Today I'm wrapping up my short trip through the 1980's post punk and new wave band, The Waitresses.
Chris Butler formed the group while still working with his other band, Tin Huey in 1978. He'd record an early version of I Know What Boys Like with singer, Patty Darling, AKA Patty Donahue, though the song would remain unreleased at the time. Instead, Butler would eventually move to New York, and shop the track around, garnering the attention of ZE Records, who released it as a single in 1980. While it would not chart, it would become an underground hit, allowing Butler to put a formal band together.
The lineup featured Chris on guitars, lead vocalist Patty Donahue, jazz saxophonist Mars Williams, former Television drummer Billy Ficca, keyboardist Dan Klayman, bassist Dave Hofstra and backing vocalist Ariel Warner. They'd enter the studio to record their debut, Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderul?, but before it would be released, Warner would depart the band because of severe stage fright. Hofstra also quit, leading to Tracy Wormworth joining in his place.
Upon its release in 1982, the album would land at number forty-one on the Billboard 200, while also charting at number eighty-four in Australia. It would further feature the bands one and only Billboard Hot 100 hit, I Know What Boys Like, peaking at number sixty-two. The song would fair better on the Mainstream Rock Charts, where it reached twenty-three.
The EP I Could Rule The World If I Could Only Get the Parts followed later that same year. Though it would include the classic, Christmas Wrappings, previously released on the ZE Records compilation, A Christmas Record (1981) this would not be enough to garner it much attention. While it would hit the Billboard 200, it stalled at number one hundred twenty-eight. The aforementioned song would fare better in the UK, where it peaked at number forty-five. The EP would also feature Square Pegs, the theme song written for the show of the same name, where the band also appeared in the pilot episode as themselves.
Their second, and final studio album, Bruiseolgoy was released in 1983, but following it, Donahue left The Waitresses. She'd be replaced by Holly Beth Vincent, but she too would depart just two weeks later. Shortly thereafter, the band formally broke up. Despite this, the album would still land on the Billboard 200 at number one hundred fifty-five.
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Things start out a lot stronger than I expected with opener, A Girls Gotta Do, and though it dips slightly with Make The Weather, which follows, I would call it a solid start. Unfortunately, things then take a nosedive. Though things are okay, and familiar with their debut, the newness has worn off, and the forgivable scale slid.
The Waitresses do have a sound reminiscent of The (English) Beat, mostly driven by the saxophone playing of Mars Williams. I dare say that his playing is the standout attribute on the whole thing. This becomes all the more how I feel with the awesome instrumental track, Pleasure. If nothing else, that tune was worth the buy in.
As a whole, I'm glad it's the final in their discography. I don't think I'd have it in me to do a third album from them. It's descent, and will definitely give you a punk fix, if that's what you're after. For me, I'm not, and I'm good with being done.
The band never reunited, not even for a one-off event. Sadly, that would be an impossibility to occur today. As a heavy smoker, Donahue unfortunately passed away from lung cancer in 1996. Saxophonist Williams also passed away in 2023, also from cancer.
As I noted yesterday, The Waitresses unfortunately never saw their albums individually released on CD. Instead, Polydor released incomplete compilations entitled The Best of the Waitresses (1990), and 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of The Waitresses (2003). If you want to own them in CD format, you can still do so with Omnivore Recordings released the compilation Just Desserts: The Complete Waitresses (2013). This collects both studio albums, the EP, and a couple of bonus tracks. However, it is out of print and can be quite pricy.
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