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Was (Not Was) is an American band founded in 1979 in Detroit, Michigan, by David Weiss and Don Fagenson, who adopted the stage names David Was and Don Was. Their song catalog features an eclectic mix of pop and rock styles, often featuring guest musicians from across the musical spectrum. The band's most popular period was during the 1980s and early 1990s, with their highest-charting hit, the song "Walk the Dinosaur", released in 1987 as the lead single from their 1988 album "What Up, Dog?", becoming a worldwide top-40 hit and peaking at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The band went on indefinite hiatus in the mid-1990s, but has returned sporadically since the turn of the millennium. Their most recent release was the 2008 album "Boo!".
Was (Not Was) provides examples of the following tropes:
- Abusive Parents: "Knocked Down Made Small (Treated Like A Rubber Ball)"
- Amoral Attorney: Bobby Maggot in "Out Come The Freaks".
- Disappeared Dad: "Somewhere In America There's A Street Named After My Dad", the cover of "Papa Was A Rolling Stone". "11 Miles An Hour" notes that Lee Harvey Oswald had a disappeared dad as well.
- Elvis Has Left the Planet: And in an extra verse to "Walk Of Dinosaur" on Hello Dad... I'm In Jail, he comes back.
- Everything's Better with Dinosaurs: "Walk The Dinosaur".
- Funk and Funk Rock
- I Have No Daughter: "(Return To The Valley Of) Out Come The Freaks"
- List Song: "Shake Your Head (Let's Go To Bed)"
- Nubile Savage: The video for "Walk The Dinosaur" includes four of them dancing to the song.
- One Phone Call: "Dad I'm In Jail"
- Open-Heart Dentistry: Literally in "I Feel Better Than James Brown".
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I went to my dentist and told him, "Take out my heart." |
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- Rearrange the Song: 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.
- Record of Loudness War: The greatest hits collection Pick Of The Litter has been criticized for this.
- Ripped from the Headlines: "Maria Navarro"
- Robot Girl: "Robot Girl", obviously.
- Self-Titled Album: Their debut, though its expanded reissue was retitled Out Come The Freaks.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Tends strongly toward the cynical end.
- Soprano and Gravel: The 1992 remake of "Shake Your Head" is a duet between Ozzy Osbourne and Kim Basinger.
- Spoken Word in Music: "I Feel Better Than James Brown".
- Surreal Humor: One of the things they're particularly known for.
- Unplugged Version: Their Greatest Hits album Hello Dad... I'm In Jail includes an acoustic demo of "How The Heart Behaves".
- Who Shot JFK?: "11 Miles An Hour"