History Music / WasNotWas

** "Out Come the Freaks" and its variants are jaunty, funky, upbeat songs about things like a TroubledVeteran and other {{Crazy Homeless Person}}s, [[RapeAsDrama sexual assault of the desperate or mentally ill]], {{Amoral Attorney}}s profiting off the poor, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and finally,]] golddiggers hoping to snag a millionaire.

* LyricalDissonance: "Walk the Dinosaur" is not really a light-hearted song about prehistoric times; [[https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/out-come-the-freaks/Content?oid=2180376 it's about]] ''[[NukeEm nuclear Armageddon]]''.

* LyricalDissonance: "Walk the Dinosaur" is not really about prehistoric times; [[https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/out-come-the-freaks/Content?oid=2180376 it's about]] ''[[NukeEm nuclear Armageddon]]''.

* SpecialGuest: On various songs their guest vocalists have included Frank Sinatra, Jr., Mel Tormé, Music/OzzyOsbourne, Music/LeonardCohen, Music/TheRoches, and Kris Kristofferson.

Both Don and David Was are to varying extents sought-after {{record producer}}s. Don co-produced Music/TheB52s' ''Cosmic Thing'' with [[Music/{{Chic}} Nile Rodgers]] while David produced ''Songs in the Key of X'', two compilation albums spun off from ''Music/TheXFiles''.

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: "Walk the Dinosaur".

* {{Christmas Song|s}}: "Christmas in the Motor City," recorded for the 1981 [=ZE=] Records compilation ''A Christmas Record.''

* [[IHaveNoSon I Have No Daughter]]: "(Return to the Valley Of) Out Come the Freaks"
* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: The first "Was" is supposed to be pronounced "Vass", while the second is standard pronunciation.

* TwoHitWonder: In the United States; while today they're best-known for "Walk the Dinosaur", the lead single from ''What Up, Dog?'', "Spy in the House of Love", reached the top 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It even topped the Hot Dance Club Play chart;[[note]]currently named Dance Club Songs[[/note]] "Walk the Dinosaur" only reached #11 on that one.

* {{Funk}} and FunkRock

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Tends strongly toward the cynical end.

Boom, boom, acka-lacka-boom-boom"''\\
--The opening to '''"Walk the Dinosaur"'''

'''Was (Not Was)''' is an experimental pop-funk ensemble created by Don Was (Don Fagenson) and David Was (David Weiss), formed in 1979 in UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}}, broken up in 1992, and re-formed in 2004. Don and David Was are, as you might have guessed, not really blood relatives. In the main they're not singers either. While the band has a longstanding front man in "Sweet Pea" Atkinson, they have also passed the lead vocal mic to a series of high profile {{special guest}}s.

->"Boom, boom, acka-lacka-lacka-boom\\
Boom, boom, acka-lacka-boom-boom"\\

[[quoteright:200:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wasnotwas_1589.jpg]]

* AbusiveParents: "Knocked Down Made Small (Treated Like A Rubber Ball)"

* DisappearedDad: "Somewhere in America There's a Street Named After My Dad", the cover of "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone". "11 Miles An Hour" notes that Lee Harvey Oswald had a disappeared dad as well.

* OnePhoneCall: "Dad I'm In Jail"

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: "Maria Navarro"
* {{Robotgirl}}: "Robot Girl", obviously.

* WhoShotJFK: "11 Miles An Hour"

->"Open the door, get on the floor\\

Everybody kill the dinosaur"

* DisappearedDad: "Somewhere In America There's A Street Named After My Dad", the cover of "Papa Was A Rolling Stone". "11 Miles An Hour" notes that Lee Harvey Oswald had a disappeared dad as well.

* ItIsPronouncedTropay: The first "Was" is supposed to be pronounced "Vass", while the second is standard pronunciation.
* ListSong: "Shake Your Head (Let's Go To Bed)"
* LoudnessWar: The greatest hits collection ''Pick Of The Litter'' has been criticized for this.

* SelfTitledAlbum: Their debut, though its expanded reissue was retitled ''Out Come The Freaks''.

* UnpluggedVersion: Their GreatestHitsAlbum ''Hello Dad... I'm In Jail'' includes an acoustic demo of "How The Heart Behaves".

* TwoHitWonder: In the United States; while today they're best-known for "Walk the Dinosaur", the lead single from ''What Up, Dog?'', "Spy in the House of Love", reached the top 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It even topped the Hot Dance Club Play chart;[[note]]currently named Hot Dance Club Songs[[/note]] "Walk the Dinosaur" only reached #11 on that one.

!!!Tropes (Not Tropes):

* NubileSavage: The video for "Walk Tthe Dinosaur" includes four of them dancing to the song.

Both Don and David Was are to varying extents sought-after {{record producer}}s. Don co-produced Music/TheB52s' ''Cosmic Thing'' with [[Music/{{Chic}} Nile Rodgers]]'' while David produced ''Songs in the Key of X'', two compilation albums spun off from ''Music/TheXFiles''.

Both Don and David Was are to varying extents sought-after {{record producer}}s. Don co-produced Music/TheB52s' ''Cosmic Thing'' with [[Music/{{Chic}} Nile Rodgers]]'' while David produced ''Series/TheXFiles'' compilation albums ''Songs in the Key of X''.

* ShoutOut: "Earth to Doris" is heavily inspired by Music/TomWaits' spoken word tracks.