You know what the world needed more than anything in 1987? A group of white Australians trying to recreate the funk rock that was The Time! Missing Morris Day? Don’t worry, folks! Here's Wa Wa Nee's Paul Gray!
Well…not quite. I mean, Wa Wa Nee didn’t have a mirror-toting Jerome. Maybe that was the problem.
Wa Wa Nee hit the Australian charts in 1986 with a huge single, “Stimulation” that got to number two there. The next year, they had another hit, this time in America, with “Sugar Free”. Ah, “Sugar Free…”
Fire in your head, river in your bed
Two hundred dollar, see his face go red
Lost in a world where nothin' is nothin'
Burnt pretty bad, can't get another hit-ah
Oh, my love and me, oh, we're sugar free
Oh, this oughta be, burnin' up, breakin' down
Oh, my love and me, oh, we're sugar free
Oh, ever wanna be, burnin' up, breakin' downIs it about a hooker? A proponent of Sweet ‘n’ Low? Who the fuck knows. It was catchy and goofy fun, though. Unlike the Time, however, it hasn’t aged well. “Sugar Free” scraped the lower reaches of the Top 40, so it came time to release their secret weapon, their big Australian hit “Stimulation”.
Nah, no one else here heard it either.
After Wa Wa Nee broke thru with “Sugar Free,” they went on to – come on! Say it with me. We all know this by now, people. – record one more album, then break up, forever Lost in the ‘80s.
Download “Sugar Free (Extended Mix).”
Download “Stimulation.”
”Sugar Free” peaked at #35 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1987.
“Stimulation” failed to chart.NOTE: I know it’s Friday, but Lost Down Under Week
will continue. We ain’t done yet.
