and available to listen on Spotify, Tidal, Deezer, iHeartRadio and many more digital outlets.
The new KCC single is called YOU DON’T KNOW ME. It was written and produced by Tim Vine of Electric Diplomat and August Darnell.
Darnell met Vine in Monte Carlo. Vine had just won a small fortune at the Roulette table. Darnell had just lost a small fortune at the same table. Vine felt sorry for Darnell and offered to buy him a drink. Darnell rebuked the offer, mistaking it for a gesture of superiority. Darnell’s ego kicked in. He said to Vine: “You don’t know me?” Vine replied, “You don’t know me?”
And so a friendship was born. And a sun-scorched song was created out of the embers of a gambling addiction in the South of France.
Turns out that Vine did not recognize Darnell without his signature mustache and two-toned shoes. Darnell invited Vine to hop aboard the KCC Banana Boat whenever he wasn’t busy with his own band, Electric Diplomat.
The track is hot. Check out what it does to your body. And meanwhile, have a swell summer.
YOU DON’T KNOW ME , on the 2C2C record label, can be found in all on-line stores. It is the 2nd single from the KCC Album entitled Port D’Arnelle.
CHERCHEZ LA FEMME is a musical extravaganza that tells the story of one man’s loss and another man’s gain and the powerful women who make it all possible. It explores dark themes (abandonment, sibling rivalry, unrequited love) and light themes (sexual healing, the pursuit of happiness, the smell of success) but never without inviting you to shake your head and slap tap your toes to the infectious neo-urban-jungle grooves. The play is set in New York City and the Caribbean in the 1980’s. It’s reckless. It’s rhythmic. It’s romantic.
BACK TO THE FUTURE
30 years ago Vivien Goldman interviewed me in London for a magazine called NME. My alter ego, KID CREOLE, had just released an album entitled TROPICAL GANGSTERS on the Island Records label. It was a hit. The interview lasted 3 hours and 35 minutes. A friendship was formed. 7 years ago Vivien visited me in my home in the idyllic Swedish countryside. We joked about writing a musical. The joke became a reality. The first draft of the play was written in 6 days. At first it was called I’M A WONDERFUL THING, BABY.
1 year ago Vivien met an actor named Julius Hollingsworth. She spoke to him about the musical. Julius said “Hey, I have done some work with the La Mama group in downtown Manhattan. Perhaps they would be interested in this!” Behold! Fate rears its magnificent head out of the wilderness. In the Spring of this year, a staged reading of that play (in its 7th re-write) was presented at the La Mama rehearsal space. It was now called CHERCHEZ LA FEMME. The room was packed with fans of KID CREOLE AND THE COCONUTS and DR BUZZARD’S ORIGINAL SAVANNAH BAND and with music lovers of all ages. My erstwhile manager, Tommy Mottola, even showed up. Hadn’t seen him 123 years (or so it seems)!
The staged readings were very successful. They led directly to yet another re-write and an invitation to entertain the masses at the Ellen Stewart Theatre! Pow! A dream deferred becomes a dream deferred no longer.
HERE AND NOW
CHERCHEZ LA FEMME will come alive for a limited run (May 19th – June 5th 2016) at the Ellen Stewart theatre in downtown Manhattan. We will have an 8 piece band and 15 cast members and some real sets and some dynamic lighting and some remarkable choreography. Yes, I am a fan of Cecil B. DeMille and Busby Berkley!
THE A TEAM
We will begin our extensive audition process in January so please contact us if you can sing and dance and act like a New Yorker in the 1980’s!
Where there’s a will, there’s a PLAY.
What happens after this limited run? Well … we bring the wacky world of CHERCHEZ LA FEMME to the rest of the world, of course.
Why not?
Excelsior,
August Darnell aka KID CREOLE
“We may be through with the past but the past isn’t through with us.”
(New York, NY) – Kid Creole & the Coconuts will perform in the U.S. live for the first time in 14 years as they begin a four-day mini tour at B.B. Kings in Manhattan on March 25, 2015.
The band, led by August “Kid Creole” Darnell, will play several of their classics and some of their newer music. The March 25th show will also feature a very special guest appearance by Cory Daye, who sang with Darnell while they were members of Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band.
Also joining Darnell on stage will be Haitia Fuller and Fonda Rae, singers he produced for various side projects (Elbow Bones and the Racketeers, Don Armando’s 2nd Ave. Rumba Band).
Kid Creole & the Coconuts continues to receive international acclaim for their live performances, which combine an ensemble of top musicians, swagger, flash and the Kid’s trademark snazzin’ zoot suits.
Darnell, Adriana Kaegi and Dr. Buzzard band mate Coati Mundi founded Kid Creole & the Coconuts in 1980 with the idea of orchestrating a three-ring circus-type act playing off the “Kid” persona versus his onstage comic foils coupled with an original sound fusing Funk, Big Band Jazz, Caribbean, Pop and other genres. Throughout the 1980s, Kid Creole & the Coconuts recorded several international hits including “Stool Pigeon,” “Annie, I’m Not Your Daddy” and “I’m a Wonderful Thing, Baby.” They also performed on SNL, Johnny Carson and in movies, such as; Against All Odds, Only You, Downtown 81 and Lambada: The Forbidden Dance.
The current lineup led by Darnell features:
Charlie Lagond (Saxophone)
Shareef Clayton (Trumpet)
Mike Gorman (Keyboards)
Barnaby Dickinson (Trombone)
Jessica Forsman (Coconut)
Roos Van Awesome (Coconut)
Eva Tudor-Jones (Mama Coconut)
Flex Republic (M.C./Left-Hand Man)
Jamie McCredie (Guitar)
Oroh Angiama (Bass)
Malene Mortensen (Chanteuse)
Dave Imby (Drummer and M.D.)
Anthony Almonte (Percussions)
In other news, among their upcoming performances, Kid Creole and the Coconuts are slated to play all three of the UK’s Rewind Festivals this summer. More information on shows and tour dates can be found on KCC’s official website: https://kidcreoleandthecoconuts.com/events/
For media inquiries or more information, please contact Chris Cordani, (917)580-1415 or chrisc@bceaglemedia.com or refer to https://kidcreoleandthecoconuts.com
IN A CORNER THERE’S A BUSY BAR
BARMAN HAS A BLOODY SCAR
VERY SLEAZY, WEEZY-QUEASY
IN THE TOILET THERE’S A RAGGED FOOL
SELLING COKE AND ACTING COOL
PRETTY ICKY, AWFUL SICKLY, OOOOO
TELL ME
WHAT YOU DOIN’ IN A PLACE LIKE THIS?
WHAT YOU DOIN’ IN A STATE LIKE THIS?
AND ON YOUR OWN …
LORD HAVE MERCY!
IN A CORNER THERE’S A POOL OF SICK
NO SURPRISE – THE AIR IS THICK
PRETTY SHITTY, WHAT A PITY
AND ON A TABLE THERE’S A TOPLESS GIRL
OFF HER TITS SHE DOES A WHIRL
VERY DIRTY, VERY FLIRTY, OOOOOO
TELL ME
WHAT YOU DOIN’ IN A PLACE LIKE THIS?
WHAT YOU DOIN’ IN A STATE LIKE THIS?
AND ON YOUR OWN …
LORD HAVE MERCY!
YOU’RE BREAKING MY HEART
YOU’RE FALLING APART
AIN’T YOU GOT NO SHAME?
YOU’RE SLIPPING SO LOW
YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW
YOU’RE IN PAIN
SHAME SHAME SHAME
THEY SAY THAT PRIDE WILL COME BEFORE A FALL
YOU PUT YOUR FAITH IN ALCOHOL
PRETTY STUPID, WHY YOU DO IT
THE D.J.’S PLAYING SOME CACOPHONY
THERE’S NOTHING HERE FOR YOU OR ME
WHERE’S THE MAGIC IN THE TRAGIC? OOOOOO
TELL ME
WHAT YOU DOIN’ IN A PLACE LIKE THIS?
WHAT YOU DOIN’ IN A STATE LIKE THIS?
AND ON YOUR OWN …
LORD HAVE MERCY!
WHAT YOU DOIN’ IN A PLACE LIKE THIS?
WHAT YOU DOIN’ IN A STATE LIKE THIS?
AND ALL ALONE …
LORD HAVE MERCY!
YOU’RE BREAKING MY HEART
YOU’RE FALLING APART
AIN’T YOU GOT NO SHAME?
YOU’RE SLIPPING SO LOW
YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW
YOU’RE IN PAIN
SHAME SHAME SHAME