Que Pasa/Me No Pop I [Coati Mundi 12" Mix][*] - Kid Creole, Hernandez, Andy
Digitally Remastered Reissue of the 1981 Second Album from August Darnell's Critically Praised Band of Musicians Took the Band's Concept to New Artistic Heights. One Cannot Listen Without a Smirk Or a Laugh as Darnell Furt... more »her Proved Here his Mastery Double Entendre and Clever Word Play. These Great Songs Are Set to an Exciting Musical Backdrop of R&B Funk, Ska, Calypso, Soca and Just Plain Fun. Includes Updated Liner Notes, Rare Photos, an Interview with August Darnell and the Great Bonus for Collectors Are the Two Bonus Tracks; The 12" Versions of "Table Manners" and Coati Mundi's (Andy Hernandez) Solo Disco Hit "Que Pasa/Me No Pop I" (Coati Mundi 12" Mix).« less
Digitally Remastered Reissue of the 1981 Second Album from August Darnell's Critically Praised Band of Musicians Took the Band's Concept to New Artistic Heights. One Cannot Listen Without a Smirk Or a Laugh as Darnell Further Proved Here his Mastery Double Entendre and Clever Word Play. These Great Songs Are Set to an Exciting Musical Backdrop of R&B Funk, Ska, Calypso, Soca and Just Plain Fun. Includes Updated Liner Notes, Rare Photos, an Interview with August Darnell and the Great Bonus for Collectors Are the Two Bonus Tracks; The 12" Versions of "Table Manners" and Coati Mundi's (Andy Hernandez) Solo Disco Hit "Que Pasa/Me No Pop I" (Coati Mundi 12" Mix).
CD Reviews
Latino Si, Yanqui No!
Ralph Quirino | Keswick, Ontario Canada | 11/05/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Finally! Too bad it took Universal U.K. to re-release this long-lost "mutant disco" classic (Sire had the U.S. rights way back when). The logical successor to Off The Coast Of Me and the first part of Creole's extended concept album series stands as the ultimate disco concept album (which works superbly well without the story line either...) thanks to a veritable diaspora of sound: Latin American, disco, rock, pop, even a slight trace of - dare we say it - punk! This is still fun stuff. And though it doesn't contain as big a hit as "Endicott" or "My Male Curiosity", it's every bit as lovable, dancable, groovable, skankable. Key tracks include "In The Jungle", "Animal Crackers", "I Stand Accused" (a witty little throw-away that spoofs weepy seventies soul ballads a-la "Coldest Days Of My Life"), "Musica Americana" (with its infamous "latino si, yanqui no" chorus), "I Am", "With A Girl Like Mimi" and "Table Manners". Toss in two great bonus tracks (the essential "Que Pasa/Me No Pop I" especially), great sound and Kid Creole-interview liner notes and you've got a first-class reissue. Manic fun to be had for all! Listen and groove! Memo to Universal: please try to release more Ze Records stuff! I especially miss Don Armando's 2nd Avenue Rhumba Band and their cool remake of Irving Berlin's "I'm An Indian, Too" (which Creole produced)."
An amazing record - period.
Thor Maillet | Waltham, MA United States | 01/24/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"After hearing August Darnell (Kid Creole)'s production work on Cristina's debut album (and also helped along by memories of my father playing "Don't Take my Coconuts" a lot when I was a kid) I decided to give this band a real chance, and picked up all four of the ZE releases on vinyl. Though they are all worth picking up, "Fresh Fruit" really stands out to me as the best of those four. There is not one song on here that I can say I dislike. What really grabs me about it is that every song is different, stylistically, but still maintains a "sound" that connects all of them. Among the tracks, "Animal Crackers" (a reggae-ish number about customs denying entrance of such things as frosted flakes and coffee cakes), "Going Places", "I Am", "I Stand Accused" and "Table Manners" are my personal favorites, but this is not to discount the other amazing tracks. Darnell's lyrics are astounding once you pay attention to them, and the fusion of latin/r&b/disco/rock/caribbean/reggae is just unequalled by anyone else. Also, the bonus tracks make this worth buying alone. The 12" version of Table Manners is a godsend -- and the Coati Mundi track "Me No Pop I" is quite possibly the best thing to come out of Andy Hernandez. The remaster quality is insanely wonderful - so much detail brought out that the LP format tended to bury. I feel like I'm mumbling here - but this is just a landmark in modern music and it should be in everyone's collection regardless of their musical inklings. Intelligent, funny, groovin' -- just try to not be happy when listening to this. Awesome."
One of my Top 10 Desert Island discs.
Michael Carson | Tucson | 11/01/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"In a way, a concept album about the difficulty of staying in love. I bought the LP when it first came out, recorded it to tape, and played that cassette on just about every highway in Arizona way long ago. Not a misfired song in the bunch. Hard to pick a favorite one, but "Table Manners" and its read-between-the-lines lyrics comes close. If you happen to be "rediscovering" old music, beyond what Billboard deemed popular in the last several decades, the early albums of this group are worth adding to your collection."
Truly a Five Star Album
Fred McGhee | Austin, TX | 03/26/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Long a critical favorite, this record is one of the best releases of the 1980's. This digital remaster does justice to the original, whose lyrical virtuosity and standout musicianship, as well as outstanding production, made it an instant vintage.
An "album" in the best sense of the word, this is enlightened "mulatto music" for the masses. Standout tracks include "Schweinerei," and "In the Jungle," and of course "Me No Pop I," whose twelve inch mix is included in this remaster. But do yourself a favor and enjoy this album as the complete work of art it was intended to be.
How good do I think this record is? I play cuts from this album (and the entire album when time permits) in my introductory African Diaspora classes and workshops. There are few truly modern works of art that embody the concept of "Creole" as skillfully as this work does, not just in terms of stamps on one's passport, but also in terms of artfully blending the multidudinous ways in which the "changing same" that characterizes so much of African-matrixed forms of art. Much of the album involves not just fanciful plays on words, but fun with language (and languages) itself, a truly African Diaspora oriented notion. Another wonderful aspect of this music is its explicitly self-aware historicism and playful incorporation of a 1930's and 1940's big band jazz (New York style as well as Island style) aesthetic.
Many of the themes explored here were already in evidence with Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band, but they are taken to a new level in this work. Much of the credit for that goes to the musicians, particularly the legendary Winston Grennon, whose drumming is outstanding. Above all, August Darnell deserves beaucoup credit for assembling such top-notch talent.
Sometimes the critics are right. This is one such example."
A Lost Treasure Way Ahead Of Its Time
K. Ho | Richmond, VA | 10/18/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"It was great to read the above reviews as I often felt I was the only one in the world who thought that "Fresh Fruit In Foreign Places" was a minor masterpiece (the best kind). Its tropical cocktail of salsa, reggae, rap and disco was indeed way over the heads of listeners back in the early 80s; though well-received critically it didn't register a blip on the public consciousness. It's a wildly imaginative concept album with bold Latin horn arrangements. Just try to find anything equal to the surging horn charts in "With A Girl Like Mimi" in pop music today. The playful, rhyming chorus of "I Am" would set the charts on fire if re-released as a single today (the dated Ayatollah reference notwithstanding). I had to dig through the dusty record bins to get to hear it again, but it's great to know that others don't have to do the same in order to enjoy the delightful ear candy of "Fresh Fruit" today."
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1