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Doppelganger | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 1983 | |||
Studio | Electric Lady Studios, New York City; Daily Planet Studios, New York City | |||
Genre | Latin, funk, tropical | |||
Length | 38:23 | |||
Label | ZE Island Sire | |||
Producer | August Darnell, "Sugar Coated" Andy Hernandez | |||
Kid Creole and the Coconuts chronology | ||||
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Singles from Doppelganger | ||||
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Doppelganger is the fourth studio album by Kid Creole and the Coconuts, released in 1983. The album was a relative commercial and critical disappointment following the group's most popular album Tropical Gangsters/Wise Guy. The album was released on LP and cassette in September 1983 and peaked at #21 in the UK, [1] and to moderate success throughout Europe but did not chart in the US. The album includes the singles "There's Something Wrong in Paradise", "The Lifeboat Party", and in the US "If You Wanna Be Happy". It was reissued by Universal Island Records with bonus tracks added to album in 2002.
The album includes two covers, "If You Wanna Be Happy" originally recorded by Jimmy Soul in 1963, and a remake of "The Seven Year Itch", a song by August Darnell's previous band Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band. "The Seven Year Itch" was originally released on their third album Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band Goes to Washington in 1979. Doppelganger also marked the renewal of Darnell's collaboration with his older brother Stony Browder Jr. Four songs including "The Seven Year Itch" were co-written by the brothers.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
The Village Voice | A− [3] |
Doppelganger received mixed reviews from critics. Vince Ripol describes the album as entertaining, provided listeners have the prerequisite of an acquired taste for the bizarre, often comical travelogues set to exotic pop which represent the essence of Kid Creole & the Coconuts. [2] The album is compared unfavourably to the group's previous hit album Tropical Gangsters/Wise Guy noting that nothing on Doppelganger can compare to "Annie, I'm Not Your Daddy" and "I'm a Wonderful Thing, Baby", yet nothing will fail to satisfy devoted fans either. For the uninitiated, Doppelganger's peculiar content presents a love-it or hate-it dilemma. [2]
Robert Christgau writing for The Village Voice rated the album A−. He calls the album a return to the musical comedy stage for yet another original-cast recording after his previous (and best) album some which Darnell called some kind of sellout because it's held together by a dance groove. [3] Christgau also praises the apparently surface wit of the Kid's lyrical-musical synthesis-pastiche [3] but wants to clarify just what these songs are about. [3]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "The Lifeboat Party" | August Darnell, Ronnie Rogers (a/k/a Ron Rogers [4] ) | 2:38 |
2. | "Underachiever" | Darnell | 3:15 |
3. | "If You Wanna Be Happy" | Frank Guida, Carmela Guida, Joseph Royster | 2:29 |
4. | "Distractions" | Darnell, The Coconuts, Peter Schott | 2:56 |
5. | "Survivors" | Andy Hernandez | 3:32 |
6. | "Call Me The Entertainer" | Darnell, Stony Browder Jr. | 3:23 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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7. | "There's Something Wrong In Paradise" | Darnell, Mark Mazur | 3:22 |
8. | "It's A Wonderful Life" | Hernandez | 3:12 |
9. | "Bongo Eddie's Lament" | Darnell | 3:02 |
10. | "Broadway Rhythm" | Darnell, Browder Jr. | 2:48 |
11. | "Back In The Field Again" | Darnell, Browder Jr. | 3:29 |
12. | "The Seven Year Itch" | Darnell, Browder Jr. | 4:26 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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13. | "Fireside Story (Fireside Chat)" | Hernandez | 4:40 |
14. | "There's Something Wrong in Paradise" (12" Mix) | Darnell, Mazur | 5:45 |
15. | "Don't Take My Coconuts" | Darnell | 2:08 |
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Chart (1983) | Peak position |
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German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [5] | 54 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [6] | 46 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [7] | 44 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [8] | 13 |
UK Albums (OCC) [1] | 21 |
Kid Creole and the Coconuts is an American musical group created by August Darnell with Andy Hernandez and Adriana Kaegi. Its music incorporates a variety of styles and influences, in particular a mix of disco and Latin American, Caribbean, and Calloway styles conceptually inspired by the big band era. The Coconuts are a trio of female backing vocalists/dancers, founded and originally choreographed and costumed by Kaegi.
Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band was a big band- and swing-influenced disco band that was formed in the Bronx, New York. The band is best known for its number-one US dance hit "Cherchez La Femme/C'est si bon", from its self-titled debut album.
Tropical Gangsters is the third album by Kid Creole and the Coconuts, released on May 10, 1982. Originally conceived as a solo album by band leader August Darnell and titled Wise Guy, his label ZE Records pressured him to change it to a Kid Creole and the Coconuts record and to make it more commercial sounding in order to relieve the label's financial problems. Despite the tensions this caused within the band and Darnell's complaint that the subsequent record was a "cop-out", the more dance-pop oriented sound helped it reached number 145 on the Billboard 200 album chart, representing the group's commercial breakthrough in their home country. However, to the surprise of Darnell and his record company Tropical Gangsters was a huge success in Australia and New Zealand, Europe, and in particular the UK, where the album peaked at number three in the UK Albums Chart and yielded three top ten singles. Tropical Gangsters made Darnell a worldwide star, and the album remains both his and the ZE label's most successful record by far.
Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band is the debut studio album by Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band. It was released in 1976 by RCA. It peaked at number 22 on the Billboard 200 chart and number 31 on the Top R&B Albums chart.
Thomas August Darnell Browder, known professionally as August Darnell and under the stage name Kid Creole, is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He co-founded Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band and subsequently formed and led Kid Creole and the Coconuts.
Andy Hernandez, better known by his stage name Coati Mundi, is an American musician, percussionist, notably playing the vibraphone, and a member of Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band, then of Kid Creole and the Coconuts. He scored the Top 40 UK hit "Me No Pop I" in 1981, just before the release of Tropical Gangsters. He produced and arranged an album by Don Armando's Second Avenue Rhumba Band, which spurred the disco hit song "Deputy of Love".
Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places is the second album by Kid Creole and the Coconuts, released in 1981.
Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band Goes to Washington is the third studio album by Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band. It was the last album recorded by the original line-up. The album was a commercial failure, not making the top 100 on either the Pop or the R&B chart.
Perri Lister is an English dancer, singer and actress. She was a dancer with the British dance troupe Hot Gossip which appeared regularly on The Kenny Everett Video Show in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United Kingdom. In the 1980s Lister was a backing vocalist for a number of pop music acts, including Billy Idol, with whom she had a nine-year relationship.
Off the Coast of Me is the debut album by Kid Creole and the Coconuts, released in 1980. The album was reissued in 2003 with additional bonus tracks by Universal Island Records.
Adriana Kaegi is a Swiss-born American actress, producer, and former singer.
Ronald Bruce Rogers , better known as Ron Rogers or Ronnie Rogers, is a songwriter, composer, recording artist and record producer from New York City. His career spanned from the late 1970s until the 1990s.
The discography of American musical group Kid Creole and the Coconuts created and led by August Darnell includes fourteen studio albums, one live album, seven compilations, one extended play and twenty-seven singles. The small discography of The Coconuts – Kid Creole's backing singers – consisting of two studio albums and three singles is included on this page.
In Praise of Older Women... and Other Crimes is the fifth studio album released by the American musical group Kid Creole and the Coconuts. It was released in 1985 and includes the singles "Endicott" and "Caroline Was a Drop-Out". The album and its lead single "Caroline Was a Drop-Out" did not chart in any territory, but the second single "Endicott" became one of the group's better known songs in the US, where it peaked at #21 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. The single also reached the top 30 in France and the Netherlands.
I, Too, Have Seen the Woods is the sixth studio album released by the American musical group Kid Creole and the Coconuts. It was released in 1987 and includes the single "Dancing at the Bain Douches".
Private Waters in the Great Divide is the seventh studio album by the American musical group Kid Creole and the Coconuts, released in 1990. It includes the singles "The Sex of It" and "I Love Girls".
Kid Creole Redux is the second compilation album released by American musical group Kid Creole and the Coconuts. It was released in 1992.
"Annie, I'm Not Your Daddy" is a song written by August Darnell and first recorded by his band Kid Creole and the Coconuts. It was released in 1982 as the third and final single from their album Tropical Gangsters. It is Kid Creole and the Coconuts' highest charting single on the UK Singles Chart, reaching a peak of no. 2. It also reached no. 18 on the U.S. Club Play Chart.
"Stool Pigeon" is a 1982 song by Kid Creole & The Coconuts. It was the second single to be released from the group's third studio album Tropical Gangsters. It reached a peak of #7 on the UK Singles Chart and #25 on the US US Club Play Chart. August Darnell, the lead singer of Kid Creole & The Coconuts, was a great fan of the 1940s dress style, which for gangsters was double breasted pinstriped suits and hats. "Stool Pigeon", which Darnell wrote, was a tribute to this whole genre.
"I'm a Wonderful Thing, Baby" is a 1982 song by Kid Creole and the Coconuts from their album Tropical Gangsters. It was the first single released from Tropical Gangsters and their first major hit reaching a peak of no. 4 in the UK Singles Chart. It also reached no. 18 on the US Club Play chart.