#75: A Night In New York by Elbow Bones and the Racketeers
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKGM
Peak Month: February 1984
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
Peak Position on UK Singles chart ~ #33
YouTube: “A Night In New York”
Lyrics: “A Night In New York”
Thomas August Darnell Browder was born in 1950 in The Bronx (NY). Darnell began his musical career in a band named The In-Laws with his half-brother, Stony Browder Jr., in 1965. The band disbanded so Darnell could pursue a career as an English teacher. He taught at Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School in Hempstead (NY). He later claimed that he established a musical career because he was a “frustrated actor.” In 1974, again with Stony Browder, he formed Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band, becoming its lyricist and bass player. The band combined swing and Latin music with disco rhythms. They had their biggest hit in 1976 with “Cherchez La Femme”. The single topped the Billboard Disco Action Top 30 chart, and peaked at #2 in Belgium and the Netherlands. Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band’s self-titled debut release was a Top 40-charting album. It was certified gold and was nominated for a Grammy.
In 1979, Darnell left Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band. He joined the band Machine, and co-wrote their best known song “There But for the Grace of God Go I”. Darnell also began producing for other artists before in 1980 adopting the name Kid Creole. This was adapted from the 1958 Elvis Presley film King Creole. Darnell described the persona of Kid Creole as “a flamboyant, devil-may-care bon vivant”.
August Darnell as ‘Kid Creole’
With his band and backing singers collectively known as Kid Creole and the Coconuts, he established an exuberant musical style drawing on such influences as big bands, notably that of Cab Calloway, salsa, jazz, pop music and disco. Darnell wrote the lyrics, which “satirized the high life at a time when America was ravaged by recession”. The group released three albums that became especially successful in Europe. However, the band was much less successful in the U.S., and was eventually dropped by Sony Records.
In 1983, August Darnell formed Elbow Bones and the Racketeers. Other members of the band were Frank ‘Pago Pago’ Passalacqua, who had been lead singer in the late ’70s Latin-disco band Gichy Dan’s Beachwood #9. Carol Coleman, from Philadelphia, had a minor hit single in a duet with Rocky Roberts in 1973. She later added backing vocals to singles recorded by Meco and Candi Stanton. She was a member of Kid Creole and the Coconuts. Trumpeter Ken Fradley was born in New York City in a hospital across from the iconic jazz club, the Village Vanguard. Though he started playing piano and then clarinet as a child, it was in grade seven music camp that he picked up the trumpet. He played with a latin-salsa band named Saoco in the mid-70s. Fradley was a member of Kid Creole and the Coconuts. He was a session musician on the recording of U2’s 1982 album War. Trombone player, Lee Robertson, was formerly a Sergeant in the United States Air Force, and had been part of the military band named The Airmen of Note who recorded an album in 1974. Lee was with the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra in the late 70s. In the early 80s, Robertson was part of the Bo Thorpe and Generation II jazz band. He was also another member of Kid Creole and the Coconuts. Ron Rogers was born in New York City and is a composer and producer. He was officially a member of the band, though he was a mixer and not a musician.
In November 1983, Elbow Bones and the Racketeers released “A Night in New York”.
“A Night in New York” was cowritten by Ron Rogers and Debbie Clarkin. Born in Barrie (ON), Clarkin is a multi-media artist and clothing designer who lives in the East Village in New York City. In the song, a beautiful woman with brown eyes has had a thousand men at her feet. They promise her things like “caviar and limousines.” But if they really wanted to woo her, they’d take her out for a night in New York City. She knows other girlfriends who want men with “plenty dough,” who want fancy cars and pearls. In the song, the singer spells out what might capture her heart:
Once we’re at Central Park,
he’s guaranteed to win a heart.
A street serenade’s guitar,
sings the stars out just where we are…
“A Night In New York” peaked at #5 in Montreal, and Sherbrooke (PQ), and made the Top 20 in Newton (MA) and Top 30 in Philadelphia. The single reached #24 on the US Dance chart and #33 on the UK pop singles chart.
Elbow Bones and the Racketeers next released “Happy Birthday, Baby”. The single cracked the Top 100 UK Singles chart in the spring of 1984. A third single release, “I Call It Like I See It”, charted on the singles chart in the Netherlands.
In the late 80s, Frank Passalacqua wrote lyrics for a house music band named Mixt Company. Carol Coleman later provided backing vocals to recordings by Rose Royce, Veronica Underwood, Eugene Wilde on his number-one R&B hits “Gotta Get You Home Tonight” and “Don’t Say No Tonight”, Jean Carne on her number-one 1986 R&B single “Closer Than Close”, Vanessa Williams number-one 1988 dance hit “The Right Stuff”, Jasmine Guy, and others.
After Elbow Bones and the Racketeers split, Ken Fradley was a session musician for Lionel Ritchie’s Dancing On The Ceiling album. This includes trumpet on Ritchie’s international 1985 number-one hit “Say You, Say Me”, and hugely successful Top Ten hit “Dancing On The Ceiling” in 1986. Other Ritchie hits on the album that Fradley played on were “Love Will Conquer All” and “Ballerina Girl”. Fradley was in the studio for Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour’s 1992 Eyes Open album. He also was a session musician for Claudja Berry and dance band Arrow, among others. Fradley also toured Europe from the mid-80s through the 2000s. Fradley, Darnell, Coleman and Robertson were all at the White House for a summer picnic in 1996. They were joined by President Bill Clinton on saxophone as they performed a Kid Creole and the Coconuts reunion. Since 2001, Ken Fradley has lived and performed in Key West, Florida.
Lee Robertson has also been a session musician, including with Youssou N’Dour on several of the Senegalese performers’ albums.
April 28, 2025
Ray McGinnis
References:
Jason Anderson, “The man behind the Kid: Compilation shows there’s more to August Darnell than Kid Creole and the Coconuts,” CBC, August 29, 2008.
“Elbow Bones And The Racketeers-New York At Dawn,” Derek’s Music Blog, March 16, 2016.
“Familiar Faces: Kenny Fradley brings the sound and the fury to Key West,” Key West Citizen, December 17, 2019.
CKGM 980-AM Montreal (PQ) Top Ten | February 15, 1984
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