The Waitresses were an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, best known for their singles "I Know What Boys Like" and "Christmas Wrapping." The band released two albums, Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? and Bruiseology, and one EP, I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts.
members: Chris Butler, Billy Ficca, Mars Williams, Holly Beth Vincent
formed in: Akron
genres: post-punk, new wave
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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 later worked as a producer, and played with numerous bands and artists including Half Cleveland, Purple K'nif, R. Stevie Moore 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.
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