"I Eat Cannibals" by Total Coelo

Song#:  1416
Date:  04/16/1983
Debut:  80
Peak:  66
Weeks:  6
Genre:  New Wave, Novelty



Pop Bits:  This British all-female vocal quintet got formed with the help of producer Barry Blue. He co-wrote this song and a few others that the ladies recorded. The video for this song featured the group in day-glo plastic outfits and other costumes. It caught on and soon the dancable track found its way to #8 on the UK chart. Although the video was popular on MTV, it didn't translate to becoming a hit in the States. The single could only manage to get a third of the way up the chart (#27 Dance). A second single, "Dracula's Tango," was issued but it wasn't nearly as popular flaming out quickly on the UK chart at #54. Soon after the group's success, two of its members decided to leave. The other three issued a couple of singles, but no one took notice. They fully disbanded before they could even issue a formal studio album. However, their singles, b-sides, and unreleased songs were collected up into an album titled "Man o' War," but by the time of its release, interest in the group was lost and the LP tanked.

ReduxReview:  I wasn't aware of this song until I bought an 80s new wave compilation many years ago. Although the beat is kind of catchy, the song is pretty ridiculous. Yes, I know it is not a serious piece of work and was just meant to be fun, but I just thought it took one step over the line into bad novelty territory with lyrics that tried way too hard to be clever. It's as if Bananarama and Bow Wow Wow got drunk in the studio one night and did this as a joke. That probably would have been preferable to what was actually released.

ReduxRating:  2/10

Trivia:  Double Shot!  1) The group's original name is Toto Coelo, which is Latin for "by the whole extent of the heavens." However, the US band Toto wasn't fond of the name so for their North American audiences they became Total Coelo.  2) Singer/songwriter Barry Blue had a small string of hits in the UK in the early 70s, which included a couple of Top 10's. After his solo career fizzled, Blue continued to write and produce for other artists. Perhaps his biggest success in the US was when he produced two albums for the UK disco/R&B band Heatwave. They had three US Top 10 platinum-selling hits including "Boogie Nights" (#5, 1976) and "Always and Forever" (#2, 1977).

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