The Waitresses

The Waitresses were an experimental post-punk band from Akron, Ohio.[1][2] The group was led by guitarist/songwriter Chris Butler with lead vocals performed by Patty Donahue.[1][3]
They had minor success in the United States with the song "I Know What Boys Like", from their 1982 debut album Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful.[3] The song was originally released by the band as a single on Antilles Records in 1980, but did not chart.[4][5] It became an underground hit, and when re-released in 1982, it peaked at No. 62 on the Billboard Hot 100,[6] No. 23 onBillboard's Top Tracks chart,[7] No. 14 on the Australian Singles Chart (Kent Music Report),[5] and also charted in the UK.[2]
The Waitresses also recorded the theme song to the television program Square Pegs,[3][8] which aired during the 1982–83 season.[9] (The band appeared as themselves in the pilot episode.)[9] Their Christmas song "Christmas Wrapping" was originally released on the ZE Records album A Christmas Record in 1981,[1] and became a No. 45 hit in the United Kingdom in 1982.[3][10] The song was subsequently covered by the Spice Girls in 1998, as the B-side of their single "Goodbye"[1][11] and by the television show Glee sung by the character Brittany for their 2011 Christmas special.[12][12][13]
The group released two albums, Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful and Bruiseology, and one EP, I Could Rule the World If I Could Only Get the Parts.[1] For many years, none of these was easily available on CD, but that was rectified by 2013's Just Desserts: The Complete Waitresses, which collects virtually all of the band's recordings for Polygram.[14]
The band's lead singer Patty Donahue left in summer 1984 and was briefly replaced by Holly Beth Vincent. Vincent left the band two weeks later and Donahue returned.[2][3] The band finally split up in late 1984 after the departures of Carney and Klayman.
Donahue died of lung cancer at the age of 40 on December 9, 1996.[3]
Category:New Wave
Category:Post Punk
Category:Alternative
Category:Eighties