A Date With John Waters

John Waters | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 6, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Watertower Music
• ASIN: B000LSAJ6Q
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,721 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Tonight You Belong to Me

2. Jet Boy Jet Girl

3. Ain't Got No Home

4. I'd Love to Take Orders from You

5. In Spite of Ourselves

6. All I Can Do Is Cry

7. Big Girls Don't Cry

8. Imitation of Life

9. Sometimes I Wish I Had a Gun

10. Johnny Are You Queer?

11. Night Time is the Right Time

12. Hit the Road to Dreamland

13. If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake

14. Bewildered

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

History's already shown that the self-proclaimed master of "bad taste" has always had impeccably good taste, even at his most extreme. A large part of the reason that his aesthetic has had a real and unabated influence since the early 1970s is that there's nothing forced or ironic about his approach to film-making, including the soundtracks to his movies, which the director terms "little-known, weird vintage music." Waters says that the selections on A Date are "all romantic seduction music I would play if I had you over." Naturally, it's an off-kilter patchwork selection; most folks would not try to seduce someone with either an Ike & Tina Turner number or "Sometimes I Wish I Had a Gun," sung by Waters habitué Mink Stole. The collection is fun and veers from mellow crooners and hopped-up rhythm and blues to forgotten rocker hits from the '50s ("Tonight You Belong to Me" by Patience and Prudence) and '70s ("Jet Boy Jet Girl" by Elton Motello). If the collection sells well, the director promises to bring you Breaking Up with John Waters, as if you needed another reason to buy this one. --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm available, John. Pick me!, February 15, 2007

By 

Timothy C. Ratajczak (Baltimore, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Date With John Waters (Audio CD)

John Waters is the man who made Christmas meaningful for me again with "A John Waters Christmas". Now with the release of "A Date With John Waters" I'm almost tempted to start dating again. If this pervy music doesn't get you in the mood, nothing will. Mind you, John could have picked songs from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and made them sound...well...dirty. A great collection overall, but what makes this disc indispensible is the inclusion of the rare 45 by Edith Massey "Big Girls Don't Cry". Edie's reading of the old Four Seasons song not only makes you forget about the original, it makes you weep to recall what an original Edie truly was. Bravo, John! Can we look forward to "A Night in Hell with John Waters"?

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take a campy roller coaster thrill ride with John Waters on this Valentine's Day CD !!!, February 15, 2007

By 

Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Date With John Waters (Audio CD)

Valentine's Day should be every day--so I suppose therefore that this review is not too late to be posted! John Waters produces a Valentine's Day CD that gives you the emotional experience of a roller coaster ride. You simply never know which type of song you're going to hear next unless you've read the liner notes. I advise you not to read the liner notes first and just play this CD to climb onboard the best musical roller coaster ride you ever took!

The CD starts with a beautiful sister act named Patience and Prudence performing "Tonight You Belong To Me." The surface noise enhances the romantic quality of the recording. I normally detest surface noise after a CD has been digitally remastered; but I also must admit there can be a certain romantic quality to hearing a record on vinyl with its imperfections. John Waters wants to give us that experience here on this number. It sure will bring back fond memories!

The CD takes a remarkably sharp turn into the world of much less traditional relationships with the punk rock song "Jet Boy Jet Girl." Elton Motello's voice is in great form on this track--great!

Other more traditional songs many people will recognize include "Ain't Got No Home" performed by the highly talented Clarence "Frogman" Henry and the torch song "All I Can Do Is Cry" by Ike and Tina Turner. In addition, Eileen with the New Yorkers perform the classic cutie "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked A Cake."

No John Waters album could ever be complete without plenty more camp and "less usual" types of romance. Mildred Bailey & Her Swing Band perform "I'd Love To Take Orders From You" from 1935 to perfection; and Mink Stole sings beautifully on "Sometimes I Wish I Had A Gun." On the track "Sometimes I Wish I Had A Gun" Mink Stole performs a singing portrait of a woman who wants to boss her man around for the "fun" of it.

Country music appears in the form of "In Spite Of Ourselves" performed by John Prine with Iris DeMent. This song boasts a great country beat and the musical arrangement uses the guitar so wonderfully. The lyrics will amuse you, too.

I notice that John Waters worked very hard on the liner notes for this CD; and the CD artwork is excellent, too. Therefore, I think that "The Right Time" by Ray Charles was probably intentionally presented here as a scratchy recording to help us reminisce about loves in our past while we enjoy the awesome beauty of this song. It would be just like John Waters to do that; John probably figured that this particular recording of "The Right Time" also increased the campy retro feel of this CD. Just my two cents, everyone!

Shirley & Lee perform the ending track entitled "Bewildered." "Bewildered" has the same 1950s sound of the opening number "Tonight You belong To Me" by Patience and Prudence. This retro feel makes us want to reminisce even more about former loves and the time when we met that special someone we share life with now. This adds a type of romantic effect to the CD; and therefore "Bewildered" provides a strong ending for the CD.

John Waters writes the cheerfully cracked and silly liner notes for this CD. The songs credits are there for you, too.

I highly recommend this CD for fans of the John Waters campy genre. People who enjoy the "oldies" will like this CD, too. However, this CD contains explicit lyrics and I would not recommend it for children nor would I recommend it for anyone uncomfortable with explicit lyrics.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensational Stuff, March 23, 2007

By 

Curmudgeon "grantc" (West Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Date With John Waters (Audio CD)

John Waters should be releasing compilations more often - A Date With John Waters is simply fantastic. A great collection of oldies, mastered from different sources but all sounding incredibly vibrant. Now I know why my mum would often sing "If I knew you were coming I'd've baked a cake"! Hilarious, hokey, somehow imbued with an incredible tenderness. Waters' film soundtracks are often great, also; one of his most recent, "A Dirty Shame", is very fine.