They made a bunch of cool albums and had some very cool hits - like "Walk the Dinosaur" and "Out Come the Freaks."  They owed a debut to Frank Zappa and hundreds of soul and funk men, not the least of which would be George Clinton. They contributed to a myriad of top artists from Syd Straw to Iggy Pop, from Leonard Cohen to Ozzy Osbourne. Now, they admit they have been "semi-dormant" since 1992 - and 16 years is a very long time in the pop world to do a Rip Van Winkle act - but from what we've heard they're back doing their funky, slinky thing. Ann Powers of the L.A. Times caught one of their early comeback shows and wrote, "A Detroit of the musical imagination is the stamping ground of Was (Not Was) -- a place where there's no contradiction between dance floor imperatives and the dictates of the avant-garde, where usually distanced genres melt into a vivid puddle, and where telling a good joke is just as important as making a glorious noise. ... Was (Not Was) "is that rare thing, an interracial group with an encyclopedic sense of pop history but no interest in the fuss or fashion consciousness of soul revivalism." Point of interest: You might hear a Tex-Mex version of "Me and Bobby McGee" and/or asked to participate in a round of "Row Row Row Your Boat."

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