Born to Laugh at Tornadoes

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Born to Laugh at Tornadoes
Studio album by Was (Not Was)
Released	1983
Length	35:31
Label	Geffen
Professional reviews
Rolling Stone link All Music Guide link
Was (Not Was) chronology
Was (Not Was) Born to Laugh at Tornadoes What Up, Dog?

Born To Laugh At Tornadoes is a 1983 eccentric pop album by the progressive pop band Was (Not Was). Rolling Stone declared it "conceptually, the best album of the year" shortly after its release.^[1] The advance publicity did not endear itself to the listening public at the time, and the album made little fanfare in a year dominated by the power pop of Michael Jackson's Thriller, or Prince's 1999.

This album boasted an impressive array of guest vocalists, ranging from soul rocker Sweet Pea Atkinson on the opening track "Knocked Down, Made Small (Treated Like A Rubber Ball)", heavy metal shock rocker Ozzy Osbourne ("Shake Your Head"), pop band The Knack's lead vocalist Doug Fieger (on "Betrayal"), Marshall Crenshaw ("The Party Broke Up"), and torch song vocalist/songwriter Mel Tormé (lead vocal on the closing song "Zaz Turned Blue").

The album also displayed a wide variety of musical styles, ranging from pop love ballads ("Betrayal") to heavy metal ("Bow Wow Wow Wow"), psychedelic synthesized mod music ("Man Vs. The Empire Brain Building"), to soft, easy listening cocktail jazz ("Zaz Turned Blue"), a black comedic song about a man who chokes to death in a park when no one around knew how to perform the Heimlich maneuver ("Zaz turned blue/What were we supposed to do?/When Zaz turned blue?")

[edit] Track listing

1. Knocked Down, Made Small (Treated Like a Rubber Ball)
2. Bow Wow Wow Wow
3. Betrayal
4. Shake Your Head (Let's Go to Bed)
5. Man vs. the Empire Brain Building
6. (Return to The Valley of) Out Come the Freaks
7. Professor Night
8. The Party Broke Up
9. Smile
10. Zaz Turned Blue

[edit] References