The Waitresses
American new wave band
title: "The Waitresses" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["the-waitresses", "american-new-wave-musical-groups", "american-post-punk-music-groups", "musical-groups-from-akron,-ohio", "musical-groups-from-kent,-ohio", "polydor-records-artists", "ze-records-artists", "omnivore-recordings-artists", "musical-groups-established-in-1977", "musical-groups-disestablished-in-1983", "1977-establishments-in-ohio", "1983-disestablishments-in-ohio", "musical-groups-from-ohio", "female-fronted-musical-groups", "mixed-gender-bands"] description: "American new wave band" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Waitresses" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American new wave band ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist "]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | The Waitresses |
| image_size | |
| background | group_or_band |
| origin | Akron, Ohio, U.S. |
| genre | |
| years_active | 1978–1983 |
| label | |
| past_members | Chris Butler |
| Patty Donahue | |
| Billy Ficca | |
| Dan Klayman | |
| Mars Williams | |
| David Hofstra | |
| Ariel Warner | |
| Tracy Wormworth | |
| Holly Beth Vincent | |
| :: |
| name = The Waitresses | image = | caption = | image_size = | background = group_or_band | alias = | origin = Akron, Ohio, U.S. | genre = | years_active = 1978–1983 | label = | website = | past_members = Chris Butler Patty Donahue Billy Ficca Dan Klayman Mars Williams David Hofstra Ariel Warner Tracy Wormworth Holly Beth Vincent The Waitresses were an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio,{{cite web | last = Huey | first = Steve | url = | title = The Waitresses: Biography | work = All Music Guide | publisher = Billboard.com | access-date = October 25, 2012 | last = Moore | first = Christie | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HsSo4WC2FmAC&q=%22i+know+what+boys+like%22&pg=PA408 | title = The Unultimate Rockopedia | chapter = "W: The Waitresses" | publisher = AuthorHouse | page = 408 | isbn = 1-425964-74-5 | date = October 30, 2006 | access-date = October 25, 2012
The group was led by guitarist-songwriter Chris Butler with lead vocals performed by Patty Donahue.{{cite book | last = Talevski | first = Nick | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DykffzkFALoC&q=%22i+know+what+boys+like%22&pg=PA137 | chapter = Patti Donahue | title = Knocking on Heaven's Door: Rock Obituaries | page = 137 | publisher = Omnibus Press | date = August 1, 2006 | isbn = 1-846090-91-1 | access-date = October 25, 2012
History
The Waitresses were formed by Butler (formerly of the Numbers Band) in 1978 as a side project while he was still a member of Tin Huey. He wrote and recorded "I Know What Boys Like" that year, with guest vocals by friend Donahue (as "Patty Darling") and saxophone from Tin Huey member Ralph Carney, although the song remained unreleased at the time. A debut single, In "Short Stack" (featuring the songs "Slide" and "Clones"), recorded solely by Butler, was issued by Clone Records in 1978. Both tracks from the single, plus another early song, "The Comb", appeared that year on The Akron Compilation, issued by Stiff Records.
Butler moved to New York City and shopped "I Know What Boys Like". The song landed him a deal with ZE Records, which released the single in 1980. It was an underground hit, but did not chart.{{cite book | last = Popoff | first = Martin | authorlink = Martin Popoff | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XUI1R7jJz2YC&q=%22i+know+what+boys+like%22 | title = Goldmine Standard Catalog of American Records 1948–1991 | page = 1233 | publisher = Krause | date = September 2, 2010 | isbn = 978-1-440216-21-3 | access-date = October 25, 2012 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FyUEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22i+know+what+boys+like%22+billboard&pg=PA71 | title = Top Album Picks: First Time Around | magazine = Billboard | volume = 94 | issue = 5 | issn = 0006-2510 | page = 71 | date = February 6, 1982 | access-date = October 25, 2012
1981 saw the band record its first and most successful album and its most enduring hit. During the recording sessions for the album Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? Warner resigned from the band because of stage fright. Later that year, Hofstra quit. He was replaced by Tracy Wormworth, who would supply the bass line for "Christmas Wrapping", a Christmas song written by Butler in August at ZE's insistence.
The Waitresses released Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? on January 11, 1982, on the Polydor label, licensed from ZE. It peaked at No. 41 in the Billboard 200 chart. The album included "I Know What Boys Like", which was re-released as a single later in the year and peaked at No. 62 on the Billboard Hot 100,{{cite web | url = http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1982-06-05?order=drop | title = Hot 100: Week of June 5, 1982 | work = Billboard.com | date = June 12, 1982 | access-date = October 25, 2012 No. 23 on ''Billboard'''s Top Tracks chart,{{cite magazine | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2yQEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22i+know+what+boys+like%22+billboard&pg=PA24 | title = Billboard Rock Albums & Top Tracks | magazine = Billboard | volume = 94 | issue = 8 | issn = 0006-2510 | page = 24 | date = February 27, 2012 | access-date = October 25, 2012 No. 14 on the Australian Singles Chart (Kent Music Report), and also charted in the UK. "Christmas Wrapping", originally released on the ZE Records album A Christmas Record in 1981, became a No. 45 hit in the United Kingdom in 1982.{{cite book | first = David | last = Roberts | year = 2006 | title = British Hit Singles & Albums | edition = 19th | publisher = Guinness World Records Limited | location = London | isbn = 1-904994-10-5 | page = 589
The Waitresses recorded the theme song of the television program Square Pegs,{{cite web | url = http://www.discogs.com/Waitresses-I-Could-Rule-The-World-If-I-Could-Only-Get-The-Parts/release/472650 | title = Waitresses, The – I Could Rule The World If I Could Only Get the Parts | work = Discogs.com | date = 1982 | access-date = October 25, 2012 starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Amy Linker, which aired during the 1982–1983 season, and the band appeared as themselves in the pilot episode. Polydor issued the song as a single in 1982, and included it (along with "Christmas Wrapping") on the 1982 EP I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts.
The band's second album, Bruiseology, was released by Polydor in May 1983. During that summer, Donahue left the band and was replaced by Holly Beth Vincent, formerly of Holly and the Italians, but Vincent herself left after just two weeks and Donahue returned.
The Waitresses split up later in 1983.
Post-breakup and legacy
Butler later worked as a producer, and played with numerous bands and artists including Half Cleveland, Purple K'nif and Richard Lloyd. Ficca played in Gods and Monsters and returned to his former group Television when they reunited in 1991. Williams played with the Psychedelic Furs, NRG Ensemble, Liquid Soul, Hal Russell and Ken Vandermark. Williams died of ampullary cancer at the age of 68 on November 20, 2023. Wormworth has played bass for the B-52's since 1992.
Donahue died of lung cancer at the age of 40 on December 9, 1996. King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents the Waitresses, a live album recorded in 1982 at My Father's Place in Roslyn, New York, was issued in 1997 by King Biscuit Flower Hour. Polydor issued two compilation albums, The Best of the Waitresses (1990) and 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of The Waitresses (2003). In 2013, Omnivore Recordings released the compilation Just Desserts: The Complete Waitresses, collecting virtually all of the band's recordings for Polydor,{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/just-desserts-the-complete-waitresses-mw0002556230|title=Just Desserts: The Complete Waitresses|first=David |last=Jeffries |website=AllMusic|access-date=10 December 2013}} while ZE Records issued a digital collection of their ZE releases, Deluxe Special: Ze Complete Recordings.
"Christmas Wrapping" was covered by the Spice Girls in 1998, as the B-side of their single "Goodbye", which peaked at number 1 in the UK.{{cite web | url = http://www.billboard.com/articles/list/950062/100-hot-holiday-songs | title = 100 Hot Holiday Songs | work = Billboard.com | access-date = March 29, 2011
Personnel
- Chris Butler – guitar, backing vocals (1978–1983)
- Patty Donahue – lead vocals (1980–1983, 1983; died 1996)
- David Hofstra – bass guitar (1980–1982)
- Billy Ficca – drums (1980–1983)
- Dan Klayman – keyboards, organ (1980–1983)
- Ariel Warner – backing vocals (1980–1982)
- Mars Williams – saxophone, reed instruments (1980–1983; died 2023)
- Tracy Wormworth – bass guitar, backing vocals (1982–1983)
- Holly Beth Vincent – lead vocals (1983)
Discography
Studio albums
::data[format=table] | Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Label | US | AUS | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1982 | Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? | 41 | 84 | Polydor | | | 1983 | Bruiseology | 155 | — | | | ::
EPs
::data[format=table] | Year | Title | US | Label | |---|---|---|---| | 1982 | I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts | 128 | Polydor | ::
Singles
::data[format=table] | Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | US | AUS | UK | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1978 | In "Short Stack" ("Slide" / "Clones") | — | — | — | | Non-album singles}} | | | 1980 | "I Know What Boys Like" / "No Guilt" | — | — | — | | | | | 1981 | "Christmas Wrapping" | — | — | 45 | | A Christmas Record | | | 1982 | "I Know What Boys Like" | 62 | 14 | — | | Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? | | | "Square Pegs" | — | — | — | | I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts | | | | 1983 | "Make the Weather" | — | — | — | | Bruiseology | | | "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | | | | | | | | ::
Live albums
::data[format=table]
| Released | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents the Waitresses | King Biscuit Flower Hour |
| :: |
Compilation albums
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | The Best of the Waitresses | Polydor |
| 2003 | 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of the Waitresses | Polydor |
| 2013 | Just Desserts: The Complete Waitresses | Omnivore |
| 2013 | Deluxe Special: ZE Complete Recordings | ZE |
| :: |
References
References
- "The Waitresses - Biography".
- Pouncey, Edwin. (March 6, 1982). "The Waitresses: What The Butler Said".
- "The Waitresses". [[Internet Movie Database]] (IMDb).
- (20 November 2023). "Mars Williams, saxophonist for Psychedelic Furs, is dead at 68".
- "King Biscuit Flower Hour - The Waitresses - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic".
- {{AllMusic. Chris. Woodstra
- {{AllMusic. Heather. Phares
- "The Waitresses: Just Desserts: The Complete Waitresses".
- "The Waitresses – Deluxe Special: Ze Complete Recordings".
- "I Know What Boys Like | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company".
- (May 1, 2002). "Los Del Rio's Dance Smash 'Macarena' Tops the List Of VH1's All-Time '100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders'".
- "100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the '80s". VH1.
- "The Waitresses Chart History: Billboard 200".
- Kent, David. (1993). "Australian Chart Book 1970–1992". Australian Chart Book.
- "The Waitresses Chart History: Hot 100".
- "Waitresses: Singles".
- {{cite certification
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