The Cosmopolitans

The Cosmopolitans were a nifty little dance troupe-turned-rock combo that caught the fancy of swinging New Yorkers at the height of the punk/New Wave era. They are best-remembered for cutting one of the most infectious singles of the era: "(How to Keep Your) Husband Happy" b/w "Wild Moose Party" and "Dancin' Lesson," on the same Shake Records label that put out early releases by the dB's, Richard Hell and others.

As the Seventies bled into the Eighties, the Cosmopolitans' delightfully absurd and danceable party-rock creations inspired normally sedentary, shoe-gazing clubgoers to move their two left feet to the beat. Old Sixties dance steps like the Frug, the Jerk and the Swim were reborn, and hot new Eighties inventions like the "dB Drop" and the "Fleshtone Flank Step" - consult the aforementioned "Dancin' Lesson" for further elaboration - were brought to the floors of the hippest downtown rock clubs, including CBGB's, Max's Kansas City, Irving Plaza, Club 57, the Ritz, the Peppermint Lounge and Tier Three.

The group also ventured uptown (Hurrah) and over the river (Maxwell's, in Hoboken). In the anything-goes Eighties, these high-stepping terpsichoreans helped many a young man and woman make a splash at their next New Wave cotillion.

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