The Waitresses were an experimental
new waveNew Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
bandA musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
from
Akron, OhioAkron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
. The group was led by guitarist/songwriter
Chris ButlerChris Butler is an American musician led the experimental new wave 1980s band The Waitresses . Butler grew up in the U.S. state of Ohio and majored in sociology at Kent State University...
with lead
vocalsSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
performed by
Patty DonahuePatricia J. "Patty" Donahue was the American lead singer of the 1980s new wave group The Waitresses.-Career:...
.
Career
They had minor success in the United States with the song I Know What Boys Like, from their 1982 debut album
Wasn't Tomorrow WonderfulWasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? is an album by The Waitresses, originally released in 1982 on ZE Records and subsequently licensed by Polydor ....
. I Know What Boys Like was originally released as a single in 1980 but did not chart. In 1982 the song peaked at #62 on the
Billboard Hot 100The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, #23 on
BillboardBillboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s Top Tracks chart and #14 on the Australian Singles Chart (Kent Music Report).
The Waitresses also recorded the
theme songTheme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
to the
television programA television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Square PegsSquare Pegs is an American comedy series that aired on CBS during the 1982–1983 season. The series follows Patty Greene and Lauren Hutchinson , two awkward teenage girls desperate to fit in at Weemawee High School....
. which aired during the 1982–1983 season. Their Christmas song "
Christmas Wrapping"Christmas Wrapping" is a Christmas song written by Chris Butler and recorded in 1981 by The Waitresses, featuring vocals by Patty Donahue. It was first released in 1981 on the compilation album A Christmas Record on ZE Records. The group also included the track on their 1982 EP I Could Rule the...
" was originally released on the
ZE RecordsZE Records was originally a New York-based record label, started in 1978 by Michael Zilkha and Michel Esteban. It has been re-established by Esteban since 2003.-History:Michael Zilkha ZE Records (always written with two capital letters) was originally a New York-based record label, started in...
album
A Christmas Record-Revised 1982 "Special Edition" LP:For the revised 1982 version of the album, released as Island ILPS 7022, the tracks by Alan Vega and Charlélie Couture were replaced by tracks by The Three Courgettes – a British band featuring singer Barb Jungr, who recorded the song in London – and...
in 1981, and became a #45 hit in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1982. The song was subsequently
coveredIn popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by the
Spice GirlsThe Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
in 1998, as the B-side of their single "Goodbye".
Butler's diverse musical interests are apparent from the use of
prepared pianoA prepared piano is a piano that has had its sound altered by placing objects between or on the strings or on the hammers or dampers....
on "No Guilt", microtonal background vocals on the chorus of "Wise Up," tape loops and short wave receiver on "Jimmy Tomorrow", and the title of "Make the Weather" (taken from
Hugo BallHugo Ball was a German author, poet and one of the leading Dada artists.Hugo Ball was born in Pirmasens, Germany and was raised in a middle-class Catholic family. He studied sociology and philosophy at the universities of Munich and Heidelberg...
's autobiography Flight Out of Time).
SaxophonistThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
and reed player Mars Williams had also worked as
Anthony BraxtonAnthony Braxton is an American composer, saxophonist, clarinettist, flautist, pianist, and philosopher. Braxton has released well over 100 albums since the 1960s...
's
copyistA copyist is a person who makes written copies. In ancient times, a scrivener was also called a calligraphus . The term's modern use is almost entirely confined to music copyists, who are employed by the music industry to produce neat copies from a composer or arranger's manuscript.-Music...
.
The group released two
albumAn album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s,
Wasn't Tomorrow WonderfulWasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? is an album by The Waitresses, originally released in 1982 on ZE Records and subsequently licensed by Polydor ....
and
BruiseologyBruiseology is the second and final album by the early 80's new wave band, The Waitresses, released in 1983. The album was recorded amidst inter-band conflict and failed to chart...
, and one
EPAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
,
I Could Rule The World If I Could Only Get The PartsI Could Rule The World If I Could Only Get The Parts. is an EP by The Waitresses. "Square Pegs" was the theme to the television series Square Pegs.-Track listing:#"Christmas Wrapping" – 5:25#"Bread and Butter" – 4:11#"Square Pegs" – 3:06...
. Both titles have been out of print for many years and neither has ever been available on
CDThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
; but their
musicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
is now available on compilations.
The Best of The Waitresses (
PolydorPolydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
1990) is available on
CDThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
.
Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? became available on
iTunesiTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
in 2008 and includes three bonus tracks: "Christmas Wrapping" (long version), "Hangover" (
instrumentalAn instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
that was the
b-sideA-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
on the
UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
issue of "Christmas Wrapping"), and "Christmas Wrapping" (single edit).
The band's lead singer
Patty DonahuePatricia J. "Patty" Donahue was the American lead singer of the 1980s new wave group The Waitresses.-Career:...
left in summer 1984 and was briefly replaced by Holly Beth Vincent. Vincent left the band two weeks later and Donahue returned. The band finally split up in late 1984 after the departures of Carney and Klayman.
Donahue died of lung cancer at the age of 40 on December 9, 1996.
Albums
| Released | Title | Chart positions
Billboard 200The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
| Label |
| 1982 |
Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? |
41 |
Polydor |
| 1982 |
I Could Rule the World if I Could only Get the Parts I Could Rule The World If I Could Only Get The Parts. is an EP by The Waitresses. "Square Pegs" was the theme to the television series Square Pegs.-Track listing:#"Christmas Wrapping" – 5:25#"Bread and Butter" – 4:11#"Square Pegs" – 3:06...
EPAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
|
128 |
Polydor Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
|
| 1983 |
Bruiseology Bruiseology is the second and final album by the early 80's new wave band, The Waitresses, released in 1983. The album was recorded amidst inter-band conflict and failed to chart...
|
155 |
Polydor |
| 1984 |
Make the Weather EP |
- |
Polydor |
| 1990 |
The Best of The Waitresses |
- |
Polydor |
| 1997 |
King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents The Waitresses King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents The Waitresses is a live album recorded during the radio show King Biscuit Flower Hour in 1982 while the band was still active...
|
- |
King Biscuit |
| 2003 |
20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of The Waitresses |
- |
Polydor |
| 2007 |
Your Choice Of Sides - A Collection Of Outtakes & Obscuriosities |
- |
Polydor |
Singles
| Year |
Title |
Peak chart positions |
Album |
| US The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
|
UK The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
|
| 1978 |
"Slide" |
— |
— |
single |
| 1980 |
"I Know What Boys Like" |
— |
— |
single |
| 1981 |
"Christmas Wrapping "Christmas Wrapping" is a Christmas song written by Chris Butler and recorded in 1981 by The Waitresses, featuring vocals by Patty Donahue. It was first released in 1981 on the compilation album A Christmas Record on ZE Records. The group also included the track on their 1982 EP I Could Rule the...
" |
— |
— |
A Christmas Record |
| 1982 |
"I Know What Boys Like" |
62 |
— |
Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful |
| "Square Pegs" |
— |
— |
I Could Rule the World if I Could only Get the Parts |
| "Christmas Wrapping" |
— |
45 |
A Christmas Record |
| 1983 |
"Make the Weather" |
— |
— |
Bruiseology |
Principal band members
- Patty Donahue
Patricia J. "Patty" Donahue was the American lead singer of the 1980s new wave group The Waitresses.-Career:...
(lead vocals, 1978–1983, 1984)
- Chris Butler
Chris Butler is an American musician led the experimental new wave 1980s band The Waitresses . Butler grew up in the U.S. state of Ohio and majored in sociology at Kent State University...
(guitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s)
- Mars Williams
Mars Williams is an American jazz and rock saxophonist. Originally a ten year classical clarinetist after being exposed to Big Band and Dixieland Jazz by his trumpet playing father, Mars migrated to the saxophone in his senior year of high school, citing influences from Eric Dolphy, John Coltrane...
(saxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
, reed instruments)
- Billy Ficca
Billy Ficca is a punk rock drummer who has played with the bands Television, Nona Hendryx & Zero Cool, 40 Familys, The Washington Squares, The Waitresses and The Neon Boys...
(drumsA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
)
- Dan Klayman (keyboards
A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...
/organThe organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
)
- Tracy Wormworth
Tracy Wormworth is a bass guitarist working for more than 30 years in the music and television industry in the United States. She is the sister of percussionist James Wormworth....
(bassThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, background vocals) (1982–1984)
- David Hofstra (bass) (1978–1982)
- Ariel Warner (background vocals) (1978–1982)
- Ralph Carney
Ralph Carney is an American musician. While his primary instruments are various saxophones and clarinets, Carney collects and plays many instruments, often unusual or obscure ones....
(keyboardsA musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...
)
- Holly Beth Vincent (briefly replaced Donahue as lead vocalist, 1984)
External links