After five dazzling decades of hits, sequins, and unforgettable stagecraft, the original 80s party band Kid Creole & The Coconuts is preparing to hang up the zoot suits and conga belts. As part of their grand finale, they’re heading back to the UK one last time with the Bye Bye Birdy Tour – a vibrant farewell to a career that helped define the sound and style of an era. From the Bronx to the Roundhouse, from Top of the Pops to tropical legends, the showman known as Kid Creole — aka August Darnell — is preparing to say goodbye… but not without a proper party.
With seven UK Top 40 hits under his belt — including “Annie, I’m Not Your Daddy”, “Stool Pigeon”, and “It’s a Wonderful Thing Baby” — Kid Creole fused funk, Latin rhythms, disco, jazz, reggae, and theatrical flair into a genre all his own. Alongside co-founders Adriana Kaegi and Coati Mundi, the band was a melting pot of sound and spirit, earning fans across the globe and influencing generations of musicians from Cee Lo Green to LCD Soundsystem.
In our conversation, the ever-charismatic Darnell reflects on a life steeped in rhythm and reinvention, on Creolism as a cultural statement, on his journey from a musically rich Bronx childhood to global stages, and on what it truly means to leave on a high note.
As he puts it: “Now it is truly time for me to retire! I’m not going to say it again. I’m just going to do it.” And what better way to do it than a UK tour, returning to the country where the first ‘foreign’ Kid Creole & The Coconuts concert took place in 1981.
Join us as I speak to the High Priest of Hip, King of Pizazz, and Tropical Gangster himself, ahead of a farewell that promises feathers, flair, and plenty of funk.
Monica:
Hallo August, I have a surprise for you. I found something that I actually just remembered – in 1999 I was at this show. Do you remember it? It was London. London! I’m in London, I just arrived in London. I kind of arrived the year before, but I went to this show and it was my first musical in London. And here I am in the photo. I think this is one of the Coconuts – you can see her in the middle. I’m hugging her. And this was your show, and it was my very first musical in London. So fantastic. I still remember it – and not just because it was my first musical in London, but also because it was my first date with my husband-to-be.
August aka Kid Creole:
Oh, wow. Congratulations! Oh Monica, that makes it even more special. I’m so happy to hear that – that’s fantastic. So… and this is going to be your final tour! I’ve been saying this for about 15 years. But Monica, I think this one is the last one – but you never know, because what happens is I have to do a last one in every country that Kid Creole has been successful in. So first we do the United Kingdom, and then we’re going to do France, and then we’re going to do Italy, and we’re going to do Germany, and we’re going to do Scandinavia. So it’s a long tour.
Monica:
Well, Italy – I’m Italian – and I know in Italy people love Kid Creole and the Coconuts. I was telling them that I was going to interview you and they said, “Oh my God, we remember! In the ’80s – we love him!”
August aka Kid Creole:
Thank you. I love Italy and I’ve been there so many times – one of my favourite spots to vacation. My wife and I, we always go back to Ischia, because we just love Ischia and the island.
Monica:
My mum goes there every year.
August aka Kid Creole:
Really? Yes? Oh, fantastic! You know, while you are speaking to me, I’m in Hawaii now.
We live in Hawaii and, it’s been fantastic here. Our daughter goes to school here and she just loves swimming and surfing and just the warm weather.
Monica:
It’s gorgeous – that’s a lifestyle, yeah. Lovely lifestyle.
You’ve been rocking stages for over four decades now. What’s the secret to keeping that energy alive?
August aka Kid Creole:
That’s a good question. People say to me, “How can you still be doing it? You’re 123 years old?” And I say – it’s because I love the music so much. Music is such a part of my life, thanks to my brother. If it wasn’t for my older brother, the one who first got me into music, I would never have become a musician. My older brother taught me the guitar and the bass. Ever since those days – and we’re talking about a long time ago, when I was a kid growing up in New York City – I’ve been in love with music. Music is such a part of my life that when I get on that stage, I just forget every other element.
Monica:
With music any problem does not exist any more – it’s all about the music, and it’s a fantastic feeling. It’s like getting high on stage. It’s true! I actually sing and write my own songs as well, so I think that keeps me alive – I mean, that keeps my life so happy, you know?
August aka Kid Creole:
Absolutely.
Monica:
When I’m a bit down, I listen to some music. Music is therapy.
August aka Kid Creole:
It’s therapy, I agree with you. It is better than medicine. It is definitely therapy.
Monica:
Musicians are such happy people – normally! And I mean, your music has always felt a bit rebellious, but not in the typical rock and roll way. Instead of anger or confrontation, you brought humour, style, and dancing to the mix. Was that a conscious choice? And what message were you trying to send through your unique approach?
August aka Kid Creole:
Yeah, you have put your finger right on the solution. When you say it is rebellious – it is. I’ve been rebellious my whole life. But it is rebellious in a delicate way. It’s not preaching, it’s not slapping you in the face, it’s not angry – it’s very full of humour. And I think humour has been something that has helped me to survive in New York City as a youngster, because I grew up in a tough neighbourhood. I think having a sense of humour – that’s where it started, in that tough neighbourhood – because having a sense of humour means you can live to see the next day. And humour is so important. It’s all through my music, of course. But at the same time, I’m very political – but not in an angry way. And I think real fans who hear the music, they can sense that I’m saying something about something… but I’m saying it so you can dance to it.
Monica:
Yes! And that’s the best way, isn’t it?
August aka Kid Creole:
Yes.
Monica:
Well, Aristotle used to say that actually through humour people understand life – they understand the truth. And you can speak the truth through making them smile, and making them happy in that way. So that’s quite a philosophy there, right?
August aka Kid Creole:
Absolutely. Agreed, yes.
Monica: Your music blends so many styles – from Latin to disco to funk. Which genre do you feel most at home in?
August Kid Creole:
When I grew up in the Bronx, I was very fortunate. My mum and dad were into music – but they were into all music, not just one radio station. They would listen to classical music, but at the same time they would listen to jazz, to R&B – to anything that made them smile. They loved that kind of music. So, as a child growing up, I grew to love all different types of music. My father loved Johnny Cash – he’s a country and western singer – and he loved Ella Fitzgerald, a jazz singer. My brother and I grew to love The Beatles when we were younger, and the British Invasion. And we loved Dean Martin singing Non Dimenticar in Italian. So we loved all these different genres – and that’s been the survival of Kid Creole: mixing the genres together. So I’ve never really had a favourite. I think the favourite was the blend. The blend of different genres became my favourite kind of genre.
Monica:
Yes, true! I love that too. I think that’s what makes you very unique – and difficult to copy, really. It’s so unique.
August aka Kid Creole: Yes.
Monica:
Stool Pigeon, Annie, I’m Not Your Daddy – I love these songs. I’m a Wonderful Thing, Baby – that’s really… these songs tell such vivid stories, right?
August aka Kid Creole:
Yes. There’s a lot of ego in those songs, of course. I’m a Wonderful Thing, Baby is just ego gone crazy. Stool Pigeon is very funky, very dance… very dancey. Annie, though, is very calypso, very what they call soca – very Caribbean. And you’ve just listed three songs that do have different feelings, different genre feelings.
Monica: So it’s interesting, yes. And where do you get your storytelling ideas from?
August Darnell aka Kid Creole:
Oh, that’s easy, because I majored in English when I was at university in New York. I loved reading, and reading made me think about stories and how you can tell a story. The great challenge in being a songwriter — and you know this too, because you’re a songwriter — is telling a story in three minutes. You want to get the audience interested in what you’re saying, but you only have a short time, rather than the length of a novel. So storytelling has always interested me, from my early college days.
Monica:
That explains a lot, actually. And if we look a little bit behind the scenes—right—so, the Coconuts. Everybody asks me, “Are you going to interview Kid Creole and the Coconuts?” I say, “No, only Kid Creole today.” But they are such a dynamic part of your act, obviously. How did the concept of the iconic trio come about?
August Darnell aka Kid Creole:
That was my wife — my ex-wife. She was from Switzerland. Her name was Adriana Kaegi. She came to New York when she was young; she wanted to get away from her small town in Switzerland, and she came to New York on her own. We met up, and she became Mama Coconut—we call her Mama Coconut. She was responsible for the choreography, the look, and so many elements of what the Coconuts would become. I just let her handle all the interviews for the Coconuts, and the auditions. She was in charge of that. She did a great job because she brought in girls that complemented her, and they became very iconic. I am so happy I had the Coconuts, because in the early days, it’s what people came to the show to see — they came to see the girls. I was secondary.
Monica:
I have to disagree. I think you are brilliant. I remember your show — you were absolutely, honestly — because it was so special for me, that show. I showed it to you, you know, and I think you were incredible in that show.
I will never forget that night. On that show, you stole the scene. Honestly. The Coconuts are great, but you were great.
August Darnell (Kid Creole):
Thank you.
Monica:
Fashion sense! I always admired it, since I was a little girl. I remember in Italy, in the 70s and 80s — I remember you. You’re so elegant. Your fashion sense is unmistakable. So, where do you get your style inspiration from, and how important is the visual element to your shows?
August Darnell aka Kid Creole:
Yeah, the visual element is as important as the music. As a youngster, I fell in love with — I don’t know if you’re familiar with a singer from the 1940s called Cab Calloway – but Cab Calloway was a jazz singer, and he wore zoot suits, fabulous fedoras, and two-tone shoes. My dad took me to the movies when I was about 12 years old to see this movie called Stormy Weather, and in the movie, Cab Calloway comes on with this fantastic zoot suit. I remember looking at it as a child and saying, “Oh my God, I want one of those.” So, when I became a bandleader and was lucky enough to have success as a musician, I stole that look from Cab Calloway. Of course, I changed it a little, but basically, the zoot suit came from him. I told my band members, “I want everyone to look stylish—but 1950s and 1940s stylish.” So we all wore pleated pants, two-tone shoes, hats — all that. I think it really helped with our image. People would say, “Oh, that’s the band that dresses up like the ‘40s and ‘50s.”
Monica:
It became very important for you— the look. I think it’s a really good coconut with this…
August Darnell (Kid Creole):
Absolutely.
Monica:
All this sparkle!
August Darnell (Kid Creole):
I love it.
Monica:
Yeah, I love it. And tell me something behind the scenes—maybe something funny. I mean, what’s the funniest or most unexpected thing that’s ever happened during a live performance?
August Darnell (Kid Creole):
I’m sure I have a few stories! There are so many. My funniest story is when we were playing a sold-out show somewhere in France. I came on stage and was singing one of my favourite songs—it’s called Off the Coast of Me. It’s a ballad. I started singing this beautiful ballad, and suddenly, the audience started applauding like crazy. I said to myself, “Oh my God, they must know this song,” because it was never a single and it wasn’t a hit anywhere. The audience was going crazy, shouting. Then I turned around to look behind me, to see if there was something else going on—and the Coconuts had taken off their bras and were dancing topless! They were dancing topless behind me. That’s why the audience was going crazy. I thought it was for me—but it was for the Coconuts.
Monica:
Oh boy! Was this sort of rehearsed? Or you weren’t aware of that?
August Darnell (Kid Creole):
It was Adriana! She used to do crazy things like that.
Monica:
I’m joking, but it shows how important they are.
August Darnell (Kid Creole):
Yes, definitely.
Monica:
Wow, that’s a story!
August Darnell (Kid Creole):
That’s one of my favourites.
Monica:
Absolutely, that’s great—thanks for sharing that.
Many artists today are reviving vintage sounds. What advice would you give to new musicians inspired by your style?
August Darnell (Kid Creole):
I would tell any young musician starting out today to get out of the music industry – because it’s a mess! Wait till it clears itself up. With streaming nowadays… I’m so happy I existed when I did. In my days, when you had a hit record, you made a lot of money – from vinyl, cassettes, or CDs. My career has spanned so long, I’ve seen it all – vinyl, CDs, cassettes.
Monica:
Me too!
August Darnell (Kid Creole):
Yes! But today, it’s all about streaming. You have to get 80 million streams before you make a hundred dollars. It’s crazy. I’m joking, of course – I don’t tell them to stop doing music – but I tell them to be careful. Be sure you know what you’re doing. Be sure you have a thick skin. That’s what I tell my kids. I have kids in the music business, and I tell them: do not think it’s easy. It’s more difficult than ever.
Because of streaming, anyone can put a record out now. In my day, you had to be signed to a label. The label had to pay for your studio time. Now you can record in your bathroom on home equipment, and it sounds great. So I tell them – do you have a thick skin? If not, do not get into the music industry.
Monica:
That’s great advice — make sure you have it. Yes.
After so many years in the industry, what still excites you most about performing?
August Darnell (Kid Creole):
Oh, that’s easy — the immediate gratification. When you’re in the recording studio, you don’t have that. You’re by yourself with your musicians, hoping what you’re doing is real, and you have to believe in yourself. But once you get on stage and get that magic from the audience – the immediate gratification of people singing your lyrics, dancing, letting their hair down—nothing is better than that. That, for me, is the power of the live show.
Monica:
Yes, true — even from the audience’s point of view. When you are at a live show, live music is so beautiful. I always say one thing: for me, every time I’m at a concert with live music—and I like it, obviously, if I like it—I think, this is heaven for me.
2025 TOUR DATES:
Wed 18 Jun Birmingham Town Hall
Thu 19 Jun Corn Exchange, Cambridge
Fri 20 Jun New Theatre, Cardiff
Sat 21 Jun Roundhouse, London
Sun 22 Jun O2 Ritz, Manchester
Tue 24 Jun The Forum – Bath
Wed 25 Jun G Live, Guildford
Fri 27 Jun The Fire Station, Sunderland
Sat 28 Jun The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh
Sun 29 Jun Glasgow Pavilion
BYE BYE BIRDY TOUR www.seetickets.com/tour/kid-creole-the-coconuts
SEE KID CREOLE & THE COCONUTS HERE
