''Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?'' is the debut album of new wave band

the Waitresses The Waitresses were an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, best known for their singles " I Know What Boys Like" and "Christmas Wrapping." They released two albums, ''Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?'' and ''Bruiseology'', and two EPs, '' I Coul ...

, originally released in 1982 by

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

, licensed from

ZE Records ZE Records was originally a New York-based record label, started in 1978 in music, 1978 by Michael Zilkha and Michel Esteban. It was reestablished by Esteban in 2003. History Michael Zilkha (b. 1954) is a British-born Oxford University, Oxford ...

. The album peaked at No. 41 in the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and included the earlier single " I Know What Boys Like".

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic Ben Tausig, writing retrospectively, said that the album "was a unique and fairly important moment in early-'80s new wave", and noted that "lead singer

Patty Donahue Patricia Jean Donahue (March 29, 1956 – December 9, 1996) was the lead singer of the 1980s new wave group the Waitresses. She is best known for the band’s singles " I Know What Boys Like" and "Christmas Wrapping". Early life Patricia Jean ...

's singing ranged from a playful sexiness on the well-known hit "I Know What Boys Like" to a half-talk, half-yell with shades of

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

groups like

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gang ...

and

the Raincoats The Raincoats are a British experimental post-punk band. Ana da Silva (vocals, guitar) and Gina Birch (vocals, bass) formed the group in 1977 while they were students at Hornsey College of Art in London. Signed to the label Rough Trade, the ...

on 'Pussy Strut' and 'Go On.' The guitar and bass were bizarre and funk-influenced in much the same way as other well-known Akron, OH, groups like

Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...

and

the Pretenders Pretenders are an English–American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Fa ...

Track listing

The original US release contained: #"No Guilt" – 3:46 #"Wise Up" – 3:20 #"Quit" – 5:10 #"It's My Car" – 3:20 #"Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?" – 3:40 #" I Know What Boys Like" – 3:11 #"Heat Night" – 3:43 #"Redland" – 2:55 #"Pussy Strut" – 4:12 #"Go On" – 2:49 #"Jimmy Tomorrow" – 5:37 *All songs written by Chris Butler.

Personnel

– vocals *

Mars Williams Mars Williams (born May 29, 1955) is an American jazz and rock saxophonist. Exposed to big band and dixieland jazz by his trumpet-playing father, Williams played classical clarinet for ten years, then migrated to saxophone in his last year of hi ...

– reeds *

Tracy Wormworth Tracy Ann Wormworth (born December 15, 1958) is an American bass guitarist. Wormworth is a member of the B-52s. She has recorded and toured with the band since the Cosmic Tour of 1990. She played on their sixth studio album, 1992's '' Good Stuf ...

– bass *David Hofstra – bass *

Billy Ficca William Joseph Ficca (born February 15, 1950, in Delaware) is an American drummer who was a founding member of the rock groups Television and The Waitresses. Career Italian origins, Ficca was a childhood friend of Tom Verlaine (aka Tom Mill ...

– drums *Dan Klayman – keyboards * Chris Butler – guitar *Ariel Warner – backing vocals with: *

Ralph Carney Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

– saxophone on "No Guilt" and "I Know What Boys Like" *Don Christensen – drums on "No Guilt" *Rick Dailey – piano on "I Know What Boys Like" *Stuart Austin – drums on "I Know What Boys Like" *Andrew Fuhrmann – art direction

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1982 debut albums The Waitresses albums Polydor Records albums