Kid Creole & The Cococnuts - Funk "Disco" Performance

Thomas August Darnell Browder was born in The Bronx, New York City, USA on August 12, 1950, his mother was from South Carolina and his father from Savannah, Georgia. As an adult, Thom Browder began going by his two middle names as August Darnell.Kid Creole and the Coconuts is an American musical group created and led by August Darnell. Its music incorporates a variety of styles and influences, in particular "American and Latin American, South American, Caribbean, Trinidadian, Calloway" and conceptually inspired by the big band era. The Coconuts are a glamorous trio of female backing vocalists whose lineup has changed throughout the years. Growing up in the melting pot of the Bronx, Darnell was exposed early on to all kinds of music". Darnell began his musical career in a band named The In-Laws with his brother, Stony Browder Jr, in 1965, which disbanded so Darnell could pursue a career as an English teacher. Darnell obtained a masters degree in English, but in 1974 again formed a band with his brother Stony Browder Jr under the name Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band. Their self-titled debut release was a Top 40-charting album which was certified gold and was nominated for a Grammy.

Darnell began producing for other artists, such as Don Armando’s Second Avenue Rhumba Band and Gichy Dan’s Beachwood No.9,[4] before adopting the name Kid Creole (adapted from the Elvis Presley film King Creole) in 1980. The persona of Kid Creole is described as:

“ Inspired by Cab Calloway and the Hollywood films of the 30s and 40s, the Kid fills out his colorful zoot suits with style and grace, dancing onstage with his inimitable, relentless and self-proclaimed cool. ”

Kid Creole was to be "the larger-than-life central figure in a multi-racial, multi-cultural musical carnival." The co-founders of the band were Darnell and his Savannah Band associate vibraphone player Andy Hernandez, also known as his "trusty sidekick" Coati Mundi. Hernandez served as Darnell's on-stage comic foil, as well as his musical director and arranger. The original Coconuts, a trio of glamorous (and often skimpily-attired) backing vocalists were led by Darnell's then-wife Adriana "Addy" Kaegi, who also served as the choreographer and costume designer of the Coconuts. On their earliest releases, the Coconuts were Kaegi, Cheryl Poirier and Lori Eastside; Eastside dropped out early, and was replaced by Taryn Hagey, who in turn was replaced by Janique Svedberg.

hroughout the 1980s, the band also included Peter Schott on keyboards (Schott also occasionally co-composed material with Darnell), drummer David Span, bass player Carol Colman and legendary Jamaican drummer Winston Grennan. With horn players, percussionists and other adjunct members, the full band line-up often swelled to over a dozen players. Their debut album Off the Coast of Me was critically well-received but not successful commercially. The second release Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places was a concept album matched with a New York Public Theater stage production; it received rave reviews, and Darnell was recognized as a clever lyricist and astute composer, arranger and producer. By the second album they were accompanied by the Pond life horn section Charlie Lagond, Ken Fradley and Lee Robertson as well as lead Guitarist Mark Mazur. They performed "Mister Softee" on Saturday Night Live during their promotional tour for the album. The album charted briefly, and subsequently Coati Mundi's early Latin RAP "Me No Pop I", though not originally on the album, became a Top 40 UK hit single. Their breakthrough came with 1982's Tropical Gangsters, which hit #3 in the UK and spun off three Top 10 hits with "Stool Pigeon", "Annie, I'm Not Your Daddy" and "I'm a Wonderful Thing, Baby". "Dear Addy" also made the Top 40. In the US the album was retitled Wise Guy and reached #145, and "I'm a Wonderful Thing, Baby" flirted with the R&B charts.

“ Their live shows at this time were among the most propulsive and enchanting of the period, with outlandish dancing and cod theatricals garnishing the Latin beats."

Kid Creole & The Coconuts - 1980 Off The Coast Of Me

Kid Creole & The Coconuts - 1982 Tropical Gangsters

Kid Creole & The Coconuts - 1990 Best Of