - Rhead Eddy Re-Edit - 7:05
Written by Andy Hernandez
Published by Island Music Ltd.
Produced by August Darnell & « Sugar Coated » Andy Hernandez
for Puddle Production
Original Sound Made by ZE Records © 1981
Re-Edited by Rhead Eddy Re-Edit From Manchester,UK
© 2012 ZE Records Mundo Ltda
09 - Yolanda - De Melero Re-Edit - 5:42
Written by Andy Hernandez / August Darnell
Published by Island Music Ltd
Produced by August Darnell
Original Sound Made by ZE Records © 1980
Re-Edited by De Melero Re-Edit
From Barcelona, Spain
10 - In The Jungle - Deej. Valavanis Re-Edit - 6:52
Written by August Darnell
Published by Island Music Ltd.
Produced by August Darnell & « Sugar Coated » Andy Hernandez
for Puddle Production
Original Sound Made by ZE Records © 1981
Re-Edited by Deej. Valavanis Re-Edit From Thessaloniki, Grece
© 2012 ZE Records Mundo Ltda
11 - Christmas On Riverside Drive - Eugene Tambourine & Mr. Ho Re-Edit - 6:27
Written by August Darnell
Published by Cri Cri Music
Produced by August Darnell
Original Sound Made by ZE Records © 1982
Re-Edited by Eugene Tambourine & Mr. Ho Re-Edit From Berlin, Germany
© 2012 ZE Records Mundo Ltda
12 - Dario - De Melero Re-Ed - 6:08
Written by August Darnell
Published by Ron Rayney Inc
Produced by August Darnell for Puddle Production
Directed by Michael Zilkha
Original Sound Made by ZE Records © 1980
Re-Edited by De Melero Re-Ed From Barcelona, Spain
© 2012 ZE Records Mundo Ltda
13 - There But For The Grace Of God Go I - 57 th & 7 th Re-Edit - 6:05
Written by August Darnell / Kevin Nance
Published by Hologram Music / Liam Music / Nance Songs
Produced by August Darnell & Michael Zilkha
Original Sound Made by ZE Records © 1980
Re-Edited by 57 th & 7 th Re-Edit From New York, USA
© 2012 ZE Records Mundo Ltda
14 - There's Something Wrong in Paradise - Dj Steef Re-Edit - 6:53
Written by August Darnell / Mark Alexander Mazur
Published by Emi Music Publishing Ltd / Island Music Ltd.
Produced by August Darnell
Original Sound Made by ZE Records © 1983
Re-Edited by Dj Steef Re-Edit From Marseilles, France
© 2012 ZE Records Mundo Ltda
15 - Lili Marlene - Melero Re-Edit - 4:48
Written by Hans Leip / Norbert Schultze
Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd. / Peter Maurice Co. Ltd.
Produced by August Darnell
Original Sound Made by ZE Records © 1980
Re-Edited by Melero Re-Edit From Barcelona, Spain
© 2012 ZE Records Mundo Ltda
16 - Musica Americana - De Melero Re-Edit - 4:52
Written by Andy Hernandez
Published by Island Music Ltd.
Produced by August Darnell & « Sugar Coated » Andy Hernandez
for Puddle Production
Original Sound Made by ZE Records © 1981
Re-Edited by De Melero Re-Edit From Barcelona, Spain
© 2012 ZE Records Mundo Ltda
17 - Off The Coast of Me - Mischief Brew Re-Edit - 5:28
Written by August Darnell
Published by Chapell Music Co. Ltd
Produced by August Darnell
Original Sound Made by ZE Records © 1980
Re-Edited by Mischief Brew Re-Edit From London, UK
© 2012 ZE Records Mundo Ltda
Produced and Selected by Michel Esteban
Art Cover Photo by George DuBose
Design by Michel Esteban
This Selection © 2012 ZE Records Mundo Ltda
