APPETIZERS
While I enjoyed many acts in the 80s like the GoGos, Human League, Men At Work, and Howard Jones, I felt more strongly about The Waitresses than any of them. Their music spoke about me, to me, and for me. "No Guilt" helped me get my self esteem back after a painful breakup. Each man described in "Go On" was someone I had dated ("...am I a magnet for losers?"). If you have been to my homepage you know that I was a huge "square peg" and that song said everything that I felt. But, mostly, Chris Butler's lyrics showed me that some men do understand how women feel and that gave me hope that maybe tomorrow would be wonderful.  

I've had people tell me, "The songs were fine until Patty opened her mouth. She doesn't sing she just talks in time to the music." But, you know, for me Waitresses' music wasn't so much about her singing. It was about the songs. It would have been a mistake (I think) to have a truly great vocalist in that group. Take a Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston. They can sing the phone book and it would sound good because a person is so entranced with their voices that it doesn't matter what they are singing. This would have detracted from the most important part of the Waitresses: the lyrics and the structure of the songs.

One sign of a good band is if their songs stick in your head and maybe even become a part of your everyday language. For example, here it is 17 years after Jimmy Tomorrow was released and still whenever I get disappointed with something I'll say, "It was just moooore gasss."


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