Yes, it’s true. Guilty as charged! I am what is commonly referred to as a HOARDER! I hoard things. I collect things. And the lesson I force-feed my children has always been – DOCUMENT EVERYTHING! When the Coronavirus curtailed my freedom of movement, I decided to explore my cellars and lofts. That is where I found thousands of my cassettes that have followed me on every journey I have ever made (and that’s a whole lot of mileage). They were just sitting there, still looking good, just waiting to be cared for again! Since the dreaded pandemic had made me a prisoner in my own home, I decided to use the time to listen to each and every cassette! That became my MISSION IMPOSSIBLY POSSIBLE! Thus was born ONCE UPON A CASSETTE, a collection of ditties and Darnellian witticisms never heard before. I now present you with The Volumes. I hope my attention span allows me to create at least one hundred more! In fact we are attempting to release one volume a month until we’re over and done. And then in time for Christmas, we shall be offering a number of volumes available for purchase in tangible form. Pow to the Nth degree, guys and dolls!
Hey, remember the Wizard who said, “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain”? Well, here’s my take on that: Always ignore that demand, from Wizards and Fools. Peel back all curtains. Be entertained. Be shocked. Be transformed. Be embarrassed. I dare you. In fact, I double-dare you!
The Kid is very excited to publish a brand new series of Lyric Books called: Call Me Mister Lyrical.
The debate about whether the music or the lyric is the most important aspect of a song has been going on since the first caveman added grunts to his partner’s humming. My opinion is this: they are equal. Each element has the power to diminish or glorify the other. A.D.
This first volume includes all the lyrics from Off the Coast of Me (40th Anniversary Deluxe edition). Volume Two covers all the lyrics from Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places. Volume Three covers Tropical Gangsters/Wise Guy album. And Volume Four which contains the lyrics from Doppelganger, the band’s fourth studio album is out now!
The books are available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback versions.
We hope you will enjoy these Lyric Books by August Darnell. Darnell has always been widely reviewed about his lyrics and we feel the contents of this book portray his inspired lyrics perfectly.
The first release from the new KID CREOLE and THE COCONUTS Album (tentatively entitled MAN OVERBOARD… or perhaps MAN OVER-BORED) is the unforgettable DEAD MAN TALKING.
The single is the first collaboration of August Darnell and Mike Gorman, who is the keyboard player and MD in the band. Mike did the BIG BAND arrangement on this one. He used real musicians (imagine that) to capture that lush Cab Calloway/Duke Ellington sound.
DEAD MAN TALKING was recorded during the height of the pandemic in 2021. Consequently, each musician (there are over 20) had to record his/her part in the confines of his/her home, without spreading germs to fellow players. Nevertheless, the result is PURE MAGIC.
The Brand (might-as-well-be) New Album by KCC is out on now!
Now you can get your eager hands on a limited edition of ‘Nothin’ Left but the Rest’ 2021! The CD is available exclusively through 2C2C Music.
This digipack comes with a gold vinyl style disc, a 12 page booklet, contains 14 songs in total, including some bonus demos, and is remastered and ready!
Order your copy TODAY! The album’s release date is on June 18th so grab your copy today before they sell out!
Enjoy this new single, That Boy, by the legendary Kid Creole and the Coconuts and the dynamic duo from Italy: Los Locos (Roby Borillo and Paolo Franchetto). The Kid and Los Locos previously teamed up to release the fun single entitled ‘Muchachacha.
We’re very excited to announce that FRESH FRUIT IN FOREIGN PLACES is coming as part of Record Store Day 2022! Find more info and a participating store near you at recordstoreday.com – gorgeous brand new packaging with special gold vinyl disc – remastered in 2021 – Record Store Day is celebrating 15 years this year! Get involved!
The Kid is back with a Brand (might-as-well-be) New Album – OUT on June 18th!
Now you can get your eager hands on a limited edition CD of ‘Nothin’ Left but the Rest’ 2021! Available exclusively through 2C2C Music. The album will also be available on all the usual digital outlets.
The digipack CD, with a 12 page booklet, contains 14 songs in total including some bonus demos, and it’s remastered and ready!
Pre-Order your copy from June 4th! The album will be released on June 18th so grab your copy today before they sell out!
This will be Kid Creole and the Coconuts‘ 15th studio album! The album was written during a round-the-world-in-eighty-days adventure with his right hand man, Bongo Eddie. They visited places such as Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and more where they lived amongst various indigenous tribes.
CALLING ALL CREOLIANS!!!!! NEWS ALERT! Oh no, THE KID has discovered NFTs!!!! Help! All those unreleased songs in his treasure chest, buried in Maui for ages, will now be unleashed upon the world. All you cryptocurrency savvy fans out there who have more money than sense, check out the rare items that are now available on Rarible.com. And for those of you who live in the dark ages, and enjoy it there, google THE NFT REVOLUTION in MUSIC, and you’ll see what we’re yappin’ about. See you in the marketplace!
Check out the latest drop! The Kid and Dear Addy have reunited to collaborate on a new exciting piece of digital art, and you can get your hands on it (if you own cryptocurrency!). Own a piece of the 80s!
This 30 second NFT Digital Art piece “Got to be a Man,” by Kid Creole & The Coconuts co-founders, August Darnell and Adriana Kaegi, is the beginning of a new collaboration, in an exciting new space. Place your bids now and own a piece of the 80s!
The Kid, otherwise known as August Darnell is very excited to be launching his first Lyric Book series:
CALL ME MISTER LYRICAL
The first volume in this Lyric Book series covers the cleverly written lyrics from the re-released Off The Coast of Me – 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition.
Call Me Mister Lyrical – Volume One
The debate about whether the music or the lyric is the most important aspect of a song has been going on since the first caveman added grunts to his partner’s humming. My opinion is this: they are equal. Each element has the power to diminish or glorify the other. A.D.
We hope you will enjoy this very first published Lyric Book by August Darnell. Darnell has always been widely reviewed about his lyrics and we feel the contents of this book portray his inspired lyrics perfectly.
The book is available in Kindle and Paperback versions from Amazon. You can pre-order the Kindle version now, set for worldwide release on April 5th. You can purchase the paperback version which is ready to ship now! (Order from your own country’s Amazon store)
This edition covers the lyrics from Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places. It also contains the original holographs (handwritten lyrics) from when Darnell first wrote and created the songs! Enjoy!
With his brother, Stony Browder Jr, Darnell formed Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band in the mid-70s, and had a hit almost immediately with the slinky, subversive big band/disco hybrid ‘Cherchez La Femme’. Hugely underrated as a lyricist (who else would write pop songs about being unable to get it up, disowning a child, or use the word ‘slut’ in a chorus?), his string of hits with his own band, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, in the early Eighties – as well as the fruits of his stint as in-house producer at Ze Records – still sound brilliantly bizarre. In other times, Darnell might have been called a wit; his best songs are dazzlingly witty: they can also be sarcastic, ambiguous, deceptively eager to please. It’s pop as a moving target, brighty-coloured – even garish, but rich with shades of grey.
AD: Absolutely Ab-so-lute-ly! I went just the opposite way. That was intentional, in the same way that Kid Creole wasn’t what people expected a band like that to be at that time. That’s how crazy songs like ‘Mr Softee’ [about impotence] came about, crazy self-punishing songs. Ridiculous songs like ‘There But For The Grace of God’ [by Machine], with ridiculous lyrics that everyone got offended by. That goes all the way back to ‘Cherchez La Femme.’ The hook-line, where I got hate-mail was ‘They’re all the same, the sluts and the saints.’ Hate-mail came in: ‘how could you say such a thing?’ but the point is, Hey, at least I got your attention didn’t I? There’s always going to be double-entendres, there’s always going to be word-play – but most importantly there’s going to be things in the live show that jar you, upset you, that are going to make you say, ‘Why is that that way.’ America is the only place in the world where I’ve had people say, ‘Why aren’t there any sisters on stage singing?’ I say, ‘Wait a minute – this is the Coconuts, this is the image. Blond, blue eyes – sorry if that offends you. My wife chose two girls who look like her, that’s the image.’ A.D.
With Kid Creole, there’s always something weird going on – and it’s much more evident. There’s always an unease, a dislocation.
AD: We have a saying: my brother created this. We’d write a song, it was a pop song. A hook, a verse, a chorus, a bridge: standard. After we’d listened to it, we’d be sitting around in the studio, he’d have joint – he was never without a joint in his mouth – he’d say ‘Let’s fuck it up.’ Like the last song on I Wake Up Screaming, ‘Just Because I Love You’ – it’s so poppy, that you have to mess it up. There’s always something a little… off target. That’s how I get my kicks. Because at my age, you’d better get some kicks. I’ve been there, got the T-shirt, every accolade known to man, toured every country in the universe, but I still love song-writing. A.D.
We’re very excited to announce that FRESH FRUIT IN FOREIGN PLACES is coming as part of Record Store Day 2022! 
