Tropical Gangsters

Tropical Gangsters
Studio album by
Kid Creole and the Coconuts
ReleasedMay 10, 1982 (1982-05-10)
Recorded1981–1982
StudioBlank Tapes, New York City; Electric Lady Studios, New York City
GenreLatin, funk, tropical
Length40:29 (original album)
72:28 (with bonus tracks)
LabelZE Records/Island (UK & Europe)
ZE Records/Sire Records (US & Canada)
ProducerAugust Darnell
Kid Creole and the Coconuts chronology
Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places
(1981) 		Tropical Gangsters
(1982) 		Doppelganger
(1983)
Alternative cover
US & Canada album cover
Singles from Tropical Gangsters
  1. "I'm a Wonderful Thing, Baby"
    Released: April 19, 1982
  2. "Stool Pigeon"
    Released: July 9, 1982
  3. "Annie, I'm Not Your Daddy"
    Released: September 24, 1982

Tropical Gangsters is the third album by Kid Creole and the Coconuts, released on May 10, 1982.[1] Originally conceived as a solo album by band leader August Darnell and titled Wise Guy, his label ZE Records pressured him to change it to a Kid Creole and the Coconuts record and to make it more commercial sounding in order to relieve the label's financial problems. Despite the tensions this caused within the band and Darnell's complaint that the subsequent record was a "cop-out",[2] the more dance-pop oriented sound helped it reached number 145 on the Billboard 200 album chart, representing the group's commercial breakthrough in their home country (the album kept the title of Wise Guy in the US and Canada, with a different cover). However, to the surprise of Darnell and his record company Tropical Gangsters was a huge success in Australia and New Zealand, Europe, and in particular the UK, where the album peaked at number three in the UK Albums Chart and yielded three top ten singles.[3] Tropical Gangsters made Darnell a worldwide star, and the album remains both his and the ZE label's most successful record by far.

  1. ^ "No messing with the Kid". NME. London, England. April 3, 1982. p. 3.
  2. ^ Needs, Kris (July 2008). "Jungle Boogie". Mojo. No. 176. London, England. pp. 57–62.
  3. ^ Roberts, David, ed. (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London, England: Guinness World Records. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-904994-10-7.