Was (not was)
>> Born to laugh at tornadoes
Conceptually, this is the year's best record. Wideeyed rocker Marshall Crenshaw singing "Feelings." Black-magic metal man Ozzy Osbourne declaring, "You can't sue Buddha for libel/You can't rewrite the Bible." Former Detroit Wheel Mitch Ryder hollering, "Where the hell are my shoes?" Yes, you expect conceptual brilliance from Was (Not Was), the Detroit duo whose eponymous 1981 debut LP was a lively fusion of jokey lyrics and hard-edged white-boy funk, and Born to Laugh at Tornadoes doesn't disappoint. This time out, "brothers" Don and David Was have supplied sassy, stunning music for their wacked-out words, resulting in songs whose cleverness is outdone only by their danceability.

Throughout Born to Laugh at Tornadoes, the Was Bros. employ nine different lead vocalists and recharge a host of enervated music forms (cocktail jazz, Anglo rap, cheesy pop) with sheer wit and brainy energy. Take, for example, their reclamation of former Knack singer Doug Fieger, whose adenoidal whine fits the sardonic "Betrayal" like a cheap suit. >> more...
01 Knocked down, made small (treated like a rubber ball)
02 Bow wow wow wow
03 Betrayal
04 Shake your head (let's go to bed)
05 Man vs. the Empire Brain Building
06 (Return to the valley of) out come the freaks
07 Professor night
08 The party broke up
09 Smile
10 Zaz turned blue
Original release 1983
Back to discography
Tracklist & Credits