"Christmas Wrapping" special to me
 

It was 1982 and I was in school... my friends introduced me to The Waitresses, pre "Christmas Wrapping"...

At the time, young me was only interested in the most complex music I could find. I was a prog rock lover and would only listen to bands like Genesis, Yes, Emerson Lake and Palmer,... British bands that were pop bred out of classical music traditions.

What a dick I was! And how charitable were my friends, who remained my friends anyway, and introduced me to more *immediate* stuff.

The Waitresses proved to be the bridge between all that prog-rock stuff and the punkish world. The Waitresses were New Wave. See, the punk acts turned pop music on its ear. But by the eighties, punk musicians had learned to play their instruments and write music that was a little more sophisticated. That was New Wave.

The Waitresses put out "Christmas Wrapping" between their first and second albums. Their first record "Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?" was the record my friends introduced me to. It was glorious post-punk New Wave early 80s gold. I couldn't ignore it. It moved me. I loved it.

"Christmas Wrapping" introduced bassist Tracy Wormworth to the group's catalog, and she really added something to it. "Christmas Wrapping" has a wonderful bass part, and you know that is part of why I love it so much.

But the second Waitresses album didn't catch on with our fickle public, and for whatever reason, there wasn't a third record out of them. Too bad. They were awesome!

When you hear "Christmas Wrapping", listen to the bass part which is fine; remember how bandleader Chris Butler created all this from a post-punk scene in Ohio; and remember lead singer Patty Donahue, who sadly died of lung cancer in 1996.

any body want some bullet proff juice?? hehehe

That was really interesting,Tony.

I should listen to this stuff.

I have to admit my familiarity with the Waitresses starts and stops with I Know What Boys Like. And I LOVED that song.

If it wasn't for the Bates College radio station, I never would have heard it.

That's more than a little unfair to yourself. We like what we like, and there's nothing wrong with prog rock. Even today I'll listen to Tales of Topographic Oceans, followed by Devo, Joe Jackson, B-52s, or the Clash, then some Alt-J. You're never a dick for liking what you like.

You went to Bates! Did you know some rich guy named Ordway? I forget his first name.

"I Know What Boys Like" was simply a phenomenon. It led to the whole act. Bandleader Chris Butler claims on the Best Of The Waitresses liner notes that he wrote it first, kind of on a whim, before any other Waitresses songs, then found his singer by... well let him tell it:

She wasn't a great singer. Singers you find in bars without auditioning are generally not great (see The Human League). But that became part of the charm of the band.

Tracy Wormworth went on to play with Sting (she's twice the bass player that he is), and is currently the bassist for the B-52s. Her brother James became the drummer for Conan O'Brien.

That's a great story!

I didn't go to Bates. I was a townie.

Word, Spexx. I am a bit jealous of the kids today who can simply hit the net and easily explore everything I struggled to dig up and define. The musical world did hold more mystery then though. We all get a little douchie about what music is good music though.

Greg Graffin wrote a little bit in his Anarchy Evolution book about that transition from punk to pop and for some of his friends grunge. He talks about their improved craft and you can hear it today in Bad Religion's music with it's tighter harmonies. Who would have thought those guys could release an ironic but well-received Christmas album? He mentioned Belinda Carlisle's band development from the LA punk scene to huge New Wave act the Go Gos. I hadn't realized that she had actual musical credibility and had built her career herself unlike today's "Disney" rockers. It is interesting to watch Justin Timberlake do it backwards proving his commitment to his craft after the fame comes.

Oh as a youngster I was definitely a dick about what music I liked. I was insistent and snobbish about it. I still wince about those days.

I was a dick about actors only playing roles which reflected their real-life sexuality.
I somehow missed the idea that these people were acting.

Luckily a very patient gay man pointed out how few gay roles there actually were and that perhaps I was... well, being a dick.

I'm off to YouTube to check out The Waitresses now.
Don't ban me while I'm gone.