Cherry Poppin' Daddies
Encyclopedia
The Cherry Poppin' Daddies are an American band established in Eugene, Oregon
, in 1989. Formed by Steve Perry
(vocals) and Dan Schmid
(bass guitar), the band has experienced many membership changes over the years, with only Perry, Schmid and Dana Heitman
(trumpet) currently remaining from the original line-up.
The Daddies' music is a mix of swing, ska
and rock
, characterized by a prominent horn section
, heavy guitars and Perry's sardonic, often morbid, lyricism. While the band's earliest releases were rooted predominantly in punk rock
and funk
, their subsequent studio albums have since incorporated influences from many diverse genres of popular music
and Americana
into their sound, including rockabilly
, glam rock
, psychedelia
, rhythm and blues
, country
, soul
and world music
.
In spite of years of extensive touring within the third wave ska scene, the Daddies ultimately broke into the musical mainstream with their 1997 swing-based compilation Zoot Suit Riot
. Released at the onset of the late 1990s swing revival
, Zoot Suit Riot sold over two million copies in the United States while its eponymous single
became a radio success, launching the Daddies to the forefront of the retro-swing genre, a perceived pigeonholing
the band openly denounced in favor of their ska and punk influences. By the end of the decade, however, the Daddies' mainstream popularity declined with that of the swing revival's, and the resulting commercial failure of their ska-flavored follow-up Soul Caddy
led to an abrupt hiatus in 2000.
The Daddies officially regrouped in 2002 to resume touring, independently recording and releasing their fifth studio album Susquehanna
in 2008 before signing to indie label Rock Ridge Music
the following year. Their most recent album, Skaboy JFK
, was released in September 2009.
left his hometown of Apalachin, New York
, for Eugene, Oregon
, to pursue track and field and a chemistry
degree at the University of Oregon
. A punk rock
fan since adolescence, Perry became engrossed in the Northwest hardcore scene pioneered by the likes of the Wipers
and Poison Idea
, where he eventually met and befriended musician and fellow University student Dan Schmid
. Sharing similar musical ambitions and a mutual disinterest in school, the pair agreed to drop out of college together and start a band, forming the punk trio The Jazz Greats in 1983, which evolved into a Paisley Underground
-styled garage rock
group called Saint Huck, who lasted from 1984 to 1987.
As the rise of grunge
began to phase punk and hardcore out of the Northwest underground by the late 1980s, Perry set out to start a band that stood in defiant contrast to the shoegazing attitude of alternative rock
, showcasing high energy dance music and Zappa
-esque theatricality in an attempt to create something that an audience would react to viscerally instead of passively. Recruiting a horn section
led by alto saxophonist Brooks Brown
, Perry and Schmid formed their latest band Mr. Wiggles - named after a Parliament
song - in November 1988.
"My conception of punk", Perry told The Rocket
, "was doing whatever the hell you wanted as long as it had vitality and wasn't overly stupid...something exploratory and experimental", citing influence from genre-bending bands such as The Clash
and the Meat Puppets
. In their earliest incarnation, Mr. Wiggles played funk
and Mod-inspired punk and soul music
, though Perry's songwriting soon grew to draw heavily from a newfound interest in jazz
, swing and rhythm and blues
, combining punk rock and jazz arrangements in what Perry described was an attempt to contemporize American roots music by infusing it with punk energy and using modernist, socially aware lyricism.
phrase the band had heard on a race record
, the name intended to reflect the group's jazz and blues influences as well as an edgy punk irreverence in the same vein as the Butthole Surfers
, though the decision was ultimately made on impulse, as the members had run out of time to figure out a name to put on their posters and doubted their longevity past one or two shows. The band played their first show as the Cherry Poppin' Daddies at Eugene's W.O.W. Hall
on March 31, 1989.
Boasting a full horn section, a penchant for stage theatrics and encouraging their audiences to dance, the Daddies sought to prove themselves the antithesis to the then-current state of Northwest rock. As Perry spoke of the Daddies' ideology, "It was our way of saying 'screw you' [to alternative rock 'phoniness']"..."we wanted to have fun, outrageously have a good blast without even thinking about it". By the end of 1989, the Daddies had built a strong following within Oregon's counterculture
, frequently selling out shows and gathering critical acclaim, earning praise from Eugene Weekly
as being the city's best band "by far".
The Daddies recorded their first demo
cassette
4 From On High in July 1989, composed of four tracks of punk-swing and funk rock
. The tape went on to sell over 1,000 copies in the Eugene and Portland areas, enabling the Daddies to self-produce their debut LP, Ferociously Stoned
, the following year. Fusing punk rock and jazz horns with funk grooves, the album garnered the band comparisons to Faith No More
and the Red Hot Chili Peppers
. Before it was even released, Ferociously Stoned became a regional best-seller, setting a record for advance sales in Eugene record stores and then remaining for over a year on The Rocket
s Northwest Top Twenty list, helping expand the Daddies' touring reach to as far as Alaska and Los Angeles by 1992.
, phallic stage scenery, prop-heavy vaudevillian
skits and choreographed dance numbers. Perry — performing under the mad scientist
stage persona of "MC Large Drink" — would engage in absurdist shock rock
antics such as mock crucifixion
, flag burning
, property destruction and wearing adult diaper
s filled with food. The most infamous element of the Daddies' early stage show, however, was the "Dildorado" (alternately "Dildozer"), a penis-shaped modified ride-on lawnmower that mimicked ejaculation by shooting salvos of colorful liquids from its tip.
Almost immediately, the Daddies emerged a controversial presence within Eugene's actively political atmosphere. Feminist
and P.C.
groups condemned the band's performances as "pornographic", accusing their band name and sexually-charged lyricism as a promotion of misogyny
and sexual objectification
, claims which Perry boldly disputed, claiming that the controversial elements were misinterpreted satire. In what Eugene Weekly called "the most hotly discussed topic in the local music scene" and "the Eugene flash point for the growing national debate on censorship [and] free speech", the Daddies endured a storm of controversy which nearly ended their career. Vigilante protest groups habitually tore down or defaced the band's posters and led boycott
s against venues that would book the group or even newspapers which gave them a positive review. The Daddies' concerts regularly became sites of organized picketing and, on one occasion, a bomb threat
. The band members themselves were frequent recipients of hate mail
, threats and physical harassment: once, Perry claimed, an irate protester threw a cup of hot coffee in his face as he was walking down the street.
At first, the Daddies refused to change their name on the grounds of artistic freedom
, but after venues refused to book them due to the negative publicity that naturally accompanied their shows — including a temporary ban from the W.O.W. Hall, where the Daddies had previously served as house band
— the group caved into community pressure, taking to performing under pseudonyms such as "The Daddies", "The Bad Daddies" and similar variations just within Eugene, retaining their full title while traveling abroad. As the Daddies advanced in their career and their live shows had tamed, the controversies surrounding them waned and the band returned to using their full name in their hometown, though some minor protests resurfaced during their mainstream success in the late 1990s.
, the Daddies had evolved into a full-time touring band by early 1994. Now traveling coast-to-coast, the band was playing upwards of 200 shows a year, earning spots at festivals such as SXSW
in Austin, Texas and New York's CMJ Music Marathon
. The Daddies eventually developed a steady following in the San Francisco Bay Area
, where they became a staple of the region's burgeoning third wave ska scene, acting as regular touring support for ska bands like Skankin' Pickle
, Let's Go Bowling
, Fishbone
and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
. In 1994, the group was awarded SF Weekly
s title of "Best Unsigned Band".
While the mainstream's growing focus on punk and ska by the mid-1990s began presenting the Daddies with commercial opportunities - leading The Register-Guard to predict them as becoming the next Northwestern act "to go national" - the band chose to remain wholly independent during this time to allow themselves unlimited creative freedom, supposedly after several major contract offers (including a brief attachment to Hollywood Records
) had been withdrawn due to the Daddies' refusal to adhere to any one particular genre.
This experimental freedom was fully exercised on the Daddies' second album, Rapid City Muscle Car
. Self-produced and self-recorded, Rapid City Muscle Car was the band's attempt at creating an eclectic concept album
wherein each track was composed in a different musical style yet were all thematically united through interconnected lyricism, utilizing funk, ska, punk, swing, psychedelic rock
, country
, rockabilly
, big band
, heavy metal
, hard rock
and lounge
. Released on the band's self-owned label Space Age Bachelor Pad Records in December 1994, the album sold decently, though failed to match the success of Ferociously Stoned.
Throughout the mid-1990s, the Daddies toured constantly, carrying out six cross-country tours in 1996 alone following the release of their third independent album, Kids on the Street
. A remarkable departure from their previous work, Kids on the Street was primarily a showcase of the ska influences which had gradually become a major part of the Daddies' live sound, forgoing the usual brassy funk and swing-based eclecticism in favor of guitar-driven ska, rock and punk. Distributed by noted indie label Caroline Records
, Kids on the Street wound up becoming the Daddies' then-most successful release, remaining on The Rocket
s Retail Sales Top Twenty for over seven months and eventually working its way onto Rolling Stone
s Alternative Charts.
and the Squirrel Nut Zippers
started drawing media attention towards the formerly underground swing revival
movement. Once concert attendees would regularly approach the Daddies' merchandise table to ask which of their albums had the most swing songs, the band's manager convinced the group to compile all of their swing music onto one CD until they could afford to record a new album, using their available money to record several bonus tracks for inclusion. The result, Zoot Suit Riot: The Swingin' Hits of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies
, became an unexpectedly hot item as the band went on tour, reportedly selling as many as 4,000 copies a week through their Northwest distributors.
Despite the promising success of Zoot Suit Riot, this period proved to be the most difficult of the Daddies' career. Consistently performing to little media recognition, full-time touring was becoming both a personal and financial strain, leading to frequent quitting among band members. The Daddies experienced at least fifteen line-up changes from 1996 to 1997, including the departure of original keyboardist Chris Azorr and co-founder Schmid, leaving only Perry and trumpeter Dana Heitman
as the sole remnants of the original line-up. With no label backing them, the band had trouble securing distribution and press outside of the Northwest, oftentimes being unable to get their CDs sold in cities they were touring to. Feeling they had finally hit a glass ceiling as an independent band, Perry said the Daddies were ultimately left with one of two options at this time: either sign to a label or break up.
In the midst of a national tour together, ska band Reel Big Fish
helped arrange a meeting between their label Mojo Records
and the Daddies in the hopes of obtaining the band a distribution deal
, negotiations of which instead led to Mojo signing the Daddies to a full recording contract
. Zoot Suit Riot was licensed and reissued by Mojo and given national distribution in July 1997, less than four months after its original release.
", as a single and distribute it among modern rock
radio stations. The Daddies, believing that a swing song would never receive airplay on mainstream radio, ardently protested this move, concerned the band would end up having to recoup the marketing costs. Mojo persisted, and to the band's surprise, "Zoot Suit Riot" soon found regular rotation on stations such as Los Angeles' KROQ-FM
, helping to establish the genre in the mainstream and leading to its eventual commercial breakthrough the following year, with the Daddies at the forefront. By mid-1998, the Daddies had emerged as one of the most successful bands of the swing revival: after climbing to number one on Billboards Top Heatseekers
, Zoot Suit Riot became the first neo-swing album to crack the Top 40 on the Billboard 200
, peaking at number 17 and spending an ultimate total of 53 weeks on the charts. In June 1998, the album had sold 500,000 copies, going on to surpass sales of 1.4 million by August.
For the remainder of 1998 and into 1999, the Daddies were touring non-stop, playing over 300 shows a year and traveling internationally as one of the headliners on the 1998 Warped Tour
beside Rancid
, NOFX
and Bad Religion
. By this time, the group's touring conditions had greatly improved, thus enticing Dan Schmid – who had originally left the band due to health concerns – to return as the Daddies' bassist.
Although the Daddies were experiencing commercial success under the guise of swing revivalists, having been declared the "leaders" of the movement by Rolling Stone, the band openly contested being labeled a retro
act at the exclusion of their dominant ska and punk influences, and adamantly tried to disassociate themselves from the swing scene and in particular its nostalgia
-based mentality. While still vocal supporters of both the movement and its bands, Perry explained to Spin
in July 1998, "it's not our mission to be a swing band. I'm not a guy from the '40s. That's why we play ska and use heavy guitars", noting elsewhere "I can't fully take us out of the retro classification, but we harp on the fact that we're contemporary music". Thus, the Daddies avoided touring with swing bands, selecting Ozomatli
and The Pietasters
as support on their first headlining US tour, and opening for Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
on their 1998 North American run. At one point, the Daddies attempted to arrange a tour with Primus
which never materialized; said Perry, "I know there are people who come to our shows who'd like nothing more than for us to play swing 24/7...there are plenty of bands who want to be swing bands and swing bands only. We're trying to find the audience who'll let us write songs and just be who we are".
During the height of the Daddies' popularity, Perry found the band's mainstream notoriety was having an alienating effect on his personal life. "There was a period of time when my relationships, even with my friends, changed due to 'success', and random people wished me ill. I found that depressing". He said in a 2000 interview, "It's a total cliché, but [fame] doesn't make you happy. There's a lot missing. Success has given people the right to yell at me on the street, but I don't really feel like it's given me any dignity". Perry's frustration was only exacerbated by the media's continued pigeonholing of the Daddies as a retro act, though he later claimed to have felt pressured to maintain the image due to audience and media expectations. When the band began to face criticisms and accusations of selling out
from their Northwest fanbase, the Daddies fought to further push themselves away from their mainstream typecasting: in a 1999 interview, responding to their place in the swing scene, Perry retorted "[we'll] unapologetically play ska right in the face of people who want to hear swing".
Zoot Suit Riot had sold over two million copies in the United States by the time the swing revival's mainstream popularity had declined, finally falling off the charts in January 2000. With their touring schedule coming to a close, the Daddies began work on their next studio album.
. A loose concept album reflecting Perry's disillusionment over the cultural zeitgeist and his experience with fame (as he described it, a "bittersweet" record about "being alienated and hoping to connect"), Soul Caddy marked a continuation of the band's musically varied format, intended to introduce the Daddies' true sound and personality to both their swing-based fans and a wider audience. Drawing from the rock and pop of the 1960s and 1970s, Soul Caddy interweaved swing and ska with glam rock
, soul
, psychedelia
, folk
, Mod revival
, funk and punk.
Despite allowing the Daddies creative control over Soul Caddys production, Mojo's response to the album was marginal. Claiming that the new material was not like "the Cherry Poppin' Daddies people know and love", the label did little to promote either the album or its glam-styled single, "Diamond Light Boogie
", at one point releasing the latter without the band's name on it, allegedly due to hesitancy over marketing a rock single from a band primarily known as swing. With virtually no promotion, Soul Caddy was quietly released on October 3, 2000.
Met by an audience largely unaware of the Daddies' eclectic background, Soul Caddy was received negatively by both fans and critics, one of the more prevalent criticisms being its lack of swing tracks. Many reviewers chastised the band for what was being seen as an abandonment of their swing "roots" in favor of a trendier sound, while some criticized the Daddies' entire musical aesthetic — UGO's Hip Online stated bluntly, "covering five or six genres on one album is just insane". The Los Angeles Daily News
placed the album on their list of the 10 worst albums of 2000, the reviewer wondering what made a swing band "think it could get away with an album of recycled psychedelic pop".
Despite some moderate critical praise, including a glowing review from allmusic, who called the band's "impressively surprising" array of sounds "refreshing coming from a band who was assumed to be generic retro swing", Soul Caddy failed to achieve the chart success or commercial attention of its predecessor. After low ticket sales brought the Daddies' accompanying national tour to an early close, the band reached a mutual agreement upon taking an indefinite hiatus in December 2000.
, Perry returned to Eugene to form the glam punk
band White Hot Odyssey
with Jason Moss, releasing an album
on Jive Records
in 2004. During this time, Perry pursued an undergraduate degree
at the University of Oregon, graduating in 2004 with a B.S.
in molecular biology
. Dan Schmid and keyboardist Dustin Lanker
devoted themselves to their own project, the piano rock
band The Visible Men
, recording two albums and touring extensively throughout the early and mid-2000s. Drummer Tim Donahue
, after a stint with The Visible Men, played in Yngwie Malmsteen's band on his 2001 European tour and worked as a session drummer
for artists including TobyMac
and Shawn McDonald
.
The Daddies officially regrouped in February 2002 to play a sporadic series of music festivals in the Northwest, though announced no future plans for recording new material or carrying out another national tour. Now playing as few as ten shows a year, the band's performances became limited entirely to hometown shows and commissions for one-off "swingin' hits" concerts at various fairs and festivals across the United States.
themes. This was followed shortly thereafter by the band's first US tour since 2000, where much of this new material was debuted.
Independently recorded in Eugene during the summer of 2007, the Daddies' fifth album, Susquehanna
, was released via digital download exclusively through the band's website in February 2008, receiving a limited CD release several months later. Taking the shape of a narrative concept album which Perry detailed as a portrait of "various relationships in decay", Susquehanna featured prominent strains of Latin
and Caribbean
-influenced music, incorporating flourishes of flamenco
, Latin rock and reggae
into the band's traditional mix of rock, ska and swing. Though its low-profile DIY
release went mostly unnoticed by the mainstream media, response from internet-based publications ranged from mixed to positive, with reviewers once again polarized over the album's eclectic blend of genres. In support of Susquehanna, the Daddies embarked on another full-length tour in mid-2008, followed by a headline tour of Europe, their first visit to the continent since 1998.
In July 2009, the Daddies announced having signed to independent label Rock Ridge Music
for the release and national distribution of two albums, a re-issue of Susquehanna and Skaboy JFK: The Skankin' Hits of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies
, a compilation of the band's ska material. Perry explained that fans had been suggesting the concept of a ska collection for years, and that such an album might help show a different side of the Daddies than the swing persona they're generally recognized for. Skaboy JFK was released in September 2009 to a mostly positive critical reception. Goldmine magazine
, in praising the "irresistible" ska grooves, enthusiastically cited the album - along with Susquehanna - as a strong re-establishment of the Daddies as "an ongoing (and worthwhile) entity".
at the 11th annual Victoria Ska Fest
in British Columbia
. Perry first announced plans for a new Daddies album during these tours, further detailing the project in a February 2011 interview, mentioning the band would be returning to a stronger swing-oriented sound, as well as an exploration into psychobilly
and harder-edged rockabilly
. According to Perry, recording is expected to last through the summer, with a tentative release date at the end of the year.
, critics have conceived terms such as "punk swing", "power swing" and "big band
punk rock" to describe the band's unique approach, mixing "the propulsion of swing beats and rabbit-punch bursts of brass with grimy rebel-rock guitars to give the jumpin' jive sound a much-needed facelift". The Pacific Northwest Inlander
wrote of this style, "atop the swing of the band's jazz you can hear strains of Parliament-Funkadelic
, crumbs of barrelhouse rhythm and blues
, snippets of ska, and huge whiffs of in-your-face punk rock", likening the Daddies to "Cab Calloway
-meets-Johnny Rotten
, or the Duke Ellington Orchestra
pumped up on steroids and caffeine".
The Daddies themselves often classified their music as "swing-core", exemplified by the fast tempo
s and frequent use of guitar distortion in their swing material. In recent years, however, Perry has described the Daddies as simply "a rock band with horns", comparing their style of musical eclecticism with that of Fishbone
, Mink DeVille
and Oingo Boingo
. He has listed further influence from The Specials
and Roxy Music
, as well as from Fletcher Henderson
, Jimmie Lunceford
and Duke Ellington on his composing and arrangements.
Each of the Daddies' studio albums feature a collective assortment of varied and often diametrically opposed genres of music alongside the constants of swing, ska and, on earlier recordings, funk. Some of the genres the band has experimented with include blues, country
, disco
, Dixieland
, flamenco
, folk
, glam rock
, hard rock
, hardcore punk
, heavy metal
, jump blues
, lounge
, psychedelic pop
, rhythm and blues
, reggae
, rockabilly
, soca
, soul
and western swing
. As opposed to playing fusions
, the Daddies perform each genre separately, contrasting one style against another so that the album's musical texture may continually change. Perry has explained that the group's "detournement" of using vastly different genres is both a means for band experimentation and evolution beyond their typically swing and ska-oriented live shows, as well as an artistic choice, lending each song a distinctive musical personality and using certain genres to effectively fit (or ironically contradict) the tone of the lyrics.
format he credits as being influenced by Randy Newman
and Ray Davies
, often told about or through the unreliable perspective
of downtrodden characters struggling against adversity. Alcoholism
, mortality
, sex, class struggle
and family dysfunction are recurring themes in his lyrics, often dealt with satirically
. The Register-Guard
has described Perry's lyrics as "ribald [and] often despairing", "[probing] the underbelly of society, stabbing at oppressors such as...the pressure to conform". While the Daddies have been criticized for juxtaposing lurid subject matter and profanity
with jazz and swing music, The New York Times
has lauded Perry's lyricism as "vivid poetry" containing "an inventiveness missing from the other swing bands' lyrics".
All of the Daddies' studio albums are written to varying extents as concept album
s, featuring recurring lyrical themes or a progressive narrative as means of providing threads of thematic stability despite wildly varying musical styles.
in 2009. The Register-Guard
has credited the band with shaping Eugene's musical culture in the 1990s, dubbing the scene "the house that the Daddies built", while Eugene Weekly
added likewise, "when some people think of the Northwest music scene, they think of grunge
. If you’re a Eugenean, however, you might think of swing, thanks to [the] Cherry Poppin' Daddies". Seattle's The Rocket
commented on the band's influence in 1997, stating "[t]he Daddies were busting out the swing before the Squirrel Nut Zippers, stirring cocktails before Combustible Edison
and skating the ska before Sublime
...the band shakes out an incredible variety of sounds with peerless verve and polish."
The band has also drawn a fair amount of criticism. The Portland Mercury
have been frequent detractors of the Daddies, deriding them as "at best, an edgeless recycle of a rather particular musical fashion movement; at worst, a self-conscious parody of the genre they purport to love", while the Willamette Week
once dismissed them as "an annoying white-boy funk rock band who, seeing the opportunity, milked the swing revival for all it was worth".
The Daddies are more widely recognized, however, as one of the first bands to bring swing music into the musical mainstream, helping spearhead the swing revival
of the late 1990s which paved the way for the larger successes of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
and the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Although the Daddies have also been cited as an influence on ska punk
fusion band the Mad Caddies
, SF Weekly
claims the band has "never gotten the accolades it deserves" for their eclectic funk-ska repertoire. The Phoenix New Times
expressed similar sentiments, listing the "woefully unsung" Daddies as among the bands that defined the Northwest's "alternative to alternative
", "[delivering] rock with more complexity than three-chord guitar riffs and social critique without heavy-handed cynicism". In a 2008 editorial, a Rolling Stone
editor, reviewing the band's punk history, declared the Daddies "one of the most misunderstood bands of the nineties".
Compilations
Former members
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
, in 1989. Formed by Steve Perry
Steve Perry (Oregon musician)
Stephen Henry Perry is an American musician, best known for being the lead singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist for the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he is the founding member.-Early life:...
(vocals) and Dan Schmid
Dan Schmid
Daniel Joseph Schmid is an American musician, known for his work as the bassist for the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he is a co-founder, and the piano rock trio The Visible Men.-Career:...
(bass guitar), the band has experienced many membership changes over the years, with only Perry, Schmid and Dana Heitman
Dana Heitman
Dana Conrad Heitman is an American musician, known for his work as the trumpeter for the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he has been a member since the band's inception.-Biography:...
(trumpet) currently remaining from the original line-up.
The Daddies' music is a mix of swing, ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
and rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, characterized by a prominent horn section
Horn section
In music, a horn section can refer to several groups of musicians. It can refer to the musicians in a symphony orchestra who play the horn . In a British-style brass band it refers to the tenor horn players. In popular music, it can also refer to a small group of wind instrumentalists who augment a...
, heavy guitars and Perry's sardonic, often morbid, lyricism. While the band's earliest releases were rooted predominantly in punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, their subsequent studio albums have since incorporated influences from many diverse genres of popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
and Americana
Americana (music)
Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
into their sound, including rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
, glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
, psychedelia
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...
, rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
.
In spite of years of extensive touring within the third wave ska scene, the Daddies ultimately broke into the musical mainstream with their 1997 swing-based compilation Zoot Suit Riot
Zoot Suit Riot (album)
Zoot Suit Riot: The Swingin' Hits of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies is a compilation album by American ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released on March 18, 1997 on Space Age Bachelor Pad Records....
. Released at the onset of the late 1990s swing revival
Swing Revival
The Swing Revival was a late 1990s and early 2000s period of renewed popular interest in swing and jump blues music and dance from the 1930s and 1940s as exemplified by Louis Prima, often mixed with a more contemporary rock, rockabilly or ska sound, known also as neo-swing or retro...
, Zoot Suit Riot sold over two million copies in the United States while its eponymous single
Zoot Suit Riot (song)
"Zoot Suit Riot" is a song by American ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies. It was written and composed by Steve Perry as a bonus track for the band's all-swing compilation album of the same name, and thus follows a musical style similar to 1940s jump swing."Zoot Suit Riot" is often cited as...
became a radio success, launching the Daddies to the forefront of the retro-swing genre, a perceived pigeonholing
Pigeonholing
Pigeonholing is a term used to describe processes that attempt to classify disparate entities into a small number of categories ....
the band openly denounced in favor of their ska and punk influences. By the end of the decade, however, the Daddies' mainstream popularity declined with that of the swing revival's, and the resulting commercial failure of their ska-flavored follow-up Soul Caddy
Soul Caddy
Soul Caddy is the fourth studio album, fifth chronologically, by American band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released on October 3, 2000 by Mojo Records.-Album overview:...
led to an abrupt hiatus in 2000.
The Daddies officially regrouped in 2002 to resume touring, independently recording and releasing their fifth studio album Susquehanna
Susquehanna (album)
Susquehanna is the fifth studio album by American band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released on Space Age Bachelor Pad Records in February 2008, and later re-issued on Rock Ridge Music in September 2009....
in 2008 before signing to indie label Rock Ridge Music
Rock Ridge Music
Rock Ridge Music is an independent record label based in Newark, New Jersey. Some of the more recognized artists on the Rock Ridge roster include Reel Big Fish, Sister Hazel, Psychostick, Attack! Attack! UK, The Ike Reilly Assassination, and Ingram Hill....
the following year. Their most recent album, Skaboy JFK
Skaboy JFK
Skaboy JFK: The Skankin' Hits of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies is a compilation album by American ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released in September 2009 on Rock Ridge Music....
, was released in September 2009.
Formation
Following his high school graduation in 1981, Steve PerrySteve Perry (Oregon musician)
Stephen Henry Perry is an American musician, best known for being the lead singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist for the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he is the founding member.-Early life:...
left his hometown of Apalachin, New York
Apalachin, New York
Apalachin is a census-designated place within the Town of Owego in Tioga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,126 in the 2000 census. It is named after the Apalachin Creek. Apalachin means From where the messenger returned in the Lenape.Apalachin is in the southeast part of the...
, for Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
, to pursue track and field and a chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
degree at the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
. A punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
fan since adolescence, Perry became engrossed in the Northwest hardcore scene pioneered by the likes of the Wipers
Wipers
The Wipers were a punk rock group formed in Portland, Oregon in 1977 by guitarist Greg Sage, drummer Sam Henry and bassist Dave Koupal. Wipers were one of the earliest American purveyors of the genre, and the group's tight song structure and use of heavy distortion has been hailed as extremely...
and Poison Idea
Poison Idea
Poison Idea was an American hardcore punk band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1980. The band originally dissolved in 1993, but has been playing intermittently since 1998.-Formation, 1980's and 90's:...
, where he eventually met and befriended musician and fellow University student Dan Schmid
Dan Schmid
Daniel Joseph Schmid is an American musician, known for his work as the bassist for the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he is a co-founder, and the piano rock trio The Visible Men.-Career:...
. Sharing similar musical ambitions and a mutual disinterest in school, the pair agreed to drop out of college together and start a band, forming the punk trio The Jazz Greats in 1983, which evolved into a Paisley Underground
Paisley Underground
Paisley Underground is an early genre of alternative rock, based primarily in Los Angeles, California, which was at its most popular in the mid-1980s.- History :...
-styled garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
group called Saint Huck, who lasted from 1984 to 1987.
As the rise of grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
began to phase punk and hardcore out of the Northwest underground by the late 1980s, Perry set out to start a band that stood in defiant contrast to the shoegazing attitude of alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
, showcasing high energy dance music and Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
-esque theatricality in an attempt to create something that an audience would react to viscerally instead of passively. Recruiting a horn section
Horn section
In music, a horn section can refer to several groups of musicians. It can refer to the musicians in a symphony orchestra who play the horn . In a British-style brass band it refers to the tenor horn players. In popular music, it can also refer to a small group of wind instrumentalists who augment a...
led by alto saxophonist Brooks Brown
Brooks Brown
Brooks Richard Brown is an American saxophonist, known for his work as a former member of the Eugene, Oregon band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he co-founded with Steve Perry and Dan Schmid.-Biography:...
, Perry and Schmid formed their latest band Mr. Wiggles - named after a Parliament
Parliament (band)
Parliament was a funk band most prominent during the 1970s. It and its sister act Funkadelic, both led by George Clinton, began the funk music culture of that decade.-History:...
song - in November 1988.
"My conception of punk", Perry told The Rocket
The Rocket (newspaper)
The Rocket was a free biweekly newspaper serving the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, published from 1979–2000. The newspaper's chief purpose was to document local music. This focus distinguished it from other area weeklies such as the Seattle Weekly and the Willamette Week, which...
, "was doing whatever the hell you wanted as long as it had vitality and wasn't overly stupid...something exploratory and experimental", citing influence from genre-bending bands such as The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
and the Meat Puppets
Meat Puppets
The Meat Puppets are an American rock band formed in January 1980, in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's original lineup was Curt Kirkwood , his brother Cris Kirkwood , and Derrick Bostrom . The Kirkwood brothers met Bostrom while attending Brophy Prep High School in Phoenix...
. In their earliest incarnation, Mr. Wiggles played funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
and Mod-inspired punk and soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, though Perry's songwriting soon grew to draw heavily from a newfound interest in jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, swing and rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, combining punk rock and jazz arrangements in what Perry described was an attempt to contemporize American roots music by infusing it with punk energy and using modernist, socially aware lyricism.
Early years (1989-1993)
By early 1989, the title of Mr. Wiggles had been renounced as the band switched to the intentionally risqué "Cherry Poppin' Daddies". Derived from a jiveAfrican American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
phrase the band had heard on a race record
Race record
Race records were 78 rpm phonograph records marketed to African Americans during the early 20th century, particularly during the 1920s and 1930s. They primarily contained race music, comprising a variety of African American musical genres including blues, jazz, and gospel music, though comedy...
, the name intended to reflect the group's jazz and blues influences as well as an edgy punk irreverence in the same vein as the Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers is an American alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second...
, though the decision was ultimately made on impulse, as the members had run out of time to figure out a name to put on their posters and doubted their longevity past one or two shows. The band played their first show as the Cherry Poppin' Daddies at Eugene's W.O.W. Hall
W.O.W. Hall
The W.O.W. Hall is a performing arts venue in Eugene, Oregon, United States.It was formerly a Woodmen of the World lodge.The W.O.W. Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996....
on March 31, 1989.
Boasting a full horn section, a penchant for stage theatrics and encouraging their audiences to dance, the Daddies sought to prove themselves the antithesis to the then-current state of Northwest rock. As Perry spoke of the Daddies' ideology, "It was our way of saying 'screw you' [to alternative rock 'phoniness']"..."we wanted to have fun, outrageously have a good blast without even thinking about it". By the end of 1989, the Daddies had built a strong following within Oregon's counterculture
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
, frequently selling out shows and gathering critical acclaim, earning praise from Eugene Weekly
Eugene Weekly
The Eugene Weekly is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Eugene, Oregon. The paper, published every Thursday, has a circulation of 39,850. It publishes an annual "Best of Eugene" list, a restaurant guide , and special sections on festivals, music, wine, health, and travel....
as being the city's best band "by far".
The Daddies recorded their first demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
4 From On High in July 1989, composed of four tracks of punk-swing and funk rock
Funk rock
Funk rock is a music genre that fuses funk and rock elements. Its earliest incarnation was heard in the late 1960s through the mid-1970s by acts such as the Jimi Hendrix Experience , Eric Burdon and War, Trapeze, Parliament-Funkadelic, Betty Davis and Mother's Finest. The 1990s were known for acts...
. The tape went on to sell over 1,000 copies in the Eugene and Portland areas, enabling the Daddies to self-produce their debut LP, Ferociously Stoned
Ferociously Stoned
- Personnel :Cherry Poppin' Daddies*M.C. Large Drink – vocals*John Fohl – guitar*Dan Schmid – bass*Brian West – drums*Chris Azorr – keyboards*Brooks Brown – alto saxophone*James Phillips – tenor saxophone*Dana Heitman – trumpet...
, the following year. Fusing punk rock and jazz horns with funk grooves, the album garnered the band comparisons to Faith No More
Faith No More
Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike...
and the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
. Before it was even released, Ferociously Stoned became a regional best-seller, setting a record for advance sales in Eugene record stores and then remaining for over a year on The Rocket
The Rocket (newspaper)
The Rocket was a free biweekly newspaper serving the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, published from 1979–2000. The newspaper's chief purpose was to document local music. This focus distinguished it from other area weeklies such as the Seattle Weekly and the Willamette Week, which...
s Northwest Top Twenty list, helping expand the Daddies' touring reach to as far as Alaska and Los Angeles by 1992.
Eugene controversy
In addition to their unusual mix of musical styles, the Daddies became perhaps most notorious for their extravagant and often provocative stage shows. With the band donning a rotating array of flamboyant costumes, a typical Daddies performance would often feature go-go dancersGo-Go dancing
Go-go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at a discotheque. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s when women at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City began to get up on tables and dance the twist...
, phallic stage scenery, prop-heavy vaudevillian
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
skits and choreographed dance numbers. Perry — performing under the mad scientist
Mad scientist
A mad scientist is a stock character of popular fiction, specifically science fiction. The mad scientist may be villainous or antagonistic, benign or neutral, and whether insane, eccentric, or simply bumbling, mad scientists often work with fictional technology in order to forward their schemes, if...
stage persona of "MC Large Drink" — would engage in absurdist shock rock
Shock rock
Shock rock is an umbrella term for artists who combine rock music with elements of theatrical shock value in live performances.-History:Screamin' Jay Hawkins was arguably the first shock rocker...
antics such as mock crucifixion
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
, flag burning
Flag desecration
Flag desecration is a term applied to various acts that intentionally destroy, damage or mutilate a flag in public, most often a national flag. Often, such action is intended to make a political point against a country or its policies...
, property destruction and wearing adult diaper
Adult diaper
An adult diaper is a diaper made to be worn by a person with a body larger than that of an infant or toddler. Diapers become necessary for adults with various conditions, such as incontinence, mobility impairment, or dementia...
s filled with food. The most infamous element of the Daddies' early stage show, however, was the "Dildorado" (alternately "Dildozer"), a penis-shaped modified ride-on lawnmower that mimicked ejaculation by shooting salvos of colorful liquids from its tip.
Almost immediately, the Daddies emerged a controversial presence within Eugene's actively political atmosphere. Feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
and P.C.
Political correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
groups condemned the band's performances as "pornographic", accusing their band name and sexually-charged lyricism as a promotion of misogyny
Misogyny
Misogyny is the hatred or dislike of women or girls. Philogyny, meaning fondness, love or admiration towards women, is the antonym of misogyny. The term misandry is the term for men that is parallel to misogyny...
and sexual objectification
Sexual objectification
Sexual objectification refers to the practice of regarding or treating another person merely as an instrument towards one's sexual pleasure, and a sex object is a person who is regarded simply as an object of sexual gratification or who is sexually attractive...
, claims which Perry boldly disputed, claiming that the controversial elements were misinterpreted satire. In what Eugene Weekly called "the most hotly discussed topic in the local music scene" and "the Eugene flash point for the growing national debate on censorship [and] free speech", the Daddies endured a storm of controversy which nearly ended their career. Vigilante protest groups habitually tore down or defaced the band's posters and led boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
s against venues that would book the group or even newspapers which gave them a positive review. The Daddies' concerts regularly became sites of organized picketing and, on one occasion, a bomb threat
Bomb threat
A bomb threat is generally defined as a threat, usually verbal or written, to detonate an explosive or incendiary device to cause property damage, death, or injuries, whether or not such a device actually exists...
. The band members themselves were frequent recipients of hate mail
Hate mail
Hate mail is a form of harassment, usually consisting of invective and potentially intimidating or threatening comments towards the recipient...
, threats and physical harassment: once, Perry claimed, an irate protester threw a cup of hot coffee in his face as he was walking down the street.
At first, the Daddies refused to change their name on the grounds of artistic freedom
Artistic freedom
Artistic freedom is the extent of freedom of an artist to produce art to his/her own insight. The extent can deviate to customs in a certain school of art, directives of the assigner, etc....
, but after venues refused to book them due to the negative publicity that naturally accompanied their shows — including a temporary ban from the W.O.W. Hall, where the Daddies had previously served as house band
House band
For the British band that existed from 1984-2001, see The House BandA house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to...
— the group caved into community pressure, taking to performing under pseudonyms such as "The Daddies", "The Bad Daddies" and similar variations just within Eugene, retaining their full title while traveling abroad. As the Daddies advanced in their career and their live shows had tamed, the controversies surrounding them waned and the band returned to using their full name in their hometown, though some minor protests resurfaced during their mainstream success in the late 1990s.
National touring and independent success (1994-1996)
After numerous member changes including the departure of co-founder Brown and the addition of guitarist Jason MossJason Moss (musician)
Jason David Moss is an American musician, known for his work as the lead guitarist for the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he was a member from 1992 to 2010.-Early life:...
, the Daddies had evolved into a full-time touring band by early 1994. Now traveling coast-to-coast, the band was playing upwards of 200 shows a year, earning spots at festivals such as SXSW
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
in Austin, Texas and New York's CMJ Music Marathon
CMJ Music Marathon
CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival is put on by CMJ Network. CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival 2010 is scheduled for October 19–23 and will be headquartered at New York University and other downtown NYC venues.- History :...
. The Daddies eventually developed a steady following in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
, where they became a staple of the region's burgeoning third wave ska scene, acting as regular touring support for ska bands like Skankin' Pickle
Skankin' Pickle
Skankin' Pickle was an American ska punk band formed in San Jose, California that was active from 1989 to 1996.-Biography:Skankin' Pickle first formed in December 1988, made up of students from Westmont High School and Los Gatos High School. The band played their first show on April 28, 1989,...
, Let's Go Bowling
Let's Go Bowling
Let's Go Bowling is an American third wave ska band hailing from Fresno, California. Since the band's inception in 1986, the band's traditional ska style, barbershop harmonies, wisely crafted instrumentals, and its frantic live performances, helped set the standard for dress and culture for West...
, Fishbone
Fishbone
Fishbone is a U.S. alternative rock band formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California, which plays a fusion of ska, punk rock, funk, hard rock and soul. Critics have noted of the band: "Fishbone was one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late '80s...
and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. Since the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky Barrett, bassist Joe Gittleman, tenor saxophonist Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton and dancer Ben Carr have remained constant members...
. In 1994, the group was awarded SF Weekly
SF Weekly
SF Weekly is a free alternative weekly newspaper in San Francisco, California. The newspaper, distributed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area every Wednesday, is published by Village Voice Media, a 16-paper alt weekly newspaper chain that also includes the New York City Village Voice and the Los...
s title of "Best Unsigned Band".
While the mainstream's growing focus on punk and ska by the mid-1990s began presenting the Daddies with commercial opportunities - leading The Register-Guard to predict them as becoming the next Northwestern act "to go national" - the band chose to remain wholly independent during this time to allow themselves unlimited creative freedom, supposedly after several major contract offers (including a brief attachment to Hollywood Records
Hollywood Records
Hollywood Records is an American record label owned by Disney Music Group, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company.-History:Hollywood Records was founded in 1989 by then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner with the idea of expanding the music operations of the company and to develop and promote...
) had been withdrawn due to the Daddies' refusal to adhere to any one particular genre.
This experimental freedom was fully exercised on the Daddies' second album, Rapid City Muscle Car
Rapid City Muscle Car
Rapid City Muscle Car is the second studio album by American band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released in 1994 on Space Age Bachelor Pad Records.-Overview:...
. Self-produced and self-recorded, Rapid City Muscle Car was the band's attempt at creating an eclectic concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
wherein each track was composed in a different musical style yet were all thematically united through interconnected lyricism, utilizing funk, ska, punk, swing, psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
, country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
, big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
and lounge
Lounge music
Lounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...
. Released on the band's self-owned label Space Age Bachelor Pad Records in December 1994, the album sold decently, though failed to match the success of Ferociously Stoned.
Throughout the mid-1990s, the Daddies toured constantly, carrying out six cross-country tours in 1996 alone following the release of their third independent album, Kids on the Street
Kids on the Street
Kids on the Street is the third studio album by American band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released in 1996 on Space Age Bachelor Pad Records.-Overview:...
. A remarkable departure from their previous work, Kids on the Street was primarily a showcase of the ska influences which had gradually become a major part of the Daddies' live sound, forgoing the usual brassy funk and swing-based eclecticism in favor of guitar-driven ska, rock and punk. Distributed by noted indie label Caroline Records
Caroline Records
Caroline Records started out as a subsidiary of Richard Branson's Virgin Records label during the early to mid 1970s. The label originally specialized in putting out budget price LPs by mainly progressive rock and jazz artists generally not considered to have a great deal of 'mainstream' or...
, Kids on the Street wound up becoming the Daddies' then-most successful release, remaining on The Rocket
The Rocket (newspaper)
The Rocket was a free biweekly newspaper serving the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, published from 1979–2000. The newspaper's chief purpose was to document local music. This focus distinguished it from other area weeklies such as the Seattle Weekly and the Willamette Week, which...
s Retail Sales Top Twenty for over seven months and eventually working its way onto Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s Alternative Charts.
Zoot Suit Riot and major label years (1997–1999)
With the breakthrough of third wave ska into the American mainstream by late 1996, the Daddies seemed poised for commercial success. Though almost exclusively playing ska bills at the time, the band began to attract a larger audience for their swing material when the coincident radio success of Royal Crown RevueRoyal Crown Revue
The Royal Crown Revue is a band formed in 1989 in Los Angeles, California. They are often credited with starting the Swing Revival movement. Live, RCR has been extremely successful: They participated in 1998's Vans Warped Tour, opened for the B-52s and The Pretenders and played at major US Jazz...
and the Squirrel Nut Zippers
Squirrel Nut Zippers
The Squirrel Nut Zippers are a band formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina by James "Jimbo" Mathus , Katharine Whalen , Chris Phillips on drums, Don Raleigh on bass and sideman Ken Mosher....
started drawing media attention towards the formerly underground swing revival
Swing Revival
The Swing Revival was a late 1990s and early 2000s period of renewed popular interest in swing and jump blues music and dance from the 1930s and 1940s as exemplified by Louis Prima, often mixed with a more contemporary rock, rockabilly or ska sound, known also as neo-swing or retro...
movement. Once concert attendees would regularly approach the Daddies' merchandise table to ask which of their albums had the most swing songs, the band's manager convinced the group to compile all of their swing music onto one CD until they could afford to record a new album, using their available money to record several bonus tracks for inclusion. The result, Zoot Suit Riot: The Swingin' Hits of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies
Zoot Suit Riot (album)
Zoot Suit Riot: The Swingin' Hits of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies is a compilation album by American ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released on March 18, 1997 on Space Age Bachelor Pad Records....
, became an unexpectedly hot item as the band went on tour, reportedly selling as many as 4,000 copies a week through their Northwest distributors.
Despite the promising success of Zoot Suit Riot, this period proved to be the most difficult of the Daddies' career. Consistently performing to little media recognition, full-time touring was becoming both a personal and financial strain, leading to frequent quitting among band members. The Daddies experienced at least fifteen line-up changes from 1996 to 1997, including the departure of original keyboardist Chris Azorr and co-founder Schmid, leaving only Perry and trumpeter Dana Heitman
Dana Heitman
Dana Conrad Heitman is an American musician, known for his work as the trumpeter for the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he has been a member since the band's inception.-Biography:...
as the sole remnants of the original line-up. With no label backing them, the band had trouble securing distribution and press outside of the Northwest, oftentimes being unable to get their CDs sold in cities they were touring to. Feeling they had finally hit a glass ceiling as an independent band, Perry said the Daddies were ultimately left with one of two options at this time: either sign to a label or break up.
In the midst of a national tour together, ska band Reel Big Fish
Reel Big Fish
Reel Big Fish is an American ska punk band from Huntington Beach, California, best known for the 1997 hit "Sell Out". The band gained mainstream recognition in the mid-to-late 1990s, during the third wave of ska with the release of the gold certified album Turn the Radio Off. Soon after, the band...
helped arrange a meeting between their label Mojo Records
Mojo Records
Mojo Records was a California-based record label founded in 1995 by producer Jay Rifkin. It became a joint venture with Universal Music Group in 1996 and then sold to the Zomba Group in 2001, who placed it under their subsidiary Jive Records...
and the Daddies in the hopes of obtaining the band a distribution deal
Distribution deal
A distribution deal is a legal agreement between one party and another, to handle distribution of a product....
, negotiations of which instead led to Mojo signing the Daddies to a full recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
. Zoot Suit Riot was licensed and reissued by Mojo and given national distribution in July 1997, less than four months after its original release.
Mainstream breakthrough
By October 1997, steady sales of Zoot Suit Riot and the rising popularity of swing led Mojo to release one of the album's bonus tracks, "Zoot Suit RiotZoot Suit Riot (song)
"Zoot Suit Riot" is a song by American ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies. It was written and composed by Steve Perry as a bonus track for the band's all-swing compilation album of the same name, and thus follows a musical style similar to 1940s jump swing."Zoot Suit Riot" is often cited as...
", as a single and distribute it among modern rock
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
radio stations. The Daddies, believing that a swing song would never receive airplay on mainstream radio, ardently protested this move, concerned the band would end up having to recoup the marketing costs. Mojo persisted, and to the band's surprise, "Zoot Suit Riot" soon found regular rotation on stations such as Los Angeles' KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM — branded 106.7 KROQ — is a commercial modern rock radio station licensed to Pasadena, California serving the Greater Los Angeles. The call sign is pronounced "kay rock." It is the flagship station of Loveline hosted by Dr...
, helping to establish the genre in the mainstream and leading to its eventual commercial breakthrough the following year, with the Daddies at the forefront. By mid-1998, the Daddies had emerged as one of the most successful bands of the swing revival: after climbing to number one on Billboards Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers
Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical...
, Zoot Suit Riot became the first neo-swing album to crack the Top 40 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, peaking at number 17 and spending an ultimate total of 53 weeks on the charts. In June 1998, the album had sold 500,000 copies, going on to surpass sales of 1.4 million by August.
For the remainder of 1998 and into 1999, the Daddies were touring non-stop, playing over 300 shows a year and traveling internationally as one of the headliners on the 1998 Warped Tour
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival. The tour is held in venues such as parking lots or fields upon which the stages and other structures are erected. The BMX/skateboarding shoe manufacturer Vans, among others, has sponsored the tour every year since 1995, and it is...
beside Rancid
Rancid (band)
Rancid is an American punk rock band formed in Berkeley, California in 1991. Founded by Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman, both of whom previously played in the ska punk band Operation Ivy, Rancid is credited—along with Green Day and The Offspring—for reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the...
, NOFX
NOFX
NOFX is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California .The band was formed in 1983 by vocalist/bassist Fat Mike and guitarist Eric Melvin. Drummer Erik Sandin joined NOFX shortly after. In 1991 El Hefe joined to play lead guitar and trumpet, rounding out the current line-up...
and Bad Religion
Bad Religion
Bad Religion is a punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles in 1979. Their current line-up consists of Greg Graffin , Brett Gurewitz , Jay Bentley , Greg Hetson , Brian Baker and Brooks Wackerman . Gurewitz is also the founder of the label Epitaph Records, which has released almost all of the...
. By this time, the group's touring conditions had greatly improved, thus enticing Dan Schmid – who had originally left the band due to health concerns – to return as the Daddies' bassist.
Although the Daddies were experiencing commercial success under the guise of swing revivalists, having been declared the "leaders" of the movement by Rolling Stone, the band openly contested being labeled a retro
Retro
Retro is a culturally outdated or aged style, trend, mode, or fashion, from the overall postmodern past, that has since that time become functionally or superficially the norm once again. The use of "retro" style iconography and imagery interjected into post-modern art, advertising, mass media, etc...
act at the exclusion of their dominant ska and punk influences, and adamantly tried to disassociate themselves from the swing scene and in particular its nostalgia
Nostalgia
The term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past, often in idealized form.The word is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of , meaning "returning home", a Homeric word, and , meaning "pain, ache"...
-based mentality. While still vocal supporters of both the movement and its bands, Perry explained to Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
in July 1998, "it's not our mission to be a swing band. I'm not a guy from the '40s. That's why we play ska and use heavy guitars", noting elsewhere "I can't fully take us out of the retro classification, but we harp on the fact that we're contemporary music". Thus, the Daddies avoided touring with swing bands, selecting Ozomatli
Ozomatli
Ozomatli is a seven to ten piece band playing primarily Latin, hip hop, and rock music, formed in 1995 in Los Angeles. They are known both for their vocal activist viewpoints and their wide array of musical styles - including salsa, jazz, funk, reggae, rap, and others.In a 2007 NPR interview, band...
and The Pietasters
The Pietasters
The Pietasters are a seven-piece ska/soul band hailing from Washington, D.C., with additional members from Maryland and Virginia.- History :In 1990, a group of friends were attending college at Virginia Tech in the mountains of Virginia...
as support on their first headlining US tour, and opening for Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs is an Argentine ska band from Buenos Aires. Formed in 1985, they released their first album, Bares y Fondas in 1986...
on their 1998 North American run. At one point, the Daddies attempted to arrange a tour with Primus
Primus (band)
Primus is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, currently composed of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry "Ler" LaLonde and drummer Jay Lane. Primus originally formed in 1984 with Claypool and guitarist Todd Huth, later joined by Lane, though the latter two departed...
which never materialized; said Perry, "I know there are people who come to our shows who'd like nothing more than for us to play swing 24/7...there are plenty of bands who want to be swing bands and swing bands only. We're trying to find the audience who'll let us write songs and just be who we are".
During the height of the Daddies' popularity, Perry found the band's mainstream notoriety was having an alienating effect on his personal life. "There was a period of time when my relationships, even with my friends, changed due to 'success', and random people wished me ill. I found that depressing". He said in a 2000 interview, "It's a total cliché, but [fame] doesn't make you happy. There's a lot missing. Success has given people the right to yell at me on the street, but I don't really feel like it's given me any dignity". Perry's frustration was only exacerbated by the media's continued pigeonholing of the Daddies as a retro act, though he later claimed to have felt pressured to maintain the image due to audience and media expectations. When the band began to face criticisms and accusations of selling out
Selling out
"Selling out" is the compromising of integrity, morality, or principles in exchange for money or "success" . It is commonly associated with attempts to tailor material to a mainstream audience...
from their Northwest fanbase, the Daddies fought to further push themselves away from their mainstream typecasting: in a 1999 interview, responding to their place in the swing scene, Perry retorted "[we'll] unapologetically play ska right in the face of people who want to hear swing".
Zoot Suit Riot had sold over two million copies in the United States by the time the swing revival's mainstream popularity had declined, finally falling off the charts in January 2000. With their touring schedule coming to a close, the Daddies began work on their next studio album.
Soul Caddy (2000)
In the fall of 1999, the Daddies returned to the studio to record their fourth album, Soul CaddySoul Caddy
Soul Caddy is the fourth studio album, fifth chronologically, by American band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released on October 3, 2000 by Mojo Records.-Album overview:...
. A loose concept album reflecting Perry's disillusionment over the cultural zeitgeist and his experience with fame (as he described it, a "bittersweet" record about "being alienated and hoping to connect"), Soul Caddy marked a continuation of the band's musically varied format, intended to introduce the Daddies' true sound and personality to both their swing-based fans and a wider audience. Drawing from the rock and pop of the 1960s and 1970s, Soul Caddy interweaved swing and ska with glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, psychedelia
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...
, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, Mod revival
Mod Revival
The mod revival was a music genre and subculture that started in England in 1978 and later spread to other countries . The mod revival's mainstream popularity was relatively short, although its influence has lasted for decades...
, funk and punk.
Despite allowing the Daddies creative control over Soul Caddys production, Mojo's response to the album was marginal. Claiming that the new material was not like "the Cherry Poppin' Daddies people know and love", the label did little to promote either the album or its glam-styled single, "Diamond Light Boogie
Diamond Light Boogie
"Diamond Light Boogie" is a song by American band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies on their 2000 album Soul Caddy. It was the first and only single released off Soul Caddy and the Daddies' fourth and final single to be released by Mojo Records....
", at one point releasing the latter without the band's name on it, allegedly due to hesitancy over marketing a rock single from a band primarily known as swing. With virtually no promotion, Soul Caddy was quietly released on October 3, 2000.
Met by an audience largely unaware of the Daddies' eclectic background, Soul Caddy was received negatively by both fans and critics, one of the more prevalent criticisms being its lack of swing tracks. Many reviewers chastised the band for what was being seen as an abandonment of their swing "roots" in favor of a trendier sound, while some criticized the Daddies' entire musical aesthetic — UGO's Hip Online stated bluntly, "covering five or six genres on one album is just insane". The Los Angeles Daily News
Los Angeles Daily News
The Los Angeles Daily News is the second-largest circulating daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, a branch of Colorado-based MediaNews Group....
placed the album on their list of the 10 worst albums of 2000, the reviewer wondering what made a swing band "think it could get away with an album of recycled psychedelic pop".
Despite some moderate critical praise, including a glowing review from allmusic, who called the band's "impressively surprising" array of sounds "refreshing coming from a band who was assumed to be generic retro swing", Soul Caddy failed to achieve the chart success or commercial attention of its predecessor. After low ticket sales brought the Daddies' accompanying national tour to an early close, the band reached a mutual agreement upon taking an indefinite hiatus in December 2000.
Hiatus (2001-2006)
With nearly a decade of full-time band activity come to an end, the Daddies went their separate paths. After briefly relocating to ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, Perry returned to Eugene to form the glam punk
Glam punk
Glam Punk is a music genre that mixes elements of glam rock with protopunk or punk rock ....
band White Hot Odyssey
White Hot Odyssey
White Hot Odyssey is an American hard rock band formed in Eugene, Oregon in 2002 by Cherry Poppin' Daddies vocalist Steve Perry and guitarist Jason Moss, along with musicians Mark Rogers , Ed Cole and Jivan Valpey .-Biography:...
with Jason Moss, releasing an album
White Hot Odyssey (album)
White Hot Odyssey is the debut album by American hard rock band White Hot Odyssey, released on Mojo/Jive Records in 2004.-Track listing:All songs written and composed by Steve Perry.#"Good Head" – 3:49#"Permanent Juvenile" – 3:52...
on Jive Records
Jive Records
Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...
in 2004. During this time, Perry pursued an undergraduate degree
Undergraduate degree
An undergraduate degree is a colloquial term for an academic degree taken by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. It is usually offered at an institution of higher education, such as a university...
at the University of Oregon, graduating in 2004 with a B.S.
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
in molecular biology
Molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
. Dan Schmid and keyboardist Dustin Lanker
Dustin Lanker
Dustin Ross Lanker is an American keyboardist, known for his work as a member of the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, a touring member of the ska punk band the Mad Caddies and as the singer-songwriter for the piano rock trio The Visible Men.-Career:A pianist since childhood, Lanker...
devoted themselves to their own project, the piano rock
Piano rock
Piano rock, sometimes referred to as piano pop, is a style of popular music that is based around the piano—and sometimes piano-related instruments such as keyboards–with piano typically replacing rhythm guitar as the rhythm instrument...
band The Visible Men
The Visible Men
The Visible Men are an American piano rock band formed in 1999, consisting of Dustin Lanker , Dan Schmid , Jordan Glenn and later Jimi Russel .-Biography:...
, recording two albums and touring extensively throughout the early and mid-2000s. Drummer Tim Donahue
Tim Donahue (drummer)
-Career:Born in Oswego, New York, Donahue was raised in Oregon, where he began playing drums professionally in the early 1980s, serving in numerous bands including Lucy Crank, Road Kill, Flash Back, Zoo Gang, RMS McConnel, AKA and Intensity. In mid-1997, he joined Eugene band the Cherry Poppin'...
, after a stint with The Visible Men, played in Yngwie Malmsteen's band on his 2001 European tour and worked as a session drummer
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
for artists including TobyMac
TobyMac
Toby McKeehan , better known by his stage name TobyMac , is a Christian recording artist, music producer, hip-hop/pop artist, singer-songwriter, and author....
and Shawn McDonald
Shawn McDonald
-Childhood:As a child, McDonald lived with his grandparents because his parents could not take care of him. Not really understanding the situation, he became rebellious. He would sneak out of the house, drink alcohol, get intoxicated, and later use drugs...
.
The Daddies officially regrouped in February 2002 to play a sporadic series of music festivals in the Northwest, though announced no future plans for recording new material or carrying out another national tour. Now playing as few as ten shows a year, the band's performances became limited entirely to hometown shows and commissions for one-off "swingin' hits" concerts at various fairs and festivals across the United States.
Susquehanna and return to independent label (2006–2009)
Following several years of relative inactivity, Perry spontaneously began writing new Daddies material in early 2006, claiming to have come to the realization of a cathartic reliance on songwriting. In an April 2006 radio interview, he confirmed that the band was in preparation over recording a new studio album, noting that the music would cover new territory for the Daddies, drawing mostly on tropicalTropical music
Musica tropical or tropical music is a broad term for vocal and instrumental music with "tropical" flavor usually associated with the Afro-Caribbean music. It is part of an even broader category of Latin music. Usually it is an upbeat dance music, but also includes ballads. It features complex,...
themes. This was followed shortly thereafter by the band's first US tour since 2000, where much of this new material was debuted.
Independently recorded in Eugene during the summer of 2007, the Daddies' fifth album, Susquehanna
Susquehanna (album)
Susquehanna is the fifth studio album by American band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released on Space Age Bachelor Pad Records in February 2008, and later re-issued on Rock Ridge Music in September 2009....
, was released via digital download exclusively through the band's website in February 2008, receiving a limited CD release several months later. Taking the shape of a narrative concept album which Perry detailed as a portrait of "various relationships in decay", Susquehanna featured prominent strains of Latin
Latin American music
Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...
and Caribbean
Caribbean music
The music of the Caribbean is a diverse grouping of musical genres. They are each syntheses of African, European, Indian and native influences, largely created by descendants of African slaves...
-influenced music, incorporating flourishes of flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
, Latin rock and reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
into the band's traditional mix of rock, ska and swing. Though its low-profile DIY
DIY ethic
The DIY ethic refers to the ethic of self-sufficiency through completing tasks oneself as opposed to having others who are more experienced or able complete them for one's behalf. It promotes the idea that an ordinary person can learn to do more than he or she thought was possible...
release went mostly unnoticed by the mainstream media, response from internet-based publications ranged from mixed to positive, with reviewers once again polarized over the album's eclectic blend of genres. In support of Susquehanna, the Daddies embarked on another full-length tour in mid-2008, followed by a headline tour of Europe, their first visit to the continent since 1998.
In July 2009, the Daddies announced having signed to independent label Rock Ridge Music
Rock Ridge Music
Rock Ridge Music is an independent record label based in Newark, New Jersey. Some of the more recognized artists on the Rock Ridge roster include Reel Big Fish, Sister Hazel, Psychostick, Attack! Attack! UK, The Ike Reilly Assassination, and Ingram Hill....
for the release and national distribution of two albums, a re-issue of Susquehanna and Skaboy JFK: The Skankin' Hits of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies
Skaboy JFK
Skaboy JFK: The Skankin' Hits of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies is a compilation album by American ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released in September 2009 on Rock Ridge Music....
, a compilation of the band's ska material. Perry explained that fans had been suggesting the concept of a ska collection for years, and that such an album might help show a different side of the Daddies than the swing persona they're generally recognized for. Skaboy JFK was released in September 2009 to a mostly positive critical reception. Goldmine magazine
Goldmine (magazine)
Goldmine, established in 1974, is an American magazine that focuses on the collectors' market for records, tapes, CDs, and music-related memorabilia. Each issue features news articles, interviews, discographies, histories, current reviews on recording stars of the past and present. Discographies...
, in praising the "irresistible" ska grooves, enthusiastically cited the album - along with Susquehanna - as a strong re-establishment of the Daddies as "an ongoing (and worthwhile) entity".
New album and future (2010-present)
The Daddies are currently carrying out a series of select tour dates in support of Skaboy JFK for the remainder of 2010 and into 2011, which included further tours of Europe, Australia and a headline performance alongside FishboneFishbone
Fishbone is a U.S. alternative rock band formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California, which plays a fusion of ska, punk rock, funk, hard rock and soul. Critics have noted of the band: "Fishbone was one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late '80s...
at the 11th annual Victoria Ska Fest
Victoria Ska Fest
The Victoria Ska Fest is a music festival that takes place every summer in Victoria British Columbia, Canada. The festival is organized and executed by the Victoria BC Ska Society and an army of volunteers...
in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. Perry first announced plans for a new Daddies album during these tours, further detailing the project in a February 2011 interview, mentioning the band would be returning to a stronger swing-oriented sound, as well as an exploration into psychobilly
Psychobilly
Psychobilly is a fusion genre of rock music that mixes elements of punk rock, rockabilly, and other genres. It is one of several subgenres of rockabilly which also include thrashabilly, trashabilly, punkabilly, surfabilly and gothabilly...
and harder-edged rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
. According to Perry, recording is expected to last through the summer, with a tentative release date at the end of the year.
Musical style and influences
While the Daddies are generally labeled as swing and/or skaSka
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, critics have conceived terms such as "punk swing", "power swing" and "big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
punk rock" to describe the band's unique approach, mixing "the propulsion of swing beats and rabbit-punch bursts of brass with grimy rebel-rock guitars to give the jumpin' jive sound a much-needed facelift". The Pacific Northwest Inlander
The Pacific Northwest Inlander
The Pacific Northwest Inlander is a free weekly newspaper published in Spokane, Washington and circulated throughout the Inland Northwest, covering local news and culture. It is published in print and online every Thursday. A member of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, it was founded in...
wrote of this style, "atop the swing of the band's jazz you can hear strains of Parliament-Funkadelic
Parliament-Funkadelic
Parliament-Funkadelic is a funk, soul and rock music collective headed by George Clinton. Their style has been dubbed P-Funk. Collectively the group has existed under various names since the 1960s and has been known for top-notch musicianship, politically charged lyrics, outlandish concept albums...
, crumbs of barrelhouse rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, snippets of ska, and huge whiffs of in-your-face punk rock", likening the Daddies to "Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
-meets-Johnny Rotten
John Lydon
John Joseph Lydon , also known by the former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a singer-songwriter and television presenter, best known as the lead singer of punk rock band the Sex Pistols from 1975 until 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s...
, or the Duke Ellington Orchestra
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
pumped up on steroids and caffeine".
The Daddies themselves often classified their music as "swing-core", exemplified by the fast tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
s and frequent use of guitar distortion in their swing material. In recent years, however, Perry has described the Daddies as simply "a rock band with horns", comparing their style of musical eclecticism with that of Fishbone
Fishbone
Fishbone is a U.S. alternative rock band formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California, which plays a fusion of ska, punk rock, funk, hard rock and soul. Critics have noted of the band: "Fishbone was one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late '80s...
, Mink DeVille
Mink DeVille
Mink DeVille was a rock band known for its association with early punk rock bands at New York’s CBGB nightclub and for being a showcase for the music of Willy DeVille. The band recorded six albums in the years 1977 to 1985. Except for frontman Willy DeVille, the original members of the band played...
and Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo was an American new wave band. They are best known for their influence on other musicians, their soundtrack contributions and their high energy Halloween concerts. The band was founded in 1972 as The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, a performance art group...
. He has listed further influence from The Specials
The Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...
and Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
, as well as from Fletcher Henderson
Fletcher Henderson
James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. His was one of the most prolific black orchestras and his influence was vast...
, Jimmie Lunceford
Jimmie Lunceford
James Melvin "Jimmie" Lunceford was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era.-Biography:...
and Duke Ellington on his composing and arrangements.
Each of the Daddies' studio albums feature a collective assortment of varied and often diametrically opposed genres of music alongside the constants of swing, ska and, on earlier recordings, funk. Some of the genres the band has experimented with include blues, country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, Dixieland
Dixieland
Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
, flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
, hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
, hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, jump blues
Jump blues
Jump blues is an up-tempo blues usually played by small groups and featuring horns. It was very popular in the 1940s, and the movement was a precursor to the arrival of rhythm and blues and rock and roll...
, lounge
Lounge music
Lounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...
, psychedelic pop
Psychedelic pop
Psychedelic pop is a psychedelic musical style inspired by the sounds of psychedelic folk and psychedelic rock, but applied to a pop music setting...
, rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
, soca
Soca music
Soca is a style of music from Trinidad and Tobago. Soca is a musical development of traditional Trinidadian calypso, through loans from the 1960s onwards from predominantly black popular music....
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and western swing
Western swing
Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands...
. As opposed to playing fusions
Fusion (music)
A fusion genre is music that combines two or more styles. For example, rock and roll originally developed as a fusion of blues, gospel and country music. The main characteristics of fusion genres are variations in tempo, rhythm, i a sometimes the use of long musical "journeys" that can be divided...
, the Daddies perform each genre separately, contrasting one style against another so that the album's musical texture may continually change. Perry has explained that the group's "detournement" of using vastly different genres is both a means for band experimentation and evolution beyond their typically swing and ska-oriented live shows, as well as an artistic choice, lending each song a distinctive musical personality and using certain genres to effectively fit (or ironically contradict) the tone of the lyrics.
Lyrical
Steve Perry is the Daddies' sole lyricist, and writes the majority of his songs in a fictional narrativeNarrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
format he credits as being influenced by Randy Newman
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
and Ray Davies
Ray Davies
Ray Davies, CBE is an English rock musician. He is best known as lead singer and songwriter for the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother, Dave...
, often told about or through the unreliable perspective
Unreliable narrator
An unreliable narrator is a narrator, whether in literature, film, or theatre, whose credibility has been seriously compromised. The term was coined in 1961 by Wayne C. Booth in The Rhetoric of Fiction. This narrative mode is one that can be developed by an author for a number of reasons, usually...
of downtrodden characters struggling against adversity. Alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, mortality
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
, sex, class struggle
Class struggle
Class struggle is the active expression of a class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle"....
and family dysfunction are recurring themes in his lyrics, often dealt with satirically
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
. The Register-Guard
The Register-Guard
The Register-Guard is a daily newspaper published in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It was formed in a 1930 merger of two Eugene papers, the Eugene Daily Guard and the Morning Register. The paper serves the Eugene-Springfield area, as well as the Oregon Coast, Umpqua River Valley, and surrounding...
has described Perry's lyrics as "ribald [and] often despairing", "[probing] the underbelly of society, stabbing at oppressors such as...the pressure to conform". While the Daddies have been criticized for juxtaposing lurid subject matter and profanity
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
with jazz and swing music, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
has lauded Perry's lyricism as "vivid poetry" containing "an inventiveness missing from the other swing bands' lyrics".
All of the Daddies' studio albums are written to varying extents as concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
s, featuring recurring lyrical themes or a progressive narrative as means of providing threads of thematic stability despite wildly varying musical styles.
Reception and influence
In their native Oregon, the Daddies have been called "a Northwest institution", having been inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of FameOregon Music Hall of Fame
The Oregon Music Hall of Fame is an award honoring musicians from the U.S. state of Oregon. The first induction ceremony took place on October 13, 2007.-History:...
in 2009. The Register-Guard
The Register-Guard
The Register-Guard is a daily newspaper published in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It was formed in a 1930 merger of two Eugene papers, the Eugene Daily Guard and the Morning Register. The paper serves the Eugene-Springfield area, as well as the Oregon Coast, Umpqua River Valley, and surrounding...
has credited the band with shaping Eugene's musical culture in the 1990s, dubbing the scene "the house that the Daddies built", while Eugene Weekly
Eugene Weekly
The Eugene Weekly is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Eugene, Oregon. The paper, published every Thursday, has a circulation of 39,850. It publishes an annual "Best of Eugene" list, a restaurant guide , and special sections on festivals, music, wine, health, and travel....
added likewise, "when some people think of the Northwest music scene, they think of grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
. If you’re a Eugenean, however, you might think of swing, thanks to [the] Cherry Poppin' Daddies". Seattle's The Rocket
The Rocket (newspaper)
The Rocket was a free biweekly newspaper serving the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, published from 1979–2000. The newspaper's chief purpose was to document local music. This focus distinguished it from other area weeklies such as the Seattle Weekly and the Willamette Week, which...
commented on the band's influence in 1997, stating "[t]he Daddies were busting out the swing before the Squirrel Nut Zippers, stirring cocktails before Combustible Edison
Combustible Edison
Combustible Edison was a group founded in the early 1990s in Providence, Rhode Island, and was one of several lounge music acts that led a brief resurgence of interest in the genre during the mid-1990s...
and skating the ska before Sublime
Sublime (band)
Sublime was an American ska punk band from Long Beach, California, formed in 1988. The band's line-up, unchanged until their breakup, consisted of Bradley Nowell , Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh . Michael "Miguel" Happoldt also contributed on a few Sublime songs, such as "New Thrash." Lou Dog, Nowell's...
...the band shakes out an incredible variety of sounds with peerless verve and polish."
The band has also drawn a fair amount of criticism. The Portland Mercury
The Portland Mercury
The Portland Mercury is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Portland, Oregon. It serves to chronicle the ever-changing Portland music scene, and generally includes interviews, commentaries, reviews, and concert dates...
have been frequent detractors of the Daddies, deriding them as "at best, an edgeless recycle of a rather particular musical fashion movement; at worst, a self-conscious parody of the genre they purport to love", while the Willamette Week
Willamette Week
Willamette Week is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Portland, Oregon, United States. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business and culture....
once dismissed them as "an annoying white-boy funk rock band who, seeing the opportunity, milked the swing revival for all it was worth".
The Daddies are more widely recognized, however, as one of the first bands to bring swing music into the musical mainstream, helping spearhead the swing revival
Swing Revival
The Swing Revival was a late 1990s and early 2000s period of renewed popular interest in swing and jump blues music and dance from the 1930s and 1940s as exemplified by Louis Prima, often mixed with a more contemporary rock, rockabilly or ska sound, known also as neo-swing or retro...
of the late 1990s which paved the way for the larger successes of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is a contemporary swing revival band from southern California. Their notable singles include "Go Daddy-O", "You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight ", and "Mr. Pinstripe Suit". The band played the Super Bowl XXXIII half-time show in 1999.The band was originally formed in Ventura,...
and the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Although the Daddies have also been cited as an influence on ska punk
Ska punk
Ska punk is a fusion music genre that combines ska and punk rock. It achieved its highest level of commercial success in the United States in the late 1990s. Ska-core is a subgenre of ska punk, blending ska with hardcore punk.The characteristics of ska punk vary, due to the fusion of contrasting...
fusion band the Mad Caddies
Mad Caddies
The Mad Caddies are a third wave ska band from Solvang, California. The band formed in 1995 and has released five full-length albums, one live album, and two EPs...
, SF Weekly
SF Weekly
SF Weekly is a free alternative weekly newspaper in San Francisco, California. The newspaper, distributed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area every Wednesday, is published by Village Voice Media, a 16-paper alt weekly newspaper chain that also includes the New York City Village Voice and the Los...
claims the band has "never gotten the accolades it deserves" for their eclectic funk-ska repertoire. The Phoenix New Times
Phoenix New Times
The Phoenix New Times is a free, weekly Phoenix, Arizona newspaper, put out every Thursday. It is the founding publication of the New Times Media , but The Village Voice is now the flagship publication of that company....
expressed similar sentiments, listing the "woefully unsung" Daddies as among the bands that defined the Northwest's "alternative to alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
", "[delivering] rock with more complexity than three-chord guitar riffs and social critique without heavy-handed cynicism". In a 2008 editorial, a Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
editor, reviewing the band's punk history, declared the Daddies "one of the most misunderstood bands of the nineties".
Discography
Studio albums- Ferociously StonedFerociously Stoned- Personnel :Cherry Poppin' Daddies*M.C. Large Drink – vocals*John Fohl – guitar*Dan Schmid – bass*Brian West – drums*Chris Azorr – keyboards*Brooks Brown – alto saxophone*James Phillips – tenor saxophone*Dana Heitman – trumpet...
(1990) - Rapid City Muscle CarRapid City Muscle CarRapid City Muscle Car is the second studio album by American band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released in 1994 on Space Age Bachelor Pad Records.-Overview:...
(1994) - Kids on the StreetKids on the StreetKids on the Street is the third studio album by American band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released in 1996 on Space Age Bachelor Pad Records.-Overview:...
(1996) - Soul CaddySoul CaddySoul Caddy is the fourth studio album, fifth chronologically, by American band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released on October 3, 2000 by Mojo Records.-Album overview:...
(2000) - SusquehannaSusquehanna (album)Susquehanna is the fifth studio album by American band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released on Space Age Bachelor Pad Records in February 2008, and later re-issued on Rock Ridge Music in September 2009....
(2008) - Untitled sixth studio album (2011)
Compilations
- Zoot Suit Riot: The Swingin' Hits of the Cherry Poppin' DaddiesZoot Suit Riot (album)Zoot Suit Riot: The Swingin' Hits of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies is a compilation album by American ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released on March 18, 1997 on Space Age Bachelor Pad Records....
(1997) - Skaboy JFK: The Skankin' Hits of the Cherry Poppin' DaddiesSkaboy JFKSkaboy JFK: The Skankin' Hits of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies is a compilation album by American ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, released in September 2009 on Rock Ridge Music....
(2009)
Band members
Current members- Steve PerrySteve Perry (Oregon musician)Stephen Henry Perry is an American musician, best known for being the lead singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist for the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he is the founding member.-Early life:...
(MC Large Drink) – lead vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
(formation – present) - Dan SchmidDan SchmidDaniel Joseph Schmid is an American musician, known for his work as the bassist for the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he is a co-founder, and the piano rock trio The Visible Men.-Career:...
(Dang Oulette) – bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(formation – 1996, 1998 – present) - Dana HeitmanDana HeitmanDana Conrad Heitman is an American musician, known for his work as the trumpeter for the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he has been a member since the band's inception.-Biography:...
– trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
(formation – present) - Dustin LankerDustin LankerDustin Ross Lanker is an American keyboardist, known for his work as a member of the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, a touring member of the ska punk band the Mad Caddies and as the singer-songwriter for the piano rock trio The Visible Men.-Career:A pianist since childhood, Lanker...
– keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, backing vocals (1997–1998, 2000 – present) - Joe Manis – altoAlto saxophoneThe alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
and baritoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
s (2006 – present) - Kevin Congleton – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
(2008 – present) - William Seiji Marsh – lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
(2010 – present) - Willie Matheis - tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
(2010 – present)
Former members
- Chris Azorr – keyboards (1990–1997)
- Tim Arnold – drums (formation – 1990)
- Adrian P. Baxter – tenor saxophone (1993–1996)
- Brooks BrownBrooks BrownBrooks Richard Brown is an American saxophonist, known for his work as a former member of the Eugene, Oregon band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he co-founded with Steve Perry and Dan Schmid.-Biography:...
– alto saxophone (formation – 1994) - Darren Cassidy – bass (1996–1998)
- Jesse Cloninger - tenor saxophone (2008–2010)
- Tim DonahueTim Donahue (drummer)-Career:Born in Oswego, New York, Donahue was raised in Oregon, where he began playing drums professionally in the early 1980s, serving in numerous bands including Lucy Crank, Road Kill, Flash Back, Zoo Gang, RMS McConnel, AKA and Intensity. In mid-1997, he joined Eugene band the Cherry Poppin'...
– drums (1997–2008) - Ian Early – alto saxophone (1997–2006)
- Sean Flannery – tenor saxophone (1996–2008)
- John Fohl – guitar (1990–1992)
- Adam GlogauerAdam GlogauerAdam Glogauer was born in Costa Mesa, California and is best known as the singer-songwriter of Forever Darling....
– drums (1996) - Johnny Goetchius – keyboards (1999–2000)
- James Gossard – guitar (formation – 1990)
- Jason MossJason Moss (musician)Jason David Moss is an American musician, known for his work as the lead guitarist for the ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, of which he was a member from 1992 to 2010.-Early life:...
– guitar (1992–2010) - Sean Oldham – drums (1996)
- Jason Palmer – drums (1996) (2009 - studio recordings)
- James Phillips – tenor saxophone (formation – 1992, 1996) (deceased, 1961 - 2011)
- Rex Trimm – alto saxophone (1996–1997)
- Hans Wagner – drums (1996–1997)
- Brian West – drums (1990–1996)
External links
- The Official Cherry Poppin' Daddies website
- Cherry Poppin' Daddies at FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
- Cherry Poppin' Daddies at iLikeILikeiLike is an online service that allows users to download and share music. The website makes use of a sidebar that is used with Apple's iTunes or Microsoft's Windows Media Player. The program and sidebar are not required in order to use the site but allow for ease in discovering new artists....