The Cosmopolitans
Encyclopedia
The Cosmopolitans are a United States New Wave
band that were based in New York from 1979 until 82. The band was best known for songs “(How to Keep Your) Husband Happy” and “Wild Moose Party” released in 1980, as well as its quirky choreography and lyrics, which were often based on tabloid news stories. Shows often included Wild Moose-call contests, baton routines, and chartreuse fake furs worn over blue mini-skirts.
The Cosmopolitans' origins date back to 1975, when Jamie K. Sims founded the North Carolina Progressive Dance Troop [sic], a rogue dance/theater company, while a music composition student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
. In 1977 she moved the company to New York City
, and facetiously renamed them the Cosmopolitan Dance Troop [sic]. As a sideline, the group - then consisting of both guys (Glen Tig, Harry Gantz, Greg Vines, Shaun) and gals (Jamie K. Sims, Karin Bradford, Nel Moore) - go-go danced onstage with rock-scene friends the dB's
and the Fleshtones
at clubs Irving Plaza
, CBGB
, Maxwell’s, and Tier Three. They also hosted 60’s go-go dance lessons at Club 57
, teaching New York downtown hipsters retro dance moves like the Jerk, the Watusi
, and the Boogaloo.
On May 6, 1979, a benefit concert was thrown for the struggling dance group at CBGB. The bill included Monster Masher Bobby Pickett, The dB's
, the Fleshtones, Information, and Big Help. At the show's end the Cosmopolitan Dance Troop performed one of their own satirical pop song and dance numbers. It was a hit with the New Wave crowd. Sims shortened their name to the Cosmopolitans, and from then on began booking them at rock clubs instead of theaters.
By 1980 the boys were out of the group and the Cosmopolitans were an all-girl threesome of Jamie K. Sims, Nel Moore, and Leslie Levinson. They performed Sims's songs and an assortment of covers to prerecorded backing tracks. These tracks were recorded by Sims on keyboards and fellow North Carolina musicians Mitch Easter
and Chris Stamey
on drums and guitars. During live performances Will Rigby often sat in on drums to augment the taped tracks. Levinson left later that year, and the Cosmopolitans forged on as a duo.
In the summer of 1980, Sims and Moore traveled down to Easter’s Drive-In Studio (in Winston-Salem, NC) to record a booking demo of three of Sims’s songs. Easter and Sims produced the session, with Easter also adding drums and guitar to Sims’s keyboards, vocals, and harmonica, and Moore’s harmonica and vocals. Back in New York, Alan Betrock was taken with what he heard and released the tracks on his Shake Records label in October 1980. “(How to Keep Your) Husband Happy” and “Wild Moose Party” and dance-club hits and was played on New York rock sytation WNEW-FM. The songs were later released on the Shake to Date compilation LP. In 1981 Albion Records released the single “Husband Happy” in the U.K. backed with a new tune, “Chevy Baby.” "Wild Moose Party" was written to honor Sims's 22-pound cat. "(How To Keep Your) Husband Happy" referenced an exercise record that was owned by Sims's mother, that was released by Debbie Drake, a popular late 1950s television personality.
A short time after the Shake Records release, additional musicians were added and the Cosmopolitans evolved into a tape-free live band. Sims and Moore fronted the group with vocals, percussion, and choreography. Sims often added Ace Tone organ solos with Moore wailing on harmonica. The longest-lived lineup of live Cosmopolitans included drummer Evan "Funk" Davies, guitarist David Itch, and keyboardist Jeff Dedrick. Robert Crenshaw stepped in as drummer in late1981. Moore left the group in 1982, and the final touring band featured Sims, Itch, Neil Winograd on drums, and Judy Monteleone on guitar. The group performed at some of New York's most high-profile rock clubs - including Hurrah, Max's Kansas City
, the Mudd Club
, the Ritz, the original Peppermint Lounge
, and Irving Plaza
- and toured up and down the East Coast.
Sims disbanded the group in November 1982 when she contracted Epstein-Barr virus
.
In November 2003 Lee Joseph, of Dionysus Records, contacted Sims about releasing a Cosmopolitans retrospective CD, including unreleased studio and live tapes, plus the original Shake recordings of “Wild Moose Party,” “(How to Keep Your) Husband Happy”, and “Dancin’ Lesson.” During the dig for old tapes, a pre-MTV video of “Husband Happy,” directed by Michael Dugan, was also unearthed. The video includes band footage of their appearance on the Uncle Floyd Show, as well as the Husband Happy tips acted out by Faye Hunter, Mitch Easter, Rayna, Sims, and Moore. This enhanced CD, titled Wild Moose Party – New Wave Pom Pom Girls Gone Go-Go, NYC 1980-1981, was released in 2006 on the Bacchus Archives label.
The reunited group was scheduled to play an August 2, 2009 play a gig in Carrboro, North Carolina
.
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band that were based in New York from 1979 until 82. The band was best known for songs “(How to Keep Your) Husband Happy” and “Wild Moose Party” released in 1980, as well as its quirky choreography and lyrics, which were often based on tabloid news stories. Shows often included Wild Moose-call contests, baton routines, and chartreuse fake furs worn over blue mini-skirts.
The Cosmopolitans' origins date back to 1975, when Jamie K. Sims founded the North Carolina Progressive Dance Troop [sic], a rogue dance/theater company, while a music composition student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
. In 1977 she moved the company to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and facetiously renamed them the Cosmopolitan Dance Troop [sic]. As a sideline, the group - then consisting of both guys (Glen Tig, Harry Gantz, Greg Vines, Shaun) and gals (Jamie K. Sims, Karin Bradford, Nel Moore) - go-go danced onstage with rock-scene friends the dB's
The dB's
The dB's are a jangle pop/power pop group who came into prominence in the late 1970s and 1980s. The bandmembers were Peter Holsapple, Chris Stamey, Will Rigby and Gene Holder, all of whom were from Winston-Salem, North Carolina...
and the Fleshtones
The Fleshtones
The Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York formed in 1976.- 1976-1979 :The Fleshtones were formed in 1976 in Whitestone, New York by Keith Streng and Marek Pakulski The Fleshtones are an American garage rock band from Queens, New York formed in 1976.- 1976-1979 :The...
at clubs Irving Plaza
Irving Plaza
Irving Plaza is a 1,200-person ballroom-style music venue at 17 Irving Place and East 15th Street in the Union Square neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
, CBGB
CBGB
CBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
, Maxwell’s, and Tier Three. They also hosted 60’s go-go dance lessons at Club 57
Club 57
Club 57 was a nightclub located at 57 St. Mark's Place in the East Village, New York City during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was a hangout and venue for performance- and visual-artists and musicians, including Madonna, Keith Haring, Cyndi Lauper, Charles Busch, Klaus Nomi, The B-52s, Futura...
, teaching New York downtown hipsters retro dance moves like the Jerk, the Watusi
The Watusi
The Watusi is a solo dance that enjoyed brief popularity during the early 1960s. It was the second-most popular dance craze in the 1960s in the United States, after the Twist...
, and the Boogaloo.
On May 6, 1979, a benefit concert was thrown for the struggling dance group at CBGB. The bill included Monster Masher Bobby Pickett, The dB's
The dB's
The dB's are a jangle pop/power pop group who came into prominence in the late 1970s and 1980s. The bandmembers were Peter Holsapple, Chris Stamey, Will Rigby and Gene Holder, all of whom were from Winston-Salem, North Carolina...
, the Fleshtones, Information, and Big Help. At the show's end the Cosmopolitan Dance Troop performed one of their own satirical pop song and dance numbers. It was a hit with the New Wave crowd. Sims shortened their name to the Cosmopolitans, and from then on began booking them at rock clubs instead of theaters.
By 1980 the boys were out of the group and the Cosmopolitans were an all-girl threesome of Jamie K. Sims, Nel Moore, and Leslie Levinson. They performed Sims's songs and an assortment of covers to prerecorded backing tracks. These tracks were recorded by Sims on keyboards and fellow North Carolina musicians Mitch Easter
Mitch Easter
Mitch Easter is a songwriter, musician, and producer. As a producer, he is probably best known for his work with R.E.M. from 1981 through 1984, though he has also worked with many other acts including The Hang Ups, Pavement, Suzanne Vega, Game Theory, Marshall Crenshaw, Velvet Crush, and...
and Chris Stamey
Chris Stamey
Chris Stamey is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. After a stint playing with Alex Chilton, and a brief partnering with Mitch Easter under the name Sneakers, he formed The dB's, whose stewardship he would share with Peter Holsapple.In 1977 in New York, Chris founded the...
on drums and guitars. During live performances Will Rigby often sat in on drums to augment the taped tracks. Levinson left later that year, and the Cosmopolitans forged on as a duo.
In the summer of 1980, Sims and Moore traveled down to Easter’s Drive-In Studio (in Winston-Salem, NC) to record a booking demo of three of Sims’s songs. Easter and Sims produced the session, with Easter also adding drums and guitar to Sims’s keyboards, vocals, and harmonica, and Moore’s harmonica and vocals. Back in New York, Alan Betrock was taken with what he heard and released the tracks on his Shake Records label in October 1980. “(How to Keep Your) Husband Happy” and “Wild Moose Party” and dance-club hits and was played on New York rock sytation WNEW-FM. The songs were later released on the Shake to Date compilation LP. In 1981 Albion Records released the single “Husband Happy” in the U.K. backed with a new tune, “Chevy Baby.” "Wild Moose Party" was written to honor Sims's 22-pound cat. "(How To Keep Your) Husband Happy" referenced an exercise record that was owned by Sims's mother, that was released by Debbie Drake, a popular late 1950s television personality.
A short time after the Shake Records release, additional musicians were added and the Cosmopolitans evolved into a tape-free live band. Sims and Moore fronted the group with vocals, percussion, and choreography. Sims often added Ace Tone organ solos with Moore wailing on harmonica. The longest-lived lineup of live Cosmopolitans included drummer Evan "Funk" Davies, guitarist David Itch, and keyboardist Jeff Dedrick. Robert Crenshaw stepped in as drummer in late1981. Moore left the group in 1982, and the final touring band featured Sims, Itch, Neil Winograd on drums, and Judy Monteleone on guitar. The group performed at some of New York's most high-profile rock clubs - including Hurrah, Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South, in New York City, which was a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s.-Origin of name:...
, the Mudd Club
Mudd Club
The Mudd Club was a TriBeCa nightclub that was opened in October 1978 by Steve Mass, art curator Diego Cortez and Anya Phillips, a figure in the downtown punk scene...
, the Ritz, the original Peppermint Lounge
Peppermint Lounge
The Peppermint Lounge was a popular discotheque located at 128 West 45th Street in New York City that was open from 1958 to 1965. It was the launchpad for the global Twist craze in the early 1960s, and also where Go-Go dancing originated....
, and Irving Plaza
Irving Plaza
Irving Plaza is a 1,200-person ballroom-style music venue at 17 Irving Place and East 15th Street in the Union Square neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
- and toured up and down the East Coast.
Sims disbanded the group in November 1982 when she contracted Epstein-Barr virus
Epstein-Barr virus
The Epstein–Barr virus , also called human herpesvirus 4 , is a virus of the herpes family and is one of the most common viruses in humans. It is best known as the cause of infectious mononucleosis...
.
In November 2003 Lee Joseph, of Dionysus Records, contacted Sims about releasing a Cosmopolitans retrospective CD, including unreleased studio and live tapes, plus the original Shake recordings of “Wild Moose Party,” “(How to Keep Your) Husband Happy”, and “Dancin’ Lesson.” During the dig for old tapes, a pre-MTV video of “Husband Happy,” directed by Michael Dugan, was also unearthed. The video includes band footage of their appearance on the Uncle Floyd Show, as well as the Husband Happy tips acted out by Faye Hunter, Mitch Easter, Rayna, Sims, and Moore. This enhanced CD, titled Wild Moose Party – New Wave Pom Pom Girls Gone Go-Go, NYC 1980-1981, was released in 2006 on the Bacchus Archives label.
The reunited group was scheduled to play an August 2, 2009 play a gig in Carrboro, North Carolina
Carrboro, North Carolina
Carrboro is a town in Orange County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 19,582 at the 2010 census. The town, which is part of the Durham-Chapel Hill metropolitan statistical area, was named after North Carolina industrialist Julian Shakespeare Carr.Located near Chapel Hill and...
.