Line #6 Music/WasNotWas


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\

Context Music / WasNotWas