Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places is the second album by Kid Creole and the Coconuts, released in 1981.

Overview

Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places is a concept album in the form of a musical travelogue. Describing the album's concept to The New York Times, band leader August Darnell said: One way of looking at the journey Kid Creole undertakes on the record is as a justification of the many strains that coexist in our music. The journey is autobiographical in that it explains how the music came to be the music that it is. Kid Creole and his crew visit various islands and are influenced by the music and culture of each one. ...You don't just leave your influences behind when you move on in life; you take them with you. Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places was reissued in 2002 by Universal Island Records with 12" mixes of "Table Manners" and "Que Pasa / Me No Pop I" (although the latter is not the full version; it has been edited down from 7:11 to 6:18). The album replaced the original mix of "Dear Addy" with the 1982 single remix.

Reception

Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places was very well received critically upon its release. New York Times pop music critic Robert Palmer called it "an extraordinary album" and "the freshest and most intelligent fusion of pop styles and dance rhythms in a long time". It was voted one of the best albums of the year in The Village Voice's influential Pazz & Jop critics' poll, and was ranked among the top ten albums of 1981 by NME.

Track listing

All songs written by August Darnell except as indicated.

Personnel

Charts