Wha-Koo

Wha-Koo
Genres	Rock, soft rock
Years active	1977–1979
Labels	ABC Records, Epic Records
Past members
Danny Douma David Palmer Andy Silvester Richard Kosinski Claude Pepper Reinie Press Peter Freiberger Eddie Tuduri Nick VanMaarth Don Francisco Ron Fransen Eric Gotthelf David Woodford Chuck Cochran

Wha-Koo was an American rock band best known for their 1978 single, "You're Such a Fabulous Dancer", an international hit from their critically acclaimed album, "Berkshire".

History

Wha-Koo were a Los Angeles, California based, soft rock ensemble formed in 1977 under the leadership of singer, song writer and guitarist Danny Douma. Douma assembled a talented entourage of veteran musicians that included David Palmer, who sang lead vocals on Steely Dan's debut album Can't Buy a Thrill, Nick Van Maarth, from Buddy Holly's backup band, The Crickets,^[1] Don Francisco formerly of Crowfoot and Atlee and British blues man Andy Silvester formerly of Savoy Brown. L.A. based session musician Reinie Press, bass player on many of Neil Diamond's most successful recordings contributed bass and saxophone on two tracks on the bands 1977 debut album, "The Big Wha-Koo" for ABC Records.

Peter Freiberger replaced Andy Silverster on bass for the band's 1978 album, "Berkshire". Produced by Grammy Award winner, Ken Caillat, it proved to be the band's most successful release.^[2] "Berkshire" featured, "You're Such a Fabulous Dancer" composed by Douma. Although a top ten hit in some international markets, it did little in the American music charts.

In 1978 Douma left Wha-Koo to pursue a solo career. He released a solo album "Night Eyes" on Warner Bros. Records. The album featured many of the members of Wha-Koo as well as guest appearances by Eric Clapton, Garth Hudson from The Band and several members of Fleetwood Mac. Douma toured with Fleetwood Mac as a supporting act for the remainder of 1979 ^[3] and then left the music industry soon after. Chuck Cochran replaced Danny Douma on vocals and lead guitar and was with Wha-Koo at two notable appearances in 1978. On August 26 they played before an estimated crowd of 110,000 music fans at the Canada Jam festival near Toronto, Ontario and on October 29, the band performed with Thin Lizzy on the steps of the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia before an estimated crowd of 100,000.^[4]

Cochran left the band after the tour to work with Robb Royer of Bread, Mike Finnigan Crosby, Stills and Nash and others. Around this time Wha-Koo released their third album, "Fragile Line" on Epic Records. Although no longer with the band, Cochran's lead guitar, background vocals and songs are featured on the album. By now the band was led by David Palmer and featured new members, Ron Fransen, David Woodford and Eric Gotthelf. More rock-oriented, this release enjoyed some critical success but it did not enjoy commercial success and the group disbanded soon after.

Post Break Up

Danny Douma had a successful business career since his recording and touring days. In the early eighties, he founded "The Writers Store" a privately owned, worldwide resource center and retail outlet for writers and filmmakers. In 2002 he founded a second successful company, "Innoventive Software", publishers of film production and storyboard software.^[5] Danny Douma passed away on June 1, 2010 from cancer in Florence, Oregon.

David Palmer contributed the song "Silhouette" to the film Teen Wolf and the song "She's My Baby" to the film, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. He also contributed songs to the TV series, The Heights and he went on to record with Laura Brannigan and Jamie Walters amongst others. Today he's a successful Fine Art and Portrait photographer in the Los Angeles area.

Andy Silvester who departed after Wha-Koo's first album became a member of the Honeydrippers of Robert Plant fame and was a founding member of the acoustic British rhythm and blues revival group, The Big Town Playboys. He has also played with The Mike Sanchez band.

Eddie Tuduri suffered a serious spinal cord injury in a body surfing accident in 1997. He founded "The Rhythmic Arts Project" (TRAP) later that year as an educational program to teach and enhance basic life skills to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities through drums and percussion.^[6]

Richard Kozinski has scored or co-scored almost 30 motion pictures and 300 aired network television episodes including episodes of Mad About You, Gravedale High and Teen Wolf.^[7]

Claude Pepper, alias Jack Mack, formed the successful Los Angeles based, rhythm and soul band, Jack Mack and the HeartAttack in 1980 and played with the band until 1987. He died at his home in Sacramento in February 2003.

David Woodford has since recorded and toured with Aaron Neville, Bonnie Raitt, Aerosmith, Rod Stewart, The Shirelles and P. Diddy amongst others.

Chuck Cochran later worked as a singer and guitarist with Jim Messina, Tim Weisberg, Norman Gimbel, Fred Karlin, Mike Finnigan, Rob Royer, Larry Knechtel, Kim Carnes and David Lasley. He also wrote songs for Laura Brannigan, Captain & Tennille and others.

Discography

Albums

Year	Title	Label	Catalogue Number
1977	The Big Wha-Koo	ABC Records	AB 971
1978	Berkshire	ABC Records	ABCL 5283
1979	Fragile Line	Epic Records	EPC 83875

Singles

Year	Title	Album
1977	Whisky Voices	The Big Wha-Koo
1977	Save Your Tears	The Big Wha-Koo
1978	You're Such A Fabulous Dancer	Berkshire

References

1. ^ "Who's Who on the Cricket's Recordings". http://www.rockin50s.com/crickets_recordings/INDEX.htm. 
2. ^ "Wha-Koo on MSN Music". http://music.msn.com/music/artist-biography/wha-koo/. 
3. ^ "Danny Douma Information at Answers.Com". http://www.answers.com/topic/danny-douma/. 
4. ^ "The Influence of 2SM". http://www.debbiekruger.com/broadcaster/2sm.html. 
5. ^ "Danny Douma StoryLink Profile". http://www.storylink.com/profile/214. 
6. ^ "The Rhythm Arts Project". http://www.traponline.com/home.html. 
7. ^ "Richard Kozinski Biography". http://www.kozz.us/credits.html. 

External links

• Wha-Koo on MSN Music
• Richard Kozinski at the Internet Movie Database