Search - Kid Creole & the Coconuts :: In Praise of Older Women & Other Crimes

They Left the Best 'Til Last

Gordon C. Duus | Glen Ridge, NJ USA | 08/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For years I have been checking to see if they had released this album on CD, and was wondering if they ever would. Here, in 2005, they finally did. I never understood it because to these ears this is the best album Kid Creole & the Coconuts ever made. I saw the band perform most of this album in 1986 at the tiny Trocadero in Philadelphia. Best live performance of music I have ever seen.



The album has four great cuts. Endicott was probably the groups' biggest hit, with considerable play as an MTV video. In it the Kid tries to defend himself against unfavorable comparisons to a paragon of virtue named Endicott. The band is in peak form.



Particul'y Interested, in which the Kid professes love for his latest, has a massive groove that grabs you and won't quit.



Take Me, my favorite song ever by the band, features the Kid being aggressively pursued. The damn thing is one non-stop hook from beginning to end, with the band providing a propulsive force to back a hilarious lyric. How this song gets left off of greatest hits and best of collections totally mystifies me.



Caroline Was a Dropout is an ode to a old flame for whom things didn't turn out so well, done as only the Kid can with a mix of sadness, distain and attitude.



At the time this was released, I walked around wondering why Prince was so big while Kid Creole struggled to get the recognition he so richly deserved. Listening to this, I still wonder why.



"

"(Darlin' You Should) Buy This"

Michael Carson | Tucson | 10/14/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's wonderful to see this appear on CD, as there are likely new audiences for the best stuff of Kid Creole and the Coconuts. I'd been following them since "Off The Coast Of Me" and bought this on vinyl right away. Then I bought the cassette and nearly wore it out in a year, traveling the highways of Arizona. My favorites are "Particul'y Int'rested" and "(Darlin' You Can) Take Me" (which is best played loud while cruising at 65 mph with the windows down and the AC on) and "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down." Highly recommended!"