1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wasnotwas.jpg]] |
2 | |
3 | ->''"Boom, boom, acka-lacka-lacka-boom\ |
4 | Boom, boom, acka-lacka-boom-boom"'' |
5 | -->-- The opening to '''"Walk the Dinosaur"''' |
6 | |
7 | Was (Not Was) is an experimental pop-funk ensemble created by Don Was (Don Fagenson) and David Was (David Weiss), formed in 1979 in UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}}, broken up in 1992, and re-formed in 2004. Don and David Was are, as you might have guessed, not really blood relatives. In the main they're not singers either. While the band has a longstanding front man in "Sweet Pea" Atkinson, they have also passed the lead vocal mic to a series of high profile {{special guest}}s. |
8 | |
9 | Both Don and David Was are to varying extents sought-after {{record producer}}s. Don co-produced Music/TheB52s' ''Cosmic Thing'' with [[Music/{{Chic}} Nile Rodgers]] while David produced ''Songs in the Key of X'', two compilation albums spun off from ''Series/TheXFiles''. |
10 | |
11 | !!Tropes (Not Tropes): |
12 | * AbusiveParents: "Knocked Down Made Small (Treated Like A Rubber Ball)". |
13 | * AmoralAttorney: Bobby {{M|eaningfulName}}aggot in "Out Come the Freaks". |
14 | * ChristmasSongs: "Christmas in the Motor City," recorded for the 1981 [=ZE=] Records compilation ''A Christmas Record.'' |
15 | * DisappearedDad: "Somewhere in America There's a Street Named After My Dad", the CoverVersion of "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone". "11 Miles An Hour" notes that Lee Harvey Oswald had a disappeared dad as well. |
16 | * ElvisHasLeftThePlanet: And in a spoken verse in some versions of "Walk the Dinosaur", he comes back. |
17 | * FollowTheBouncingBall: Subverted in the "Walk The Dinosaur" video. The chorus lyrics appear on screen with bouncing ball, but over a different (and instrumental) section of the song. |
18 | * {{Funk}} and FunkRock, to the point that George Clinton covered "Walk the Dinosaur". |
19 | * IHaveNoSon: "(Return to the Valley Of) Out Come the Freaks" |
20 | * ListSong: "Shake Your Head (Let's Go to Bed)" |
21 | * LoudnessWar: The greatest hits collection ''Pick of the Litter'' has been criticized for this. |
22 | * LyricalDissonance: |
23 | ** "Walk the Dinosaur" is not really a light-hearted song about prehistoric times; [[https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/out-come-the-freaks/Content?oid=2180376 it's about]] ''[[NukeEm nuclear Armageddon]]''. |
24 | ** "Out Come the Freaks" and its variants are jaunty, funky, upbeat songs about things like a ShellShockedVeteran and other {{Crazy Homeless Person}}s slowly dying out on the streets, [[RapeAsDrama sexual assault of the desperate or mentally ill]], {{Amoral Attorney}}s profiting off the poor, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and finally,]] golddiggers hoping to snag a millionaire. |
25 | * NubileSavage: The video for "Walk the Dinosaur" includes four of them dancing to the song. |
26 | * OnePhoneCall: "Dad I'm In Jail". |
27 | * OpenHeartDentistry: Literally in "I Feel Better Than James Brown". |
28 | * RearrangeTheSong: Most obviously "Out Come the Freaks", but others get the treatment too. Their 1992 UK hit "Shake Your Head" was completely reworked from the original 1983 version. |
29 | * RippedFromTheHeadlines: "Maria Navarro". |
30 | * RobotGirl: "Robot Girl", obviously. |
31 | * SelfTitledAlbum: Their debut, though its expanded reissue was retitled ''Out Come the Freaks''. |
32 | * ShoutOut: |
33 | ** "Earth to Doris" is heavily inspired by Music/TomWaits' spoken word tracks. |
34 | ** The "boom boom acka lacka" chorus from "Walk the Dinosaur" is copied from Music/SlyAndTheFamilyStone's "I Want to Take You Higher". |
35 | * SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Tends strongly toward the cynical end whenever it's political. |
36 | * SopranoAndGravel: The 1992 remake of "Shake Your Head" is a duet between Music/OzzyOsbourne and Creator/KimBasinger. |
37 | * SpecialGuest: On various songs their guest vocalists have included Frank Sinatra, Jr., Mel Tormé, Music/OzzyOsbourne, Music/LeonardCohen, the Roches, and Music/KrisKristofferson. |
38 | * SpyFiction: "Spy in the House of Love" takes the typical spies-in-love cliches up a notch by portraying the "war of the affections" as a literal war and a courtship turning into SpyVersusSpy. |
39 | * SurrealHumor: One of the things they're particularly known for. |
40 | * UnpluggedVersion: Their GreatestHitsAlbum ''Hello Dad... I'm in Jail'' includes an acoustic demo of "How the Heart Behaves". |
41 | * WhoShotJFK: "11 Miles An Hour". |
42 | ---- |
43 | ->''"Open the door, get on the floor\ |
44 | Everybody kill the dinosaur\ |
45 | Open the door, get on the floor\ |
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