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Best remembered for their 1980s New Wave hit "I Know What Boys Want," the Waitresses were a short-lived pop band anchored by the songwriting of Chris Butler and the charismatic vocal delivery of Patty Donahue. Both musicians cut their teeth in Akron, Ohio, before moving to New York City in the 1970s, where the Waitresses' lineup expanded to include saxophonist Mars Williams, bassist Tracy Wormworth, harmony vocalist Ariel Warner, keyboardist Dan Klayman, and former Television drummer Billy Ficca. The band played its first show on December 31, 1980, and "I Know What Boys Want" became a cult hit in both the US and UK in 1982. Its accompanying album, Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful?, climbed to Number 41 on the Billboard charts that same year. Meanwhile, the song "Christmas Wrapping" became a left-field holiday favorite for decades, with everyone from the Spice Girls to the cast of the TV show Glee recording their own versions. The Waitresses also recorded the theme song for the TV show Square Pegs and released a second album, Bruiseology, before breaking up in 1984. Ficca later reunited with Television in 1991, with Wormworth joining the B-52s one year later. Donahue died of lung cancer in 1996.
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