Wah!

More than one artist has used this name.

1) The second incarnation of Pete Wylie's Liverpool bands from the 80's to the present. After the release of the second single of Wah! Heat and the departure of guitarist Redmond, Pete Wylie decided to reshape the group as a four-piece – featuring Wylie (Guitar, Vocals), Washington (Bass), King Bluff (Keyboards) and Joe Musker (Drums, ex Dead or Alive) – shortened the name to Wah! And started working on a long player vinyl release. With the album on the way, Wah! recorded their first Radio One BBC Session in March 1981. In June of the same year their debut album Nah Poo! The Art Of Bluff came out (with two singles released to promote the album). Apparently the title has to do with the fact that the keyboardist King Bluff – not originally intended as a stable member of the band – managed to bluff his way into the group. In April 1982, under the altered name of Shambeko! Say Wah!, Wylie’s group released the single ‘Remember’ and in May 1982, under the same pseudonym, Pete Wylie (Guitar, Vocals), ‘Oddball’ Washington (Bass, Backing Vocals), King Bluff (Keyboards) and ‘Jungle Beat’ Joe Musker recorded their third Peel session. The tracklist for that session included original material (among which a sung version of ‘A Crack Is A Crack’, appeared in its instrumental version on the b-side of the band’s latest single) and the reworking of traditional songs.

In November of the same year another single was released: ‘The Story of the Blues’ and finally after some drastic lineup changes, in March 1983, Wah!’s line-up became definitive: King Bluff was definitely out of the picture, Chris Joyce (ex Durutti Column, later Simply Red) was recruited on drums, Naughton and Charlie ‘Gruff’ Griffiths (ex Pink Military) on keyboards. With Ruby and Sylvia on backing vocals, the group released their last single under this name, before transforming into The Mighy Wah!

See also Wah! Heat, The Mighty Wah!, and others.

2) Hip elegance through music of perennial wisdom flows from the lovely voice of Wah! If you've taken a yoga class in the last five years, you have no doubt heard her music which encompasses everything from her free flowing Savasana relaxation CDs to rockin reggae Sanskrit chants to acoustic pop tunes in English. As described by Australian Yoga Life magazine, "Wah! just might be a devi. She sings with the voice of a goddess reflecting the deep devotion and reverence of a seasoned bhakta."