Kid Creole

Going Places: The August Darnell Years 1974-1983 (Strut)

By Lily Moayeri

published: April 24, 2008

Kid Creole and the Coconuts — possessed of a flavorful, beat-driven energy with a slight urban touch — were a staple of the hip musical experience in the Eighties. Prior to that time, however, central figure Kid Creole was known as August Darnell. As such, Darnell worked in front of and behind the scenes as player, producer, and songwriter of a number of recognizable hits. In fact while Kid Creole's music has remained on the downtown fringes, much of Darnell's other work has filtered down to influence today's pop music.

Compiled by Parisian DJ Guido, Going Places features songs from which numerous latter-day tracks by other artists either found samples or, at least, inspiration. It also contains a number of tunes later eclipsed in popularity by their cover versions. Check the smoky-lounge, dominatrix style of Cristina's "Is That All There Is." Later comes the childlike Caribbean tone of "Sunshowers," performed by Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band, which served as a jumping-off point for M.I.A.'s "Sunshowers." And unforgettable is the hip-shaking disco of Machine's "There but for the Grace of God Go I." Going Places runs an encyclopedic gamut of styles, paying a much-deserved tribute to Darnell's stamp on the present-day soundscape.