ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #046

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#046– Kid Creole & The Coconuts – ‘Gina Gina’ (Island/Ze Records ’83)

Hello friends,

looking at the previous 45 posts, you surely wouldn’t believe that I would pay even the slightest attention to a combo described @ Wikipedia as thus:

“its music incorporates a variety of styles and influences, in particular a mix of disco and Latin America, Caribbean, and Calloway styles conceptually inspired by the big band era”.

Still, I did pay attention, and I did from a very early age on, because by sheer coincidence I happened to see the famous Rockpalast show on German television in 1982. I must admit I never knew much about Kid Creole before, by God – I was 14 then, so forgive me! But what I saw just blew me away – one of the last great performers, for sure! It’s a very good question why it was that I was so taken aback, not easy to answer for sure.

Why? Well, because the Rockpalast show certainly stood in marked contrast to the bands I usually listened to at the time – The Kid, Coati Mundi and The three Coconuts were by no means comparable to the sulky German post-punk bands, all dressed in black, not able to play any instrument halfway properly – which normally would have caught my attention. In hindsight, I think that exactly this difference made them so worthwhile to me, it was like entering another world. All the kitsch, all the moves, all the dancing, all the choreographies were so way over the top – you could easily tell that self-irony was a big part of the show. It isn’t easy to explain, as I said, but I really think – and thought – Kid Creole & The Coconuts were absolutely special because of that.

And, JC, I know what you are thinking right now: for me, it wasn’t just the Coconuts. Unlike what you witnessed, at the Rockpalast they wore long dresses all the time, not bikinis, as pictured above. Alas. So it was the show for me, nothing else. Only years later – through the internet – I found out what a clever and funny lyricist Kid Creole was, some great words in many great songs. This one always was one of my favorites:

mp3:  Kid Creole & The Coconuts – Gina Gina

Only a B-Side (again), to ‘The Lifeboat Party’ in fact, but what a song, ey!? If only someone could tell me – after 40 years – what ‘Saliva Gutz’ means, my life would be complete, honestly – so please please please: help me here!!

Thanks ever so much for an answer – and enjoy

Dirk