The pseudonymous band led by longtime friends David “Was” Weiss and Don “Was” Fagenson exploded out of Detroit in the early '80s, with a heady mélange of dance floor-ready music and out-there lyrics (including occasional spoken-word interludes) putting a decidedly funky spin on New Wave's restless genre-melding. The 1987 funk-pop smash “Walk the Dinosaur” inspired a dance craze and made Was (Not Was) a household name, but the caustic “Dad I'm in Jail,” the smoothed-out “Where Did Your Heart Go,” and the disco-ball fantasia “Out Come the Freaks” reveal their vast musical knowledge and ever-present playfulness.