JOHNNY B'S 25 FAVORITE ALBUM COVERS!
Number 9:
WAS (NOT WAS): BORN TO LAUGH AT TORNADOES (1983)
Hey, look! Another '80s album! I like the bright colors and the encyclopedia-borrowed graphics, a very attention-getting way of making a connection with the quirky title.
If you haven't heard this one, I strongly recommend seeking out a copy- where else can you find a synth/pop/rock/R&B album with guest vocals by Marshall Crenshaw, Doug Fieger of the Knack, Mitch Ryder, Ozzy freaking Osbourne (kinda/sorta rapping, no less) and Mel Torme? The Bros. Was were David Weiss (Dave Was) and Don Ferguson (Don Was), and they employed a rotating cast of musicians with "Sweet Pea" Atkinson and Sir Harry Bowens as the primary lead vocalists. This record came out to almost complete indifference, although it did trouble the lower reaches of the charts, but five years later they resurfaced with What Up, Dog? and the hits "Spy in the House of Love" and "Walk the Dinosaur", and rode high for a while, even releasing a follow-up titled Are You Okay? in 1990, but it stiffed and the Bros. broke up the band thanks to disagreements between the two. Don Was went on to become one of the hottest record producers of the 90's, with huge successes with slickly produced efforts by Bonnie Raitt and the Rolling Stones, as well as working with Brian Wilson and many others.
For my money, though, this was the best thing any of them were ever involved in.
Finally, here's a pic of the Bros. with regular vocalists Sweet Pea and Harry at Detroit's Comerica Stadium!
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