Track listing
Show track credits
- A1 Somewhere in America There's a Street Named After My Dad 3:41
- A2 Spy in the House of Love 4:16
- A3 Out Come the Freaks 4:35
- A4 Earth to Dorris 2:03
- A5 Love Can Be Bad Luck 3:46
- A6 Boy's Gone Crazy 3:39
- A7 11 Mph (Abe Zapp Ruder Version) 4:04
- A8 What Up Dog? 1:45
- B1 Anything Can Happen 3:56
- B2 Robot Girl 3:42
- B3 Wedding Vows in Vegas 3:37
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vocals
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- B4 Anytime Lisa 4:14
- B5 Walk the Dinosaur 4:21
- B6 I Can't Turn You Loose 3:37
- B7 Shadow and Jimmy 4:16
- B8 Dad, I'm in Jail 1:26
- Total length: 56:58
Rate/Catalog
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11 Issues
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What Up, Dog? [p] 33 rpm
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What Up, Dog 33 rpm
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What Up, Dog? 33 rpm, Abridged
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What Up, Dog? Bonus Tracks
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What Up, Dog? Abridged
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What Up, Dog? 33 rpm
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11 Reviews
Clever and enjoyable little album. I hadn't heard this one for a while, so I threw it into the CD player to see if it was as good as I remembered. Unlike many other 80s offerings, it has stood the test of time well.
Featuring a series of vignettes exposing the downside of the American dream, 'What up Dog' is lyrically smart yet compassionate while remaining musically savvy.
Top 30 single 'Spy in the House of Love' is great 80s pop -- smart lyrics and a tune that lodges itself in your brain.
'Boy's Gone Crazy' is a tale of a boy called Johnny who's, well gone crazy.
'Anything Can Happen', the single that got away (ie the stupid UK public didn't buy it) is just superb. A witty tale of the underdog coming up trumps, it's packed with lyrical gems; 'she wasn't that great, but it was was gettin' kinda late'. This poor girl was married to a 'schizophrenic biker'. Tragic.
Another lady offers the line; 'there's just one bed would be that OK?' Hold on while I think about that.
The marvellously titled; 'Somewhere in America there's a street named after my dad' is actually a salutory tale of poverty and homelessness, where bosses like Mr.Fowler pay 50 cents an hour. 'Showbiz beginners making global decisions.' Who can they mean?
'Out Come The Freaks' spears the seedy side of public life. I particularly like the tale of Bobby Maggot 'the big attorney', tastefully described as a 'bald-headed piece of garbage.' Contempt for the legal system? Surely not.
'Oh Lord I ask you what kind of beast is man?' Couldn't have put it better myself.
'Love can be bad luck' is not surprisingly about the downside of relationships, while 'Shadow and Jimmy' is a sad little tale of two blokes with dead-end lives.
'11 Miles an Hour' (such a deadly speed) is about JFK's assasination, while 'Robot Girl' is yet another of those uniquely 80s fantasies about mechanical females whom we've still yet to see. Surely somewhere somebody is working on this project.
The title track is little more than a quirky interlude, followed by 'Anytime Lisa', a tale of that lady we all know and have (temporarily) loved. 'Everybody took a piecea anytime Lisa'.
'Wedding Vows in Vegas' falls just short of annoying and then it's the big hit 'Walk The Dinosaur', not the best track on the album, but the one the public remembered. Rather like Tom Robinson's '2-4-6-8 Motorway', it's often the silly sing-a-long rather than the biting social commentary that some acts get labelled with. Mind you it does name-check Miami Vice.
'Can't Turn You Loose' is a great pop workout in Blues Brothers tradition, while the album bows out with the manic 'Dad I'm in Jail', presumably a call from the boy gone crazy.
This wasn't a big album in the UK, which is a shame, but it remains a fun yet thought-provoking 80s statement.
Featuring a series of vignettes exposing the downside of the American dream, 'What up Dog' is lyrically smart yet compassionate while remaining musically savvy.
Top 30 single 'Spy in the House of Love' is great 80s pop -- smart lyrics and a tune that lodges itself in your brain.
'Boy's Gone Crazy' is a tale of a boy called Johnny who's, well gone crazy.
'Anything Can Happen', the single that got away (ie the stupid UK public didn't buy it) is just superb. A witty tale of the underdog coming up trumps, it's packed with lyrical gems; 'she wasn't that great, but it was was gettin' kinda late'. This poor girl was married to a 'schizophrenic biker'. Tragic.
Another lady offers the line; 'there's just one bed would be that OK?' Hold on while I think about that.
The marvellously titled; 'Somewhere in America there's a street named after my dad' is actually a salutory tale of poverty and homelessness, where bosses like Mr.Fowler pay 50 cents an hour. 'Showbiz beginners making global decisions.' Who can they mean?
'Out Come The Freaks' spears the seedy side of public life. I particularly like the tale of Bobby Maggot 'the big attorney', tastefully described as a 'bald-headed piece of garbage.' Contempt for the legal system? Surely not.
'Oh Lord I ask you what kind of beast is man?' Couldn't have put it better myself.
'Love can be bad luck' is not surprisingly about the downside of relationships, while 'Shadow and Jimmy' is a sad little tale of two blokes with dead-end lives.
'11 Miles an Hour' (such a deadly speed) is about JFK's assasination, while 'Robot Girl' is yet another of those uniquely 80s fantasies about mechanical females whom we've still yet to see. Surely somewhere somebody is working on this project.
The title track is little more than a quirky interlude, followed by 'Anytime Lisa', a tale of that lady we all know and have (temporarily) loved. 'Everybody took a piecea anytime Lisa'.
'Wedding Vows in Vegas' falls just short of annoying and then it's the big hit 'Walk The Dinosaur', not the best track on the album, but the one the public remembered. Rather like Tom Robinson's '2-4-6-8 Motorway', it's often the silly sing-a-long rather than the biting social commentary that some acts get labelled with. Mind you it does name-check Miami Vice.
'Can't Turn You Loose' is a great pop workout in Blues Brothers tradition, while the album bows out with the manic 'Dad I'm in Jail', presumably a call from the boy gone crazy.
This wasn't a big album in the UK, which is a shame, but it remains a fun yet thought-provoking 80s statement.
Published
OVT 41664 CD (1988)
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What Up, Dog - Was (Not Was)
The late 1980's had a unique Pop sound. You can hardly hear a blast of cheesy synth horns without instantly travelling back to the days of Ronald Reagan and Leg Warmers. Pop music was overproduced to such an extent that I suspect things like Nirvana and MTV unplugged came into popularity as direct cultural backlash to it. And in my opinion that seems pretty reasonable. A lot of pop/punk records from the era are borderline unlistenable.
But What Up, Dog? doesn't quite fall into that category. Many of the annoying elements associated with the era are present, but they feel more subdued and less obnoxious than on other Records. Drum machines are around, but they never feel dominating. The record manages to largely still feel loose and fun where other punk pop records felt stiff and lifeless, confined by the production techniques popular in the day.
Also quite welcome here is a refreshing blast of variety. I've been describing the album as pop or funk, and that's not wrong necessarily, but it is admittedly a little misleading. The album mixes jazz with rock with hip-hop. There's almost a Gnarl's Barkley thing going on here, where the Album is absolutely full to the brim with Genre, but it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly which. Wackiness is by far the Album's best mode.
But it doesn't lean into it enough. Too many songs on the album feel like unobjectionable, but still standard, pop or R&B from the era. And on top of that, the Album feels more like a collection of songs than a single cohesive piece. It's certainly not an unpleasant listening experience, but I think I would've got more out of a was (not was) greatest hits album or something.
It's not bad, but unless you're nostalgic for the late 80's or feel an incredible all-consuming need to walk the dinosaur, I can't say I'd recommend it.
Published
An outfit of many parts playing danceable funk/disco rhythms with surreal and humorous lyrics in everything from accidentally strangling a friend to a quickie wedding in Las Vegas. Sometimes sounding like Hall & Oats on other tracks, "11 Miles An Hour" like Robert Palmer. Was Not Was are Don and Davide Was, Detroit-area songwriters and producers who used a constantly shifting cast of musicians on their recordings, vocalists Sweet Pea Atkinson and Sir Harry Bowens on this LP. I noticed Marcus Miller plays some bass on this LP, and Al Kooper keyboards, that is never bad.
Released in 1988, What's Up Dog? was a Top 50 record in the UK and the USA, and featured one of the band's biggest hits, "Walk the Dinosaur," along with the funky “Spy in the House of Love.” "Shadow & Jimmy," was co-written with Elvis Costello and sounds like a slowed down 'On the Boardwalk', and there's the weird "Dad I'm In Jail" which was featured in the movies Pump Up the Volume and Slaves of New York, and a cover of the Otis Redding classic, "I Can't Turn You Loose," "Wedding Vows in Vegas" with a guest vocal by Frank Sinatra Jr., and a re-recording of "Out Come the Freaks." This is the group's third album, probably their best. I dig the album cover, a wall hanger.
Released in 1988, What's Up Dog? was a Top 50 record in the UK and the USA, and featured one of the band's biggest hits, "Walk the Dinosaur," along with the funky “Spy in the House of Love.” "Shadow & Jimmy," was co-written with Elvis Costello and sounds like a slowed down 'On the Boardwalk', and there's the weird "Dad I'm In Jail" which was featured in the movies Pump Up the Volume and Slaves of New York, and a cover of the Otis Redding classic, "I Can't Turn You Loose," "Wedding Vows in Vegas" with a guest vocal by Frank Sinatra Jr., and a re-recording of "Out Come the Freaks." This is the group's third album, probably their best. I dig the album cover, a wall hanger.
Published
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Imagine if you can a musically less sophisticated but infinitely slicker, but lyrically more earnest Steely Dan, recording with the very latest in '80s musical technology, and featuring mostly guest vocalists, and you maybe get some idea of what Was (Not Was) sounds like. You also have to up the R&B quotient while dropping the jazz influence. If that description sounds good to you, check this out. If it doesn't sound good to you, stay far away.
R&B and some related genres (such as the blues, unfortunately) went through an awful phase starting in the late 1970s, when we got what we might call an over-professionalization, when everything had to sound slick and modern. Listen to most R&B and soul from the late '70s on and you'll have trouble thinking it's the same thing as, say, Stax soul.
Was (Not Was) embrace this particular vibe, despite their artiness and quirks. They write lyrics that often don't quite match the vibe of the music (much like Steely Dan and any other number of bands I don't love who do this). Sometimes their singers sing these songs with pure earnestness and sometimes they sing them with a wink. And they put in weird arty bits here and there as if to try to convince you they are weirder or artier than their songs make them sound.
I really don't know why this was popular or why people point this music out as if it's something to get excited about. The production has dated horribly but, in addition to that, I can't tell what they're trying to do. They want you to dance to their music but they also want you to think, some of the time. And they don't really find a middle ground between those two competing impulses like a band like Talking Heads does. Rather, it feels like their impulses are pulling them in two different directions, the result of either is not great.
These guys strike me as hipper-than-thou folks who don't realize they are making bland, generic dance music that will be dated in a matter of years, and rather think they're making great art.
Just really odd; a record that could only ever be made in the 1980s.
R&B and some related genres (such as the blues, unfortunately) went through an awful phase starting in the late 1970s, when we got what we might call an over-professionalization, when everything had to sound slick and modern. Listen to most R&B and soul from the late '70s on and you'll have trouble thinking it's the same thing as, say, Stax soul.
Was (Not Was) embrace this particular vibe, despite their artiness and quirks. They write lyrics that often don't quite match the vibe of the music (much like Steely Dan and any other number of bands I don't love who do this). Sometimes their singers sing these songs with pure earnestness and sometimes they sing them with a wink. And they put in weird arty bits here and there as if to try to convince you they are weirder or artier than their songs make them sound.
I really don't know why this was popular or why people point this music out as if it's something to get excited about. The production has dated horribly but, in addition to that, I can't tell what they're trying to do. They want you to dance to their music but they also want you to think, some of the time. And they don't really find a middle ground between those two competing impulses like a band like Talking Heads does. Rather, it feels like their impulses are pulling them in two different directions, the result of either is not great.
These guys strike me as hipper-than-thou folks who don't realize they are making bland, generic dance music that will be dated in a matter of years, and rather think they're making great art.
Just really odd; a record that could only ever be made in the 1980s.
Published
A combination of slick 80s funk-pop and off-kilter experimentalism, like some sort of demented cross between Hall & Oates and They Might Be Giants.
Published
OVT 41664 CD (1988)
Some great 80's pop tunes on here...."Out Come The Freaks" "Spy in the House Of Love" and of course the catchy "Walk the Dinosaur."
The quirky tracks just make this record sound dated though now and to be honest gets on my nerves a bit, especially the horrid "Dad I'm In Jail" but theres enough good music on here to keep me coming back to it some 20 odd years after buying it,and they make an excellent job of doing "I Can't Turn You Loose."
The quirky tracks just make this record sound dated though now and to be honest gets on my nerves a bit, especially the horrid "Dad I'm In Jail" but theres enough good music on here to keep me coming back to it some 20 odd years after buying it,and they make an excellent job of doing "I Can't Turn You Loose."
Published
Hell yes! This is a really awesome album. It has a sort of funk feel to many of the tracks mixed with a bit of 80s cheesiness. Alright, maybe more than a bit of cheese (quite a lot actually). But hey, that doesn't stop this from being one of the most original, creative, and fun albums I've ever heard.
The two main vocalists in this band (Sweet Pea Atkinson and Sir Harry Bowens) are quite good. Some songs they have the lead alone or sometimes share it, but the band was definitely able to fit each of them to certain songs. The main songwriters, Don and David Was (stage names), did a great job of arranging this whole album, and of course playing their instruments and such. The rest of the group isn't as important so I'll just say they did a good job at whatever they did.
As for the songs themselves, they are definitely unique and very weird, but in a good way. Strangest of all would have to be the tracks that Don Was appears in, which were "Earth To Doris", "What Up Dog?", and "Dad, I'm In Jail". He sounds absolutely maniacal in the last one. The rest of the songs are actually song-like. There's a good mix of funkier stuff like "Spy In The House Of Love" and "Boy's Gone Crazy". You've got straight 80s pop like "Love Can Be Bad Luck" and "Anytime Lisa". Then there are songs that combine genres like "Out Come The Freaks" and "Anything Can Happen". You of course can't forget their most popular song "Walk The Dinosaur", a song that requires you not be sitting to listen to it. Seriously. Frank Sinatra Jr. sings "Wedding Vows In Vegas", who has a nice old fashioned voice. They also make awesome use of a drum machine in "Robot Girl". What can I say, I like 80s songs with drum machines. They're catchy.
Overall, this is a great album with very few flaws. A couple songs get a bit dull in places which is why this album doesn't get five stars. I should also mention the albums production, which is probably some of the best I've heard on any album. Everything comes in clearly and no single thing dominates on any track. It definitely sounds like an 80s album but it's one that ages well.
Now I need to listen to the rest of their albums to see if it's as good as this one. I know Ozzy Osbourne appears on one of them (should be an interesting listen). This is a very tough one to surpass.
The two main vocalists in this band (Sweet Pea Atkinson and Sir Harry Bowens) are quite good. Some songs they have the lead alone or sometimes share it, but the band was definitely able to fit each of them to certain songs. The main songwriters, Don and David Was (stage names), did a great job of arranging this whole album, and of course playing their instruments and such. The rest of the group isn't as important so I'll just say they did a good job at whatever they did.
As for the songs themselves, they are definitely unique and very weird, but in a good way. Strangest of all would have to be the tracks that Don Was appears in, which were "Earth To Doris", "What Up Dog?", and "Dad, I'm In Jail". He sounds absolutely maniacal in the last one. The rest of the songs are actually song-like. There's a good mix of funkier stuff like "Spy In The House Of Love" and "Boy's Gone Crazy". You've got straight 80s pop like "Love Can Be Bad Luck" and "Anytime Lisa". Then there are songs that combine genres like "Out Come The Freaks" and "Anything Can Happen". You of course can't forget their most popular song "Walk The Dinosaur", a song that requires you not be sitting to listen to it. Seriously. Frank Sinatra Jr. sings "Wedding Vows In Vegas", who has a nice old fashioned voice. They also make awesome use of a drum machine in "Robot Girl". What can I say, I like 80s songs with drum machines. They're catchy.
Overall, this is a great album with very few flaws. A couple songs get a bit dull in places which is why this album doesn't get five stars. I should also mention the albums production, which is probably some of the best I've heard on any album. Everything comes in clearly and no single thing dominates on any track. It definitely sounds like an 80s album but it's one that ages well.
Now I need to listen to the rest of their albums to see if it's as good as this one. I know Ozzy Osbourne appears on one of them (should be an interesting listen). This is a very tough one to surpass.
Published
Immediately, the cover sets up an alternate reality. Edged with abstractions and absurdity, the title track's stream-of-concious lyrics come to life before your eyes; the anti-hero and "credit card." A scan of the lyrics sheet provides fruitful reading. Each song seems to be loosely connected, existing in a dystopic, urban milieu. Masks are left only to reveal ugly, hidden truths; conversely, the characters in these songs need a pose for survival in the world painted, played, and vocalized so reconditely throughout these sixteen.
"Somewhere in America There's a Street Named After My Dad" beguiles in its smooth execution. Sweet Pea Atkinson's singing reality is filled with "angel dust Bryons," "sabertooth neighbors," and "pinky ring hustlers" as he wishes to find an imagined street named after his pop, so that he can ultimately find peace and love in "the home we never had." The 50's cool of "Anytime Lisa" surprises one even further as Atkinson adopts a doo-wop coo to unravel the tale of a nymphomaniac he secretly adores attempting to arrest her troubles, give her a sweet life. But, his delivery is knowing. As if he's not letting on to his true intentions. There's a bit of ambiguity in the song.
No, ambiguity is not the word. This is an album with an open mind, the kind that'll giggle if you ask, 'are these songs open to interpretation?'"
"Lisa" bleeds into the next track of egging and disarray "Dad, I'm in Jail." Maybe Sweet Pea was a bit more coy in his sweet as Starburst reading of the last line in "Anytime" -- "There's something inside that I want to touch?"
The album ranges from oddly Adult Contemporary sounding fare like "Love Can Be Bad Luck," and the album opener to the more avant, heavily percussive pieces like "Earth to Doris," "Boy's Gone Crazy," and "Shadow + Jimmy."
"Walk the Dinosaur," while regarded as a party favorite is not made for intimate longplaying. This one's made for the dancefloor or living room with its maxed-out horns and synthwork.
There's much more to be said about this album, but it's far from classic (some of the album's production falls on the wrong side of the 'dated' spectrum.)
Being a casual fan of Was (Not Was), it held my attention. Worth checking out, if only for "Anytime Lisa."
"Somewhere in America There's a Street Named After My Dad" beguiles in its smooth execution. Sweet Pea Atkinson's singing reality is filled with "angel dust Bryons," "sabertooth neighbors," and "pinky ring hustlers" as he wishes to find an imagined street named after his pop, so that he can ultimately find peace and love in "the home we never had." The 50's cool of "Anytime Lisa" surprises one even further as Atkinson adopts a doo-wop coo to unravel the tale of a nymphomaniac he secretly adores attempting to arrest her troubles, give her a sweet life. But, his delivery is knowing. As if he's not letting on to his true intentions. There's a bit of ambiguity in the song.
No, ambiguity is not the word. This is an album with an open mind, the kind that'll giggle if you ask, 'are these songs open to interpretation?'"
"Lisa" bleeds into the next track of egging and disarray "Dad, I'm in Jail." Maybe Sweet Pea was a bit more coy in his sweet as Starburst reading of the last line in "Anytime" -- "There's something inside that I want to touch?"
The album ranges from oddly Adult Contemporary sounding fare like "Love Can Be Bad Luck," and the album opener to the more avant, heavily percussive pieces like "Earth to Doris," "Boy's Gone Crazy," and "Shadow + Jimmy."
"Walk the Dinosaur," while regarded as a party favorite is not made for intimate longplaying. This one's made for the dancefloor or living room with its maxed-out horns and synthwork.
There's much more to be said about this album, but it's far from classic (some of the album's production falls on the wrong side of the 'dated' spectrum.)
Being a casual fan of Was (Not Was), it held my attention. Worth checking out, if only for "Anytime Lisa."
Published
OVT 41664 CD (1988)
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Catalog
16 May 2024
11 May 2024
5 May 2024
-
A1 Somewhere in America There's a Street Named After My Dad
-
A2
Spy in the House of Love
-
A3
Out Come the Freaks
-
A4 Earth to Dorris
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A5 Love Can Be Bad Luck
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A6
Boy's Gone Crazy
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A7 11 Mph (Abe Zapp Ruder Version)
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A8
What Up Dog?
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B1 Anything Can Happen
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B2
Robot Girl
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B3 Wedding Vows in Vegas
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B4 Anytime Lisa
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B5
Walk the Dinosaur
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B6 I Can't Turn You Loose
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B7 Shadow and Jimmy
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B8
Dad, I'm in Jail
29 Apr 2024
13 Apr 2024
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A1
Somewhere in America There's a Street Named After My Dad
-
A2
Spy in the House of Love
-
A3
Out Come the Freaks
-
A4
Earth to Dorris
-
A5
Love Can Be Bad Luck
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A6
Boy's Gone Crazy
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A7
11 Mph (Abe Zapp Ruder Version)
-
A8
What Up Dog?
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B1
Anything Can Happen
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B2
Robot Girl
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B3
Wedding Vows in Vegas
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B4
Anytime Lisa
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B5
Walk the Dinosaur
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B6
I Can't Turn You Loose
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B7
Shadow and Jimmy
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B8
Dad, I'm in Jail
7 Apr 2024
30 Mar 2024
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A1
Somewhere in America There's a Street Named After My Dad
-
A2
Spy in the House of Love
-
A3
Out Come the Freaks
-
A4
Earth to Dorris
-
A5
Love Can Be Bad Luck
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A6
Boy's Gone Crazy
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A7
11 Mph (Abe Zapp Ruder Version)
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A8
What Up Dog?
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B1
Anything Can Happen
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B2
Robot Girl
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B3
Wedding Vows in Vegas
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B4
Anytime Lisa
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B5
Walk the Dinosaur
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B6
I Can't Turn You Loose
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B7
Shadow and Jimmy
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B8
Dad, I'm in Jail
22 Mar 2024
15 Mar 2024
13 Mar 2024
13 Mar 2024
5 Mar 2024
18 Feb 2024
7 Feb 2024
29 Jan 2024
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