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.
The group was led by guitarist-songwriter Chris Butler with lead vocals performed by Patty Donahue.
Contents
History
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 moved to New York City and shopped "I Know What Boys Like". The song landed him a deal with ZE Records, which released the single in 1980. It was an underground hit, but did not chart. With the deal in place, Butler put together an actual band lineup for the Waitresses, featuring lead vocalist Donahue, jazz saxophonist Mars Williams, former Television drummer Billy Ficca, keyboardist Dan Klayman, bassist Dave Hofstra and backing vocalist Ariel Warner. The Waitresses played their debut concert on New Year's Eve 1980.