Wha-Koo (originally called The Big Wha-Koo) was an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band best known for their 1978 single, "(You're Such a) Fabulous Dancer", which peaked at #101 on the ''

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 ...

'' and #10 on the Australian charts.

History

The Big Wha-Koo were a Los Angeles, California-based soft rock ensemble formed in 1975 under the leadership of singer, songwriter and guitarist Danny Douma. Douma assembled an entourage of veteran musicians that included David Palmer, who had sung lead vocals on two tracks of

Steely Dan Steely Dan is an American rock band founded in 1971 in New York by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Initially the band had a stable lineup, but in 1974, Becker and Fagen retired from live ...

's debut album ''

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'', Nick Van Maarth, from

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

's backup band,

The Crickets The Crickets were an American rock and roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer-songwriter Buddy Holly in January 1957. Their first hit record, "That'll Be the Day", released in May 1957, peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, ...

, Don Francisco, formerly of

Crowfoot Crowfoot (1830 – 25 April 1890) or Isapo-Muxika ( bla, Issapóómahksika, italics=yes; syllabics: ) was a chief of the Siksika First Nation. His parents, (Packs a Knife) and (Attacked Towards Home), were Kainai. He was five years old when ...

and Atlee and British blues man Andy Silvester, formerly of

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. L.A.-based session musician Reinie Press, bass player on many of

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

's most successful recordings, contributed bass and saxophone on two tracks on the band's 1977 debut album, ''The Big Wha-Koo'' for

ABC Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels befo ...

. Peter Freiberger replaced Andy Silvester on bass for the band's 1978 album, ''Berkshire''. Produced by

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winner

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, it proved to be the band's most successful release. ''Berkshire'' featured "You're Such a Fabulous Dancer", composed by Douma. Although a top ten hit in some international markets, it did little in the American music charts. In 1978, Douma left Wha-Koo to pursue a solo career. He released a solo album, ''Night Eyes'', on

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Records. The album featured many of the members of Wha-Koo as well as guest appearances by

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

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from The Band and several members of

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...

. Douma toured with Fleetwood Mac as a supporting act for the remainder of 1979 and then left the music industry soon after. Chuck Cochran replaced Danny Douma on vocals and lead guitar and was with Wha-Koo at two notable appearances in 1978. On August 26, they played before an estimated crowd of 110,000 music fans at the

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festival near Toronto, Ontario and on October 29, the band performed with Thin Lizzy on the steps of the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia before an estimated crowd of 100,000. Cochran left the band after the tour to work with

Robb Royer Robert Wilson Royer (born December 6, 1942, in Los Angeles) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the soft rock band Bread from 1968 to 1971. While he was with the band, they had a #5 UK/#1 US hit single wit ...

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and others. Around that time, Wha-Koo released their third album, ''Fragile Line'', on

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

. Although no longer with the band, Cochran's lead guitar, background vocals and songs are featured on the album. By then the band was led by David Palmer and featured new members Ron Fransen, David Woodford and Eric Gotthelf. More rock-oriented, this release enjoyed some critical success but it did not enjoy commercial success and the group disbanded soon after.

Post-breakup

In the early 1980s, Douma founded "The Writers Store" a resource center and retail outlet for writers and filmmakers. In 2002 he founded a second company, "Innoventive Software", publishers of film production and storyboard software. Danny Douma died on June 1, 2010, from

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Florence, Oregon Florence is a coastal city in Lane County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It lies at the mouth of the Siuslaw River on the Pacific Ocean and about midway between Newport and Coos Bay along U.S. Route 101. As of the 2020 census, the city had a to ...

. Palmer contributed the song "Silhouette" to the film ''

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'' and the song "She's My Baby" to the film, ''

Fast Times at Ridgemont High ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' is a 1982 American coming-of-age comedy film directed by Amy Heckerling (in her feature directorial debut), from a screenplay by Cameron Crowe, based on his 1981 book ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A True Story' ...

''. He also contributed songs to the TV series, The Heights and he went on to record with

Laura Branigan Laura Ann Branigan (July 3, 1952 – August 26, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her signature song, the platinum-certified 1982 single " Gloria", stayed on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 36 weeks, then a record for ...

and

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amongst others. Today he's a fine art and portrait photographer in the Los Angeles area. Andy Silvester, who departed after Wha-Koo's first album, became a member of the

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(featuring

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) and was a founding member of the acoustic British rhythm and blues revival group, The

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. He has also played with The

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band. Eddie Tuduri suffered a serious spinal cord injury in a body surfing accident in 1997. He founded "The Rhythmic Arts Project" (TRAP) later that year as an educational program for children and adults with developmental and intellectual differences. http://www.traponline.org Richard Kozinski has scored or co-scored almost 30 motion pictures and 300 aired network television episodes including episodes of

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and

. Claude Pepper, alias Jack Mack, formed the Los Angeles-based rhythm and soul band Jack Mack and the HeartAttack in 1980 and played with the band until 1987. He died at his home in Sacramento in February 2003. David Woodford has since recorded and toured with

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and

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amongst others. Chuck Cochran later worked as a singer and guitarist with Jim Messina,

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and

David Lasley David Eldon Lasley (August 20, 1947 – December 9, 2021) was an American recording artist, singer, musician and songwriter. He was best known as a touring background singer for James Taylor, as a session singer on recordings by artists including ...

. He also wrote songs for

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and others.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Wha-Koo on MSN Music

Richard Kozinski at the Internet Movie Database
{{Authority control Rock music groups from California American soft rock music groups Musical groups established in 1977 Musical groups from Los Angeles