A Date With John Waters

John Waters

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 6, 2007)
• Original Release Date: February 6, 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.com Sales Rank: #48,691 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Tonight You Belong to Me - Patience and Prudence

2. Jet Boy Jet Girl - Elton Motello

3. Ain't Got No Home - Clarence "Frogman" Henry

4. I'd Love to Take Orders from You - Mildred Bailey, Mildred Bailey

5. In Spite of Ourselves - Iris DeMent, John Prine

6. All I Can Do Is Cry - Ike Turner, Ike Turner, Tina Turner

7. Big Girls Don't Cry - Edith Massey

8. Imitation of Life - Earl Grant

9. Sometimes I Wish I Had a Gun - Mink Stole

10. Johnny Are You Queer? - Josie Cotton

11. Night Time is the Right Time - Ray Charles

12. Hit the Road to Dreamland - Dean Martin

13. If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake - Eileen Barton, , The New Yorkers

14. Bewildered - Shirley & Lee

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

17 of 19 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)

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 50 REVIEWER)

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.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of the best mixed cds i own., February 11, 2007

By	Vanessa Rios (bay area, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's not often that I get excited for cd releases but when I heard about this one, I knew I had to have it. I really dig John Waters style and sense of humor, and I especially dig his taste in music! The album starts off with a very precious song called 'tonight you belong to me' by patience and prudence, a sister-act that everybody should know about. There are a few gender-bending songs, such as 'jet boy jet girl' by elton motello and "ain't got no home" by clarence "frogman" henry that will be sure to have your toes tappin. Edith Massey's cover of "big girls don't cry" is really fun. And "If I knew you were comin i'd've baked a cake" makes me want to be a better hostess. I know one reviewer complained about sound quality but I think it sounds great. Take this cd home with you and you can go on a date with John Waters anytime you'd like. Trust me, he's a lot of fun ;)