The Waitresses LIVE in NYC, & The Story Of Christmas Wrapping!

The Waitresses LIVE In NYC, & The Story Of Christmas Wrapping!

I ran across this Homemade Record the other day, and wondered why I haven’t shared it.  Then I was reminded it has a legendary Christmas song on it, and it seemed like kismet that I gave it a listen just in time for the holidays.

For me, The Waitresses are one of the best pop bands of all time—and they should have been as big as Blondie.  Like Blondie they had a guitarist who wrote most of the songs, and an iconic female lead singer.  But while Patty Donahue was undeniably sexy, she wasn’t exactly Playboy Bunny material—her appeal came from her sarcastic “dishes it out as well as she takes it” persona.  "Boys like me" was an understatement.

Tracy Wormworth provided a nice bit of ballast with her winsome girl-next-door smile and thumping bass (she went on to work with Sting & The B-52’s).  Billy Ficca, the other half of the rhythm section, went the opposite direction and did his highest-profile work before joining--having drummed for Television.

Guitarist Chris Butler had previously lead an Akron band called Tin Huey that hewed closer to Gruppo Sportivo, or Devo territory.  Quirky, new wave-y and weird for the sake of being weird—but they had a way with a hook, and a pop heart beating in their breast.  After seeing The Waitresses on MTV, I sought out their albums: Contents Dislodged During Shipment, and much later: Disinformation.  Contents contained two songs that were later covered by The Waitresses: I Could Rule The World If I Could Only Get The Parts, and Hump Day, as well as a great version of Neil Diamond’s I’m A Believer.  I don’t think I've ever found 1999's Disinformation.

Patty left The Waitresses (the waitstaff?) to be replaced briefly by another one of my favorite female artists: Holly Beth Vincent who had fronted Holly & The Italians (and as a side note, had broken Mark Knopfler’s heart inspiring him to write Romeo & Juliet).  Holly left after two weeks, Patty came back, and the band split for good shortly thereafter.  Patty eventually became an A&R rep for MCA Records.

Snag this particular Homemade Record if all you know of The Waitresses are their two most popular songs, and their theme song for the TV show Square Pegs.   Their final album Bruisiology is fantastic—but this live set is from a year or two before it's release so, unfortunately, the only song that’s here is: They’re All Out Of Liquor, Let’s Find Another Party.  These tracks are taken from a DVD that contains snippets of interviews, and I’ve left some in, and also included the story of their best-known song: Christmas Wrapping!

And while you’re at it, why not visit Chris Butler’s Future Fossil Music site and hear the song he wrote about Jeffrey Dahmer after buying the Bath, Ohio house where Dahmer committed his first murder: https://www.futurefossilmusic.com/ghost.htm

The link, as always, is in the comments.  While you're there, please share which  female lead band that you feel "should have been huge"?