''Born To Laugh at Tornadoes'' is a 1983

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the art-funk band

Was (Not Was) Was (Not Was) is an American pop rock group founded in 1979 in Detroit, Michigan, by David Weiss and Don Fagenson, who adopted the stage names David Was and Don Was. Their song catalog features an eclectic mix of pop and rock styles, often fea ...

. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' declared it "conceptually, the best album of the year" shortly after its release. Despite the glowing reviews, ''Tornadoes'' made little commercial impact in a year dominated by

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

's '' Thriller'' and

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

's ''

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

''. (It did manage to become the band's first release to make it onto ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

s album chart, peaking at #134 in a nine-week stay in the fall of 1983.) This album boasted an impressive array of

guest vocalist In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other ...

s, ranging from hard rocker

Mitch Ryder Mitch Ryder (born William Sherille Levise, Jr.; February 26, 1945) is an American musician who has recorded more than 25 albums over more than four decades. Career Ryder formed his first band, Tempest, when he was at Warren High School, and th ...

(on "Bow Wow Wow Wow"), former

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

vocalist

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

Shake Your Head "Shake Your Head" is a song by American pop rock group Was (Not Was). It was originally released in 1983 on the album ''Born to Laugh at Tornadoes''. In 1992, it was re-recorded and remixed by house music producer Steve "Silk" Hurley, and feature ...

"), rock band

The Knack The Knack was an American rock band based in Los Angeles that rose to fame with its first single, "My Sharona", an international number-one hit in 1979. History Founding (1977–1978) Singer Doug Fieger was a native of Oak Park, Michigan, a no ...

's lead vocalist

Doug Fieger Douglas Lars Fieger (August 20, 1952 – February 14, 2010) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of the rock band The Knack. He co-wrote "My Sharona," the biggest hit song of 1979 in the U ...

(on "Betrayal" and "Smile"),

Marshall Crenshaw Marshall Howard Crenshaw (born November 11, 1953) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for hit songs such as " Someday, Someway," a US top 40 hit in 1982, " Cynical Girl," and "Whenever You're on My Mind." He i ...

("The Party Broke Up") and

torch song A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affecte ...

vocalist/songwriter

Mel Tormé Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Op ...

(lead vocal on the closing song "Zaz Turned Blue"). The album also displayed a wide variety of musical styles, ranging from pop love ballads ("Betrayal") to rock ("Bow Wow Wow Wow"), psychedelic synthesized mod music ("Man Vs. The Empire Brain Building") and even easy listening cocktail jazz ("Zaz Turned Blue", a ballad about a man who nearly chokes to death in a park). Also noteworthy is a credit to

Robert Kinkel Robert Kinkel is an American professional session keyboardist and music engineer most known for his role as a co-creator/co-producer/co-composer and touring keyboardist with Trans-Siberian Orchestra along with extensive studio work with the progr ...

as Assistant Engineer; Kinkel went on to be co-creator of the

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is an American rock band founded in 1996 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli (both members of Savatage) and keyboardist and co-producer Robert Kinkel to ...

. The front cover illustration, "After Compton's", was credited to Dan Chapman in 1953 and Jeri McManus was the art director.

Track listing

Personnel

David Was David Jay Weiss, known as David Was, is an American musician, music producer and journalist. With his stage-brother Don Was, he was the founder of the 1980s pop group Was (Not Was). Career Was was born in Detroit, Michigan to a Jewish family. ...

- vocals, Korg organ, vibraphone, harmonica, flute *

Don Was Don Edward Fagenson (born September 13, 1952), known professionally as Don Was, is an American musician, record producer and record executive. Primarily a bass player, Was co-founded the funk-rock band Was (Not Was). In later years he produced s ...

- Oberheim Obsx synthesizer, Moog bass synthesizer, emulator synthesizer, Clavinet, bass, rhythm guitar, cello, timpani, Linn drums, Simmons drums *Sir Harry Bowens - vocals *Sweet Pea Atkinson - vocals *

– organ and vocals on "The Party Broke Up"; lead guitar on "Smile" *

– vocals *

Vinnie Vincent Vincent John Cusano (born August 6, 1952), better known by his stage name Vinnie Vincent, is an American guitarist. He is a former member of the rock band Kiss from 1982 until mid-1984 during the band's transition out of their 1973–1983 make ...

– second lead guitar *

Joseph LoDuca Joseph LoDuca (born 1958) is an American television and film score composer best known for his work writing television scores for the series ''Spartacus'', ''Leverage'', ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'', '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', ''Young ...

– guitar *

– piano, vocals *Carol Hall – vocals * Wayne Kramer – guitar on "The Party Broke Up" *

Marin Alsop Marin Alsop ( �mɛər.ɪn ˈæːl.sɑːp born October 16, 1956) is an American conductor, the first woman to win the Koussevitzky Prize for conducting and the first conductor to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She is music director laureate ...

– violin *

Chris Blackwell Christopher Percy Gordon Blackwell (born 22 June 1937) is an English businessman and former record producer, and the founder of Island Records, which has been called "one of Britain's great independent labels". According to the Rock and Roll ...

– vocals *Jervonny Collier – bass *Michael Edwards – vocals *

– vocals on "Smile" *

Kathy Kosins Kathy Ann Kosins is an American singer specializing in jazz and R&B; she is also an ASCAP award-winning songwriter and modern abstractionist painter. Kosins has recorded several CDs under her own name and was first known as a singer of soul, roc ...

– vocals *

Yogi Horton A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions.A. K. Banerjea (2014), ''Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha'', Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. xxiii, 297-299, 331 Th ...

– drums *Michael "Smitt E. Smitty" Smith – Simmons drums *

Bob Kulick Robert Joel Kulick (January 16, 1950 – May 28, 2020) was an American guitarist and record producer, who worked with numerous acts such as Kiss, W.A.S.P., Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, Meat Loaf and Michael Bolton. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, ...

– power chord guitar *Jay Leonhart – bass *David McMurray – soprano and tenor saxophone *

Bruce Nazarian Bruce Nazarian (March 27, 1949 – October 8, 2015) was an American funk and rock musician, recording artist and music producer from Detroit, Michigan. Nazarian was an Apple Certified Trainer and Certified Pro on various professional application ...

– guitar * Luis Resto – acoustic piano, Moog synthesizer, Oberheim Obxa synthesizer, vocoder, synthetic trumpet *

Paul Riser Paul Riser (born September 11, 1943) is an American trombonist and Motown musical arranger who was responsible for co-writing and arranging dozens of top ten hit records. His legacy as one of the "Funk Brothers" is similar to that of most of the ...

– horn & string arrangement on "Knocked Down, Made Small (Treated Like a Rubber Ball)" *John Robie – synthesizer * John Sinclair – background vocals *Randy Jacobs – bass, guitar, background vocals *Lawrence Fratangelo – percussion *Fred Zarr - acoustic piano, synthesizer *Felix Morris - bass ;Technical *Debbie Caponetta - production co-ordination *

Michael Zilkha Michael Zilkha (born 1954) is a British-born entrepreneur, the co-founder of ZE Records. Early life He was born in 1954, the son of Selim Zilkha, the founder of Mothercare, one of the UK's largest retail chains (and the grandson of Khedouri Zilkh ...

- Executive Producer *David Thoener and The Detroit Wasmopolitan Mixing Squad (Duane Bradley, Ken Collier and Don Was) - mixing

References

{{Authority control Was (Not Was) albums 1983 albums Albums arranged by Paul Riser Albums produced by Don Was Albums produced by David Was Geffen Records albums ZE Records albums