American new wave band
The Waitresses
were an American
new wave
band from
Akron, Ohio
,
[1]
[2]
best known for their singles "
I Know What Boys Like
" and "
Christmas Wrapping
." They released two
albums
,
Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?
and
Bruiseology
, and one
EP
,
I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts
.
[1]
The group was led by guitarist-songwriter
Chris Butler
with lead
vocals
performed by
Patty Donahue
.
[1]
[3]
History
[
edit
]
The Waitresses were formed by Butler (formerly of
the Numbers Band
) in 1978 as a side project while he was still a member of
Tin Huey
. He wrote and recorded "I Know What Boys Like" that year, with guest vocals by friend Donahue (as "Patty Darling") and saxophone from Tin Huey member
Ralph Carney
, although the song remained unreleased at the time.
[4]
A debut single,
In "Short Stack"
(featuring the songs "Slide" and "Clones"), recorded solely by Butler, was issued by Clone Records in 1978. Both tracks from the single, plus another early song, "The Comb", appeared that year on
The Akron Compilation
, issued by
Stiff Records
.
[5]
Butler moved to
New York City
and shopped "I Know What Boys Like". The song landed him a deal with
ZE Records
(an affiliate of
Antilles Records
), who released the single in 1980.
[4]
It was an underground hit, but did not chart.
[6]
[7]
With the deal in place, Butler put together an actual band lineup for the Waitresses, featuring lead vocalist Donahue, jazz saxophonist
Mars Williams
, former
Television
drummer
Billy Ficca
, keyboardist Dan Klayman, bassist Dave Hofstra and backing vocalist Ariel Warner. The Waitresses played their debut concert on New Year's Eve 1980.
[4]
1981 saw the band record its first and most successful album and its most enduring hit. During the recording sessions for the album,
Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?
,
Warner resigned from the band due to stage fright. Later that year, Hofstra quit. He was replaced by
Tracy Wormworth
, who would supply the bass line for "
Christmas Wrapping
", a
Christmas song
written by Butler in August at ZE's insistence.
[4]
The Waitresses released
Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?
on January 11, 1982, on the
Polydor
label, licensed from ZE.
[3]
It peaked at No. 41 in the
Billboard
200
chart. The album included "I Know What Boys Like", which was re-released as a single later in the year and peaked at No. 62 on the
Billboard
Hot 100
,
[8]
No. 23 on
Billboard
'
s
Top Tracks
chart,
[9]
No. 14 on the Australian Singles Chart (Kent Music Report),
[7]
and also charted in the UK.
[2]
"Christmas Wrapping", originally released on the ZE Records album
A Christmas Record
in 1981,
[1]
became a No. 45 hit in the
United Kingdom
in 1982.
[3]
[10]
The Waitresses recorded the
theme song
to the
television program
Square Pegs
,
[3]
[11]
starring
Sarah Jessica Parker
and
Amy Linker
, which aired during the 1982?1983 season, and the band appeared as themselves in the pilot episode.
[12]
Polydor issued the song as a single in 1982, and included it (along with "Christmas Wrapping") on the 1982 EP
I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts
.
[4]
The band's second album,
Bruiseology
, was released by Polydor in May 1983. In the summer of 1983, Donahue left the band and was replaced by
Holly Beth Vincent
, formerly of
Holly and the Italians
, but Vincent herself left after just two weeks and Donahue returned.
[2]
[3]
The Waitresses split up later in 1983.
[4]
Post-breakup and Legacy
[
edit
]
Butler later worked as a producer, and played with numerous bands and artists including Half Cleveland, Purple K'nif and
Richard Lloyd
. Ficca played in
Gods and Monsters
and returned to his former group Television when they reunited in 1991. Williams played with
the Psychedelic Furs
,
NRG Ensemble
,
Liquid Soul
,
Hal Russell
and
Ken Vandermark
. Williams died of ampullary cancer at the age of 68 on November 20, 2023.
[13]
Wormworth has played bass for
the B-52's
since 1992.
Donahue died of lung cancer at the age of 40 on December 9, 1996.
[3]
King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents the Waitresses
, a live album recorded in 1982 at
My Father's Place
in
Roslyn, New York
, was issued in 1997 by
King Biscuit Flower Hour
.
[14]
Polydor issued two compilation albums,
The Best of the Waitresses
(1990)
[15]
and
20th Century Masters ? The Millennium Collection: The Best of The Waitresses
(2003).
[16]
In 2013,
Omnivore Recordings
released the compilation
Just Desserts: The Complete Waitresses
, collecting virtually all of the band's recordings for Polydor,
[17]
[18]
while
ZE Records
issued a digital collection of their ZE releases,
Deluxe Special: Ze Complete Recordings
.
[19]
"Christmas Wrapping" was covered by the
Spice Girls
in 1998, as the
B-side
of their single "
Goodbye
", which peaked at number 1 in the UK.
[1]
[20]
A version of "I Know What Boys Like" recorded by English female pop duo
Shampoo
reached No. 42 on the
UK Singles Chart
in September 1996.
[21]
The first line in the debut single by American recording artist
Chris Brown
, "
Run It!
" references "I Know What Boys Like". "Run It!" topped the charts in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
VH1
named the song the 82nd
greatest
one-hit wonder
of all-time in 2002
[22]
as well as the 34th greatest one-hit wonder of the 1980s in 2009.
[23]
Personnel
[
edit
]
Discography
[
edit
]
Studio albums
[
edit
]
Singles
[
edit
]
Live albums
[
edit
]
Compilation albums
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Huey, Steve.
"The Waitresses: Biography"
.
All Music Guide
. Billboard.com
. Retrieved
October 25,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
c
Moore, Christie (October 30, 2006).
"
"W: The Waitresses"
"
.
The Unultimate Rockopedia
. AuthorHouse. p. 408.
ISBN
1-425964-74-5
. Retrieved
October 25,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Talevski, Nick (August 1, 2006).
"Patti Donahue"
.
Knocking on Heaven's Door: Rock Obituaries
. Omnibus Press. p. 137.
ISBN
1-846090-91-1
. Retrieved
October 25,
2012
.
Source states The Waitresses were based in Kent, Ohio, rather than Akron.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"The Waitresses - Biography"
.
Billboard
. Archived from
the original
on October 12, 2015.
- ^
Pouncey, Edwin (March 6, 1982).
"The Waitresses: What The Butler Said"
.
Sounds
. Retrieved
June 21,
2018
– via
Rock's Backpages
.
- ^
Popoff, Martin
(September 2, 2010).
Goldmine Standard Catalog of American Records 1948?1991
. Krause. p. 1233.
ISBN
978-1-440216-21-3
. Retrieved
October 25,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
"Top Album Picks: First Time Around"
.
Billboard
. Vol. 94, no. 5. February 6, 1982. p. 71.
ISSN
0006-2510
. Retrieved
October 25,
2012
.
"The self-made single, 'I Know What Boys Like', has been a New York club favorite for
a couple of years now
..." (emphasis added).
- ^
"Hot 100: Week of June 5, 1982"
.
Billboard.com
. June 12, 1982
. Retrieved
October 25,
2012
.
- ^
"Billboard Rock Albums & Top Tracks"
.
Billboard
. Vol. 94, no. 8. February 27, 2012. p. 24.
ISSN
0006-2510
. Retrieved
October 25,
2012
.
- ^
Roberts, David (2006).
British Hit Singles & Albums
(19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 589.
ISBN
1-904994-10-5
.
- ^
"Waitresses, The ? I Could Rule The World If I Could Only Get the Parts"
.
Discogs.com
. Retrieved
October 25,
2012
.
- ^
"The Waitresses"
.
Internet Movie Database
(IMDb)
. Retrieved
October 25,
2012
.
- ^
Edgar, Hannah (20 November 2023).
"Mars Williams, saxophonist for Psychedelic Furs, is dead at 68"
.
Chicago Tribune
. Retrieved
21 November
2023
.
- ^
"King Biscuit Flower Hour - The Waitresses - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic"
.
AllMusic
.
- ^
Woodstra, Chris.
The Best of the Waitresses
at
AllMusic
. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
- ^
Phares, Heather.
20th Century Masters ? The Millennium Collection: The Best of The Waitresses
at
AllMusic
. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
- ^
Jeffries, David.
"Just Desserts: The Complete Waitresses"
.
AllMusic
. Retrieved
10 December
2013
.
- ^
"The Waitresses: Just Desserts: The Complete Waitresses"
.
- ^
Records, Ze.
"The Waitresses ? Deluxe Special: Ze Complete Recordings"
.
www.zerecords.com
.
- ^
"100 Hot Holiday Songs"
.
Billboard.com
. Retrieved
March 29,
2011
.
- ^
"I Know What Boys Like | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company"
.
Officialcharts.com
.
- ^
"Los Del Rio's Dance Smash 'Macarena' Tops the List Of VH1's All-Time '100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders'
"
(Press release).
PR Newswire
. May 1, 2002
. Retrieved
July 29,
2015
.
- ^
"100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the '80s"
. VH1. Archived from
the original
on April 19, 2015
. Retrieved
July 29,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
"The Waitresses Chart History: Billboard 200"
.
Billboard.com
.
Archived
from the original on October 25, 2019.
- ^
a
b
Kent, David
(1993).
Australian Chart Book 1970?1992
(illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 331.
ISBN
0-646-11917-6
.
- ^
"The Waitresses Chart History: Hot 100"
.
Billboard.com
.
Archived
from the original on October 25, 2019.
- ^
"Waitresses: Singles"
.
Officialcharts.com
.
Archived
from the original on October 20, 2018.
- ^
"British certifications ? Waitresses"
.
British Phonographic Industry
. Retrieved
24 December
2021
.
Type
Waitresses
in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
Further reading
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]