Consumer Guide Album

Was (Not Was): Born to Laugh at Tornadoes [Geffen, 1983]
"Nietzsche died a lonely madman--Jerry Lewis has his own telethon," concludes the back-cover "prologue." Not that their displacements achieve the depth of either artist, of course--that's the point, and the self-deflation is a relief after the hyperconscious waking nightmares of the debut. Won't get them a telethon, but it's worth five minutes on David Letterman, and they no longer sound as if they regard displacement as their own nutty-professor-turned-ubermensch joke on the world. B+